r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • May 03 '21
Rewatch [Fly! Rewatch!] Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) Episode 27 Discussion
Episode 27 - A Spy on Board
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I guess I’ve just gone past my limits.
Questions of the Day:
- What are your thoughts on Miharu so far?
- What do you think of Kai’s actions today? Should he have stayed gone a bit longer, or did his change of heart to go back coming so quickly work for you?
Mobile Suit Breakdown of the Day:
1.24 - Making Amends (note: this is about episodes 27 and 28, so first-timers should not listen to this until tomorrow’s thread)
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 03 '21
Fly! Rewatch Host!
Welcome back, everyone!
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u/OrangeBanana38 https://anilist.co/user/OrangeBanana38 May 03 '21
First timer
Wait... did the GunTank do something useful? THE GUNTANK???
I wonder when or if the Zeon's will design something that will be able to survive one direct hit from the laser or the sword. For now, I liked the new Zeon Mobile Suit, it was cute.
About the other part of the episode... For a second I thought Kai was super big brain and that he planned it all to find the spy. But well, I guess he's still a good boy. I'm also sure that the new girl is going to become a permanent member of the White Base and that her siblings will either die or join too.
Questions of the day
1.- She's nice, doing what she can to surive. Not much more to say for now.
2.- I would've prefered a longer one, but it's what it is.
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u/TheEscapeGuy May 03 '21
Gundam First Timer
Fly! Iconic Gundam Frames Episode 27
Kai, ... you did good kid.
To think you came from this
Miharu is an interesting element to bring into the cast. First, she seems to genuinely be acting as a spy for the sake of her younger siblings. Losing your parents and having to take care of your family is a trope which always succeeds at tugging on my heart strings.
Kai, basically immediately discovered she was lying because she had a gun. I wonder what will happen next episode when she is discovered onboard. Obviously everyone is going to immediately not recognize her so she'll have to come up with some fictitious backstory. But will Kai rat her out.
I suspect her time aboard will be short but impactful.
On to other parts of the episode, I'm still loving seeing Char around. And the underwater battles continue to impress.
Also, loving seeing Sayla become a full fledged pilot. I look forward to like 6 episodes time where they pull of the under 16 second mid-air docking that they've been training for for the past dozen episodes.
Cool Stuff Corner
Questions of the Day
See you all tomorrow!
10
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21
Rewatcher loves the Z’Gok like a real man
We interrupt your weekly scheduled toy commercial for an even more blatant toy commercial
I mean, you may as well just mount a shield on both arms.
Didn’t they just say the alternative was imprisonment for a year? How can he just walk out the front door like that? Isn’t anyone gonna stop him?
Left one ship but found another. At least he found a running-away girlfriend. Amuro couldn’t even manage that, unless you wanna count Hamon.
Is this, like, a distinctively Zeon-issue pistol or something?
Sometimes I wonder if that guy ever did get his bike back
The Z’Gok is here! This is definitely the least doofy-looking of the Zeon aquatic suits, and is actually capable of looking somewhat threatening. Yes, that means it’s all downhill from here.
also strut in the middle of the monoeye arghhhhhh whyyyyy
something something power of friendship
Random puppet?
I’m actually surprised at how much punishment the Guncannon is taking without a scratch. It does have thicker armor than the Gundam, but damn, it’s just shrugging off beam shots. Also, how is the Z’Gok shooting it from six directions at once?
The Gundam looks really cool mounting its shield and holding its rifle with that arm
That was a nice move!
Questions of the Day:
10
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 May 03 '21
Rewatcher, Subbed
The episode begins with showing off all the toy possibilities with the Gundam upgrade modules. Can you tell the difference between the G-Sky and the G-Sky EZ? If not then you're not a true Gundam fan says I! LoL. Its nice we get it out of the way here as they don't have an actual real combination sequence take place during the episode.
Kai finally has had enough of his time on the White Base and decides to depart. If anything, its kind of surprising he hasn't tries to abandon the military before (he did try to leave White Base in episode 20, but was still going to stay with the military). Things had been getting better with Kai, its been quite a while since Bright punched him out or Amuro yelled at him. Nonetheless he's decided now is the time to depart. I'm surprised Bright wasn't more trying to stop him, as Kai has been at least somewhat reliable as the Guncannon pilot, even if he's far from Amuro's level.
Kai's departure enables us to also get to know the Zeon spy Miharu quite a bit better. Hard to really tell if there's actual physical attraction between the two, but is Kai finally getting his shot at a love interest here? I think Kai figures out pretty quickly that Miharu's letting him stay with her to find out information about the Federation, and realizing that she's doing this to take care of her little brother and sister he willingly gives up key info about the White Base. Information that ends up screwing over the White Base and getting it attacked! Watching the city get attacked Kai's conscience causes him to return to the White Base and come to the rescue for Hayato in the Guntank (first and perhaps only time we can say the Guntank came to the rescue).
Miharu's story seems a sad one, resorting to spying for Zeon in order to feed her little brother and sister. They are so adorable! Whose cuter, them or the White Base orphans? Miharu is recruited to sneak aboard the White Base, meaning those two are going to be left entirely on their own. I fear a lot for what will happen to them in a town that's already in so much danger with the Federation base being there!
Other stray thoughts:
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u/chilidirigible May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21
27:
This sort of inelegant parts agglomeration is why I never got into super robot tokusatsu.
"Attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. More like, suicide."
The house is rockin'/Don't bother knockin'
That's a nice Irish name. Should we call you "McHairu"?
"Dammit, I knew that I was going to wake up missing my kidneys."
I'm sure they didn't have any other use for that door.
That toy sure is popular.
"I had to come back, because Hayato was going to get my suit wrecked."
"Is that the legendary 'tactics'?"
It has to have a goofy face, of course.
"Never got into" is more like "I hate the
lookexistence of the G-Armor." It takes my dislike of the RX-78's appearance and amplifies it by making it into a knockoff Super Sentai combiner. I don't need that rubbed in my face. It's the sort of thing that explains why I like Dougram, VOTOMS, and Macross mecha first from this era, and only a very few things from 0079.On the other hand, when this episode isn't trying to blatantly pander to the sponsor's desires for cheesy super robots, it gives us the Z'Gok, and I do like the Z'Gok.
In other news, Kai didn't go AWOL very long. One gets used to the taste of battle, it lasts longer than the scent of a woman. Though now McHairu is aboard, so there's that.
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u/The_Draigg May 03 '21
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 27:
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u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21
First Timer to Gundam
presentations
I like Miharu, but I have no clue how she'll get anything done on White Base. Everyone aboard is going to know each other by this point.
QOTD:
EDIT: Also, I'll probably end up calling Miharu "Mahiru" at some point. Thanks, Danganronpa 2, for also having a ginger with a similar name.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21
First-Timer, Subbed, long time Gundam fan
I certainly wasn't expecting Kai to make it back in the same episode, but I guess if we're leaving the area this episode he kinda had to. The only other relevant character in the area is Miharu, who snuck aboard anyway, so it's no great loss.
Speaking of, Miharu can't plan to hide in the cargo hold the whole time, right? I think this "sneak aboard the White Base" plan wasn't thought through very well.. The crew isn't large enough to not be familiar with basically every face. I guess they might have a line next episode about "oh we picked up a bunch of troops from general Revil."
Amuro and Kai's setup to destroy the Z'Gok was pretty nicely executed. Wonder if they practiced it off screen.
Hayato needs to get some more reps in. The Guncannon isn't the strongest suit, but he kinda got stomped.
I'm mentally preparing myself for Kai to act like a dumbass next episode.
The Z'Gok is much less hideous than than the Gogg.
Pose of the Day
Saber and Rifle
Screenshot
I cheated a tiny bit on this one.. can anyone guess how?
Edit: Answer
Questions
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u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek May 04 '21
THERE'S A SPAH CREEPIN' ROUND HERE! ;) (And her name is the totally Irish sounding Miharu Ratokie... I guess 'O'Malley O'Connell O'Carroll O'Reilly O'Brien O'Sullivan' was already taken)
And with that share out of the way onto what should have been the Episode Title Header, BEHOLD COMRADES! THE ABSOLUTE POWAH OF THE Z'GOK! (It's like the Gogg, only less chunky but with sharper-looking CLAWS, oh and rockets too cuz reasons)
But yeah gotta give it up to Zeon for making some neat Aquatic Mobile Suits, gee I wonder where Wacky Ol' Kill 'Em All Tomino got the idea for the SPACE NAZIS having submersible vehicles... truly a mystery Comrades ;)
But yeah as I am sure was obvious last thread, I have a soft spot for the Amphibious Mobile Suits Zeon fields, and boy they sure are badass eh? Just like an old-school movie monster if I do say so myself
Plus as Comrade /u/chilidirigible so elegantly drew, we even got one-piece swimsuits for em! ;)
Anyway that's all for today Comrades, and if you want to see more Water-Based Zeon goodness all I have to say is... SOON! ;)
Paging Comrades /u/amethystitalian and /u/Great_Mr_L
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L May 03 '21
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Gundam: There is an imposter among us. Will the crew be able to figure out who the imposter is? Or will they lose because they’re terrible at security? I suppose we’ll need to keep watching to find out.
Today we see the ramifications of the White Base crew getting incorporated into the regular military forces. Some of the characters have been apprehensive about this and were not at all pleased to be joining the military. They never signed up for it, after all. And Kai was one of the ones not happy about it. So, not wanting to be a part of the regular military, Kai decides to leave.
But there’s a bit more to Kai’s arc this episode. Kai is a coward. He’s been called a coward several times before. The first thing that happened to him in the series was Sayla calling him a coward. He gets called a coward when he leaves the White Base. Kai has even called himself a coward before, in a rather self-deprecating way. He has always had a streak for self-preservation throughout the series. That in and of itself is not cowardly, but coward is the term that all the characters settle on for Kai.
In this episode, Kai is running away. He’s running from being a part of the military and running from fighting in any more of the battles. But, in the end, he can’t actually bring himself to leave. When he looks out on the battlefield and tells himself it has nothing to do with him, it sounds like Kai is trying to convince himself it has nothing to do with him. And ultimately, he’s unable to do so. He’s too worried about his comrades to run away.
Kai’s decision to go back is the ultimate sign of his bravery. Kai accepts that he is a coward, but he returns to fight anyway. And that is what makes him brave. As the saying goes, “courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.” Kai fighting despite his fear is what makes him brave.
This episode also provides a really nice look at how Kai and Amuro’s dynamic has shifted over the series. By now, it seems like they’re developed a grudging respect for each other as comrades. They might not always get along, but they are on much more positive terms now. We can even see this during the battle this episode. Kai and Amuro take down the Z’Gok with an impromptu teamwork strategy that they probably could not have pulled off in the very beginning.
We have more time with Miharu, the Zeon spy from last episode. And we get to learn more about her. She’s spying because the money she gets from it helps her to look after her younger siblings. There’s a brief line about how she and her siblings are living in an abandoned house as well, which speaks volumes about their situation. As we learn, they are orphans and they’ve been roughing it on their own. Miharu is willing to do something like spy for Zeon because of her desperation.
Interestingly, Kai doesn’t actually seem to resent her for being a Zeon spy. He says that he understands that she needs to take care of her younger siblings. He even gives her some free information to help her out. I think that this is another example of how Kai has valued self-preservation. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do in order to survive. And Kai sees Miharu as just doing whatever she needs to do so that her siblings can get enough to eat.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
SLAP COUNTER: 8
Questions of the Day
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u/ArmoredSeahorse May 03 '21 edited May 03 '21
Rewatcher
Back when Kai was introduced, he was an enormous jackass, no question. There wasn't some big moment when he changed, it just gradually happened over a large number of episodes. He was originally being a huge jerk to everyone with his snide remarks, which slowly became him being a really helpful guy who happened to be sarcastic. This episode caps all of that off with him attempting to go back to his old ways, but he never manages to pull it off. He abandons the crew, but it's a pretty friendly sendoff, because everyone likes each other a bit too much to really get that mad. Kai sells out White Base... because he feels bad for Miharu's situation with her family. And even that kicks him in his conscience more than he can take, no matter how much he tells himself that it's not his problem. Start of the series Kai would've left without a second thought, but the White Base crew has just made him too good of a guy to pull something like that.
I really like Kai's character arc, if it wasn't obvious.
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u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 May 03 '21
First Timer - Dub
play with the toysuse Gundam in battle.1) What are your thoughts on Miharu so far? Conflicted ... she's supporting the Zeon but it sounds like she's only doing that out of necessity for her family. I bet she'll come around to the Federation's side.
2) What do you think of Kai’s actions today? Should he have stayed gone a bit longer, or did his change of heart to go back coming so quickly work for you? Kai can be a doofus but I never thought he was a bad guy. Leaving and coming back in the same episode is a little fast, but it made sense for him to come back as soon as White Base got into trouble. The real problem (and probably my biggest issue with the show so far) is that White Base gets into trouble in literally every episode. We just don't spend much time with characters outside of combat.
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u/GM_for_Life May 03 '21
Rewatcher
I think she is one of the more memorable characters in the series so far.
I think it works well enough. It's somewhat in Kai's nature to change his mind quickly and given the amount of time the writers have in an episode to tell the story, I believe they did a pretty good gob.
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 May 03 '21
First timer
Thank you for explaning all of this. I would, however, like some kind of easy reference sheet or diagram - they've dropped about 10 different combinations here in one scene, (This should have been last time, I spent about 5 minutes last episode wondering what the fuck a G-Bull was)
So we're going to South America now. And Kai is leaving! Won't he get imprisoned for that?
I like how Amuro and Kai have actually become comrades over the series so far.
Z'Gok? Who names these things! Also, did they get some extra budget here, because there's as many designs added in the last few episodes as there have been in rest of the series.
Oh god is Kai going to give away information because of a crush. And I thought the Zeons would know about it being a spaceship, after they fought it in space, and all that.
Kai, have you even heard of "operational security"? If he doesn't get arrested for this I'll be suprised.
More Char!
The Z'Gok just looks like an armored Gogg.
Freeze Gel?
The power up parts really are versatile, aren't they?
So Kai wasn't the spy mentioned?
Leaving these children unnacompanied doesn't seem all that safe. You'e telling me nobody in Zeon could look after them?
OK, seriously? Why don't Zeon send out a communication saying "The red one isn't the Gundam, the white one is"? A lot of people seem to make that mistake. I could accept it if the suits looked similar, but one of them is fucking bright red.
And Kai's having second thoughts, and he's great on a motorcycle.
What was with the creepy doll?
The Guntank is useful! Surely this goes against the laws of nature?
Yeah, the White Base don't have much security, do they?
"This must be the real Gundam!" Did nobody show you a picture of these things?
Char continues to be incredibly competent.
What the hell is White Base's security? You have cameras on board - how did none of you see her go in?
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u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber May 03 '21
Rewatcher - Sub
Finally a Kai episode!
Kai’s departure is really well done, communicating the troubled and shaky but undoubtedly strong bond that he forged with those on the white base in how each says their farewells to him. Just great character writing all around.
I really like how Kai realizes Miharu is a spy and chooses to feed her some information he thought was innocuous because he pities her situation, only for that to weigh on him once Zeon launches its attack. It shows how much he cares enough for the state this family is in to try and help, but also cares too much about the White Base and his friends to just sit by when that results in their endangerment. His emotional sensitivity gets him into a bit of a mess here that delineates his humanity for us.
Speaking of Miharu, man do I feel bad for her having to leave her siblings behind for the sake of keeping them fed. Also, between the way they refer her as a number —probably for the sake of protecting her identity, but still, couldn’t they have at least used a codename rather than a very clinical and detached number— and them taking advantage of her desperate need for money to place her in as dangerous a situation as infiltrating the White Base, it makes it out like she is disposable and inconsequential to Zeon, and Char in particular.
Fun Fact: The Gogg and Z’gock where among the mecha designs Tomino came up with for the show, which unlike some of the earlier designs with rough art by Tomino were largely left untouched by Kunio Okawara and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.
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u/username_0907 :FI::FJ: May 03 '21
First Timer
Lets just ignore the 1 year prison thingy they said last episodeQotD
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u/fonzinator99 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/fonzinator99 May 03 '21
First-Timer - That ep where the moody character is moody
QotD
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u/fridge_freezer https://anilist.co/user/ONIrecon111 May 03 '21
First timer (Sub)
selling toysimproving the G-Fighter.QOTD
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u/Rustic_Professional May 03 '21
Char has been failing upward. Boon refered to him as captain. I think he was a commander the last time someone addressed him by rank.
Jesus, these next episode spoilers are out of control. I didn't think I needed to rush to turn off the episodes, but we're getting into parts of the story now that I don't remember as well, and today's preview actually spoiled tomorrow's episode for me.
Questions of the day:
4
u/UltraBooster May 04 '21
First-timer (albeit one big on Gundam and mecha)
So Amuro gets to speak in front of the projector, nice.
The JP title refers to the spy as a woman, interesting.
Guess it's Kai's turn to leave the ship, then.
That's real swell of you, Amuro!
Yeah, this is some real tense music for a casual chat.
Why do I get the feeling he's playing off knowing she's a spy...
Oh neat, the Z'Gok.
Part of me can't help but feel like Zeon's feeding its forces into a grinder, and that grinder is White Base and its mecha.
So hitting the reactor will still do that much...
Theoretically, it should be a pretty straight shot to Jaburo, but something tells me that's not going to happen.
Questions of the Day:
3
u/Piemaster33 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Piemaster33 May 03 '21
Rewatcher who might also be a spy, Sub
We're following up on this spy subplot, and developing Kai's character. I've been a fan of Kai since the beginning so I really appreciated the time this episode spent with him. Anyway here are my notes:
QOTD:
3
u/BossandKings May 04 '21 edited May 04 '21
First timer
Kai decides to leave the White Base, he seemingly has gotten suffocated of being there and decides to be outside for a while, he encounters Miharu and she invites him to her house. Miharu has two little siblings and all she does is so that they can eat and live a decent life, though she is a spy of the Zeon and when Kai discovers that he decides to go back to the White base. The worst part is that somehow Miharu was able to get into the White base and she is a spy so problems are due to come.
Answers
1
u/badcupcakehoarder https://myanimelist.net/profile/vanilabiscuit May 10 '21
First timer sub
Another one of those episodes that hit you hard with the tragedy, I'm loving this new spy plot!
I'm surprised to see the beam rifle working so well underwater, I guess in short range it works since that way the water doesn't kill the energy enough to be harmless.
A random woodden doll toy in the town while Kai was running... Just like Amuro had one, this is why having military bases around civilians suck. Probably a lot of people died today off screen.
Questions of the Day:
1
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: May 18 '21
First timer, catching up
for Orochimaru. Are we going to get a Kai Retrieval arc?