The Official Gundam Unicorn Anime Thread Mk IV

[Ouroboric]

Haven't finished X and I'm hesitant to watch G. I will agree with Dianna Soreil actually come to think of it, the ZZ Gundam characters were pretty much all weak i thought(save the 20 episodes that were actually good in the series). The rest you mentioned were all good characters, though i would take Cagali over Lacus any day. Lacus really was'nt that interesting to me until her encounter with Athrun in Plant when she asked him to question what he was doing, until then she just seemed one dimensional to me. And in Seed Destiny she was just a waste of screen time more than not( she should of been assassinated early on, and then Kira should of been killed by Shin as far as I'm concerned). Haman is more of an antagonist than a "lead" protagonist, she was great though.

[NastyNate]

I also forgot shakti and the whole Shrike team.

[Ouroboric]

I really liked Shatki and the Strike team as well, Shatki's Mother was a sweet character as well. I like the role Minerva(spelling?) took right off the start in Unicorn, and her willingness to go beyond herself and look at the whole of the situation, which contrasts with Banagher's initial attitude quite well.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

Don't be hesitant to watch G Gundam. I used to hold a disdain for the concept but then I took the time to sit down and watch it. It has flaws but what Gundam show doesn't? It has loads of hot-blooded action, cool characters and probably the best romance between Domon and Rain. PLus liquid metal Rain is made of all kinds of win. What do I mean by that? Watch it and find out.

I just wish they had introduced Allenby earlier... And don't take my word alone, ask Chris and Soul Bro.

[Ouroboric]

It's last in line, i will get to it once I've completed X. Then i will have watched all the animated stuff minus the super deformed stuff and cgi stuff(maybe that will be next haha).

[Chris]

Let's stay on topic please. Discussion of women from Victory or AU series has no place in a Unicorn thread.

[Ouroboric]

Sorry about that, it's too easy to get off topic sometimes.

Anyways,what is the planned release date for episode 4 anyways?

[J-Lead]

Goddammit, am I the only one who's really begrudged that those two Nemos got their ZOINKS wrecked by that sixteen year old catastrophe that barely made the production lines?

Perhaps it is because it's often the man, not the machine, that obtains the victory. EFF pilots seem to be perpetually under-trained in close combat. The GM III pilot with the beam spear is obviously the most skilled of the lot, and experienced (or at least practiced) in dealing with enemy machines up close. Too many Feddy pilots act like they don't know what to do when the enemy is not immediately downed in a hail of gunfire. Then too, the Zeon pilot also seemed quite adept at the controls of his alleged catastrophe.

Actually, from the text in the official profile on the website, it's implied that those Nemo pilots were probably veterans, and the fact that they opted to take out their beam sabers and take care of the opposing forces up close in a city rather than rely on their collateral damage-prone ranged weapons kind of lends to that notion.

Upon retrospect, however, I can see how this scenario kind of makes sense. Post-OYW mobile suits usually have an edge over older models through their mobility, and sacrifice armor to achieve said mobility. These two Nemos, however, were fighting in an enclosed space, robbing them of their mobility, in addition to trying to avoid damaging the surrounding city (a concern the Zeon remnants do not share, as you saw.) The Juagg, on the other hand, has no deficit of armor and firepower, putting that ugly little shit at a huge advantage against the technologically more advanced but lesser armored Nemos.

I doubt they were truly inexperienced, though. The one pilot that survived his/her unfortunate encounter with that Juagg did take down that Capule in close combat, after all, which had significantly more firepower that could have downed him no problem in that same scenario had he/she given it a chance to use it.

[APendragon]

Sorry about that, it's too easy to get off topic sometimes.

Anyways,what is the planned release date for episode 4 anyways?

November 12th, according to Wikipedia. I don't see it confirmed on Amazon or anything though, so I guess that's not necessarily a final date?

[Deacon Blues]

That's the broadcast/stream date. The Blu-Ray is in December.

[Zeonista]

Goddammit, am I the only one who's really begrudged that those two Nemos got their ZOINKS wrecked by that sixteen year old catastrophe that barely made the production lines?

Perhaps it is because it's often the man, not the machine, that obtains the victory. EFF pilots seem to be perpetually under-trained in close combat. The GM III pilot with the beam spear is obviously the most skilled of the lot, and experienced (or at least practiced) in dealing with enemy machines up close. Too many Feddy pilots act like they don't know what to do when the enemy is not immediately downed in a hail of gunfire. Then too, the Zeon pilot also seemed quite adept at the controls of his alleged catastrophe.

Actually, from the text in the official profile on the website, it's implied that those Nemo pilots were probably veterans, and the fact that they opted to take out their beam sabers and take care of the opposing forces up close in a city rather than rely on their collateral damage-prone ranged weapons kind of lends to that notion.

It is a good suggestion, which does bear consideration. ROE could be a factor in their decision, and shape their tactics.

Upon retrospect, however, I can see how this scenario kind of makes sense. Post-OYW mobile suits usually have an edge over older models through their mobility, and sacrifice armor to achieve said mobility. These two Nemos, however, were fighting in an enclosed space, robbing them of their mobility, in addition to trying to avoid damaging the surrounding city (a concern the Zeon remnants do not share, as you saw.) The Juagg, on the other hand, has no deficit of armor and firepower, putting that ugly little ZOINKS at a huge advantage against the technologically more advanced but lesser armored Nemos.

Part of the reason the armor post 0085 is lighter is that it ends to be Gundarium, which can do more with less, so the older MS need direct hits to do damage, so the Nemos aren't totally hosed. The shields give them a bufer too, if they can be deployed effectively. Since the Juagg is a Marine-type, it is a tough customer, and with the bazooka hands it is nothing to face in the confines of an urban venue. So the EFF pilots would have to fight at a disadvantage anyway. A second viewing does show the Nemoo team tried to take it out fast, and didn't get it. The GM III had the good follow-up.

The one pilot that survived his/her unfortunate encounter with that Juagg did take down that Capule in close combat, after all, which had significantly more firepower that could have downed him no problem in that same scenario had he/she given it a chance to use it.

The Kapool encounter seems to justify the criticism given it as a marine-type, although the Nemo pilot is quick to act, which revises my opinion of EFF pilots in the UC Nineties up some more. Despite the complaints about the Sleeves-love in the story, the EFF is depicted so far as being a competent and skilled organization at the sharp end.

[Imperial]

I think the Zeon Remnant-Federation Nemo disparity can be chalked up to Zeon fanboys on the production team. If you read the official profiles, old suits like Nemos and GM IIIs get trashed for being outdated, whereas even more ancient suits like the Zaku Cannon are upheld as these marvelous pieces of Zeonic engineering (despite its MAHQ profile stating it was so poorly designed it couldn't even handle its own recoil properly).

Besides, it's an old strategy to make things appear more thrilling for the hero and his immediate wing men to be the only competent ones. How many times have rank-and-file pilots gone done in flames to up the ante by making the hero the only one who can save the day? We've seen in Dozle's debut of the Big Zam, Gato and his Nieu Ziel rampage, etc. If the Federation regulars could wax these guys, there wouldn't be anyone left for the Nahel Argama to fight.

[latenlazy]

I doubt they were truly inexperienced, though. The one pilot that survived his/her unfortunate encounter with that Juagg did take down that Capule in close combat, after all, which had significantly more firepower that could have downed him no problem in that same scenario had he/she given it a chance to use it.

It doesn't seem like any of them died...well at least the ones that didn't get their cockpit smashed in any case...

[domtropen]

In older discussions about OYW MSs vs Gryps era MSs on Earth it is discussed that actually the specs are not that much different, especially for late model or upgraded OYW Zeon MSs. And it was discussed that the old recoil problem of Zaku Cannon might be for early production type or prototype, and the notion about recoil problem might be before the fed adopt them in Zeta [so it might be regarded as being retcon by Zeta]. Gryps era MS has great advantage over OYW MS in the weight reduction that frees up more space for more propellant, that increases operation time in space but of less importance on Earth.

As people point out Juagg and Kapool in this episode seem to have anti-beam coating on its "hands" so probably Nemo pilots don't expect them to be able to guard the beam saber slash. That Juagg seems to have many upgrades though, its hand rocket launchers changed to machineguns and the verniers changed into beam guns [IIRC in the comic where GM Striker is the main hero's MS it was shown clearly that the four round things were verniers that allow Juagg to fall back quickly for surprise retreat].

[flamingtroll]

I think the Zeon Remnant-Federation Nemo disparity can be chalked up to Zeon fanboys on the production team.

I think Juagg's performance has more to do with Juagg-fanboyism than Zeon fanboysim. The reaction on nicovideo is indicative of that too. It's just like how Agguy did well against Gundam in MS 08th team.

[Ceiling_Squid]

I think the Zeon Remnant-Federation Nemo disparity can be chalked up to Zeon fanboys on the production team.

I think Juagg's performance has more to do with Juagg-fanboyism than Zeon fanboysim. The reaction on nicovideo is indicative of that too. It's just like how Agguy did well against Gundam in MS 08th team.

I agree with flamingtroll on this one here. The Juagg is a suit known for looking fairly ridiculous and is one of those really oddball MSV units. It's going to attract a lot of attention from the viewers, especially those that recognize it.

So what do you do when you animate a classic MSV for the first time, especially an ugly one? Give it a little vindication. Make it perform well, come on with a bang. Sort of to justify why it was created, even though it looks very ungainly.

Nemo are perfect fodder anyway, they've had far more screentime than the Juagg ever will get, in previous productions. This is purely based on the exposure of the suit itself, and a badass, short debut of the Juagg might be a precursor towards trying to sell a model of the thing. The Juagg is going to likely appear in this ONE fight, so they had to make it give a good show. Trotting out the old bizarre MSV, so to speak, like the Agguguy in ZZ Gundam.

Regardless, I thought it was a pretty cool fight. I think J-lead's post about fighting in close quarters with lighter suits and attempting to avoid collateral damage does go quite a ways to explain what happened to the Nemo pilots (even though we all should acknowledge that most anime fights take drama over realism when it comes to who wins). And that Nemo pilot DID vindicate himself by taking that Capule down.

The in-episode statement by that pilot about hoping the reactors didn't go off also reinforces, I think, the view that the Feddies did not want collateral damage going into this engagement. My respect meter actually went up for the Feddies during this fight, because these grunts seem to have some care and humanity to them, not to mention enough skill to not set off explosions. These guys are working their asses off trying not to harm the city of Dakar, which makes sense after the P.R. fiasco the Titans had here before, as well as Haman's attack. It seems like the Zeeks have no compunctions attacking as they please, so the Feddies are fighting at a disadvantage here when they actually close with enemy suits.

The one shot we have of one of the pilots, he looks absolutely strained and exhausted, which I think shows nicely the stress of close-quarters MS combat. As much Zeon fanboyism people might see here, I think the Feds still gave a pretty good show. Not to mention, I still think the beam javelin throw completely stole the show. Now THAT guy was pretty badass. Probably the coolest grunt in the entire fight, and he was able to impale the suit without detonating it.

Happy to see the javelin make a cool return. Now waiting for a grunt to have a gundam hammer, heh.

[Dark Duel]

Concur. As great as the entire fight was both in terms of the utterly ridiculous Juagg actually putting up a fight and in terms of the Feddie grunts actually being human beings and caring about collateral damage, that dude in the GM III busting out the beam javelin was the single greatest moment of that fight. Plus I've always had kind of a soft spot for the GM III because it's so cool-looking.

[Homeless]

It seems like the Zeeks have no compunctions attacking as they please, so the Feddies are fighting at a disadvantage here when they actually close with enemy suits.

Well, the one thing Zeon's ever been good at is butchering defenseless civilians. Usually fellow Spacenoids, but any kind of civilian will do.

[NastyNate]

I hope we get to see that second Gundam that I hear Marida gets to pilot in this episode. They sure do have a lot of ground to cover in just two more episodes. Really wish this was a full 50 or at least 26 episode series.

[Imperial]

I hope we get to see that second Gundam that I hear Marida gets to pilot in this episode. They sure do have a lot of ground to cover in just two more episodes. Really wish this was a full 50 or at least 26 episode series.

My understanding is that there's not enough content for a 50-episode run unless you wanted the animation team to indulge in all sorts of padding and stretching.

The show might have been marginally better of as a 12-parter, but even that would have been prone to some extra content to fill the running time.