Hey everyone. Before we get started, I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this review with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick one 13ish episode series or film to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) This time around he chose the new anime film Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative. So let’s get down to the review!
There have been a lot of Gundam series in the past four decades, but not nearly as many feature films. And while two recent OVA series, Gundam Unicorn and Gundam: The Origin premiered first in Japanese theaters, there has not been a completely original UC Gundam film since Gundam F91, 27 years ago. Well, until now that is.
Released late last month in theaters across Japan, Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative is set a year after Gundam Unicorn. And since I reviewed Gundam Unicorn together with Toshi Nakamura back in the day over at Kotaku, I thought this would be the perfect occasion to get the band back together and take a look at this new film.
Toshi: But Richard, do you really think we can destroy more than 103 cop cars?
Richard: We’re on a mission from god, Toshi.
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Toshi: Gundam Unicorn did what I thought was impossible: it revisited the UC timeline in a meaningful and organically canon-altering way. It’s also may be the only example I can think of a successfully executed MacGuffin. I was initially skeptical of Unicorn, yet it managed to completely change my mind. Now, with this newest addition to the story–i.e., Gundam Narrative–I once again went in with my skeptical grumpy pants on.
Richard: I have to say I didn’t share those worries, but I don’t exactly have the attachment to the UC timeline that you do. All I’m looking for is a good, mostly contained Gundam story.
Toshi: Speaking of which, why don’t we go into what the plot of the new film is?
Richard: Sure. Two years ago, Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex and it’s pilot Rita Bernal went rogue and disappeared. Now, a year after the events of Gundam Unicorn, it has reappeared–and Federation forces are frantic to capture it. To do this, they enlist the aid of Rita’s childhood friends, Jona Basta and Michele Luio. But while Jona wants nothing more than to save Rita from the mess she’s in, Michele is out for something far different: the power of the Unicorn Gundam that defeated an entire fleet in a single instant.
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Toshi: Of course, we can’t add a bunch of new characters to a Gundam story without giving them a bunch of baggage first. As the story shows in its intro, Rita, Jona, and Michele are three “miracle children” who, when the One Year War initially broke out, saved a town by accurately predicting the fall of a space colony onto Sydney before it happened.
Richard: Ironically though, they‘re all orphans by the time the war ends. But while all the above is the plot of the story, that’s not what it’s really about–not on a thematic or emotional level anyway. It’s about three interconnected people and their complicated, tragedy-filled lives.
Toshi: And tragic they are.
Richard: Let’s start things off by looking at Rita. I’ve got a question. Now, you’re the UC expert here. Is Rita the most powerful Newtype ever?
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Toshi: That’s a tough one… Canonically, Judo was always supposed to be the “most powerful Newtype” even though both Amuro and Camille outperformed him in overall miracles. Even by that standard, however, Rita’s level of precognitive skills are something that has never been seen before.
Richard: Now, the way I’ve always understood it is that Newtypes have two kinds of powers: mind-to-mind psychic powers and precognition. Well, that and visiting other Newtypes after death. I mean, Lalah’s been pulling that trick for almost 30 years in UC time.
Toshi: Well, the way I’ve always seen it is that a Newtype’s powers are all extensions of their awareness and empathy–heightened to superhuman levels due to life in space. The precognitive stuff seemed to come from an understanding of how other people think–thus determining how they will act or move. The psychic connection stuff always seemed like an interaction between Newtypes’ empathic abilities: they can understand each other so much they can literally communicate through it. The “conversing with the dead” always seemed to be just an extension of that.
Richard: Makes sense to me. But regardless, she’s definitely an anomaly as far as even Newtypes go–which is the reason for the drama-filled relationship between her and her two childhood friends.
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Toshi: Jona and Michele. Those two each have got a suitcase full of angst apiece–especially Jona, who is very typical as far as Gundam protagonists go.
Richard: Which is to say tortured and brooding?
Toshi: Exactly. He feels a great deal of guilt and betrayal over the past events that split the three friends apart–events that are brought to light over the course of the movie.
Richard: Both Jona and Michele are twisted masses of emotion. For Jona, it’s a mixture of guilt, shame, and love when he thinks about Rita. He knows that something bad happened to her after they got separated (thanks to his Newtype flashes). So, he wants to rescue her now like he couldn’t do then.
His emotions toward Michele are even more confusing–with a healthy serving of a sense of hate and betrayal in there amongst the love for his only remaining friend.
Toshi: Michele is even more tortured, which makes her the most interesting character in the story.
Richard: Well, certainly the most complex.
Toshi: Right. Michele is the foster daughter of the head of Luio & Co. and at the time of the movie is the acting head–due to her father being a popsicle. Having been adopted in her teenage years, she’s led the company through the post One Year War era, taking part in all the major decisions that have helped it thrive. In the film, she uses her power and influence to muscle in on a top-secret Federation mission to capture the rogue Phenex Gundam.
Richard: But the key thing about Michele is that, even as a child, while she loved Rita, she hated her. She was jealous of Rita. She wanted Jona to look at her like he looked at Rita. She wanted to be a Newtype like Rita. But now, even years after Rita was separated from her and Jona, Rita still has everything that Michele wants. Michele wants Jona’s heart. She wants Rita’s power. She wants the Phenex Gundam.
And despite all that envy, she still loves Rita.
Toshi: Not to mention the fact that in her want to be Rita, she’s been pretending to be a Newtype, or at least someone with almost precognitive fortune-telling abilities.
Richard: Now while Michele straddles the line between hero and villain in a very believable, human way, there is someone who is very much the stereotypical villain in this film.
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Toshi: Was there? Because the character in question was so stereotypically the quintessential “villain” villain that once again I’ve completely forgotten his name…
But, joking aside, Gundam NT’s obvious villain, as it were, is Zoltan. He’s a man with mental instabilities and something to prove. It feels like his character was generated via madlib.
Richard: Which is why he is given command of a whole bunch of mobile suits and a superweapon. I mean, the Zeon remnants–well those not following Mineva anyway–are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Toshi: The merchandising barrel?
Richard: Every barrel.
Toshi: In all honesty, Zoltan is pretty much a side note in what is essentially Jona, Rita, and Michele’s story.
Richard: His only meaning at all comes not from what he does in this story but in his relation to the characters of Gundam Unicorn.
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Toshi: Which brings me to a point that should have probably been brought up earlier: Gundam Unicorn is very much required viewing before going into this movie. I can’t imagine what it’d be like for someone starting off with this movie cold turkey. Gundam NT is very much both an epilogue to Gundam Unicorn and a bridge to future series. It is not meant to stand alone.
Richard: Exactly. On a grander scope beyond our heroes’ personal story, it’s all about the fallout from Gundam Unicorn’s climax–though not the fallout you probably expected. No one cared about Laplace’s Box. It changed nothing. Effected nothing.
…and I find that apathetic attitude horribly realistic.
Toshi: It really was. You could really see how something like that would play out in the real world. Only people who think the Federation is garbage would have it confirmed, while others would see it as either just an outlandish conspiracy theory or false propaganda. There’s an almost tangible undertone of heartbreak throughout.
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Richard: But what did come from it is that it has assured Mineva the role of shadow ruler in the Republic of Zeon. While she is still a figure head, since she–as a princess of Zeon–can never act out in the open, she has tremendous clout amongst both the people and government.
In fact, her role in the movie is basically that of a power struggle between her and the legitimate Republic of Zeon government. …And let me tell you, she is 100% out of fucks to give when it comes to playing politics.
Toshi: On the other hand, what really left its mark, both literally and figuratively, in the UC Gundam timeline is the power of Psychoframe technology–that power to allow brainwaves to physically alter objects outside the laws of physics. Psychoframe technology essentially allows humans to reach beyond space and time. This obviously makes it a double-edged sword that people are both hungry for and terrified of exploiting.
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Richard: It completely makes sense that the Unicorn and Banshee Gundams would be dismantled–and that the reappearance of Phenex would make everyone lose their collective minds. It’s basically a superweapon that neither side controls–but each desperately wants to.
Toshi: It’s capabilities theoretically allow its user to cross the threshold between the world of the living and the realm of the dead. And in this, Gundam NT takes an extremely bold step and removes a lot of the ambiguity and figuratism out of the UC Gundam universe. The movie basically says that souls are real. Conversations between the living and the dead that could have been interpreted as symbolic or figurative have all literally happened.
Richard: It’s all spelled out rather clearly. And I’m okay with that. You?
Toshi: I’m still not sure how I feel. Personally, I enjoyed the ambiguity of it all. It allowed the viewer to interpret the events in the stories however they wanted. Having that taken away sort of makes some of the magic fade a little for me. That said, Gundam has always been a very science-based series, so scientifically concluding that souls exist doesn’t feel all that off-note either.
Richard: Well that leaves one big looming question: what’s next?
Toshi: Well, that depends on what direction the creators intend to take all of this. Is it going to find a way to lead directly into F91 and Victory? Or will it go somewhere entirely different?
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Richard: Well, first up we have Hathaway’s Flash which is set around six years after Narrative (the film is coming out this time next year). But the thing about it is that it’s based on a series of books from 1989 to 1990–and we’ve had almost 30 years of the UC Gundam franchise since then. While it’s been treated a canon by numerous Gundam novels and manga as it was written by one of Gundam’s creators, there’s nothing to say that the anime creators have to follow it to the letter. I’m personally hoping it is updated to include Mineva and her struggles to keep the Zeon old guard under control. Cuz it’s very much teased in NT that Mineva’s story is far from over.
Toshi: Agreed. An updated Gundam story for a modern age. Much like how Unicorn itself was.
So, do you think that Narrative should have been made?
Richard: Frankly, yeah. I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Despite the weak villain, it has a strong personal core in the relationship between Rita, Jona, and Michele. It also explores the fallout of Gundam Unicorn if you care about the grand scheme of things. What are your thoughts?
Toshi: Much like with Gundam Unicorn, I went into Narrative with a chip on my shoulder and a heavy dose of skepticism. Coming out of it, while I did find a lot to like–and appreciated the exploration into the repercussions of the events of Unicorn–I couldn’t entirely break free of the underlying feeling that the story was secondary to the purpose of the film. It felt like the movie existed to be a bridge and the story of the three protagonists was just a convenient way to build it. Where other series have felt like they had a story to tell, Narrative felt more like it had something to do.
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Richard: You don’t think that may have something to do with the runtime? I mean, this is the first and only film we’re likely to get with these characters. So, of course, it feels rushed compared to a full series.
Toshi: There is that. I would have liked to have seen the individual character stories more fleshed out and a villain that wasn’t so one-note, definitely. However, they took the time to show us where characters like Mineva and Banagher are in the world, and as character arcs go, the protagonists’ story does have a satisfying ending. That said, at the end of the day I’m left asking myself, “why did they want to tell this story?” And that’s not a question I have with most of the other Gundam series out there.
Richard: Really? I ask myself why G Gundam exists all the time.
Toshi: To sell toys. But in all seriousness, while I may be coming off as a bit of a sourpuss on Narrative, at the end of the day I did enjoy it. It’s not the strongest addition to the UC Gundam canon in my opinion, but it’s well worth seeing–if only as an epilogue to Gundam Unicorn.
Richard: At the very least it certainly is that. Oh, and the soundtrack is amazing. You should definitely give it a listen. In fact, I’m going to do just that.
Toshi: Hiroyuki Sawano does not disappoint.
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative was released in Japanese theaters on November 30, 2018. There is currently no Western release date, but you can catch the first 30 minutes of it on the official Gundam YouTube channel with English subtitles.
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