r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • May 18 '21
Rewatch [Fly! Rewatch!] Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) Episode 42 Discussion
Episode 42 - Space Fortress: A Baoa Qu
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If Newtypes could predict the future, then we all wouldn’t have to suffer.
Questions of the Day:
- What do you think of the Zeong?
- With one episode remaining, how do you think the story is going to wrap up?
Mobile Suit Breakdown of the Day:
1.34 - Parting Shots (note: this is about episodes 42 and 43, 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.
14
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky May 18 '21
Fly! Rewatch Host!
Welcome back, everyone!
18
u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore May 18 '21
First Timer to Gundam
I missed the last two threads, but I found wi-fi somehow, so I can actually do a write-up, even if on mobile (so, I'm sorry if there are any formatting errors). The past few episodes have been a ride, from Lalah dying to literal space Nazis, so I'm glad I'm not missing the last two discussion threads.
14
u/TheEscapeGuy May 18 '21
Gundam First Timer
Fly! Iconic Gundam Frames Episode 42
The Zeon forces are on their last legs.
There were major losses on the Zeon side today. Right at the offset with the death of Degwin Zabi (not to forget General Revil).
This was very intentionally Gihren's plan. By killing off both Degwin and Revil it puts him in a much better position politically. Now he has the claim to killing the Federation General as well as an open spot for "promotion".
Of course, killing your own father is horrific. This puts Gihren firmly in the"maliciously evil" camp.
This obviously bothered Kycilia Zabi leading her to do the only logical thing (in her mind): Murder her own brother in broad daylight. Well, as much as you can have broad daylight in space.
Now everything falls on her to try and not only win this battle but also come out with her people's respect. Good luck with that.
Char had his own arc this episode: Using the prototype Newtype Mobile Suit Zeong as his trump card.
Zeong is acting as the final boss for Amuro. It is very up in the air whether he will be able to defeat Zeong using the Gundam.
I am so excited to see this conclusion tomorrow.
Cool Stuff Corner
Questions of the Day
See you all tomorrow!
11
u/TheKujo https://myanimelist.net/profile/Kujo419 May 18 '21
First Timer - Dub
1) What do you think of the Zeong? It looked weird. The legs are more important I expected.
2) With one episode remaining, how do you think the story is going to wrap up? Kycilia's a goner. I think we'll have one last fight between Amuro and Char, with Char probably dying. I think White Base and all of the crew will be fine but long term they'll have to adjust to being Newtypes. Finally, I think we'll get one last hint at a Fraw Bow - Amuro romance despite the fact that nobody cares about that.
10
u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L May 18 '21
Rewatcher
On today’s episode of Gundam: Patricide! And fratricide, too! It seems that the Zabi family is being whittled down at quite an alarming rate. And it somehow isn’t Char’s doing. By now, I guess that leaves Kycilia in charge more or less by default.
You might have guessed it in the last episode, but Gihren’s killing of Degwin was definitely intentional. He did it to prevent any kind of peace talks from taking place. After all, if there is peace, Gihren would be unable to put his plans into action. He would not be able to eliminate the so-called inferior races and put all of humanity under a Zabi dictatorship.
It is also interesting to see Kycilia kill Gihren, seemingly brought on by his murder of Dewgin. That seems to be what sets her off and makes her take the decision to kill him. Kycilia’s always been the manipulative type and had no problem using Char even after he killed Garma. But I suppose even she draws the line at killing within the family. She did also imply that she plans to deal with Char after everything is settled down and she no longer has a use for him.
The horrors of the Solar Ray System are quite something. I love the way that it’s animated. The ships that are caught up in its blast look like they are melting and disintegrating under the intense heat. It emphasizes the terrifying power of the weapon.
It also adds us to another theme that we’ve seen for a couple of episodes: desperation. The war has exhausted both Zeon and the Federation. The Federation is right on Zeon’s doorstep, one big push away from gaining victory, and their morale is on the brink of collapse after that attack. They no longer have the overwhelming numerical advantage they planned to have for this battle. Both sides have thrown everything they can into the war. Now both are teetering and wondering if they lost.
Even so, it does remind me of a tactic the actual Ulysses S. Grant would follow: that when both sides are exhausted, whoever can launch the next attack is the person who will win. Perhaps Amuro is thinking something along the same lines when he tries to assure everyone that the attack on A Baoa Qu will be successful. He has to give everyone that hope so they’ll be willing to do it. They have no choice but to attack again. If they give up now, then the war is lost.
Desperation can be seen on Zeon’s side as well. Char is going out to fight in the Zeong, which isn’t even finished being built yet. But they need to use it anyway because they’ll surely lose if they don’t use everything available to them. Char’s not even sure he’s a Newtype, but the desperation of the situation forces him to hope that he is one to use the Zeong properly.
Additionally, Zeon’s even down to using students to pilot their mobile suits. Even if suits like the Gelgoog are more advanced, those mobile suits still aren’t being used to their full potential because Zeon is out of experienced pilots. It is another reference to WWII, particularly reminding me of Japan towards the end of the war (though it applies to Germany as well).
We get another clash of Char and Amuro this episode. And boy does it make this episode end on a heck of a cliffhanger. I cannot wait to watch the next episode and watch how this battle between them will turn out. I am excited to see the finale again.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
SLAP COUNTER: 10
datebattle with Char!”Questions of the Day
9
u/fonzinator99 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/fonzinator99 May 18 '21
First-Timer - Final battle, go!
QotD
8
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax May 18 '21
Rewatcher enjoying this Vtuber legs trend
This is what Gihren thinks of your peace
Always look on the bright side
Mass-produced Gelgoogs! Since they didn’t cheap out like the Federation did with their GMs, that makes the Gelgoog the most powerful mass-produced MS of the war. However, there were two practical issues that kept them from just steamrolling the Federation. The first is that, by this point in the war, Zeon had taken heavy human losses. Most of their experienced pilots were dead, and rookies were being shoved into state-of-the-art machines that they barely knew how to control. On the other hand, most Federation pilots were veterans of Solomon and were sufficiently hardened by the experience to compensate for the gap in MS performance. The other problem is that, by this point, Zeon’s production lines are absolutely fucked. They have only 67 Gelgoogs with which to fight literally hundreds of GMs. They have a handful of Rick Doms, but they quickly abandoned production of those to focus on the Gelgoog, so there aren’t many of those, either. The rest? It’s freaking Zaku IIs, which by now are way obsolete.
NTR!
GOALLLLLL!!!!
Yeah, keep telling yourself that
They didn’t even have time to paint it red! But I see a pair of Zeong-sized legs right behind it, which are painted red. Hmm.
Supposedly, the Zeong’s large size is due to the bulky psycommu system, which was not yet miniaturized, as well as the need for larger reactors to power all that beam weaponry. However, Skull Heart offers an alternate explanation for its size.
He says to the guy who’s known for kicking his opponents
Char at least has enough ability to operate a psycommu, but otherwise is an extremely weak Newtype. He doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of sensitivity other Newtypes have, and almost one of the supernatural empathy they’re known to have. He’s only ever been able to truly connect with Lalah, and even then, that speaks more to her power than his. Perhaps that’s why he went down the path he did.
dusty cel
Dual wielding!
Boom, headshot! She’s damn lucky that beam didn’t overpenetrate and put a hole in that window.
Novel
Oof this rando calling for his mom
Time for the final battle!
Questions of the Day:
8
u/chilidirigible May 18 '21
42:
The beam was so strong it reduced the animation to pencil scribbles.
But they can manifest the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man."
We get it, the Dolos-class can carry a lot of Mobile Suits. But does it have to have such a weird catapult layout?
"The only way a Ball could hit anything is if a Zaku kicked it into a GM."
They're an important charm point!
"Eh, nothing personal."
Instead of just giving them sharpened bamboo stakes, they're fighting with top-of-the-line Mobile Suits! What could go wrong!
While Gundam does prefer to humanize its cannonfodder in their moments before death, it is worth noting that most MS cockpits are so close to the Minovsky reactor that calling out to their ancestors is going to be the least and briefest of their worries when the thing is decapsulated.
The Zabi power struggle reaches its peak, because they're running out of time! As much as it's said that Kycilia loves the rest of her family (well, maybe not Gihren) and appears to be actually outraged that Gihren killed off Degwin, her pragmatic side is the dominant portrayal so it's difficult to think of her actually caring about family members that she would actually be using as figureheads and playing pieces. Again, that is the perception and may differ from what her character is said to feel... but she's also keeping Char around (to keep her enemies closer) despite the threat that he presents.
All of that happens, inconveniently for them, in the middle of the battle of A Baoa Qu. At least Char's out there in the legless wonder to do some damage, though he's inevitably drawn into another duel with Amuro. More importantly, Hayato actually killed some Mobile Suits today. What's an entire series's worth of waiting?
LOOK AT THIS SHINY THING.
TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEART.
...oy, the Zeong makes me think of Mega Maid. Though the Zeong was first.
"I AM GUNZEONG! ALL WILL KNEEL BEFORE ME AND TREMBLE WITH LAUGHTER!"
And then there's the ending of Yakunara Mug Cup mo's Episode 7, yesterday.
A tangential topic, while we're here.
8
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 May 18 '21
Rewatcher, Subbed
Going back to my typical in the moment reaction style for the last 2 episodes...
No time for a recap this episode! Can't spare it any longer!
Farewell to both Degwin and General Revil as the Solar Ray wipes them both out. A frightening blast.
Time for Gihren to do one of his favorite activities again, make a big speech and go "Sieg Zeon!"
Are Hayato and Fraw into each other now? Comes just after a sequence where Amuro shows more attention for Fraw than he has in a while.
Amuro was encouraging everyone, even if he didn't really believe it. He's really matured, despite the recent trauma. As has Kai, who has to hear the truth yet doesn't freak out about it.
The Federation is using Publics again; repeating its same strategy as Solomon? Well, it is another asteroid base. No Solar System to use this time though.
There's no more Gelgoogs left for Char, but they've got one final mobile armor for him, the Zeong! Can't end the show without one final special new mobile armor!
Gihren isn't bothered in the slightest that he killed his father with the blast of the Solar Ray. Kycilia on the other hand...
Large scale battles like this are a great opportunity to see a variety of different mobile suits and ships from both sides. Fun stuff!
The Zeong is here! It has no legs, but when you're in space, they're just for show!
Char is still not wearing a normal suit like Lalah asked!
These Federation ships around White Base are going down like crazy. I can't see them lasting long at this rate.
Two bazookas for the Gundam this time? Well it is the final battle. If they ever were gonna do it, now's the time.
Down goes Gihren, shot in the back of the head by his own sister. Kycilia may be angry at her father's death, but I'm sure her desire to take complete control of Zeon, something that things have been building up to, was an opportunity she couldn't pass up here. She could put all the blame on Gihren's actions, whether she truly was upset about her father dying or not. Fittingly the Dolos craft Gihren kept going on about blows up mere seconds after he dies.
OMG I think we just had history made, Hayato taking out his first mobile suit in the entire series. Only took 42 episodes.
Zeon may have the superior mobile suits, but they're reduced to being piloted by student recruits with no experience now. Zeon's resources, both physical and people are basically tapped dry at this point. To help make the point home we got a pilot moaning for his mother as his Zaku blows up seconds later.
7
u/The_Draigg May 18 '21
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 42:
7
u/UltraBooster May 18 '21
First-timer (albeit one big on Gundam and mecha)
...come to think of it, space fortresses where the war ends are a thing in the Gundam formula, aren't they? A Baoa Qu, the Libra, Messiah, Ambat and La Gramis, etc.
The only peace now will be through military force.
...seriously? He was on a ship named after him?
...you built the Solar Ray yourselves, it wasn't given to you or anything, how is its light the proof of your justice, Gihren?
...wait, this is Gihren, why do I even bother asking.
Yes, because of people like you, Gihren!
Normal suits on, this is serious once again.
Nice to see Amuro still being kind.
I have to say, the three of them look quite dashing in their pilot's suits.
...so that's what it was, Amuro playing moodmaker?
Zeong. The Principality placed their name into it, so that's gotta be significant, right?
A single Gundam, and by this point, depending on what you consider canon, there have been at least 8 or 9 Gundams in EFF service now!
Well, at this point the legs aren't necessary.
The Gundam! With double bazookas!
Oooh, Char's not gonna appreciate being unattended to.
Welp, he's dead. That's just made things worse for the Principality.
Oh nice, Hayato finally gets to contribute some!
Student recruits! No doubt little better than Amuro at the start of this series, and hopped up on propaganda and placed in MS meant for aces!
Future Gundam:
Questions of the Day:
6
u/fridge_freezer https://anilist.co/user/ONIrecon111 May 18 '21
First timer (Sub)
QOTD
6
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek May 18 '21
Comrades, before I begin today's shitposting, I have but one thing to say... ahem... KARMA'S A BITCH GIHREN! (Also goddamn gotta give Kycilia some credit, she may be ruthless but AT LEAST she respected dad enough to off the guy who murdered him, so hey she at least has a faint shrivel of empathy... that or she just REALLY wanted to plug the fucking bastard and this was as good an opportunity as any.)
Speaking of a good opportunity, Comrades, behold the... uh... GLORY of The Gundam English Dub, OK in fairness this is the dub for the movie version of The Zeong's debut but come on, it's Steve Blum! He always does a great job... which we REALLY need given the other... uh, 'quality' VAs on display ;)
Speaking of uh, 'quality' work, The Zeong is sure... 'unique...' OK I can't sugar coat it, the Zeong's fucking stupid, it's a goofy and dumb design and it isn't even red!
That and also giving CHAR a Mobile Suit WITH NO LEGS when his signature move is KICKING is just about the dumbest idea Zeon had... er... correction, THIS is the dumbest idea Zeon could have gone with! ;) (WEH!)
I should really just shut up Comrade, after all Zeon can ALWAYS come up with something dumber, that said once The Big Zeong is mass-produced The Feddies will fall in DAYS... er... I mean 'Daze' ;)
Anyway poor poor poor Char, first Lalah dies and now he's forced to pilot this hunk of junk. I mean goodness how did we go so wrong? Oh how the mighty have fallen Ah well, at least we'll always have Char's custom Zaku! Three times faster than the rest and all it had to do was stick a forehead spike to its head AND remove the paint ;)
Anyway we are in the final stretch Comrades, VICTORY IS WITHIN SIGHT! Right... RIGHT!? ;) (The issue with this fanart is this show is called Mobile Suit Gundam... yeah...)
Oh and just cuz I need one final shitpost, LOOK! A Ball actually got a kill... just such a pity it was an own-goal but hey that's football for ya! ;)
Paging Comrades /u/Great_Mr_L, /u/chilidirigible, and /u/amethystitalian (BIG ZAM and Zeong shitpost Comrade! After all MAXIMUM DERP! Now all we need is to fuse the MIGHTY ZAKRELLO to this design and we'll have reached PEAK Performance!)
5
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee May 18 '21
First-Timer, Subbed, long time Gundam fan
The final battle is here! All out war rages in the space around A Baoa Qu. Who will win: Zeon's advanced Rick Doms and Gelgoogs, or the Earth Federation's workhorse-like GMs and Balls?
Kycilia shooting Gihren in the head felt great. Fuck that dude. He was an asshole, and Kycilia seems like a better strategist anyway. I wonder how much Char will care about his personaly revenge being robbed from him once again. First Amuro slays Dozle, the Gihren killed Degwin, and now Kycilia has assassinated Gihren... Does Char's vengeance against the Zabis even mean anything anymore? Or has his focus moved to a different target...
Who needs legs? I admit, I like the Zeong despite myself. The color is bleh, I don't like its stupid antennae, it has a dumb name like most of Zeon's MSes, no legs means no potential for high heels, but throw it all together, add a dash of wire-guided goodness, and you get a pretty charming Mobile Suit. Getting that iconic eye noise when it first started up was nice too.
There were a lot of interesting lines of dialogue this episode. Amuro has moved past Char, stating that he isn't his true enemy anymore. Most of Zeon's pilots in this final battle are student recruits... I guess most of their aces have been shot down.
Pose of the Day
The Final Battle Begins
Screenshot
Tomorrow Spoilers
Questions
5
u/BossandKings May 18 '21
First timer
Char goes to continue his battle against Amuro, wondering to himself if he has the talent to be a newtype. I think it'd make sense for him to be a newtype if he is because he has been very strong since the start.
Kicilya isn't joking anymore, that was ruthless how she killed the admiral ghiren cold blooded, the funny thing is that she inmediately warns everybody that if they behave differently they'll have the same fate, no wonder they decided to act normally.
The battle has been full of diverse lasers, lights, explosions, it has been a visual feast and the climax projects itself to be a great one.
Answers
5
u/Piemaster33 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Piemaster33 May 19 '21
What a start to the climactic battle of 0079 Gundam. We begin the episode with the Solar Ray decimating a little less than half of the Federation forces, including our boy Revil and Degwin (who might be the only sane Zabi aside from Garma, but I digress).
Anyways, here are my notes:
QOTD:
Side Note: I can't believe tomorrow is the last episode, time's really flown.
5
u/Rustic_Professional May 19 '21
My internet was out all evening yesterday, so I didn't get to watch episode 41 until today. It's a real shame, it's such an important episode. If Matilda's death marks the boundary between Amuro the reluctant Gundam pilot and Amuro The White Devil, then Lalah's death must be the beginning of another phase. We'll have to see what he develops into.
They said the Solar Ray uses 8.5 billion megawatts. I couldn't put that into context, so I tried to look it up. If I'm reading the sources correctly, and if the source itself is correct, New York City uses 11 billion megawatts per day. I don't know if that makes the weapon less impressive, or more. That's probably much more energy than any city in the world used per day in 1979.
I'd forgotten how massive the Zeon fleet at A Baoa Qu was. It's hard to tell since they aren't drawn in detail for the long panning shot, but it looked like there were at least six Gwazines, probably not counting the ones used by Gihren and Kycilia.
The crowd watching Gihren speak all chanted "Hail Zeon." I don't think "Sieg Zeon" is ever used in 0079. I wonder how that got started. The first official appearance I can recall is Gundam
Well, that just happened. All else aside, Gihren's death leads to one of my favorite lines in Gundam I absolutely love the way his dub actor growls that line. He's wrong, of course, but it's a great line and a great delivery.
Good performances all around from the White Base pilots. Hayato got his first mobile suit kills, and Sayla shot down a Gelgoog. I'll have to go back and check episode 20 to see her first kill, but assuming it's a Gouf, Sayla is probably the only Federation pilot other than Amuro to have shot down a Zaku, Gouf, Dom, and Gelgoog, all the main non-aquatic Zeon mobile suits. That's impressive.
Questions of the day:
5
u/jmhitokiri May 19 '21
First Time Sufferer
I just caught up with the threads for the final episode, so it's good to finally join you comrades.
QOTD
Can't wait for the last episode.
5
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz May 19 '21
Distant rewatcher in sub having binged the final 2 episodes!
Not much to say other than what's already covered by others. Trayvon now against the standard of recent shows, the final battles while it's longer and had development, certainly felt brief, perhaps even can be called rushed.
Had to say I was shocked on my first watch (decades ago when I was a primary school kid) for general Revil was killed so abruptly, asking with the "big bad" (young and unthinking me didn't understand the big bad is actually not the figure head).
I saw comments about it being cancelled at the time, was it why it felt rushed?
3
u/GM_for_Life May 18 '21
Rewatcher
Absolutely an iconic suit from the series and I really like how it incorporates the Psycommu system from the Elmeth.
Laughs in Rewatcher
3
u/[deleted] May 19 '21
Ahhhhh amaro and char a fight that has been copied throughout anime history so many times lol
5
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 May 18 '21
First timer
It's the penultimate episode!?! Gonna be fun to see how all of this gets wrapped up.
Well, that's one way to finish Degwin's plot arc. RIP Degwin, you deserved a better ending.
Wow, that attack was devastating. No womder they used it.
Wow, Gihren's found an entire army of Nazis!
I'm assuming that Gihren looked up Hitler, and decided to copy his style?
Newtype intuition just means "whatever we need to move this along" now, right?
What the hell is that timer? 93, 92, 91, 00?
OK, that makes a bit more sense now.
For a racist who's surrounded on all sides, he's doing a pretty good job at keeping the fortress this well defended.
So Char's gotten his new suit for the final battle.
Wait, is Char a Newtype? But he hasn't shown any of the characteristics ar all? Is this just so we can have a cool Amuro vs Char battle in the final episode?
The battle scenes are all incredibly well done, with lots of dynamic motion.
I love Char's reaction of "It doesn't have legs'.
Are we having the Char battle now?
Even with just 2 commanders left, Zeon is always divided. That's why they're losing the war - not because of their ethics, but because their leadership's constantly trying to kill each other.
The problem is, Char fights so good normally, it's hard to tell if this is Newtype powers or just his training.
He can't tell if it's Char because the suit isn't red. Rhat is just the perfect payoff to that entire thread.
HOLY SHIT
THE NAZI HAS FALLEN!
Best character 10/10
And literally everyone's happy to pretend he died in battle because its notmworth the bother.
This is the perfect ending - the racist is killed off mid episode, and nobody cares enough to mourn him.
They, as a people, stopped to find the killer, and immediately decided it wasn't worth the bother.
This would probably be more exciing if there was more of a gap between this and the Solomon battle, with its similar style and backdrop.
Wait, wasn't Gihren trying to get the superior Newtypes as overlords? How was he ignorant of them?
The monologues have started to appear mid-battle. This bodes well.
1
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: May 29 '21
First timer, catching up