GundamReviews

∀ Gundam Ep. 27: Midnight Sunrise

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Summary

Dianna and Harry talk in a wheat field. Loran joins them and tells Harry that he should do some farming to experience what Earth is like, and he explains that other Moonrace civilians are doing it too. Harry takes a sickle and helps cut wheat while Dianna packs it closely together. Dianna says that she will go back to the Moon via Sackträger to reorganize the plan to return to Earth. At a desolate mountain area, the Suicide Squad investigates signs that Dianna Counter is in the area. Nearby, Ralfa supervises the excavation of ancient Muttowoooo mobile armors. Loran says goodbye to Dianna, and she thanks him for the good experiences they shared. Dianna leaves with Harry in his Sumo, and Loran feels lonely. Sochie uses her Kapool to pry a rock out from under the Willghem. Fran takes a picture of her, and Sochie says she can’t use it in the newspaper. Fran says it doesn’t matter because the newspaper doesn’t even publish her photos. She explains she wants to keep a record of the war, and Sochie asks why she would want to do that. Fran says that Sochie’s marriage to Gavane is related to the war and that they wouldn’t have met if the war hadn’t started. The Gallop approaches the Willghem, and Jacop asks Loran if Kihel is going to act as a spy. Harry flies by three Jet Streams carrying the Muttowoooos and escorts them to the Soleil. A Wad pilot brings Ralfa a picture taken deep underground of containers with nuclear materials. Aims’ Borjarnon breaks through a weak wall and discovers Ralfa’s team. Ralfa tells his men to relay to the Militia they will all die if they fight in the mountain. Loran explains to Sochie that Kihel is meeting with Dianna, and Sid rushes in and reports that the Suicide Squad encountered Dianna Counter. Sochie tries to rush to her Kapool, but Ladderum stops her. Miashei suggests using the Gallop to go over there. On the Soleil, Phil and Pou watch the work on the Muttowoooos and ask Harry where he’s been. Dianna changes back into her royal clothes and meets with Kihel. She thanks Kihel for what she has done by holding back Dianna Counter. The Gallop rushes to the mountain and is shadowed nearby by the Red Team. Ralfa investigates the container and is shocked to see it contains eight nuclear bombs with live warheads.

The Red Team prepares for battle, and Muron detects lots of metal signatures. John throws a cracker at a Wodom being used as a crane, and Gavane tells Aims to ignore Dianna Counter’s warnings. John destroys a Wad, and the Gallop rushes towards the mountain. Loran scrambles in the Turn A, followed by Miashei in the Kapool and Bruno and Jacop in their Godwins. Ralfa pleads with Gavane and Aims to leave the area, but they don’t listen to him. Gavane knocks the container over and lets the bombs fall out onto the floor. Ralfa explains again that the bombs are very dangerous. They decide to leave, but they take the nuclear bombs with them. After they leave, Ralfa finds two more bombs with warheads that don’t seem to be active. Outside, the Suicide Squad fights the Red Team. A Flat destroys a Borjarnon and sets off its reactor and causes a massive explosion. Following the explosion, the Turn A detects nuclear bombs in the area. On the Soleil, Dianna asks Kihel to stay on and be her stuntwoman. Kihel doesn’t know if she’s qualified for that, and Harry says they need people they can trust. He says that even someone like Miran could be working with Agrippa. At the mountain, Gavane is attacked by Flats and falls into a deep hole with the nuclear bombs that he took. Muron jumps into the hole and begins beating Gavane’s Borjarnon. Ralfa tries to convince both sides to stop fighting, but they don’t listen to him. Loran tells the Gallop to pull back and stops Miashei from going any farther. He says that the nuclear bombs are powerful to destroy Nocis in a minute. Gavane tries to fight Muron, and his Borjarnon’s arm is destroyed. Loran arrives on the battlefield in the Turn A, and Ralfa tries to convince Cancer to stop. She threatens to kill him if he doesn’t stop and then attacks Loran. She jumps at him with her Wad and fires missiles. He rips her Wad in half, and she orders everyone to retreat. As it becomes eerily quiet, Loran tries to tell Gavane to escape. Sochie is frustrated and wants to help Gavane, but everyone tells her that the nuclear bombs are dangerous. Loran grabs Miashei and flies away. The nuclear bombs detonate and create an enormous mushroom cloud. Far away, the crews of the Soleil and Willghem watch in shock as night turns into day.

Commentary

This was quite an exciting episode and featured some of the best battles seen in the show in a while. After all these years, Tomino can manage characters and still pull off well choreographed battles. Excavations continue for old weapons, but this time the Moonrace gets them instead of the Militia. The mobile armor Muttowoooo seems to be very familiar to the Baund-Doc used by the Titans near the end of Zeta Gundam. Is this another link to the Universal Century? Who knows. Another nasty surprise here is the nuclear bombs discovered by Ralfa. Not many people aside from him and Loran seem to understand the dangers of nuclear weapons. Gavane was definitely killed in the blast, which would now give Sochie another reason to hate the Moonrace. Also, Dianna finally switches with Kihel after almost 20 episodes. With the series half over, it looks like the focus is switching to the Moon, which would require both sides using the Sackträger route.

Overall Rating
4.5/5
∀ Gundam Info


Director:
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writer(s):
Ichiro Okouchi
Ai Ota
Miya Asakawa
Katsuhiko Chiba
Tetsuko Takahashi
Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Jiro Takayama
Minoru Onoya

Mechanical Designer(s):
Syd Mead
Mahiro Maeda
Kunio Okawara
Takumi Sakura
Atsushi Shigeta

Character Designer:
Akira Yasuda

Musical Composer:
Yoko Kanno

Format:
50 episodes; 2 compilation movies

Airdates:
Japan 04.02.1999 – 04.14.2000

Theatrical Release:
Japan 02.09.2002 – 02.10.2002

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