Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

I am *not* a movie buff by any stretch of the imagination, and therefore the declaration of "Char's Counterattack" (CCA) being my favorite movie of all time should not be taken as an especially valid indicator of how good this movie is from an objective standpoint. Rather, my declaration should indicate how much this film impacted my life when I first saw it, and how I continue to watch it over and over again, coming away with something new every time.I think writer-director (and Mobile Suit Gundam creator) Yoshiyuki Tomino is a genius; his concept of "newtype" humans in my opinion is very realistic, and I've never been the same since seeing CCA. This film remarkably captures the essence of what the original Gundam story was about: "Newtypes", and the complex beauty of the human condition.Unlike most animated action/sci-fi films, all the conflict takes place within the human race, rendering the overall narrative substantially more plausible than say, Robotech, and hitting the cognizant viewer much closer to home. Humanity has moved into space, and a class division has resulted: the space colonies which orbit Earth are essentially treated like second-class citizens in Earth-sphere. With a history of rebellion (one particular colony started the catastrophic One-Year War 14 years prior to the start of this film), the colonies are ruled from Earth, by the Earth Federation.The problem is, the Earth Federation has grown corrupt since the end of the One Year war with Zeon, the group of colonists which started the war in the first place. However, humanity prefers a corrupt government that keeps the peace than all-out war, so peace prevails for quite some time. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Char Aznable (a pivotal character since the first Gundam series) emerges as the leader of Neo-Zeon, a new group of rebel colonists.The mission of Char and his Neo-Zeon is simple: to force humanity into space by rendering the planet Earth uninhabitable. The reason? Because "newtype" humans (who have enhanced psychic abilities) first emerged among the colonies. Newtypes are the next step in the evolution of humanity, and as a newtype himself, Char believes that the cause of all human suffering (war, selfishness, evil, etc) comes from "oldtypes" on Earth. Char believes he is doing humanity a favor by forcing the hand of evolution. In doing so, he plans to destroy all life on planet Earth, by dropping the asteroid "Axis" (significant name) on it.Newtype ace Amuro Ray, the hero from the One Year War (depicted in the first Gundam television series) is back to stop Char, as a part of the Federation's special anti-terrorism unit, Londo Bell. Amuro and Char are longtime enemies; their mutual hatred solidified when Lalah Sune, a profoundly powerful newtype was killed (accidentally) by Amuro when she trying to stop them from fighting during the One Year War. As soldiers for Zeon, Lalah was Char's protoge. However Lalah and enemy pilot Amuro developed a "newtype" (spiritual) bond that Char was understandably jealous over. At any rate, Lalah was now dead, and Amuro and Char bitterly blamed each other for it ever since.CCA introduces new characters: Quess Paraya is a profoundly powerful newtype, who plays a notable role in the film. Hathaway Noah (the son of Bright Noah, commander of Londo Bell) also displays newtype abilities as the film progresses. It should be noted that both Quess and Bright are born on *Earth*, and not on the colonies...Amuro's Nu Gundam RX-93 is an amazing piece of mecha, equipped with remote weapons referred to as "fin funnels", that are controlled by his psychic abilities. The Nu Gundam is also enhanced with a form of technology called psycho-frame, which allows a newtype to wield an unprecedented amount of mind control over his mecha. The psycho-frame is also highly sensitive to the thoughts of others, and the human spirit -- just as newtypes have a higher sense of awareness in general.My favorite aspect of this film is the way in which it deals with the human spirit, manifested. Whether the human spirit is guiding remote weaponry, moving mecha, or simply engaging characters both living and dead, instances of everything I just mentioned take place during this film. Lalah Sune seems very much alive in spirit during this film. And so does another character close to Amuro, who even after death is able to accomplish her goal and help him against Char and his plot to drop the asteroid, "Axis" on Earth.Char and his Neo-Zeon load "Axis" with nukes to ensure that both radiation, and drastic climate changes caused by the asteroid's impact, will kill everything on Earth. Londo Bell plans to stop the asteroid (once discovered) with nukes of their own. To me, the "Axis" also represents the 'turning point' in human history in *our* world, when we entered the nuclear age during World War II...I believe that the ending of this film is really the dawning of a new age for humanity in Tomino's eyes. To me, that brilliant light we see represents the manifestation of the human spirit. Just as newtypes are able to move weapons, once properly harnessed, newtypes are also able to move people, and each other towards a common good. Once humanity is truly connected (meaning through our minds and spirits) then, and *only* then will there ever be an end to bloodshed, misery and war. This message is so simple, yet so seemingly impossible to accomplish, that it should move anyone who truly "gets it" at the end, to tears.

I’m new to the Gundam series and am currently making my way through. So going back the original Gundam series was laborsome to get through at times. It was really good for its time but the 50ish episodes were a core, but the animation was solid and respectable for a 1979 anime, but the story was a little on the light side with things being ambiguous and the characters while they seemed to have more to them were presented a little statically. Then I watched the short series of War In The Pocket and Stardust Memory which were really cool side stories tying things in. Then came my (so far) favorite Gundam series 08th MS Team which was just absolutely amazing. After that I watched Zeta Gundam which took everything from the original Gundam and perfected it and made a fabulous anime. After that I went “back” and watched Gundam Origins and it brought new life the original series and really helped shape the characters into more of the dynamic people they seemed, and took what was static and without having to do it over helped me understand characters much more. Which brings me to Chars Counterattack. I love Char, he is one of those characters that(as he is presented in the series) just has charisma. He’s a very complex complicated man and between the original and Zeta it never made sense but Origins helped Char become more tangible and not as mysterious, but after Zeta this Char in counterattack takes another turn. So as far as this movie goes, the animation is top notch traditional animation. 08th MS Team has some of the best traditional animation I’ve ever seen so not to that level, but the animation has such quality to it that it’s just so great to look at. Now I think most people familiar with this movie probably understand what I’m talking about when I say there are some annoying characters. From my opinion they aren’t as bad as some reviewers have made them out to be but they do get annoying. That being said the story does seem a little below average when compared to some other Gundam series, and part of that is because they are dealing with some confusing complex stuff that just doesn’t fully make sense. Which also brings me to another point, if you haven’t seen the original and Zeta at least, then you should not even bother watching this because you will have no idea what’s going on, who people are, what they are talking about, or anything and you will leave thinking it was the most confusing, stupidest movie you’ve ever seen. I was disappointed little after watching this just because I was expecting it to be better, but the animation makes it worth it and I’ve become a pretty big Gundam fan(especially UC anyway) so it’s good to add to the collection.

Lots of action, some nice tension between Amuro and Char. If you liked the original series, this is a great addition to it.

It's a good movie,however you really need to have seen the first three series (gundam,zeta,zz)to really understand the whole series.

en excelentes condiciones.

Excellent quality fast shipping.

I am very happy with this movie. It is entertaining and it's a must see for any fans of the mobile suit series out there.

Great Movie