Review by Chris

August 27, 2009

AEUG pilot Yuri Ajissah conducts a test on the psycommu Zeta Gundam P2/3C Type. With the new control system, Yuri can control the Zeta Gundam with her own movements. In the hangar, Shin Matsunaga complains to an Anaheim Electronics employee about the yellow coloring on his Zeta Gundam 3B Type. Matsunaga thinks the yellow stands out too much and wants a new unit painted gray. Workers suddenly come to attention when Amuro Ray arrives, and Yuri thinks about how she met him years earlier on Side 6 after her mother's funeral. Young Amuro nearly ran her over when she ran out onto the road, and he offered to help her up, but she didn't take his hand. Amuro and Yuri then have a Newtype reaction, and a battle alert is sounded. The AEUG fleet has encountered the gigantic mobile armor Geminus, which is on its way to the Chakra research facility. Amuro launches in his space booster equipped Zeta Gundam 3A Type, followed by Shin. In space, the Geminus destroys several AEUG Irish and Salamis class ships. Amuro and Shin fly through the wreckage of the AEUG fleet, and Shin spots the Geminus hiding behind an Irish ship. The Geminus unleashes its Hasta psycommu mobile suits and attacks Shin and Amuro. With adjustments completed, Yuri launches in her Zeta Gundam and heads for space. Shin asks Amuro if they should wait for Yuri and her psyco neutralizer, but Amuro doesn't think it'll be of any use. Yuri arrives and feels pressure, thinking that Shin won't last. The Hastas attack Yuri, and the Geminus transforms from pyramid to mobile suit mode to attack. The Geminus pilots hack into Yuri's Zeta Gundam and steal information about the AEUG and Karaba. The Geminus then fires down at the Chakra base on Earth. The base fires missiles in response, and Shin slams into the Geminus with a kamikaze attack. Amuro destroys several Hastas and dodges the incoming ground fire against the Geminus. As he gets sucked closer to the Earth's atmosphere, he calls out to Yuri and tells her to wake up. Yuri imagines herself reaching out to grab Amuro's hand and is able to take control of her Zeta Gundam again. The Geminus begins firing in all direction, but an energy field surrounds her Zeta Gundams and deflects everything. The Geminus tries to attack with a detachable hand, but Yuri seizes control of it and turns it back on the Geminus. The damaged Geminus falls into the atmosphere and crashes on the Chakra base.

Directed by Yasuaki Matsuki, this installment of Evolve takes us back to the Zeta era with a story involving Amuro. We're introduced to three Zeta Gundam variantts, although Amuro's first showed up years earlier in Green Divers. This short features Shin Matsunaga, a former Zeon ace pilot from MSV, but unfortunately his appearance is entirely wasted. He doesn't really get to do anything and almost instantly sacrifices himself. Amuro gets to fight a bit, but most of the battle falls to Yuri. The Geminus is a pretty oddball design and is basically a Psyco Gundam with a pyramid mode. Still, it's nice to see a brief story showing something else that Amuro was doing during Zeta Gundam. This entry is also notable for running much longer than everything before it. With a length comparable to a STARGAZER episode, it means that it actually gets a rating.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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