After the success of the “Mobile Suit Gundam” trilogy, fans were clamouring for more. Two sequels, “Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam” in 1985 and “Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ” in 1986, followed and featured many of the original series’ characters in supporting roles. Yet there was a definite desire to see one last big showdown between rivals Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino more than delivered in “Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack” which was also the first fully original film in the franchise.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack is screening as part of AX Cinema Nights
It has been fourteen years since the One Year War that saw the Earth Federation fight off the invading forces of the Principality of Zeon. Key in that victory were the efforts of Amuro Ray and the advanced Gundam mobile suit. Now Zeon have risen again with Char Aznable at the head and a sinister plot to destroy Earth itself. Old heroes and new must band together and fight for the planet’s future.
So much of “Char’s Counterattack” feels like a natural and entertaining continuation of what we have seen before. Nowhere is the leap in scale and budget plainer to see than in the animation quality. Some of the space station shots are done in CGI, a first for the franchise, which adds to the grandeur of those moments. The action sequences are also so much bigger, smoother, and more perilous. You truly get a sense of the fury and chaos of battle, supported deftly by Shigeaki Saegusa‘s dramatic score. Character designs were provided by animation director Hiroyuki Kitazume which updates the original Yoshikazu Yasuhiko designs but keeps them consistent with what we have seen before. As the first film in the franchise that isn’t a compilation of an anime series, there is unsurprisingly a big improvement in terms of structure. The pacing flies by and is constantly engrossing with no lag or slow points.
A crucial factor of “Gundam” is the effects of war and the complexity in conflict. Whilst Neo Zeon and their genocidal plot are undoubtedly evil, the Earth Federation are nowhere near portrayed as wholly good. There is clear corruption and bias at play. One also must question the wisdom of a government that would sell an asteroid to an organisation who just tried to drive an asteroid into the Earth.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story is personified by the character of Quess Paraya, a teenage Newtype who becomes attached to both Amuro and Char. Is she a spoiled and obsessive brat who gets in deeper than she can handle? Or is she a youth radicalised because of the indifference of adults to the thoughts and feelings of young people about a conflict that they never started or asked for? It is very much up for interpretation. You can also see elements of the same theme in the character of Hathaway, son of series characters Bright Noa and Mirai, who would later become the protagonist of the 2021 film “Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway”.
Whilst it is certainly gratifying to see a culmination of the Char and Amuro feud, the execution is lacking. Maybe because in his previous appearances, Char was a wild card. Whilst he was part of Zeon, he had his own agenda and goals. Now as the head of this Neo Zeon with all its space fascist overtones he’s a much more straightforward manipulative villain with none of that nuance. Thankfully, Shuichi Ikeda‘s performance is as good as ever, so it really is just down to the writing. It’s also a shame that Sayla Mass, who was revealed to be Char’s sister, doesn’t make an appearance as that dynamic was an interesting factor in both characters’ stories.
The atmosphere that accompanies “Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack” is of an exciting and bombastic finale to what’s come before whilst also planting the seeds for what comes next.
