GundamReviews

∀ Gundam Ep. 44: The Enemy Starts Anew

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Summary

Everyone continues to watch the Dark History and sees the video of the Turn A destroying Earth and other videos like Operation Meteor. Dianna orders Agrippa to have Gym stop the battle outside, and she also wants Agrippa’s spies out of Dianna Counter. Agrippa says he is worried about the fighting instinct of those returning to Earth. Merrybell’s Bandits fire missiles at Loran, and he is barely able to dodge them. Merrybell says she won’t let him destroy the Moon, and Loran says he is different from the Turn A. Agrippa believes that by showing everyone the Dark History they have opened up Pandora’s box, and it will never be closed. Kihel says that the Moonrace can’t live with his management, and Agrippa says those in stasis have an extremely long life. Kihel says that even without Dianna people like Guin would have found technology and come to the Moon. John rushes in and reports that the citizens of Gaingnham are rioting because of the Dark History. Massive crowds gather outside Dianna’s palace and try to get in. Harry finds Sweatson getting ready for battle and asks him if he saw the Dark History. Sweatson says he learned that soldiers must fight only to win. The Militia and Moonrace soldiers try to convince the mob that the Dark History is only a movie, but the crowd overruns them. The soldiers fire their guns in the air, and the mob panics. Agrippa says the Dark History is making people panic, and Dianna says it his governing of them that does that. Agrippa says that he wanted the Moonrace to live in peace and he wants to get rid of anyone who has the fighting instinct. Merrybell continues to attack Loran, and they fight with beam sabers. Dianna and Kihel try to stab Agrippa, but Midgard shoots him and kills him. He wants Dianna to give up, and she blinds him with the hologram of Zakus fighting while Lily’s men grab his gun. The Willghem takes off, and Loran continues to fight Merrybell.

Merrybell attacks Loran with wires, but he spins his beam sabers to act as a beam shield. Gym reels her back in and says she is a fool to fight because the Turn A has become its real self now. The Willghem flies through the hibernation area to reach the palace and pick up everyone. Mahiroos fly around the ship, but Jacop says they can’t shoot because of the hibernation pods. Midgard uses the distraction of the Mahiroos to steal a car and escape. The Mahiroo pilots watch as Guin, Lily, Dianna and Kihel head back to the ship in a car. Dianna and Kihel tells Sochie to avoid battles because there are a billion people in stasis. Guin tells Dianna that he only wants to use Moonrace technology to peacefully develop the Earth. Sochie returns to the ship and grabs a Gundam hammer to fight. Guin secretly asks Sid to go to the palace and copy all the information of the Dark History. Sid thinks that is beyond his ability, and Guin says it is important for Earth. Sochie recklessly attacks Sweatson with the Gundam hammer. He grabs the hammer, and Loran shows up and blasts off one of his hands. Sweatson jumps up to attack Loran, and Sochie knocks him down from behind with the hammer. Sweatson fires missiles, which Loran and Harry narrowly prevent from hitting the hibernation areas. Harry fights with Sweatson and slices off his right arm. The Gendarm suddenly appears and begins firing at the Willghem. Harry blocks the attack with his I-field and asks Loran to help. The Turn A begins to glow as Loran blocks the attacks and begins to push the Gendarm away. Midgard realizes what a monster the Turn A is and runs in panic to a hatch. Harry shows up with his Sumo and smashes Midgard. As the citizens continue to riot, Dianna makes a speech to comfort them. She says it might be fate for humans to repeat their mistakes, but she wants the Moonrace to fight against fate and join with the people of Earth. In space, Gym and Merrybell watch Dianna’s speech and prepare for the next battle.

Commentary

After seeing the impact of the Dark History, we see there’s lots of different reactions. The citizens of Gaingnham view it as the apocalypse and begin to riot out of panic. Gym and Sweatson see it as the beginning to an age of war. Guin sees it as a way to develop technology and advance his own position. We get some exciting battles here, and they’re quite dangerous since the billion people in stasis could die. Tomino seems to briefly don his old Kill ‘Em All ways by killing both Agrippa and Midgard here. Midgard gets as an especially nasty death when he is crushed by Harry’s SUMO. With them out of the way, I guess that leaves Gym as the main villain for the rest of the series. Also, just what is up with the Turn A? Loran suddenly discovers all these incredible powers out of nowhere. Now he’s disappearing, using makeshift beam shields, and generating I-fields to protect himself and drive back spaceships. About the only thing he hasn’t done is use the Moonlight Butterfly that destroyed Earth’s civilization.

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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