Incredible movie!
The Gundam series and movies have been hit or miss for me, with new type powers occasionally going overboard as in Gundam Unicorn or NT. However, my favorite Gundam series are Gundam the Origin, Gundam War in the Pocket, and Gundam Zeta. This movie is the first part of a trilogy adapting the three Hathaway's Flash novels written by the original creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, in 1989. After over 30 years, we finally have the adaptation that nobody thought we would ever get.
The movie boasts excellent storytelling, with Hathaway Noa as the protagonist, he's one of the more interesting main characters in the entire franchise, besides Char Aznable. Hathaway is calm and less vocal than most Gundam protagonists, which I appreciated. He is portrayed as a flawed character who thoughtfully considers his actions. The story centers around the terrorist group "Mafty," who advocates for the forced relocation of humanity into space to save the environment. Our protagonist, Hathaway, leads this group.
All of the characters' decisions were understandable, and I could relate to their motivations. The mecha designs are unique and impressive, as expected from a Gundam movie. The animation was stunning for most of the movie and possibly the best-looking entry in the Gundam franchise yet. Vehicles like cars, planes, and mobile suits were mostly in CG, which looked great most of the time. I highly encourage you to not watch the netflix release, since it looks unbelievably worse than the blu ray release. The netflix compression makes this movie a worse experience. Coming back to the movie, the pacing was fantastic, with ample time dedicated to establishing the characters and setting, unlike most Gundam movies. Everything felt natural. I also want to mention the excellent sound design and music. There is a Disco scene that transitions straight into a war scene, and it was one of my favorite scenes in the movie, mostly because of the sound design. The voice actors also did an excellent job, fitting their characters perfectly. We didn't get many action scenes since this movie primarily focused on building up the characters, but the few we got were excellent, thanks to the great sound and animation.
Overall, this movie is incredible, and I can't wait to watch the second one. It felt like this movie was mainly a setup for what's to come in the next two. If the next two movies are as impressive as this one, Hathaway's Flash could become one of my favorite anime in the Gundam franchise. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Gundam.
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