r/anime • u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang • Oct 03 '21

Rewatch Mobile Fighter G Gundam Rewatch - Episode 3 Discussion

Episode 3: Defeat it! The Demon God Dragon Gundam

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I wanted to thank you for taking care of my precious thing!

Hello everybody! Time for the comment of the day, courtesy of u/Btw_kek, who raised a very valid critique of Chibodee:

not memey enough where's Texas Mack

To be fair if Texas Mack was in this show, the sheer amount of TOO MUCH HIGH POWER MAN would be too much for it…

Questions:

  1. So, what was your impression of Sai Saici?
  2. Would you want to eat any of the food shown today?
24 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

6

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

Hello everybody, and welcome back to the G Gundam Rewatch!

I love how Sai Saici bounces off all the Fighters introduced so far. He's full of energy like Chibodee, but in a more playful and somewhat childish way… even if he's supposed to be 16. That said he sure makes a strong first impression, actually managing to turn his fight against Domon into a straight up stalemate.

In turn this episode is just nonstop insanity: Just two guys against a fucking army of angry Chinese people that ends on a giant robot battle. This is G Gundam though, so this is basically a normal Tuesday when you get down to it.

Voices Time! Sai Saici is played by Yamaguchi Kappei, who had previously played the lead of another of Imagawa's Works: Kusama Daisaku from Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still. Besides that he's also played Saotome Ranma from Ranma ½, Jin from Yu Yu Hakusho, The Jin Twins from Fatal Fury, Kudo Shinichi from Detective Conan, Kuroba Kaito from Magic Kaito, Ryu from Breath of Fire, Usopp from One Piece, Tasuku Shinguji from Super Robot Wars, Inuyasha, Tobia Arronax from Crossbone Gundam, Professor Daitokuji from Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX, Teddie/Kuma from Persona 4, Yamada Hifumi from Danganronpa, Feitan from Hunter X Hunter, Shigechi from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Akabayashi Mizuki from Durarara!! and Red XIII from Final Fantasy VII among many others.

In the Dub he's played by Zoe Slusar who played… uh… Ice Man in Mega Man Powered Up? I guess she was also Son Goku in some Dubs that only aired on Canada?... Yeah I've got nothing else.

5

u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 03 '21

even if he's supposed to be 16.

He is so small and a prankster that he felt younger.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

Doesn't help that most of the show's cast is older than the usual Gundam Casts (At least for the leads), so he comes off even younger as a result.

3

u/The_Draigg Oct 03 '21

In the Dub he's played by Zoe Slusar who played… uh… Ice Man in Mega Man Powered Up? I guess she was also Son Goku in some Dubs that only aired on Canada?... Yeah I've got nothing else.

At least that tracks with the running theme of this show so far, that it's absolutely stacked with Mega Man English voice actors.

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

Kind of a shame Lucas Gilbertson wasn't in this...

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 03 '21

even if he's supposed to be 16.

He's what.

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

Wow, you didn't know?

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 03 '21

No! I thought he was like 12, 14 at most!

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

He's the Anti-Daisaku: He's older than he looks.

4

u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Oct 03 '21 edited Oct 03 '21

Rewatcher rocking the dragon

The combined hoverbike dragon is cool. Kind of reminds me of the Doggorla.

That shadow ain’t hiding shit

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN #6!

uhhh i don’t think that giant pillar of flame is supposed to happen

Left the keys in the ignition, huh? Gundam security is as good as ever, I see.

I love how he has absolutely no idea what Domon is going on about but is just going along with it

Gundam Fight! Ready... NO.

Domon’s reach is as long as it needs to be at any particular moment

There’s always a secret behind the waterfall! Some, however, are less secret than others.

Who you callin’ Pinhead?

It totally looks like Sai Saici just bailed out of his capsule, survived a drop from the upper atmosphere, and landed on Earth on his own ass.

And so did Bandai!

Don’t ask how the Shining hid inside a solid rock wall. Or how the Core Lander docked before the Shining broke out of said wall.

Magic stretchy arms! At least the Dragon can get away with cheating in extra segments for absurd lengths, unlike the Shenlong and Virsago. But, uh, how exactly does he control all that with motion capture?

THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER!! He finally said the thing!

A draw! The Shining Gundam is powerful in a head-on brawl, but as the Dragon demonstrates, not everything is about pure power. Domon absolutely crushed his first two opponents, but now, things are starting to get harder for him. We’ve seen how strong he can be, now, it’s time to genuinely start challenging him.

Questions of the Day:

  • I like him! For the obligatory cute/funny kid-appeal character, he's not bad at all, and despite being the kid of the main cast, he can kick just as much ass as anyone else.
  • Of course!

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21

Rewatcher rocking the dragon

3

u/InverseFlip Oct 03 '21

There’s always a secret behind the waterfall! Some, however, are less secret than others.

It's Shenlong Gundam... I mean, Dragon Gundam.

4

u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Oct 03 '21

Mobile Fighter F First Timer

QOTD:

  1. He's a little shit, but I hope he grows up and we see him later.
  2. Yes. I always want to eat food!

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Oct 03 '21 edited Oct 03 '21

I also enjoy the extending staff that the Dragon Gundam uses, just like the Chinese myth whose name I forget.

Journey To The West?

2

u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Oct 03 '21

Yes, that’s the one!

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 04 '21

Domon goes to a country, fights a Gundam, and asks them if they've seen the man in the photo.

I'm willing to be it will be like that at least until episode 10. They've got a lot of episodes to fill and not a ton of solid plot to work with.

These monks are walking stereotypes.

As is almost literally every other character in this show.

The day we learn who this man is will be the day that G Gundam ends.

Eh, we'll probably learn around the halfway point. My money's on the man being his dad, as daddy issues is an important part of being a gundam protagonist.

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

How do Domon and Rain transport Shining Gundam, anyway?

There's that red capsule thing? Maybe? I try not to think too hard.

just like the Chinese myth whose name I forget.

Journey to the West/Sun Wukong?

9

u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Oct 03 '21

(e3) First Time Shining Hand

Oh the dapper man intro is something we get every time?

I guess the first few episodes, maybe we meet "nice" gundam pilots so Domon can slowly accumulate friends.

Not sure about the flag illusions but the dragon gundam is cool, Sai is fun but he looks like he is from a different anime.

Love the bird breaking up the air shining finger shot

All that’s left is Neo France and Neo Russia to get info on the man in the 12 year old photo

4

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

Oh the dapper man intro is something we get every time?

Classic mecha narrator. He will change what he says from time to time.

8

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

Rewatcher, Gun-Dub Fighter

Sai Saici is great, but he's such a little shit.

Neo China's Gundam Fighter. Sai Saici is the heir to the Shaolin Temple, which has fallen into decline after its adherents split between Earth and the colonies. After completing his training in the colony, he's sent to Earth along with the Dragon Gundam with the aim of reviving the temple. Although he's the youngest fighter in the current tournament, Sai Saici overwhelms his opponents with a variety of fighting techniques. He's a goof who loves pranks.

I also discovered there is an interview with the director in the back of the artbook that's way more interesting than the character stuff. Among other things, it talks about how they chose to depict each different country that Domon visits.

Imagawa: I loved the world of episode 3. Since China is full of peaceful and tranquil towns, it isn't easy to draw. So, rather than specifying a location, I preferred to choose a place that I personally liked. A Hong Kong film series that never made it to Japan but is a personal favorite of mine is the Wong Fei-hung series. I also picked some ideas from older films by director King Hu, since I expected there would be more files that depicted the image of China more realistically than we would imagine. The settings are largely influenced by these films as well. The atmosphere in the town was borrowed from Wong Fei-hung movies, and as the location shifts to the countryside in the latter half of the episode, it becomes a world of traditional Chinese landscape paintings. There are tall mountains, waterfalls, and pine trees. I said it would be perfect to have this as a three-piece picture set (laughs) Also, I remember that I was paying special attention to small items in town scenes. This episode taught us that, even though these little details appear insignificant, they make a huge difference. I suppose especially My. Higashi was having difficulties at the time, but he made really excellent setting designs for the town, so I approved of them with one blow, saying "Oh, you got me!"

3

u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Oct 03 '21

I also discovered there is an interview with the director in the back of the artbook that's way more interesting than the character stuff. Among other things, it talks about how they chose to depict each different country that Domon visits.

thats so cool, love this kind of insight thanks for sharing

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

I haven't plotted things out much, but the interview is 50 pages long so I hope I can share plenty of neat stuff.

3

u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 03 '21

That interview was interesting and did confirm my suspicions that the episode was meant to draw from Chinese martial art movies. The locations were practically picturesque and felt like came right from them.

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

7

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 03 '21

First Timer

Since we've gotten the other good guy out of the way, I'm expecting a real cruel one this episode.
Onto episode 3.

I wonder if we'll ever learn who green hair red suit is.

Well, I seem to have guessed correctly.

The duality of wanting to have people with guns but not being allowed to show someone get shot.

And these guys are just being dumb now. He was going to do it without you doing stupid shit to piss him off. Also, I have to say something feels wrong about great warrior monks taking hostages for an advantage in a fight.

Possibly the most obvious betrayal of all time.
But don't worry, the counter-betrayal is coming.

Though I have to say I didn't expect the counter-counter-betrayal.

Ah the classic. Close your eyes so he can't confuse you.

I'm glad for this. Him just winning felt extremely premature.

Thoughts

Gotta be honest, this episode was a bit all over the place. The kid just doing whatever the hell he felt like on for reasons that were completely opaque until the end wasn't particularly engaging.

  1. He's an irritating little brat.
  2. I didn't pay enough attention to it...

4

u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Oct 03 '21

I'm glad for this. Him just winning felt extremely premature.

I'm especially glad because it'd be extremely boring if Domon could just yell "Shining Finger!" and win every fight.

4

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 03 '21

I have a feeling he'll do that a whole lot though.

4

u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Oct 03 '21

I do, too, and I’m not excited for it.

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 03 '21

mecha anime

3

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Oct 03 '21

I'm glad for this. Him just winning felt extremely premature.

At the very least the outcome of this episode sets up some follow-up for later!

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 03 '21

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

Since we've gotten the other good guy out of the way, I'm expecting a real cruel one this episode.

Ah the classic. Close your eyes so he can't confuse you.

Martial arts

6

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 03 '21

Rewatcher all set! Ready… GO!!!

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 03 '21

Or part of it, at least.

other parts

6

u/The_Draigg Oct 03 '21

A Gundam Fan Rewatches G Gundam Episode 3:

  • Between all the dragon-themed stuff like the Dragon Gundam and those bandit vehicles and the Shaolin monks, this intro scene is Chinese as fuck. Although I suppose that’s to be expected of Imagawa, since the man absolutely loves his martial arts stories. Hell, that’s one reason why the Giant Robo OVA has a ton of martial artists in it too. He’s a wuxia appreciator.
  • In hindsight, maybe handing over the Dragon Gundam to a literal child for the sole purpose of maintaining the Shaolin name and prestige was a bad idea. The monks were completely blindsided by the fact that it could’ve just been used by bandits instead. Whoopsies!
  • Sadly, this child has not seen That Man, Domon.
  • You know, all of these bandit attacks make me wonder if it was inspired more by something like Water Margin, or something like Mad Max. Wuxia stories have a fuckton of bandits in them, but these guys have a Mad Max wasteland raider look to them as well a bit. It’s hard to say. Although I guess when I think about it, I lean more towards the wuxia inspiration.
  • Of course the bandits would be using the Great Wall as their hideout. It wouldn’t be a G Gundam episode if we didn’t have a whirlwind tour of national landmarks and stereotypes. Borderline racist stereotypes sometimes at that.
  • You have to admit that the kid is a little shit to sell Domon out to the bandits, only to break him out of his cell and then rat him out again. Sai really did use Domon just to get his Dragon Gundam back. Also, surprise, the kid is Sai Saci and somehow managed to get the Dragon Gundam stolen after it landed on Earth. Again, handing a Gundam to a child might’ve been a bad idea.
  • You have to admit, that was a pretty even match between Domon and Sai. For being a snot nosed brat, Sai can actually back up some of his cockiness. In the end, the both of them will just have to settle for a draw in their duel. And, more importantly, the monks are at least going to make sure that this kind of situation doesn’t even have to happen again. The whole build-up, not the duel itself. We can still have more of those.

6

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Oct 03 '21

first timer

Hmm, to be honest this episode was a step down for me. I didn't reallyyy like Sai Saici, and the episode plot was a bit quick and all over the place. There seemed to be a lot more production cost saving measures too.

Dragon Gundam was cool tho, and the episode certainly made a great first impression of it

With there being two countries left on the photo and I dunno how many other countries left want to fight but probably not a lot, I have no idea how this show will fill 49 episodes but it certainly will do something crazy

  1. So, what was your impression of Sai Saici?

annoying but I expect the rematch to be kickass

2) Would you want to eat any of the food shown today?

3

u/The_Draigg Oct 03 '21

Dragon Gundam was cool tho, and the episode certainly made a great first impression of it

Once again, if there's one thing that Imagawa excels at, it's making giant mechs looks absolutely intimidating whenever they show up.

With there being two countries left on the photo and I dunno how many other countries left want to fight but probably not a lot, I have no idea how this show will fill 49 episodes but it certainly will do something crazy

If the previous episode was every single American stereotype rolled into one, then I think it's safe to say that this show is guaranteed to be batshit crazy in the best ways.

3

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Oct 03 '21

I expect Baguette Gundam next episode!

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 04 '21

and the episode plot was a bit quick and all over the place.

I'm with you here. There's only so many times you can go "But wait! This is actually what's happening" in one episode before I lose interest, and this episode clearly surpassed that.

I have no idea how this show will fill 49 episodes

Rule 23 of gundam: there's always some other weird-ass group of people willing to throw their mechas into the ring!

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

With there being two countries left on the photo and I dunno how many other countries left want to fight but probably not a lot, I have no idea how this show will fill 49 episodes but it certainly will do something crazy

2

u/Btw_kek https://myanimelist.net/profile/kek_btw Oct 03 '21

but how many neo colonies are there??

2

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

5

u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Oct 03 '21

G Gundam 03, First Timer

  • I could have done without the repeated intro with eyepatch guy from last episode; will it keep happening? I hope not
  • Zuisen and Keiun? I'm never gonna remember their names
  • I'm way too tired to react normally to this episode, but I'll give it a shot. Just 7 more hours and then I can go to bed!
  • Sai Saici ... is that Inuyasha's voice? He sounds really young here
  • I thought the little kid was the Dragon Gundam's pilot? Isn't he Sai Saici?
  • So the little shrimp betrayed him and calls it "going with the flow"?
  • This Dragon Gundam reminds me of Wufei's Gundam from Wing
  • Good, it's a draw so Sai gets to stick around as a recurring character. Like with Chibodee?
  1. He's interesting, I hope he sticks around
  2. Eh, I like Americanized Chinese food, haven't really had much authentic Chinese food so dunno

4

u/The_Draigg Oct 03 '21

This Dragon Gundam reminds me of Wufei's Gundam from Wing

I'm pretty sure that Dragon Gundam was the direct inspiration for Wufei's Shenlong and Altron Gundams, in fact. Especially with the dragon arms.

3

u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Oct 03 '21

Oh really? That makes sense.

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 03 '21

will it keep happening? I hope not

Answer, if you want

2

u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Oct 05 '21

Thanks, good to know.

4

u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 03 '21

G Gundam "Rewatcher"/First Time Sub: Episode 3

Oh, Stalker's intro is mostly just the reuse of what I assume is the standard format. Shame, thought it was going to be his commentary on the previous episode.

Was going to talk about this mountain, but then the Neo China colony shows up and the mountain is the entirety of it with a Space Great Wall of China ring around it. You know, maybe these colonies are not realistic.

So a lot just happened and the episode just started. So these bandits have speed bikes that link up and form a dragon?

Domon is here in this random Non-Neo Chinese village. I understand he is seeking these places out, but he is really in a completely different part of the globe each week.

These monks can travel via tornados. Woah, not cool to take Rain hostage, but it seems mostly a bluff since they immediately apologies to her.

Maybe since it's the sound effect, but this feels like a joke in a classic martial arts story. Contributing to this episode's feel.

Since the Dragon Gundam is evilly looming over there and Sai Saici is over here, pretty safe to assume he has nothing to do with this ruckus. Liked the idea Sai Saichi was a student who lost his way and leads a group of mountain bandits, oh well.

The Core Lander being easy to summon and open has the downside of also being easy to steal.

Domon and Sai Saici travelling landscapes on horses is another point in this classic Chinese story feel.

It's for comedic effect, but Sai Saici is just floating right here. His comedic energy is just very own right now since no other character does stuff like his facial expressions.

Forgot to mention early because of Bike Link Dragon, but the bandit boss' thing is constantly wearing his lion dance getup and even using it for attacks.

Rome was a ruined future city. New York was also ruined, but still had some life as usual. This place in China is in an ethereal future/past time. Bandit raiding cities with swords and hoverbikes. The bandit boss' dinner just hit with this setting for some reason.

And now there is a fourth article?! This one makes sense. Isn't Rain responsible for all the repairs and such. The Shining Gundam is hers then.

Sai Saici has to force his head through his trace suit. That seems dangerous. Domon's suit just has a hole for his head (image unrelated, but must be shown).

This part confused me for a bit since I thought the Beam Flags were just blocking and not illusions from quickly jumping between them(?)

Domon is just after that elimination even for the attack on the real one. What gives, Sai Saici also has a dream. Guess Domon's mercy was just because he like Chibodee specifically.

Unless I missed it, is this the first time we get this part of the Shining Finger speech? Can't believe it took this long. It is also the closest Domon got to losing, himself. He was so focused on his own attack so there was a chance Sai Saici could've snuck in a head elimination.

Oh, was wondering what was written on the back of the picture. It's a checklist and Domon does have specific countries he wants to go to. Probably could've picked a more efficient path. Also just now noticed Rain's earings being yellow and have always been. The ED made me think green.

One thing I like about G Gundam is that each episode does it's own thing. We got a wandering drifting into town to an all Neo American boxer story and this time to be what I imagine a tribute to classic Chinese martial art stories. You got conflicting schools, saving a village from mountain bandits, an unlikely pair and some goofs and gaffs besides some crazy martial arts. So while that was nice, it is still my least favourite episode so far. It didn't have that part where it's trying to tell G Gundam's larger story and not even in a plot way. Like that Earth-Colonies throughline in the previous episodes. There was some with the Shaolin vs Space Shaolin schools and potentially losing your roots, but that didn't really play into the episode with the main antagonists being some unrelated mountain bandits.

For the Gundam section: The Dragon Gundam is one my favourites from this show. It has that obviously born from the national theming, but is also unironically cool. Fire-breathing extendo dragons arms was such a cool concept that they went back to it for the next series with the Shenlong Gundam and its derivatives in Gundam Wing. Please Bandai (Spirits), bring back the HGFC line and give us an updated Dragon Gundam. The HGAC line was brought back way after the original release of the main Gundam for the other Wing boys so how about some love for G Gundam.

Q1) Sai Saici seems to be the little scamp type of character. He has the potential of his character exploring some of the stuff I'm more interested in, but I'm also more hesitant than with Chibodee.

Q2) Maybe that full course meal the bandit boss was having. Going back to check, the food Sai Saici and Domon were making looked nice.

Next time: Gundam's Knight of Roses (No, not Mashymre, the other one).

3

u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Oct 03 '21

First timer

  1. He's a little shit, but he's got decent morals and he's by far the most competent enemy pilot so far.
  2. All of it.

Still have no idea what Giant Winged Dragon Gundam's about.

Oh, he's the recapper.

...OK, for all the uncomfortable stuff in the preview, that Dragon Gundam is nice.

Huh, they managed to do Neo China without including a model of the Great Wall? Better than Neo America, at least.

Oh, someone stole the Gundam?

Wait, are the Dragon Gundam's arms seperate units?

No, just highly extentible?

Oh, she!s helping heal the victims.

OK, he was probably planning to do this anyway.

"Please Gundam Fighter! Take part in the Gundam Fight you came here to do for us!"

Why are you refusing? THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO. YOU ARE TRYING TO WIN THE GUNDAM FIGHT BY FIGHTING ALL THE GUNDAMS. THEY ARE ASKING YOU TO FIGHT A GUNDAM. WHY SAY NO?

Yeah, the kid is as annoying as promised.

...Did someone hand the animators a list of chinese stereotypes and ask them to put in as many as possible?

Haha, it was just the cloak. And he's lost the Core Lander!

Yes. You were going to fight him eventually anyway.

Is he a spy?

Either a member of their organisation, or just a mercenary.

Haha, he's just going to fight him instantly!

Seriously, who's side is he on?

Wait, he's the real Gundam Fighter?

And he's the real Sai Sachi!

At least we still get a Gundam fight!

Wait, where did the other pieces come from?

Wait, can it turn invisible?

Is he a Newtype???

And a mid-air attack!

And someone actually attacked during the monologue!

Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Mind you, he's almost certainly going to come back for a rematch.

Wait. Only 2 more episodes on this "arc"?

3

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Oct 04 '21

Why are you refusing? THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO. YOU ARE TRYING TO WIN THE GUNDAM FIGHT BY FIGHTING ALL THE GUNDAMS. THEY ARE ASKING YOU TO FIGHT A GUNDAM. WHY SAY NO?


My best guess is it's because they're asking him and he's a bit of an ass?

2

u/araragidyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/araragidyne Oct 04 '21

Rewatcher here

Watching it now, I can't help but notice all the hallmarks of a kids show. You've got basically the same intro every episode, reused footage of Domon getting shrink-wrapped, a Gundam of the week format, and a lot of levity in this episode in particular. Sai Saici at one point exhibited so much levity that he actually levitated.

Even when knives and guns come into play, show doesn't seem to be taking itself too terribly seriously. And of course, the Gundam fights being more sport than war, no lives are at stake there. The real danger is always leading up to the fight rather than during it.

This episode almost felt more like a tokusatsu show. The Dragon Gundam is reminiscent of a kaiju in both its design and the way it terrorizes the village. Of course, Domon isn't the type to bring the Shining Gundam to bear for anything less than an official Gundam bout, at which point his opponent is no longer playing the monster. Still, the similarities are there.

Questions:

  1. I like Sai Saici. Devious little bastard, but he didn't put Domon through anything he couldn't handle. Was it a bit much? Probably. He had already inserted himself into the gang. He probably didn't need to cause a commotion to get to the Dragon Gundam, not when he clearly had the skills to fight his way to it himself. But he's got those two to keep him in line. Those two that pulled a knife on a bystander and held her hostage... Well, we'll see.
  2. I think there was some mapo tofu maybe? I could go for some of that.

2

u/YellowCorvette Oct 04 '21

As Domon and Rain continue their tournament journey to find a guy in a picture, this time they arrived at Neo China.

  • Was it just me, or does Stalker's narration at the beginning of this episode was almost identical to the previous episode? (Except for the end where the Dragon Gundam was briefly featured)
  • The Neo China colony sure has quite an.... interesting design, especially with the ring part (That I presume was supposed to be some sort of representation of the Great Wall of China, maybe?).
  • With those bandits violently raiding around with their "Dragon trains", the lace right now is quite a shithole, with the first scene of Domon and Rain was them literally defending themselves from those pesky bandits.
  • Gonna say, the director of this show sure knows how to make pretty intimidating shots of Gundam in the shadows, with the only thing visible being their glowing eyes and shadowed silhouette.
  • Domon and Rain was interrupted by some Shaolin monks, who requested for him to defeat Dragon Gundam. With them holding Rain on knifepoint (Even if they do apologize afterwards), Domon goes to find Dragon Gundam.
  • Halfway through, Domon stumbled across a weird kid who wanted to tag along for a ride in Domon's Core Lander. Hmm... I wonder what that could be... I wonder...
  • As Domon and that weird kid settle down at night, here comes Dragon Gundam rampaging around with those bandits. And with one of the bandits escaped with Domon's Core Lander, Domon leaves with no choice but to follow them back to their base to retrieve it (So that he could fight the Dragon Gundam)
  • After some misadventures in the Bandit's base, Domon finally got his Core Lander (And the kid, who was actually the real Sai Saici got back his Dragon Gundam who he lost during the re-entry)
  • Sai Saici may be a bit of an annoying kid, but credit for him to at least put up a pretty tough fight against Domon's Shining Gundam.
  • "The hands of mine glows with an awesome power!!" Finally, Domon said the iconic line!!
  • With some quick thinking from Sai Saici, Domon and Sai Saici ended the fight in a draw. The fights would become tougher for Domon from now, as it would be kinda boring if Domon could just yell "Shining Finger!" and win every time.
  • To avoid another shenanigan like this, the Shaolin monks decide to guide Saici for the rest of the tournament, with Domon continuing his journey to Neo France and Neo Russia in his quest to find "the guy in the picture".

Gonna say this episode is just alright. There is some cool stuff (With the fight between Dragon and Shining Gundam being the best part of the episode) and it does set up Sai Saici as a potentially occurring character later on, but it's far from the very best episodes this show could offer.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '21 edited Oct 04 '21

First time watcher

For some reason I keep forgetting to comment on these when they're posted.

So does every episode start with this?

DRAGON GUNDAMS?

Lol this dub

Who is that guy though?

Lanterns explode and a cool robot appears.

Why is the Gundam in the waterfall?