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That CG Mobile Suit intro reminded me of those ending credit scenes of Superhero movies. I didn't realize part of it was recapping Char's Counterattack before I saw Nu Gundam fighting the Alpha Azieru .

To be honest Hathaway going terrorist and trying to usurp the Federation to carry out the ideals Quess jumped ship for as a means of becoming the man he thinks she'd be interested in...is very Hathaway. Kensho Ono does well with emotional subtle yet complicated characters, and I think that fit Hathaway here. He realizes that his terrorism isn't necessarily the best way to go about it, and the average joe on Earth doesn't want to get dragged into space any more than the space colonists want to be held at the whim of the Earth, but it's all Hathaway can think to do .

Kenneth seems like a decent guy, honestly, even if he's on the opposing side of our protagonist. Compared to Junichi Suwabe's other roles he's pretty refreshingly earnest and kind of sweet. He seems like someone driven by his instincts, for better or for worse, but isn't necesarilly sincere about them, but he's not a malicious or bad person. Really the only evil act he committed in the film was torturing Gawman, a prisoner, and using him as a hostage .

Gigi is absolutely gorgeous. Like, every part of her is absolutely alluring and perfect, right down to being voiced by Reina Ueda. She comes off as this free-spirited, aloof, young woman with her own thoughts about the world but who seems passionate partially because of how unfulfilling her life is. You're never sure quite what she's thinking, and that seems to also play into her romantic interests as she flirts with both Hathaway and Kenneth while at the same time keeping them both at a distance. But as much as she involves herself with dangerous men, she's not prepared for witnessing killing and destruction .

Is Gigi a Newtype? It seemed like she psychically connected with Hathaway for a second there .

Hathaway comes off all unassuming and nice until suddenly he's John Wick with a gun in his hand .

So the official record is that Hathaway was a "hero" for stealing a Mobile Suit and managing to kill an enemy in his first sortie which is why he wasn't punished too severely for it...but, like, what was the report of Chan's death? Did Hathaway not tell anyone what actually happened? Did he go down as the one who took the Alpha Azieru out? I forget if he killed a Neo-Zeon grunt during the battle. Y'know, kind of bothers me that Hathaway is still obsessed with Quess but doesn't seem to have PTSD over killing Chan .

At least Hathaway has finally realized that becoming enamored with, shall we say..."special" girls never ends well. Not that it stops him from still thinking about Quess .

Gigi looks good in absolutely anything, be it a dress, pantsuit, bikini (with her top off ), or even sweats and a t-shirt from a secondhand Federation store .

Gigi sleeps in the nude because of course she does .

Hathaway and Gigi run into a seemingly random couple involved in an affair? Like, it seems like they were waking up naked and trying not to get caught and she came right out of the shower...I dunno, it had no bearing on the plot but they paid attention to it .

Mafty's people use units that look more like they'd fit with Zeon. I guess if Mafty is really carrying on Char's will...

The protagonist doesn't actually get into a Gundam until the climax, so instead we get to meet the antagonist Gundam firsthand when the Penelope turns up. Seeing Hathaway and Gigi have to survive during a Mobile Suit battle was pretty refreshing. Honestly seemed like the Federation were causing more collateral damage than Mafty's people were .

I thought Kenneth would end up being the classic Gundam rival for Hathaway and pilot the Penelope, but instead it's a guy named Lane Aim (sounds like Lame Aim). Hathaway compares Lane to what he used to be like, so I guess that's supposed to factor into their rivalry? Although Kenneth is pretty critical of Lane's piloting and Lane didn't stand a chance against Hathaway in their fight at the end, so maybe Kenneth will take over .

Mafty's crew all turn up at the end and we get pretty casual introductions to them. I guess the second film will possibly go more into their personalities, characters, and motivations because they seem like an interesting bunch just from a design standpoint and what little we see. Although I know there's only so much a movie can develop such a large group, and the core story is obviously centered around Hathaway, Gigi, and Kenneth .

Well, Hathaway was right that Gigi wasn't going to intentionally give him away and that Kenneth would figure it out...all he needed was to hear her say she wasn't Hathway's Goddess of Luck after Kenneth brought up what soldiers believe in to understand that, to her, Hathaway came off like a soldier. Like, it was so subtle probably anyone else would've missed it, but Kenneth is perceptive .

I'm honestly kind of surprised Kenneth didn't arrest Gigi when he clued in that she knew or had an inkling that Hathaway was Mafty. Well, okay, maybe he didn't have any hard evidence and was just assuming she had really good instincts to be able to tell and that's no proof that she knew for sure he was Mafty...and maybe he was thinking a little with his pants. But I guess knowing there's a connection between her and Hathaway/Mafty is why he was partially keen Gigi was sticking around to be in the middle of Kenneth and Hathaway's battle .

So Gigi is a...companion to a baron, and that's where she gets all her money from? I mean, the implication is she's basically his mistress, although I'm not sure if their relationship is that crass, but it feels like there's a lot of ambiguity there, especially with how old he is .

The one thing Amuro tells Hathaway is death doesn't come when you're prepared for it, basically warning him that he can't decide his own death...

The Xi Gundam and Penelope are honestly giving me Zeta/ZZ vibes, although the Penelope feels more like a Gundam fused with a dragon. Actually, why call it Penelope though? All in all, not my favorite Gundam designs but that might be because we don't really get a good look at them during those night fights .

I was wondering which of the girls in the organization were into Hathaway and then Kelia turns up and...yeah, she totally wants to get into his pants. Even Hathaway gets a little flustered around her. Oh, and Saori Hayami once again returns to Gundam, and time will tell if she's voicing yet another Best Girl (although she has stiff competition with Gigi) .