Gundam: Char's Counterattack

Publisher
Bandai/Beez
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
120
Year
1988

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
29th Sep 05

The Gundam franchise started with the battles between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, two “Newtypes” who fought on different sides during the one-year war in Universal Century 0079. Char’s Counter attack is the final chapter in their constant battle.

13 years since the end of the one-year war (which you can see for yourself either in the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV series or in the movie trilogy, which is also currently available from Beez). During these thirteen years a lot has happened (thanks to a large number of side stories and the main stories shown in Gundam Zeta and Gundam Double Zeta, which haven’t made it to European shores yet). Char, really the son of Daisuke Zeon who believed humanity must all move into space in order to evolve, who was thought to be dead returns as the head of Neo-Zeon to carry out his father’s ideals. Char plans to drop asteroids on to the Earth in order to cause a nuclear winter. Bright Noa and Amuro try to deploy their small force against the entire Neo-Zeon army, but even equipped with the Nu Gundam designed by Amuro himself they may be no hope left.

Along with the old faces, we also see a few new ones, although only two of these play heavily on the plot. Hathaway Noa (Bright Noa’s son) and Quess Paraya, these two quickly become friends, when they meet Amuro Quess seems to take a shine to him, however Amuro does not seem interested. When Amuro and Char run into each other in person Quess agrees that Char’s ideals are correct and runs off with him, she soon found to be an exceptional Newtype and begins to take an important roll in Neo-Zeon’s plans. This also affects Hathaway. This addition of new blood is a smart one it means those who might not know about Amuro and Char may find the driving force in this movie in these characters.

The animation is a lot better than that of the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy yet does still have a rather old hat look about it. Space battles were impressive but they have been far better scenes done than what is presented here (although most of these are done by other Gundam titles that came out after Char’s Counter attack). The music was at times stunning and at others average, which is a distracting combination.

There are a number of events mentioned that aren’t really explained, of course the mention of the one-year war may be lost on a U.C. novice, but there’s also mention of times when Amuro and Char worked together. I assume this will have taken place in Gundam Zeta or Double Zeta, but as these series haven’t made it to the UK yet many UK fans may not have the faintest clue what the films talking about.

There is an English language dub track on Char’s Counter attack, done by many of the same people featured on Gundam Wing. I found watching the dub difficult however, as due to the lack of an English language track on the Mobile suit Gundam movie trilogy I was extremely used to hearing many of the characters voice in Japanese.

The narrative moves rather quickly and because off this character development is pushed aside for some of our older characters. The fast moving film also means that there is no time when the film slows down for a bit of comic relief once it gets going. Strangely, though for being the apparent last entry in the Amuro/Char storyline the climax off this film is rather abrupt and confusing, it is not easy to obtain what exactly happens in the last 10-15 minutes of the film, and it could have used an extra couple of minutes to explain this to the viewer.

Char’s Counter attack was very enjoyable but suffered a little from assuming the viewer knows everything about the Gundam titles before it, which won’t be true for the majority of the fans in the UK. If you’re new to the U.C. then you really have to see the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy first, this is certainly not for Gundam novices.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English and Japanese 5.1, English and Japanese 2.0, English French Dutch German subtitles.

Release information: Publisher: BEEZ Classification: PG Out: September 26, 2005

Notes: In terms of extras there none of intrest bar two trailers for Char's Counter attack itself and a trailer for Gundam SEED.

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 29th Sep 05