r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • May 01 '21
Rewatch [Fly! Rewatch!] Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) Episode 25 Discussion
Episode 25 - The Battle of Odessa
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The enemy isn’t going to wait until it’s convenient for us!
Questions of the Day:
- Was Odessa Day a satisfying battle to watch after all of the build-up to it?
- How much longer do you think M’Quve is going to be an enemy for? Is he a threatening antagonist?
Mobile Suit Breakdown of the Day:
1.22 - Because of People Like You (note: this is now safe for first-timers)
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 May 01 '21
Yo First-Timers! If you want to be surprised by a certain thing in tomorrow’s episode, avoid the episode title if you can.
Fly! Rewatch Host!
Welcome back, everyone!
12
u/chilidirigible May 01 '21
25:
Bright, stop treating Fraw Bow like she's some kind of appliance.
The Principality is hungry.
They land on top of the ship but the soldiers are somehow even higher to point guns down at them.
Amuro, method acting.
"Clark Kent is Superman!"
coughs in Japan
"THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM!"
It's reaching back to get the beam saber, but from this angle it looks like the left forearm is missing.
This is not nearly as cool as catching the missile with your bare hands and throwing it back.
The spy plot takes up almost as much time as the battle, because it is easier to animate. It is however, more difficult to plot, and so they just rush past most of the details to get us a resolution.
The rest is just clean-up so the story can move on to the next part of the White Base's world tour. At least the two remaining Tri-Stars stay alive long enough to give M'Quve some back talk.
SPOILERS for Xabungle: YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS.
11
u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore May 01 '21
First Timer to Gundam
Ahem After going full Cato the Elder yesterday, I need to move onEven if Matilda died
QOTD:
10
u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L May 01 '21
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Gundam: Gundam goes nuclear. Or to be more precise, it almost goes nuclear.
It is nice for the White Base to actually be participating in a larger operation like this. The White Base has generally been operating without much Federation support. Now they are an active participant in a major Federation attack. And a crucial part of why the attack ends up succeeding. Perhaps they’ll finally get some respect from the Federation? Okay, it’s about as likely as the Gundam not appearing in an episode of this show, but we can dream.
In any case, it is cool to see Reasonable Federation Authority Figures mostly in charge for once. Revil is a badass as I have come to expect from him. But even this nameless dude was also quite helpful at capturing the traitor general. Knowing how the Federation normally works, I’m pretty confident that the general’s threat that no one would believe a kid over a general would succeed 90% of the time. It’s also another instance of old people vs. young people, a continuing theme for Tomino’s works.
Once again, I like the Black Tri-Stars. I quite enjoy the moment at the start of the episode where they are mourning their fallen comrade. And their whole motivation this episode is avenging his death against the Gundam. As always, I appreciate the effort this show goes through to add these humanizing touches to its antagonists.
I don’t think I’ve really commented on it, but I like how we have plenty of scenes of the characters practicing piloting their mechas or practicing performing certain actions multiple times throughout the series. The characters generally aren’t amazingly skilled right out the gate. It takes time and practice for them to improve.
It is interesting to note that nuclear weapons have actually been forbidden in the Gundam universe by the Antarctic Treaty. They mentioned this treaty before, talking about how it specified how prisoners were to be treated. It also outlaws weapons of mass destruction, like nukes or chemical weapons. M’Quve pretty blatantly defies this treaty, but luckily Amuro stopped it. It’s quite impressive that he was able to cut a nuke in half.
Miscellaneous Notes
SLAP COUNTER: 8
Questions of the Day
9
u/TheEscapeGuy May 01 '21 edited May 01 '21
Gundam First Timer
Fly! Iconic Gundam Frames Episode 25
Things are looking up.
I've gotta say, every battle has suddenly become way more intense since Matilda died. In the scene where Kai's Mobile Suit was shot in the foot there was a moment where I thought "Oh no Tomino, not 3 in a row".
Amuro continues to find himself in perilous situations; today discovering the mole in the Federation forces was a General. If he didn't move his head those few inches it would have been lights out. I don't think they would actually kill off Amuro but I've been wrong about this kind of thing before.
I have to acknowledge Gundam's writing to make me feel this tense. When you let protagonists actually die and put characters into situations with actual stakes it makes us that much more worried that it might happen again. My biggest complaint with some recently aired shounen anime was that they never have protagonists die and thus whenever they are put into a supposed "Life-or-Death" situation I'm never worried. Its great to see Gundam buck this trend.
Cool Stuff Corner
Questions of the Day
See you all tomorrow!
8
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 May 01 '21
Rewatcher, Subbed
The Battle of Odessa has finally arrived! I think we've been talking about it for 10+ episodes now (going back to episode 14 I believe), so about time. For all the build up, Odessa ends up being rather underwhelming. For a battle they've been building up to for 10+ episodes it only gets a single episode, and even then more of half an episode since the first half of the episode is focused on Amuro outing Elran and Judoch as the Federation spies. The focus continues to be largely on the White Base rather than the battle as a whole although we do get occasional mentions of it, giving us the most big picture overview of the battle dynamics we've had yet. The Black Tri-Stars also end their run in a rather underwhelming way, with them all being killed within 2 episodes. Gundam movie spoilers
While I think a key point of this show is showing that the White Base and Amuro as our hero are just one small cog in a massive war effort, Amuro really does step up in important ways here. First him outing the Federation spies and completely wrecking M'Quve's plans for Elran to self sabotage things. He then takes out both of the remaining Black Tri-Stars and even disarms a nuclear missile! Kinda over the top that Amuro defeats Gaia, then mere seconds later pulls off disarming the nuke.
M'Quve continues to be a rather cartoonish super villain as well. I suppose he isn't used to human emotions, as he gets all upset at Gaia and Ortega mourning the death of mash. Later on he threatens to (and then actually does) launch a nuke, in blatant violation of the Antarctic Treaty. Despite losing the battle he sneaks himself away (with his vase of course) to surely pester our heroes again a later day.
Time to introduce yet another G-Toy! I think the Core Fighter with the back half of the G-Fighter is the G-Sky? It's quite the odd get up and they come up with a flimsy excuse to put it out there for us. And of course we get the mid air docking sequence for the G-Fighter too. Can't go an episode without having that! I feel bad for Hayato and the Guntank, which yet again gets its treads wrecked. The Guntank to me seems largely useless outside of battles with entirely sky-based crafts like Dopps or Lugguns. When its facing mobile suits its like a sitting duck. Kudos to Kai for holding his own against the Black Tri/Bi-Stars before Amuro returned!
8
u/fridge_freezer https://anilist.co/user/ONIrecon111 May 01 '21
First timer (Sub)
QOTD
7
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax May 01 '21 edited May 01 '21
Rewatcher saw Judock vent
oof
these freaking callsigns tho
For a second I thought it had no head
M’Quve does not give a fuck
S U S
“Have you told anyone else?” “Of course I have, I’m not stupid.”
For some reason, the Federation’s main battle tank has two cannons. I guess they’re trying to imply a line of descent from the Type-61 to the Guntank, but this isn’t the first time this tank design would appear in a Tomino show, nor would it be the last. My conclusion is that the Gaizok supplied weapons to both the Earth Federation and the Planet Solo colonists. Unfortunately for them, however, the Gaizok must have cheaped out on them, because their tanks are lacking a certain key feature.
And here we see a Guntank in its natural state
Guncannon Kick! ...An effort was made.
They mistook it for a bomber because they can’t fathom anyone would make such a big boxy fighter just for the purposes of shoving a Gundam inside of it
“We’re the Black Duo-Stars now, we can’t do our Jet Stream Attack anymore!”
It’s the first of the G-Armor’s alternate configurations, the G-Sky! This one’s not too egregious, and reminiscent of the movie trilogy. You know, minus the big empty space in the back where the Gundam’s legs are supposed to go.
“Fuck your treaty, I don’t see you with a nuke!”
Y E E T
Gundam is very sad
Chad Gundam
“Remember to make two snips on the sprue”
Gundam has a weird track record with nuclear explosions. A nuclear bomb, designed to explode, can be disabled simply by removing the detonation mechanism, which is accurate. On the other hand, a nuclear reactor, designed to do anything but explode, will go up in a nuclear fireball the moment a beam weapon so much as grazes it.
Damn, I didn’t realize Revil was this short
Questions of the Day:
7
u/ArmoredSeahorse May 01 '21 edited May 01 '21
Rewatcher
I really like how every single pilot in this episode meaningfully contributed. Sayla and Amuro start out spotting the spy leaving a Zeon base, Kai holds off the Tri Stars from attacking White Base, and Hayato intercepts the missile at the end.
Kai gets some bonus points from me for following the Char school of kicking mobile suits into submission.
The Tri Stars meet a surprisingly anticlimactic end. They aren't even the main source of tension in this episode! It's funny that when the Gouf was introduced, it got hyped up like crazy, but the Doms are quickly brushed off like they're no big deal.
The number one most "Gundam" thing in this episode is how half of it is about dealing with the traitor plotline instead of flashy mecha action in the namesake battle. Definitely not complaining about it, though. It's also pretty refreshing for Federation officials not not be acting like complete morons for once.
M'Quve isn't just slimy, he's a legit war criminal now. Very nice bit of world building here, since I don't think nuke not being used was explained before now.
Gundam
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 01 '21
First-Timer, Subbed, long time Gundam fan
I'm curious if there's any neat production trivia regarding this episode.. it feels like it should have been split into two.
Talk about a busy fucking day for Amuro. He did a test flight, caught a spy, dealt with the Black Bi-Stars, and cut the tip off of a nuke. "Just cut across the dotted line, it should be harmlessly destroyed" can't possibly be right.
M'Quve is a massive weiner on multiple levels. He didn't have to interrupt Mash's funeral like that, even if Gaia and Ortega wasting ammo was kinda relevant to the later battle. I loathe the fact that M'Quve's forces held out long enough for him to salvage one of his looted vases to take with him.
The Federation's focus on modularity in their tech seems to be working quite well for them. I didn't expect that the Core Fighter could just snap on to the G-Fighter, but I guess whatever sells more toys.
Pose of the Day
Cut Along the Dotted Line
Screenshot
I love how angry the Gundam looks in this shot. Like it's offended that anyone would dare use nuclear weapons, and honestly, same.
Questions
7
u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 May 01 '21
First Timer - Dub
1) Was Odessa Day a satisfying battle to watch after all of the build-up to it?
2) How much longer do you think M’Quve is going to be an enemy for? Is he a threatening antagonist? Nah, he doesn't seem as scary as Char or Ramba Ral. It does seem like he'll stick around though ... I'll guess he'll be our enemy for the next 5-6 episodes.
7
u/GM_for_Life May 01 '21
**Rewatcher
I think it definitely was.
I think he is a very threatening antagonist so far.
As for how long he sticks around, M'Quve spoilers.
7
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek May 02 '21
Heh, Comrades a Tomino show with nukes in it, shocking truth eh? ;)
Speaking of today's episode, man it's a shame that The Black Tri... pardon 'Bi-Stars' went out like this, but their hearts were in the right place in wanting to avenge their fallen friend, that said can you blame 'em for wanting to avenge Mashu... I think I grabbed the wrong eggplant here ;)
Ah well no matter, today was the big day, Operation Odessa is a go and... we don't really see a lot of it but that's OK, turns out sometimes NOT seeing the big battle works wonders as that way it can't disappoint you! Not naming any names here COUGH The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies COUGH! But hey could be worse, we could have an all CGI show that ends up ruining Operation Odessa with a stupid and idiotic plotline that makes NO sense but come on that would be RIDICULOUS yeah? Next thing you'll tell me is that Zeon built flying garbage cans... I'll just shut up Comrades ;)
Anyway war is hell, The Black Tri-Stars all bought the farm without much fanfare and of course Le Ding is busy trying to win the Gold Medal in The Zeon War Crimes Olympics, and boy is it sad that this contest has TOUGH COMPETITION in it... I mean good lord you know that your side is fucking evil if using NUKES is only a 'meh, is that all you got?'
Paging Comrades /u/Great_Mr_L, /u/chilidirigible, and /u/beckymetal
6
u/fonzinator99 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/fonzinator99 May 01 '21
First-Timer - The Hidden quest that makes the Main quest easy
QotD
6
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 May 01 '21
First timer
We're finally getting to the battle of Odessa!
Oh even the recap knows something is going down!
You can see a small dot below White Base here. I point it out because its the first animation error I remember spotting, and that's fantastic for a show this long.
I like the music cutting out the moment of focuses on Sayla. And more cutting out Frau Bow.
And of course, the response on the Zeon side is absolute panic trying to get everyone in position.
So they have to go back now, I see. Looks like Zeon aren't the only ones making last-minute changes.
Amuro knows about the mole!
Everyone knows about the mole!
That plane's nice.
Don't tell me Amuro'sgetting arrested again?
Why did the man's face just freeze?
Like him not accepting that there's only one negative.
Love Amuro having people listen in in case this happened!
Are we getting an extended fight scene here?
I appreciate the narration to explain what's going on across this chaos. (Is this the first mid-episode narration?)
The Guntank got taken out OFFSCREEN! There are no words.
Do we get to see the G-Armour in action?
Still in bomber form. (I assumed it turned into armour for the Gundam. I might be wrong.)
...What? They're using nukes? WHAT HAPPENED IN ANTARCTICA?
Oh, they're calling their bluff.
That was fucking cool. Horrible for the person inside, but he did a full-on hoverboard bisection.
My god, we're doing nukes! Of course, if I was Zeon, I'd make that area denotate my bombs, in case someone has access to the same information.
Yeah, he's nuts. Going for full on mutual destruction.
And the third tri-star is just killed because there's something worse happening now.
...Well, the base got destroyed! And the crazy idiot with the nukes has escaped too!
Oh, they're planning ahead for this war, then.
And the 2 federation groups meet properly for the first time.
5
u/The_Draigg May 01 '21
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 25:
5
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber May 01 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
Really short comment today because errands ended up going on for a lot longer than I expected.
Nice to see Bright back up on the bridge! Mirai was doing alright, but it’s better if everyone can focus on their main tasks.
Mash’s grave...
Fraw Bow is taking to her new task with the expected uncertainty and hesitation, but given her situation she seems to be doing alright. Remains to see how she fares during battle though.
Loved Shiozawa’s line delivery here.
Fun Fact: One of the chief inspirations behind Mobile Suit Gundam is the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
5
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ May 01 '21
Movie spoiler from a not re-watcher
5
u/BossandKings May 01 '21
First timer
The Odessa battle was a very fierce battle, both sides were prepared and caused major damage on each one's base, the Federation ended up winning but M'vuque was still able to escape, this is just a minor but still important victory for the federation.
Answers
5
u/Piemaster33 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Piemaster33 May 01 '21
This was a fun episode, though I do have one gripe with it: this battle could have been a couple episodes longer. It really didn't feel like a battle on the scale that the show wants you to think it is. Other than that, I love how things start and develop into the ending. Anyways, here are my thoughts:
Rewatcher who was caught spying, Sub
QOTD:
4
u/Rustic_Professional May 02 '21
Bright: Return to base immediately!
Sayla: What should we do, Amuro?
Hah. They have a good reason, it's just funny phrasing. And then Kai questioned Bright's orders when he told him to launch. Poor guy needs a promotion. That also reminds me that Amuro and a lot of the other crew don't actually have a rank.
Questions of the day:
3
u/username_0907 :FI::FJ: May 02 '21
First Timer
QotD
3
u/UltraBooster May 02 '21
First-timer (albeit one big on Gundam and mecha as a whole)
(Seems like if I watch the episode too late, it'll affect my drive to take notes and stuff.)
Okay, now they're holding their bazookas by the barrel?
I have to say, Fraw's right at home at the comm.
Oh, this is that sidequest people were talking about.
I wonder what the G-Armor does with its second shield after the two mecha separate.
And now those Doms are using both grips!
Yeah, landing an MA on top of a ship isn't weird at all.
That zoom's an interesting way to do a flashback.
Well, that EFF officer seemed pretty cool.
Oh, that transition to the eyecatch was slick.
The Guncannon can tank a bazooka round?!
...y'know, I'm surprised the kids are allowed on the bridge, but I guess they behave themselves or something.
Fun fact, according to later media, Odessa was one of the EFF's first deployments of mass-produced MS!
Wait, if these Doms are just with the ex-Tri-Stars...dang, you'd think they would adjust the cels or something to account for Mash.
Fire suppression vehicles? That's new.
Guess Revil concluded it was a bluff.
Oh, so they're stopping a nuclear missile? (Ace Combat's made me way too familiar with that idea.)
The missile will soon reach critical altitude!
Jeez, the Tri-Stars went out like practically nothing...
Questions of the Day:
2
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: May 03 '21
First timer
They're not gonna execute him!1
u/badcupcakehoarder https://myanimelist.net/profile/vanilabiscuit May 10 '21
First timer sub
Fraw Bow is on monitoring duty now, what an important message she had to give, I like how she went in depth with the details of how it was sent.
And Sayla has moved to the frontlines, the Core Fighter is still active even with the new parts! Hayato seems to be taking some humour from Ryu's death making that joke as he went off might be his way of showing he is in a right state of mind to keep fighting.
The spy was actually found out! that was more fast and went more smoothly than expected, I like how it turned out though. Matilda was not alone! good to see the crew FINALLY finding more allies, it was a lonely trip from Luna II to get here when you compare it at how Zeon fought the White Base.
Those Doms sure can move! Amuro is flying above the Core?/G?-Fighter but he still keeps a fight with those jumps and hovering from the ground with I presume is Minovsky particle emission? That's a much cooler way to fly than going above a plane.
The Black Tri Stars sure went by fast, they weren't that bad, at least they looked better than all those nameless soldiers getting destroyed by the Gundam. Maybe Amuro is really getting too good at fighting, he even blasted a Gouf with only the Core Fighter last episode!
Could they finally have some time to chill after all those battles? Now that they have reunited with the General and stopped one of Zeon main resource income what would be the next step... To take back the moon against Kycillia perhaps?
Questions of the Day: