Mobile Suit Gundam - The 08th MS Team (continued) |
  A Gundam manning a large-bore cannon.
 Sanders Jr's GM being repaired.
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...But Maybe the Action is Really Good. The opening animation is great stuff, showing nitty-gritty mobile suit combat from the perspective of a platoon in the field. A Gundam wading through a river, a Gundam manning a large-bore cannon -- even a handful of airdropped Gundams skydiving to the ground. Those who haven't seen the original Mobile Suit Gundam may not know or care about the continuity errors, and the mass produced Gundams do provide a much needed excuse to portray mobile suit combat on the platoon level. If the action in the actual episodes were as good as the opening animation, the fans might be more willing to forgive the continuity violations and enjoy the show for what it's worth. If.
Unfortunately, The 08th falls short on this account as well.
Due to aforementioned reasons, the battle between Aina's Zaku and
Shiro's Ball in episode 1 loses most of its credibility. There is some
interesting hardware featured in episode 2, such as the hovertruck and
its land vibration monitoring system (Eledore uses this to determine the
number, distance, and make of several mobile suits in the area), but the
poorly-lit skirmish between the Federation and the Jion forces in
episode 2 isn't sufficiently explained.
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 Shiro befriends a Jion test pilot, Aina Saharin.
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So Should I Avoid This Title? Not yet. Luckily, The 08th has a few things going for it that rescues it from becoming mediocre. A major shortcoming in Gundam 0083, the characterizations have been handled much better in The 08th. Most characters come across as being believable, and also quite likable. The situation between the protagonist Shiro and the female Jion pilot Aina may develop into a Romeo and Juliet romance, making for some interesting character interaction later in the story. On the action side, there's the
mentioning of the secret mobile armor being developed by Aina's brother
Ghinius (though as to why a mobile armor is being built on Earth
is anyone's guess), which hints towards an increased pyrotechnic factor
in future episodes. And as with my fellow Gundam fan, former Animag
writer Mark Simmons, I'm still waiting for the sequence with the
skydiving Gundams.Last but not least, the songs for the
opening and ending are catchy. Extremely catchy. In fact, they have to
be the catchiest Gundam songs featured in a Gundam title in a long
while.
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Conclusion Those who go into The 08th expecting another 0080 or 0083 may be sorely disappointed with the first two episodes. This is only two episodes out of thirteen, though, so the viewers may just have to be patient and wait for things to develop. If the action and plot pick up as the show progresses, The 08th may yet stand a chance. -- Keith Rhee (Special thanks to Mark Simmons, whose information for this article proved to be most helpful)
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