Gundam Reconguista in G

With the first episode down:

I'm not sure if the writing is trying to be intentionally obtuse or if there's just a heck of a lot going on that won't be obvious until later. It's a weird mix of broad strokes and fairly intricate details. Some of the set-pieces are just bizarre: Quasi-military training in what looks to be a public atrium on a space elevator, complete with other passengers just sort of ignoring the whole thing? Even when the cheerleaders show up? There's a lot to be said for a truly alien future, but most shows try to give the audience a solid reference for a reason.

It's kind of nice to see hand-drawn animation again, but it's sufficiently different from what we're accustomed to nowadays that I'm not sure that the effort will be appreciated. Computer-aided animation has us spoiled for quality: here, even though there was obviously significant effort expended, I'm not sure that the result was good enough to justify it.

The OP is a good example of that: Despite the relative quality of the traditional animation, it feels like somebody found something on the archive tapes and decided to throw it in. It's very definitely an appeal to fans who are nostalgic for the Golden Age of Gundam, but at the same time it highlights the limitations the animators were working under.

edited 2nd Oct '14 10:07:33 PM by HighVelocityPointyThings

I have never seen so much divided opinion on a show before, going by my rounds on the internet.

edited 2nd Oct '14 11:04:56 PM by Thorn14

Its kind of a wonderful trainwreck.

It is equal parts fantastic and terrible. Not surprising that opinions are divided

Eh. This was more or less the reaction Turn A got when it first came out.

edited 3rd Oct '14 12:44:39 AM by reconguista

Just saw Episode 1 and the art style and the aesthetics are pretty damn good. Can't say the same about the writing though. There's quite a lot of exposition and the presence of cheerleaders are... eye-brow raising to say the least. Still, I dig the retro Gundam-feel of the series, so I'll definitely stick around for the time being unless it goes down the path of AGE or Victory.

edited 3rd Oct '14 12:49:51 AM by sanfranman91

I liked the first two eps . It looks like king gainer and that is great since i love king gainer (still have to finish it). Also tomino did say that the show was aimed at a younger generation and old fans would likely not like it

Tomino does not get to tell me what I will or will not like. If he isn't writing for an older audience, fine. Good writing and aimed at a younger audience are not mutually exclusive.

Wait there was a Turn A reference in the first two episodes? I must have missed it...

Well, one female character kinda looks like Loran. Great-great-great-grandmother, perhaps?

My reaction to the two episodes.

Episode 1: Retro much? Space elevators running like cable cars, needlessly annoying but quirky and somehow Chekhov-ish cheerleaders, and repair units able to restrain a Mobile Suit. This is like Turn A, Unicorn and some UC quirks thrown together. Also Eureka Seven.

Episode 2: Just one: CAN'T BE HELPED.jpg

I'm ok with this. At least it should be better than say, Mahouka, Shingeki and other light novel crap. What I'm interested in is that the more 'bombshell' drama is dropped this early, and given that this is UC verse in a distant future, I'll be waiting to see what 'the guru' can come up with. Bellry reminds me of Judau (that pitched voice) and Garrod spliced together. If you pay attention, Aida was in a meta sense, made to debut and designed like Marida. I mean, dat hair and glitter!

Well, and that's the first two episode.

1: Ok, it's not just me who thought the dialogue was strange at times. Did a red shirt get shot down or something?

2: Ok, it's not just me who thought the dialogue was strange at times. Not to mention the part where she was hanging onto the hatch and somehow wasn't seen by the guy. (was was he again? Sure was cooked quickly for someone who seems to be close to the girl)

Not sure how to feel. Just keep watching.

1. More like an escapee plus Mysterious Waif plus Chekhov's Gunman

2. The servant man couldn't see Aida because Bellry was covering her up with his shield. Bellry assumed the man saw her and was poised to kill her. But the psychoframe or something (if there is such a thing) inside G-self did the killing. If I'm not mistaken, look at the footage again: he was flying in front, so he couldn't have seen her from above or from the sides.

edited 3rd Oct '14 7:44:26 AM by Culminus

To clarify something most anime are still hand-drawn (CGI mechas and what not aside) it's just coloured and 'filmed' digitally. This anime is no exception they're just using techniques to give it an old school look.

Its a beautiful lie.

• The Capital Army have uniforms similar to Dianna Counter.
• America's stand-in in Turn A, 'Ameria', was mentioned.
• Bellri outstretching both of the G-Self's arms◊ upwards is heavily reminiscent of Loran and the Turn-A.
• The mobile suit museum had lots of UC suits.
• That pose with the outstretched arm Luin◊ and the G-Self◊ do in the ED calls back to Turn A's opening◊ (and King Gainer's◊, Tomino must like that pose).

edited 3rd Oct '14 9:59:45 AM by Crinias

for the people complaining about the voice-acting,it probably has something to do with Tomino complaining about how voice-acting in anime is handled these days.The voice-actors are probably still getting used to Tomino's direction.

So the question is: how many episodes till our protagonist has his first breakdown?

Funnily enough I saw those mythology gags (and the MS museum is actually a reference to F91) but when you said it was prequel to Turn A I assumed there was a story related reference to Turn A.

edited 3rd Oct '14 2:12:35 PM by zsmg

So, if you never watched a Gundam series, but probably should at some point...would this be a decent place to start?

I don't think so.

Didn't Tomino say that it was intended to draw in new viewers?

x3 I don't know. We're only just getting started, so it's difficult to judge where this will go. On the one hand, I don't think you really need much Gundam knowledge to like this, but on the other, we don't know yet just how much of a general Gundam atmosphere it might have.

So if you begin here and this ends up with a tone similar to Turn A Gundam, you might be fooled into thinking that's how all Gundam shows are, but that wouldn't be the case.

I think you should probably begin with the original if you want to get started with Gundam, and go from there, probably.

He did say that, so it's likely that the series will be different from the usual fare.

edited 3rd Oct '14 4:06:32 PM by Crinias

Just watch Gundam AGE...It's awesome, like it's gonna be awesome if you don't puke your brain at the end.

I don't really know yet wether to recommend Reconquista or not...

I'm really liking the look of the show.