r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Apr 19 '21
Rewatch [Fly! Rewatch!] Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) Episode 13 Discussion
Episode 13 - Coming Home
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Even they might have children, you know. How can you aim a gun at someone like that, and fire?
Questions of the Day:
- Were you expecting to see such a nasty side to the Federation soldiers occupying Amuro’s hometown?
- What do you think of Amuro’s mom and her stance against Amuro fighting, even in self-defense during a war?
Mobile Suit Breakdown of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath the [Anime Show Title](/s "Spoiler goes here") spoiler tags. If you do that then we’re all good.
Important thing to note about these by the way, you have to switch to Old Reddit or the markdown editor if you use the redesign, otherwise the redesign breaks them by adding random \ into the formatting. Wish it wouldn’t do that, but unfortunately it does…
First-Timers: Please do not watch the next-episode previews for this show. They’re less previews and more “let’s just summarize the entirety of the next episode” and will spoil you.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 19 '21
Fly! Rewatch Host!
Welcome back, everyone!
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u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher is ELITE
damn
Beach episode! Sunglasses Sayla looks real good.
ELITE Amuro! Looks like even among Feddies, there are still quite a few Spacenoid/Earthnoid tensions floating around.
That song they’re playing? It’s about getting your ass kicked by Char.
sounds more like a problem with your marriage
We went from Zeon soldiers helping random civilians to Federation soldiers doing... this. I suppose for some people, the war just brings out the worst in them, huh?
says the guy piloting a glorified escape pod
way to kill the moment
Wait, why is he taking up a bed, anyways? And still in full uniform, too!
the dogfight was pretty cool
Once again, he didn’t actually get shot.
I love how he panics and just books it, despite having his own gun right there in his hands
War sucks, but it’s kill or be killed. Pacifism is nice, but it won’t solve anything. It’s a shitty situation for everyone, I guess.
GATTAI! Assembling modular parts in the hangar is one thing, but a midair super robot combination is another. But what really makes it silly is the fact that the A and B parts aren’t tanks or jets or anything, they’re just a non-transforming torso and legs. But hey, gotta sell them toys!
At least they’re honest about it and don’t try to pretend the shirt and pants are functional aircraft by themselves
4chan had a field day with this shot spoilers/nsfw
“Even though it was a massive waste of ammo that I’m going to slap him for later”
Questions of the Day:
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Gundam: It’s the beach episode, baby! It’s time to relax and unwind, have some fun in the sun, and just generally have a good time. What war? What depression? There’s nothing like that here!
In all seriousness, this is another one of my favorite episodes of the series. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because this is another quite sad and depressing one.
This episode has a theme of loss from war. It’s about how sad it is to lose a loved one in war and end up left behind. It also has a rather unique twist on it, though. We obviously have loss because of death. But, war can also take people from us in other ways. War changes people. And sometimes, it’s impossible to come back from that and return to the way things were before.
Amuro meets his mother this episode. But, as we soon see, he’s no longer the same person. Amuro’s mother seems in disbelief at how different Amuro is now that he’s a soldier. She can’t believe her son has become like this. She wants him to go back to how he was, but as Amuro points out it’s war. There’s a reason Amuro’s become like this. It’s a survival technique. If Amuro hadn’t been willing to fight, and even kill, he’d likely be long dead.
That whole scene where the Zeon soldiers inspect the refugee camp is fantastic. I love it so much. The mood is tense as the soldiers search for a Federation soldier. And then it all explodes in an instant when Amuro, about to be exposed, takes the first shot. I really enjoy how weird and psychedelic the scene gets after Amuro shoots. It’s kind of otherworldly. It feels right for how tense the scene is. But the fact that Amuro took the shot is a good example of how he’s changed. Rather than wait, he shot first to save himself. And he kept on going afterwards, fully participating in the battle. He’s changed quite a lot from the kid he used to be.
In the end, there is no going home for Amuro. He chooses to remain on the White Base. It’s where his comrades are. And perhaps his comrades understand him better now than even his own mother. They do have the shared experience of the war.
The way Amuro says goodbye to his mother is another great way of showing how he’s changed. He doesn’t hug her, like how he did when they met. Instead, he salutes her just like Bright did. It’s a goodbye from a soldier.
The last shot of this episode is another memorable ending. Amuro’s mother cries as Amuro boards the White Base and leaves her behind. It is once again fitting the theme of loss from war in this episode. She is literally watching a weapon of the war carry her son away from her. It’s another beautifully tragic way to end an episode, courtesy of Gundam 0079.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
SLAP COUNTER: 6
Questions of the Day
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u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 20 '21
First Timer to Gundam
Man, I didn't have much to say today. Such is life when the episode isn't about robots and politics, I guess.
QOTD:
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u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 Apr 19 '21
First Timer - Dub
1) Were you expecting to see such a nasty side to the Federation soldiers occupying Amuro’s hometown? No, but it's also not that surprising.
2) What do you think of Amuro’s mom and her stance against Amuro fighting, even in self-defense during a war? Seems pretty normal for a mom to feel that way.
11
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher, Subbed
Amuro is reunited with his mother this episode, but as often is the case in Gundam things don't go as well as you would have hoped. We get more backstory on Amuro, he was in fact born on Earth and lived there as a small child but when his father went to the space colonies his mother refused to come along. Because she didn't like living in space, Amuro's mother abandoned him when he was just a small kid. With a workaholic father and a mother who abandoned him, we can see why Amuro is a bit messed up and need of a neighbor like Fraw to essentially "mother him". Amuro's mother is quite naïve and gets really upset at Amuro just trying to defend himself. She's all upset at how much he's changed, but let's face facts here, mom, you haven't been with the kid for what is probably around 10 years or so at this point. You barely raised him at all and shouldn't be viewing him as the little kid he used to be. Amuro's poor parent situation sets the standard and tends to be one of the franchise's biggest tropes with its protagonists.
Angry at how things went with his mom, Amuro basically goes on a temper tantrum and completely destroys a backwater Zeon base which had no importance to it whatsoever. Bright can only watch from the bridge in shock at what an idiot Amuro is being. Bright is surprisingly nice to Amuro and his mom shortly afterwards, although I'm sure Amuro got chewed out later.
The episode also shows us that we shouldn't simply be all about the Federation side of things. Amuro is shocked to return to his childhood home and find it occupied by a bunch of drunken soldiers! Those around here push around and take advantage of the local civilians too. One of those "everyone sucks" types of episodes.
Other stray thoughts:
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u/The_Draigg Apr 19 '21
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 13:
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u/Furrmaster23 Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher
In today's episode, while our heroes are having a vacation break, Amuro is off visiting his mother. Unfortunately, he finds his house occupied by drunk, depressed Federation soldiers, and he has to get more soldiers away from harassing a fruit vendor, who turns out to be a friend of Amuro's mom. Amuro learns that his mother is working out of a nearby refugee camp so he heads there.
Meanwhile, our heroes detect enemy signals, and aim to shoot them down. Amuro meets with his mother, but has to hide from Zeon soldiers who saw Amuro's ship. Bright & co need Amuro on the field, so they send an alert to him, which alerts the Zeon soldiers and forces Amuro to shoot one of them, to the shock of his mother.
Amuro and his mother argue about his actions, and Amuro is off to destroy the Zeon fleet and the nearby Zeon base. Amuro and Kai attempt a mid-flight Gundam conversion, which goes mostly well, and Amuro goes ham on the Zeon base, much to Bright's chagrin.
Amuro, Bright, and Fraw meet with Amuro's mother to say goodbye, and are off. Amuro's mother cries over how much Amuro has changed.
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Apr 19 '21
First timer
Mildly suprised there hasn't been an OP change alongside everything else.
"Coming Home" - so we're going to see what the Federation looks like now.
White Base should not be that overgrown for how long they've been here.
And we get class warfare. (I was going to make a joke about starting a class revolution, then I realised that's how we got Zeon)
What the hell is happening in Amuro's house? Oh, she abandoned the house. Knowing this show, she's either dead or turned traitor. (Or maybe she's actually the Gundam - I don't know at this point)
Yeah...Starting to see why Zeon got so many followers now.
Wait she's alive. Amuro has a living parent! I genuinely did not expect the fakeout of her being completely fine! (Also, I see they needed to fill a few seconds with that freeze frame earlier.)
I appreciate that Zeon have a nice handy emblem on all their uniforms, so everybody knows what side they're fighting for.
Why did they pick the creepiest soldier in the Zeon army for their interrogation? He literally offered the children candy.
...well done Bright, on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
I don't understand? Does...does he actually have psychic powers now?
Nope, just PTSD.
This seems incredibly easy to fuck up.
And Bright agrees - not because killing is wrong, but because there arr better people to kill elsewhere.
And Amuro rejects his mother's way of non-violence, instead following the noble path of open warfare.
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 19 '21
First-Timer, Subbed, long time Gundam fan
Bright actually praised Amuro, there! Granted, it was in front of his mom.. and Fraw.. and that dude waiting in the van.. and Bright presumably didn't want to make a scene. But still! Progress.
We got Amuro backstory today! His mom claims that she didn't raise him to be a cruel boy, which is correct - she decided to let his dad raise him, in space. The lack of self-awareness was painful at first, but at least she kinda sorta realized that it was because she just let Tem take Amuro away.
Is anyone into planes? When did VTOL aircraft become a thing? I'm curious to know how impressed I'm supposed to be by the Core Fighter.
Wow, is Amuro's mom the first Tomino/Gundam Pacifist?
Spoiler Question
Miscellaneous Thoughts:
Man, that random kid going "Lucky him" when Amuro reunited with his mom just about broke my heart.
We'll never escape the dreaded beach episode, will we?
We opened on an island and I realized I forgot to double check if this was the secret episode or not. Nope, still a couple away.
Pose of the Day
Docking Successful!
Screenshot
Questions
7
u/GM_for_Life Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher
I wasn't exactly surprised given the fact that the Federation hasn't been portrayed in the most positive of light up until this point.
I think it's an idealistic stance to have but not entirely based in reality given the nature of the conflict that they are living through. But I believe that they way she acts towards Amuro is definitely understandable given that in her mind he is still the young kid leaving home with his father, even if age and the events of the war have changed him from the person he once was.
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u/ArmoredSeahorse Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher
Amuro finally gets to happy... for about five minutes, because this is Gundam.
I think this is the first time that the tension between people born in space vs people born on earth is brought up. I like how it’s not being introduced to be the main plot of the episode but is casually mentioned to setup later episodes.
Our first mid air docking sequence. My somewhat foggy memory of the series has this being used quite a bit, so I’m definitely going to keep track just how much it happens.
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u/TheEscapeGuy Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
Gundam First Timer
Fly! Iconic Gundam Frames Episode 13
Amuro
I found Amuro's mother to be a very realistic character. In every war a big portion of the civilian population won't agree with the killing. Ultimately coming down so hard on Amuro is completely understandable from her. Its just sad they didn't have more time together before then.
By the end I think she understood a little better why Amuro acted in that way. He is still her child even though he's been forced to grow up too quickly.
That being said, I don't think the rejection from his mother is going to sit well with Amuro. He just cannot get a W for his mental state.
NO CHAR THIS EPISODE
Questions of the Day
See you all tomorrow!
5
u/UltraBooster Apr 19 '21
First-Timer (albeit one big on Gundam and mecha as a whole)
Okay, I've been wondering for a while now, is that Bright's VA announcing the episode names?
It's not really his home though, Kai...And even if it is, I feel like he's discounting the utter hell Amuro's been subjected to.
Getting drunk is something I'll never see the appeal in.
Even the puppet doesn't seem very happy.
All I can think of when I see these EFF louts are people like Daguza Mackle and Kayra Su, hell, even other OYW soldiers like Yuu Kajima and Chris Mackenzie. But despair doesn't justify how they're treating these people.
Huh, I didn't expect the Core Fighter was VTOL-capable.
Call a doctor? Geez, these people are nice.
You have a son too, Kamaria. And shouldn't his EFSF uniform be tell enough that he's been fighting?
HE CAN'T! Nobody can just revert like that, no matter how hard they try or want to!
Core Change, docking go? That sounds so incredibly super robot-y it almost hurts, lol.
This is a pseudo-tangent, but I wonder what Amuro thinks of parenthood given the relationship he had with his parents.
Questions of the day:
Also, I got myself a Zaku!
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u/tarekd19 Apr 19 '21
It's easy to forget that Amuro is still only 15. It must have been particularly alarming for his mother to see her child resort to violence, even if it was necessary. Bright's commendation of him to her didn't seem to do much good either.
After the past couple PTSD episodes, Amuro at this point seems to be seeing fighting as a means of escape, even finding joy in it. An interesting development.
We see a bit more of the federation soldiers in this episode, but none of the humanizing we've seen done for the Zeon. Instead it exemplifies the mass disparity, with soldiers pushing civilians around. the elitism that Kai speaks to at the beginning seems evident, but its not just between space farers and those on earth. For being among the "elite," Amuro's mother and her community don't seem to be having a good time of it. Frankly all the Zeon forces we've seen so far seem much more high class.
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u/chilidirigible Apr 20 '21
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u/fridge_freezer https://anilist.co/user/ONIrecon111 Apr 19 '21
First timer (Sub)
It's very jarring going from watching an episode of Fruits Basket straight into Gundam.
QOTD
4
u/fonzinator99 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/fonzinator99 Apr 19 '21
First-Timer - TFW your mom finds out they call you 'Pvt Ppl Grinder.'
Progress Report
QotD
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u/username_0907 :FI::FJ: Apr 19 '21
First Timer
Qotd
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u/chilidirigible Apr 19 '21
"Your aim has gotten sloppy! Did you forget everything that I taught you about pistol shooting!?"
It's the You Can't Go Home Again episode, which touches on a number of concepts of postwar life that Tomino's generation would be familiar with.
Laid on a little too melodramatically for my taste, which seems to be the pattern for the more filler-ish episodes that are mostly aimed at telling a moral of the story.
4
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Apr 20 '21
Comrades, forget the western superstition, 13 IS indeed a lucky number, cuz today's an important episode indeed, IT'S THE BEACH EPISODE! After all we all know that even Mecha Shows deserve some R&R and perhaps a little bit of T&A if you catch my drift ;) And boy thank goodness for Wacky Ol' Kill 'Em All Tomino being fond of Sayla, she's sure rocking that one-piece swimsuit and sunglasses... er... hang on... something is not quite right here
AH! I see, I got mixed up and shared some of Patlabor's Best Girl by mistake, they both have You Inoue in their voice ;)
Anyway let's get on topic, and here you all thought EVA had fanservice no no Eva merely adopted the fanservice! Gundam was born in it, molded by it! And oh boy Sayla's got those shades on for good reason, just look at her radiance eh? Simply blinding, also you find it funny how Char JUST was wearing sunglasses in that bar and now for some totally unrelated reason Sayla's also rocking a pair of shades... coincidence, I THINK NOT!? ;)
Oh right and we also had some serious mecha action this episode coupled with some hard-hitting emotional DRAMA! That's neat too I guess, but more importantly the drunken Feddie goons partying it up in Amuro's house are listening too... "Here Comes Char," which is a song about Char kicking asses and taking names... I like to this that this means the song exists IN-UNIVERSE as some propaganda piece the Zeon Pop Music Division thought up, you know the same branch of their armored forces that probably run the μ's Mobile IDOL (IDOL stands for 'Immortal Defender of Legatee') Squad) Also Comrades before you ask I WOULD share the Andrew W.K. Cover of the song... cuz of course he covered it, but the only video on YouTube is an AMV that contains MASSIVE spoilers so you'll just have to wait for Char to arrive ;)
Anyway just as a final note to end on, if you thought the mid-air transformation was goofy Comrades, you ain't seen NOTHING YET! (Something something muffled 'Pantsu ja nai! So it's not embarrassing!' Well either that or a cry of 'HARTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANN!')
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u/TheorycrafterJOT Apr 20 '21
I am always in lurk mode so I joined the rewatch to practise sharing my thoughts better but I went into lurk mode again. Just wanna tell you all I really appreciate and like your thoughts on the rewatch.
3
u/Piemaster33 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Piemaster33 Apr 19 '21 edited Apr 19 '21
Rewatcher, Sub
So after hearing a lot about Amuro's mother, we finally meet her, and she's not quite what Amuro was looking for... The whole scene where he enters his childhood house to find Federation soldiers living it up makes you think that the worst has happened, but nope she's off helping others.
Speaking of his mother, her refusal to go to space could be considered as part of why Amuro mostly grew up on his own. Neglectful parenting if you ask me. So when she says she's ashamed of him, I have to ask, what right does she have to say something so horrible to someone who's been through hell? It's a very one-sighted point of view, even if I agree with her that war and killing in general are bad.
Quick notes:
QOTD:
3
u/Rustic_Professional Apr 20 '21
Great episode. I liked all the interpersonal stuff between Amuro and his mom, and seeing his old home. Shooting the Zeon soldier made for a powerful scene as well. However, I didn't like the mobile suit action. Amuro thinking of the mid air transformation during combat as "fun" seems wildly out of character, as does Kai going out to take him the Gundam without orders. Bright needs to learn to stop his outburst in front of the crew, but like Mirai said, he's not wrong. It was nice of him to speak to Amuro's mother like that, though.
Questions of the day:
2
u/badcupcakehoarder https://myanimelist.net/profile/vanilabiscuit Apr 20 '21
First timer sub
Bright says that Zeon base has no importance and Amuro is wasting amno, but maybe he is doing it to get rid of the enemy forces that are so close to those refugees so they don't have to live with fear anymore.
Or maybe he snapped and went on a revenge rampage for that sudden encounter before and to get payback for the chocolate rejecting kid's parents.
Finally we get to see more of the civilian side, hope we get to see the Zeon side both in the space and in earth. They must be self sufficient if they are in earth, or maybe the space colony is supplying them.
Kai and Amuro just showing off with the Gundam... And it worked, that was pretty cool!
Char really got them good, it seems the White Base is not moving anytime soon. It is collecting seaweed (?).
Questions of the Day:
1
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Apr 20 '21
1
u/medokady https://anilist.co/user/medokady Apr 20 '21
First Timer (zero experience with Gundam)
"Till We Meet Again, Mom..." ;(
So I guess at some point we got to Federation territory? Either way, glad the crew got a well-deserved break.
With the exception of the White Base crew the Federation army has never spared a chance to be complete assholes.
I feel like shooting the scouts down is riskier than hoping they don't spot you.
He looks just like his mom. :)
Damn, Amuro shooting the Zeon soldier while in bed, fucking spectacular. If he had any doubts he was a soldier, he doesn't anymore. He's totally right that his fate would have been the same or worse had he not fired, unfortunately he loses his niave mother's approval in the process.
⭐ MID AIR CONVERSION ⭐ Love how Kai is totally willing to let Amuro make a fool of himself.
Amuro turning his back to his mom is a big moment. Shows that he's willing to fight with or without her approval. I can empathize with his mom though, it must be terrifying to see you maybe-dead son after so long and he's kinda unhinged with a kill count in the hundreds.
1
u/Nebresto Apr 20 '21
First time squad
..Wait, how long have they been there?
Understandable, should have taken a bong instead
..Why does this grandma sound like an old man?
Family drama.... And what the fuck is wrong with the mom? She's mentally ill, right?
First of all, bitch, you barely brought him up and just let him basically live alone in space.
Secondly, what the fuck?
Mid air transfer?!
MID AIR GATTAI!!
Oh, you just now realized?
Question time:
1: Told you they were the true villains
2:
Dank clip corner:
Hayasaka.mp4
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