AoD Review: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Vol. #4

[Chris Beveridge]

Review

[ QUOTE ]
In Summary:
While a lot of the focus in this volume is on Kamille and his rivalry/romance with Four Murasame, I was far more interested in seeing how things were playing out with the older and established characters from the One Year War. Amuro's awakening is becoming better handled, seeing more old friends return to the scene is heartwarming and watching them all do the right thing just feels good to see. This set of episodes continues the journey aspect of the show, something all of these series seem to enjoy on some level, but I felt a lot of it was thrown out of balance by the introduction of the Psyco Gundam. Give me more of Four in a regular mobile suit and I'd be much more interested in her storyline.

[/ QUOTE ]

[naiera]

To me the this show didn't pick up (enough) even with the fourth volume. Still only a B/Positive from me.

Amuro's return is definitely a positive thing. <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>I liked the scene where he and Char couldn't stop saying each other's names in amazement over meeting again.</span> Don't remember what episode or disc that was, though... [img]/images/graemlins/depresse.gif[/img]

[Fencedude]

I really can't stand the Psyco Gundam, its just too damn big.

I can't stand any of its derivatives either, until its final incarnation as the Quin Mantha in ZZ. Now THAT was a badass suit.

[Njr Scrawl]

Katz I find plain irritating.

Irma is cute but over-clingy, but I'm only jealous of Amauro really [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I like Four. Partly because her seiyuu is Saeko Shimazu, partly because I feel sorry for her.

The Psycho-Gundam is interesting more for what it is capable of, in better hands. It seems too powerful for Four, like a powerful motor running from too low a capacity battery. Poor Four reminds me of the single minded conditioning Second Earth soldiers get in Blue Gender. Living weapons on a leash.

The person I really admired on Earth was Mirai.

Wut, no poll?!

[Hayate Kurogane]

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
I really can't stand the Psyco Gundam, its just too damn big.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it's hilarious. I mean, normal mobile suits are rather impractical anyway, so why not make one that's over twice as big? And on top of that, one for which the primary weapon is the beam rifle equivalent of a fire hose on full blast (read: a ridiculously powerful omnidirectional weapon that can't really be precisely aimed). [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img]

This volume wasn't a bad volume, but I can't really call it good. The Hong Kong events were sort of necessary due to the events of the previous volume, but no Bright and no Char make Sakura-nee a bored viewer (although this was when Kamille really became interesting to me for the first time thanks to Four showing up). I actually didn't find Katz to be too obnoxious in this volume (that comes later), although I was still cursing Hayato the whole time for ever letting Katz learn how to pilot a mobile suit, since that's really the root of the problem.

A "B-" I think, for this volume.

[Reinhardt]

I just found it annoying that anytime a Newtype runs into a newtype of the opposite sex, they madly fall in love with them within minutes of meeting each other and of course they are always on opposite sides. I agree that the Psycho Gundam was a rather lame mech, perhaps I would have enjoyed the Four stuff more if she hadn't piloted something so ridiculous.

Also, the Katz character was rather annoying throughout the series - (don't highlight unless you've finished the series) <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'> I bet every single viewer cheered when he dies at the end, lol </span>. Overall, I enjoyed Zeta Gundam but volumes like this one makes me wonder why people call Zeta the best Gundam series...

[NeoEra]

Sorry to spoil the uniformity of this thread by not slipping in a complaint but I can't not give an 'A' to the disc that has one of my fav scenes in any Gundam series: Amuro criticizing Kamille's piloting tactics against the Psyco Gundam.

"Back in my day, son, we didn't turn tail 'n run away from them big, scary mobile armors! We jus' walked right on up to 'em and stuck a beam saber in their gut!"

[Quiddity]

Like the volume before it, volume 4 suffers from the fact that it takes place on Earth, which I've found, that at least in UC Gundams never has as interesting episodes as those that take place in space. Particularly when pretty much all the major characters, whether its Bright, Char(after the first ep of the disc), Emma, Reccoa, Jerid, Scirocco, etc... are nowhere to be seen because of that. The cameos from MS Gundam charactes is nice, but I didn't really think they needed 8 entire episodes (13-20) dedicated to them. At the very least send some of them to space.

Any way, whats good about this disc is that it introduces Four, (who has great VAs in both english(Carol Anne Day) and japanese(Saeko Shimazu)). Her presense (and Katz's absence) makes these eps considerably better than the earlier ones of this story arc. As for the Psycho Gundam? I've always liked its design, although when I finally did see the series I was shocked at how weak it and its eventual descendent the Psycho Gundam Mark II ended up being. You'd think with that size they'd be a bigger asset to the Titans, but that major weakness of <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>simply shooting through the head to kill the pilot, which was done to both Four and Rosamia</span> really took away from how durable it could have actually been.

[Vicserr]

As always the Earth tour episodes slow the series down <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>now that Kabara is on the Run from the Titans after the events in Jaburo and Kamille make his Newtype connection with Four we get a look at the newest Titan weapon of terror, Psyco Gundam and our heroes go a few rounds against it and opening Amuro's eyes to join the battle against the Titans and we get to reminish with the surviving crew of the White Base</span>, now that basically Tomino is finishing setting up our players in this cosmic drama, who will survive

and why Psyco Gundam is soo big, it's to scare the crap of Joe Q Public into submission, that's why [img]/images/graemlins/knowital.gif[/img]

as always an A and a positive!!!!!, even without the poll

[bender]

I actually found Four rather annoying for some reason. I just didn't really 'get' why Kamille came to care about her so much.

But then again... <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>She isn't a patch on Rosamy, who annoyed me so much it was untrue!</span>

I liked pretty much all the other female characters though, Emma in particular. Mmmm Hmm.