General Anime/Manga/Otaku Thread

[MexicanAnime]

Decided to finally watch a Gundam series. Ironically, I decided on a Gundam that was the first one not to be written by the main creator of Gundam.

Gundam 0080 : War In the Pocket is much more story oriented that focuses more on the characters than the mech battles, which are not all that frequent. This OVA excels in that department as both of the main characters receive proper attention in their development as they bear witness to the impact that the war causes with its destruction. What makes this all the more unique is that the story is told from the perspective of the "bad guys" rather than it being the cliche "There's bad guys coming to invade! As heroes of justice, we must stop these evil monsters".

While on the subject of war, the story does a great way portray the true effects of war rather than glorying the whole matter. Careful attention and detail were given into the theme, with one of the last few lines of the OVA told being almost haunting. One of the scenes that stuck out the most was a very early scene when the main child was playing a war game in where the whole town was being destroyed by the boy, only leaving monsters to consume the land.

As for my complaints, one of them would have to be how while the main two characters were very well written, much of the other characters didn't get as much development. Chris Mackenzie being one who could have been done really well if she had more time on screen. Other than that, I feel a bit odd about part of the ending.

Spoiler

The whole matter with the colony being fine regardless that the one trying to prevent it from being destroyed ended up losing. However, it's all fine and everyone (except Al) is happy as the place is in current peace due to one tape which led to negotiations. I know that makes me sound like some sort of pessimist, but it didn't sit all that well for me.