Review by Chris

September 4, 2002

On the Endra, Glemy tries to convince Mashymre not to leave the ship, but Mashymre says he can't stand being under the command of Chara. Glemy says he doesn't want to be Chara's subordinate, but Mashymre gets into a shuttle and leaves the ship. Chara wonders who will pilot the Hamma Hamma, and Gottn says that Gaza-C's aren't enough to fight Double Zeta. Chara decides the best action is to attack La Vie en Rose. Judau patrols an asteroid field in his Neo Core Fighter, along with Beecha and Elle in a Neo Core Fighter and Core Top. Judau finds an intact Zaku II from the Principality of Zeon and decides to tow it back to the ship. Bright tells him not to waste time with that, and Leina tells him the same. Judau ignores her, so she gets into space with Roux in a Neo Core Fighter and Core Base. Bright thinks that these kids don't listen to anybody, but his kids are good. He wonders how Hathaway and Cheimin are doing, and he thinks that he isn't a good father. Nearby, the Endra begins approaching La Vie en Rose and starts an attack run. Chara has the ship move forward so quickly that it ends up crashing into La Vie en Rose. Glemy launches in a Gaza-D and spots Roux and Leina nearby. He chases them and grapples on to them. Judau returns to the Argama with the Zaku, and Iino tells him that Leina went out to replace him. Judau forcibly breaks away from the Zaku, and it nearly crashes into the bridge. He flies away towards the battle, followed by Elle and Beecha. Iino goes out in a Petite to retrieve the Zaku. Roux offers to come with Glemy if he will assure Leina's safety, and he does. She gets into his cockpit and knocks him out. After ungrappling the Neo Core Fighter, she escapes and he pursues again. Glemy is mad that Roux manipulated his emotions yet again, and he vows not to forgive her this time.

Glemy continues to chase them, and Judau arrives on the scene. He wants to dock and form Double Zeta, but he doesn't have the Core Top. Beecha tries to convince Elle not to join the battle because it's dangerous, but she ignores him. They arrive in the area and call Judau to dock. Several Gaza-C's launch from the Endra to help Glemy. He tells them to attack the Neo Core Fighters and prevent them from docking. Iino tells Bright that he's repaired the Zeta Gundam and is ready to launch. Bright and Torres are shocked to see that Iino has attached the Zaku's head to the Zeta Gundam. Iino launches in the 'Zeta Zaku' and calls Judau so that he isn't confused as an enemy. He helps Judau destroy a Gaza-C so that Judau can dock. Iino attacks Glemy, and Glemy fights back with his beam saber. Iino tells Judau to dock quickly because he can't hold Glemy off forever. Judau and the others dock and form the Double Zeta. Judau attacks Glemy with his hyper beam sabers, but he doesn't realize that Elle and Beecha are still in the Core Top's auxiliary cockpit. The La Vie en Rose begins to crash against the Endra, and Chara orders the ship to retreat. She launches in her R-Jarja and grabs onto Judau. She tells him her soul is moving in the universe, and he has a strange Newtype reaction and is spellbound by thoughts of space. Roux and Leina approach and attack Chara from behind. Chara knocks them away, and Leina is ejected from the Neo Core Fighter. When Judau senses Leina's trouble he snaps out of his distraction and attacks Chara. He fires the head-mounted high mega cannon and severely damages the R-Jarja. Glemy grabs Leina, thinking she is Roux, and returns to the Endra. Judau tries to move, but the use of the high mega cannon has depleted Double Zeta's energy. He finds Roux and hears that Leina was taken to the Endra. He takes off to look for Leina, but there are too many fake asteroids and too much Minovsky interference for him to find the Endra.

One of the things this series likes to do is embarrass the surviving Zeta Gundam characters. Now it's moved beyond characters and is directed at the Zeta Gundam itself. If Kamille saw that ugly 'Zeta Zaku' he would probably die. Thank goodness it is only a temporary field repair. I'm surprised that Mashymre left the Endra, but if I had to serve under a maniac like Chara, I'd leave too. Gottn abandons Mashymre and sides with Chara, but during the battle he realizes how insane she is. Judau has a strange reaction to her too, and it seems to show his developing Newtype abilities. We haven't seen any of that since he met Kamille back in episode 2. Now that Leina is missing, Judau is personally involved in the war and has a reason to fight the Neo Zeon.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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