GundamReviews

∀ Gundam Ep. 4: Soldiers from Home

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Summary

Loran moves out with the Turn A and uses the VR helmet to locate the nearby enemy Wads. A group of Militia men try to shoot at Pou’s Wodom, but it has no effect. As Loran approaches, he is attacked by several Wad mobile suits. They notice that his beam rifle is broken, and Pou wonders if he’s come out to fight them or scare them. Loran thinks he can end the battle if he reaches the Wodom, but the Wads continually poke him with their joint busters. Loran pulls out his beam rifle, and Pou sees that it is indeed broken. He grabs the Wodom’s leg and whacks it with the ruined beam rifle. As the Wads continue to attack, Loran picks one of them up and says he doesn’t want to fight. The Wad pilot says that if he doesn’t want to fight that he shouldn’t be in a mobile suit. At the same time, more Militia men drive up and start recklessly attacking the Wads. However, they are able to destroy one and disable another. Loran tells them not the hurt the pilots, and they think he belongs to Dianna Counter. He explains that he works for the Militia. Miashei and Ladderum fly overhead in the Hip Heavy and ask how Sochie is doing. Pou and her forces leave because they have orders not to kill people, and Loran assumes those orders must have come from Dianna. Pou is scolded Aji for attacking, and she explains that she was trying to capture the Turn A to learn the enemy’s capabilities. He says he will decide that later and orders her to protect the second wave of incoming ships. Pou wonders if they can get land by simply negotiating. In Nocis, Kihel tells her mother that Diran is dead, and her mother collapses with grief. The second wave of Dianna Counter forces ships and Sumo mobile suits lands. One such unit is piloted by a man named Harry Ord who wears large red sunglasses. Miashei tells Sochie that Loran is fighting the enemy and defeating their mobile suits. She tells Sochie that her father wouldn’t be proud of her just lying in bed when she could fight. She convinces Sochie to get over grief and get out of bed so that she can avenge her father.

Loran hides the Turn A in the forest and spots Pou’s Wodom investigating the area. He gets onto a bicycle and chases after her. He identifies himself as a Dianna Counter Flat pilot who came to Earth two years ago to investigate the living conditions. Miashei and Sochie fly around, and Sochie explains that Guin has Sid digging in the mountains to find more mobile suits. In the Heim mine, Sid calls Joseph on the phone and tells him he has found a new chamber that is not like the rest of the mountain. Pou takes Loran back to the base, and Fran sees Loran and thinks that he lied about staying in Vicinity. Loran is taken into the Almaiya to meet with Aji, Phil and Harry. He tells them an alternate story of what happened with the White Doll and doesn’t mention that he piloted the Turn A. As he continues to tell the story, he faints from exhaustion. Loran explains that the Militia doesn’t have the resources to make mobile suits. Aji tells him that now that his two years are up he must choose his own path. Negotiations will begin soon, and Aji tells Loran to ride in the car with Harry on their way to Bostonia Castle. Loran describes the Turn A to Harry and wonders if Dianna can come down and stop the war. Loran tries to tell Kihel something, but she is busy working as Guin’s secretary. Aji and Harry attend a meeting with Guin and his advisors. Aji tells Guin that hostilities will end if they hand over the Sunbelt zone. High Priest Enu shoots Aji with a dart, killing him. When Guin is about to be shot by Phil, Enu takes the bullet. Harry warns that this is not the end. They leave the meeting, and Guin tells Loran he must learn how to pilot the Turn A. In the mine, Sid and his men discover underwater Kapool mobile suits.

Commentary

It looks like things are starting to reach a boiling point between the Moonrace and the Militia. Loran manages to do pretty well in his first battle with the Turn A. A new character is introduced, this time another disguised man named Harry Ord. Those odd red sunglasses he wears makes him look like an insect though. Loran seems to be playing a dangerous game being caught in the middle between the Moonrace and the Militia. Only time will tell if he can handle it. War cannot be far off with the assassination of a Dianna Counter commander. Now that the Militia has found some mobile suits of their own, perhaps the odds will be evened. However, I have to wonder about the mobile suit they’ve discovered. That’s the Capule, an old Neo Zeon mobile suit from Gundam ZZ. This is the first implied connection to the Universal Century, but nothing is set in stone about that.

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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