GundamReviews

∀ Gundam Ep. 35: Sackträger

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Summary

Loran and Harry use the power of the Turn A and Sumo to help boost the Willghem out of the Earth’s atmosphere. Fran tells Sochie and the other pilots not to get out of their mobile suits without a normal suit. One of Sackträger’s swinging arms catches the ship and locks it into a docked position. Michael makes a shipwide announcement that everyone has to wear a normal suit now. His message is carried into space and is heard by the nearby Gendarm. Midgard is surprised that the Willghem is in Sackträger and orders his men to watch it. He then tells Dianna that he has sent out mobile suits because the Militia is unpredictable. When Harry enters the Willghem, Yanny tries to arrest him because he is a member of Dianna Counter. Harry reminds him that he helped them, and he helps a soldier who’s suffocating in an improperly configured normal suit. On the bridge, Guin and Ladderum try to figure out how to disconnect the docking arms from the ship since Horace isn’t there to help them. Bruno and Jacop try to contact Sackträger’s control center, but there is no reply. Harry is taken to see Kihel, and Yanny asks him why he sneaked into the ship. Michael wants to use him as a hostage, but Harry says he wouldn’t be a good hostage. Kihel assures Michael that Harry is trustworthy, and Harry explains there are many situations developing within Dianna Counter. On the Gendarm, Dianna tells Cancer and Muron to get ready to fight in space. Midgard sends out two Wodoms to attack the Willghem. As everyone puts on normal suits, Guin tells Loran that he wants him and Sochie to guard the control room in case it is attacked. Loran says they can’t fight at Sackträger, and Sochie offers to take Miashei with her instead of Loran. Loran says that fighting in space is not the same as on Earth, which is why Guin wants him to go out. Kihel asks Harry if Dianna went to space, and he explains that Sackträger has two docking areas. Kihel asks if he didn’t want to have Dianna come to space, and he says he doesn’t want her to meet Agrippa alone. On the bridge, Jacop notices that the Gendarm is docked right above them and will leave for the Moon first. As the Wodoms approach, Loran, Sochie and Harry get out of the Willghem in their mobile suits.

Harry tells Loran and Sochie to fly out and act as if they haven’t noticed the Gendarm above them. Midgard falls for it, and Harry floats up in front of the Gendarm‘s bridge. Loran and Sochie fly to the top of Sackträger, and Sochie is shocked at how big the Earth looks from space. She sees the linear track for transporting mobile suits and grabs hold of it despite Loran’s objections. He follows her and tells her they shouldn’t go any farther since Dianna Counter suits are approaching them. He grabs her Kapool and and flies away from the track to look for the control room. Elsewhere, the two Wodoms continue to approach the Willghem. Harry performs a scan of the bridge and sees that Midgard has Dianna there as a shield. He makes a weird signal with his Sumo and then flies off. Midgard asks what it means, and Dianna says it’s just a habit that Harry has. Midgard tells the Wodoms they can attack once he leaves, and he tells Cancer and Muron to prepare to fight. Harry connects a wire between the two ships so that the crew of the Willghem can hear what Midgard is saying. Michael tells Yanny to see about blowing up the docking arms, and Guin orders Aims and John to go out in their Borjarnons. Fran gives Kihel a normal suit and tells her she knows she is pretending to be Dianna. Loran and Sochie hide near the control room as the two Wodoms approach the Willghem. Harry confronts the Wodoms and tells them to back off, but the pilots say they don’t have to listen to him. Dianna tells Midgard that what he is doing is wrong and that even Dianna Counter can’t fight at Sackträger. Kihel takes the microphone and tells the Wodom pilots that she is Dianna and that they should back off. Dianna then takes the microphone and tells the Wodom pilots not to attack unless they are attacked first. Dianna and Kihel send a secret greeting to each other that they should meet again. The Wodoms back off, and the Gendarm disengages from Sackträger and heads for the Moon. The Wodom pilots say goodbye to Kihel and help disengage the Willghem from Sackträger. The Willghem leaves Sackträger and sets course for the Moon.

Commentary

After much discussion, we finally get to see what Sackträger is. From the looks of it, Sackträger is an enormous waystation that catches ships leaving from Earth and rotates them in orbit of the planet to reach perfect alignment to the Moon. This is a first for Gundam, since most ships leave Earth by themselves and simply set course for the Moon. From Dianna’s comments, it seems that Sackträger is almost like a special place. I wonder if it was around before the Dark History and it’s something that the Moonrace simply uses but doesn’t understand. Whatever is the case, Midgard seems willing to damage it to destroy the Willghem. Sochie is surprised to see the Earth, and I’d expect that given the primitive civilization she comes from. Now that the Willghem is heading for the Moon, a new conflict is sure to begin.

Overall Rating
4/5
∀ 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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