Gundam Planet Watches "Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance"

Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is the latest piece of visual media in everyone's favorite mecha franchise, and the reaction to the reveal was "mixed" to say the least; our own social media post reacting to the trailer garnered a lot of hostility toward the Unreal Engine 5 redesigns of classic mobile suits and the uncanny valley CG humans. Since then we've been waiting to see what exactly this new direction became, and now that it's out, we're here to break it down episode by episode and share our thoughts and reactions! We watched the English audio version, so all of our impressions are linked to that. You may have a different experience if you watched in another language.

(When the stream was announced, it seemed like it was going to be a weekly release, so we locked into a weekly structure for this post. Now that it's out and dropped all at once, we're going to stick with the weekly updates just in case viewers haven't had a chance to check it out or are pacing themselves!)

Episode 1: Haunted Forest

For starters, this episode has the biggest gulf between animation and voice acting in the entire series. The opening sequence is chock-full of beautiful imagery that contrasts the idyllic rural autumn surroundings with the power of a Zeon caravan loaded with Magella tanks, but every time a commanding officer or tank operator barks out an order, the stiff UE5 facial animations struggle to make the characters convincing. It immediately made us wish that the humans had been either real actors or facial captured, but characters that show up in later episodes reveal why that wasn't possible for consistency's sake.

The first 5 minutes of battle don't feature a single mobile suit, which is a great decision because it showcases the weight of what standard infantry goes through over the course of a Gundam show. You never get to see a non-pilot infantry member's viewpoint of just how imposing a mobile suit, even a "grunt" suit like a Zaku II, is from the vantage point of a human like you or I. The tank battle outside the base becomes the perfect "ground floor" that the rest of the episode uses in the build-up to the big reveal.

Once Red Wolf Squadron deploys and makes their appearance, the showrunners nevertheless continue to show that the weapons we as Gundam fans have come to take for granted (like EFF fighters and tanks, more "standard" military fare) are still legitimate threats not to be trifled with. I can't think of the last time that an engagement between mobile suits and fighter jets was given this kind of a "headliner" feel, and the animation in the airborne battle is genuinely spectacular.

Once the fighting is over, the weakness in the facial animation and some of the voice acting comes through again, especially with regards to Dr. Kasuga, whose facial animations seem almost nonexistent. That said, the "down-time" at the captured base does a fine job of setting the scene and establishing characters in the limited 5-minute repose before the "I have a bad feeling about this" Newtype moment that everyone saw coming. Red Wolf Squadron is stiff but likeable, and you come to understand that these are soldiers doing their best rather than caricatures of malevolence the way that many Zeon officers were portrayed in the original series.

All this is to say, the scripting lead-up to what we think is one of the best Gundam reveals in the history of the franchise made the payoff feel earned. "The Feddies finally got themselves a mobile suit" moment was when we realized this show was not going to mess around, and it sets the stage for the way the rest of the battle is going to go.

We're so used to the Gundam reveal being heralded by an orchestral swell and a sigh of relief, the savior of the characters we've been introduced to finally jumping into action to save the day. This episode completely flips the script in a way that no other series--yes, I say that even with Gundam Thunderbolt in mind--has been able to do. The Gundam shows up and odds immediately feel impossible, actions feel helpless, and the weight of the characters--who were up to this point the saviors of entire companies--becoming increasingly helpless in the face of this powerful enemy becomes tangible and oppressive.

The episode ends with Iria completely alone, out of all mobile suit options, and unaware if anyone in the entire base survived the encounter she just barely did. When the Gundam walks away and leaves her alive, the relief is tangible but the dread persists. Like so many people in the show asked, "what the hell was that thing?"

Episode 2: Broken

Now that we've been introduced to The Nightmare and understand the stakes, we're allowed to be taken directly through the wreckage of what happened in the last episode without any new exposition. There are some PS2-era running physics to start things, but aside from that there isn't too much more uncanny valley happening--except when the doctor speaks, of course.

For us, the most important part of this episode is watching how quickly and easily the Gundam EX stomps around the battlefield one-shotting every Zeon unit that still stands. While Iria struggles to reunite with her ONE surviving team member and find a single functional unit, the Gundam can be seen and heard in the background making quick work of every threat, and the Dopp fight is particularly fun to watch. Very clearly, there's no way out but the crafty approach because no one's going brute force past THAT.

The second "Newtype Moment" might be a little too Matrix-y for some, but it's fun to see Newtype abilities come through in ways that aren't tied to mobile suits. Iria is able to perfectly time her command along with gaps in incoming machinegun fire to navigate a Feddie ambush and get her team to the truck depot where other survivors wait, and where we'll be introduced to another major character. We love pink-haired Zeon girls, don't we folks?

With episodes this short, there has to be some QUICK character development done through exposition bits and / or intense scenarios that play out quickly. This show does both, but this episode leans much more heavily on the quick one-off encounters. We have a borderline Saji Crossroad moment when Hailey saves Doctor Kasuga from EFF forces that have their guns trained on him, and he has to do everyone's favorite "you didn't have to kill them!!!" routine. She gets to lecture him and now we know where everyone stands. Hooray!

We won't go too in-depth about the Zaku Tank Maneuver, but we love the heist feel to the entire thing. "It only drives backwards" is such a clever little wrench in the gears that once again shows Iria's ability to problem solve and lead her team through difficult situations, and when they're finally able to pull away and put some distance between themselves and the machine that's been torturing them, the show allows you to feel their relief by changing the scenery to the European countryside and swapping the night combat scenario for sunny clear skies. It's a little tonally heavy-handed, but again, short episodes in a short series need that kind of thing. (Needs must when the devil drives?)

Anyway, things once again go from great to terrible when the Zaku Tank gets annihilated by a long-range beam rifle snipe by the Gundam who followed them all this way like a vengeful demon, but this is when the best mech redesign in the entire show gets to shine and the GOUF CUSTOMS show up! (Could we place get beefier audio for their chainguns please? That thing sounds like the Halo 4 assault rifle.)

The show continues to shine brightest when it prominently features the juxtaposition between "infantry problems" and "mobile suit" problems, which once again happens when Iria and her team have to clear debris from the road in order to proceed with their escape, all while the three massive machines tower and brawl overhead. After the fight is over and what's left of the caravan escapes, the Gundam lets them leave.... but why, after all that?

Episode 3: Junkyard

It was high time for a nightmare sequence, which hints at some things we find out later while very overtly showing that Iria has a son. Then she wakes up and we're already at the next place, because the pacing has to be brisk like we've mentioned before and will mention again.

This episode is noteworthy for being the first one where a new character is introduced that isn't immediately offputting because of face animation or voice acting. When Major Ronet showed up my first thought was "Is that Evil Ringo Starr???" because he looks and sounds like he could be an evil version of Ringo Starr. He and Alfee are introduced within seconds of each other, very clearly with the intention of being narrative foils in the same environment. From a writing perspective, both characters do an admirable job of conveying their qualities and motivations, despite the fact that Ronet is more of an evil caricature at this point.

One thing leads to another and Iria & The Gang team up with Alfee and the crew of mechanics at the junkyard to build some fresh mobile suits to defend themselves, which doesn't go over with Evil Ringo Starr (who's made it clear he just wants to drink, fly under the radar, and protect the people in the junkyard by bringing as little attention to it as possible).

While the episode heavily telegraphs how this is going to shake out--Ronet tells them to stop, there's a "But sir!!" exchange, "no buts" is delivered, and then right at the time when the kids get told to put their toys away and that's FINAL, the unthinkable happens: Gundam here!--

Oh yeah, there is one massive issue with this episode that it would be irresponsible not to mention: the teeth on the character models just....aren't rendered. It seems a little crazy for that to be the case considering this episode has the most heated and animated exchange between Ronet and Solari with frequent facial close-ups where you can clearly see the hockey mouthguard look that's just bizarre. Anyway!

When it hits the fan (as it is wont to do), there are some good lines and moments like "Permission to board our RIDICULOUS stunt, sir?" while Ronet lies on the ground, which is maybe the best line in the series. We get to see the junkyard Zakus come to life for the first time and it's right back into the fray for Iria and Lesean.

The shot of the Gundam sprinting through the trees to meet them is imposing and menacing, as it crashes through trees like they're absolutely nothing. The tanks may be dealt with but for the first time in the series, the Gundam isn't a lone warrior making quick work of everything in its path. Now, it even has backup.

While the episode does a spectacular job setting the stage for what ultimately becomes a non-stop sprint to the finish, we do have one request: can we stop with slow-motion shots of mobile suits running / walking toward the camera? That's all we ask!