April 29th, 2011 
AstroNerdBoy 機動戦士ガンダム /Kido Senshi Gundam episode 34
Mobile Suit Gundam – 34
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:
Having returned to Side-6, Bright has maintenance being done on White Base and wants to leave as quickly as possible due to administrative pressures to get them to go. Amuro has permission to go ashore and visit his dad, but a scheduled rain forces him to stop at a nice home to wait out the shower, where he meets a dark skinned girl who’s sitting on the porch. After the rain, Amuro drives to his father’s home in the junkyard but his father is still mentally unstable. Having in essence said his goodbye, Amuro leaves. Meanwhile, Zanzibar docks at Side-6 right next to White Base and Char disembarks. He and his driver Lalah, the girl Amuro had previously met, encounter Amuro’s vehicle stuck on the road. They tow him out and Amuro wonders how he know this was Char when they’ve never met. Char wonders about Amuro, but Lalah says Amuro was probably frightened of the infamous Red Comet, Char.
On White Base, Cameron offers to escort out of their territory since Conscon’s fleet is waiting. Mirai rejects his offer but is slapped by Sleggar for being inconsiderate and scolds Cameron for letting Mirai speak that way. Cameron still offers to help and his shuttle leads White Base out. Conscon dispatches Rick Doms, authorizing them to violate Side-6 space since they won’t engage until they are outside the zone. The mobile suits menace the shuttle and White Base as Amuro and the others prepare for battle. A Side-6 TV crew in a ship records the battle as soon as it starts, which is seen by Amuro’s father as well as by Char and Lalah, the later predicting Gundam will win. Amuro takes out several Rick Doms and the remaining ones change tactics but to no avail as Amuro destroys them all.
As White Base destroys all of Conscon’s Musai-class ships, he orders his Chivvay command ship to ram White Base since he’s sure Char is watching this and laughing at him. Amuro sees the desperate tactic and also sees how to destroy the Zeon warship with his two energy swords. After stabbing both weak spots on Chivvay, it is destroyed. Amuro’s father sees this on TV and celebrates how his new part made the difference in Gundam’s fight. Lalah sees her prediction come true and notes to Char that this is why he hangs around her. Meanwhile, as Amuro returns to White Base, he tears up and says farewell to Side-6 and his father. At the same time, Cameron orders a return to Side-6 and says his tearful farewell to Mirai to himself.
Thoughts/Review:
Amuro has been shown to be good with Gundam from day 1 but back then, the causes were that he was a genius combined with Gundam having such incredible computer systems that even a novice could fight and win. Over time, Amuro’s skills have improved but with this episode, Amuro seems to be developing some sort of special intuition or something. He immediately knew Char, whom he’d never met before, when Char and Lalah pulled over to help him. Then in the battle, he was not only able to predict the Rick Dom normal movements but the abnormal ones they made as well and thus took out every Dom solo. Then he was able to “see” the weak spots on Chivvay and destroy that ship as well. I don’t know what this means other than as a plot device to excuse Gundam from doing even more incredible things down the road.
Speaking of Char and Lalah, I guess they might be a couple or something. I was surprised that when Char docked at Side-6, it was apparently to see her. Certainly, the implication was that the two have known each other for quite some time and Char appears to visit her frequently. I suppose she could be a spy but then again, there may be more to her than meets the eye based on Char’s comment on her perception skills and her prediction about Gundam winning the fight.
Oh, while I’m thinking about it, this episode was referenced by a School Rumble chapter when Tenma got caught in a rainstorm and mentioned not being given a weather schedule. The remark was explained as a Gundam one in the translator notes but it is cool to actually see the scene referenced and in context. ^_^
It was kinda sad seeing Amuro visit his father for one final time to basically say goodbye without saying goodbye. His father is insane and as I recall, his mother is unhappy with him making Amuro a kind of orphan. I suppose something positive could happen by series end but the way things felt, I don’t suppose Amuro will ever see his parents again.
Speaking of farewells, I felt kinda bad for Cameron. I know his choosing work over Mirai pissed her off and I appreciate that. However, I guess she’s just going to be with Bright now, which is fine with me. I’m kinda surprised Cameron didn’t get killed in the fight but then that would make a Bright-Mirai romance kinda morbid.
Then, there was Sleggar slapping the crap out of Mirai, this coming after last episode where he punched Cameron. I guess back when Gundam was made, you could still get away with physical violence against a woman. Today is another story as only men may be physically abused, especially by women. ^_^;
Hayato’s reaction to Zanzibar seemed odd to me. He’s never shown being angry when they’ve encountered other Zeon ships so why is he all of the sudden angry when a Zeon ships docks next to them? Why are they suddenly the ones who killed Ryuu? Didn’t make sense to me.
So, an interesting episode with all kinds of stuff happening.
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It’s not just this episode. If you look back through the episodes there have been times when he just knew something was there or something was about to happen. The most stand out being when he fought the Black Tristars, they have been building to this the whole series.
To be fair, we haven’t actually gotten to see a whole lot of Hayato. But, he was arguably the closest one to Ryu as they operated the Guntank and practiced Judo together. I could imagine he’s had quite a bit of anger towards the Zeon for his death. And then all of a sudden, here’s a Zeon heavy cruiser being docked in the same bay. Insult to injury, they know it’s commanded by the man that’s been their greatest antagonist since they got on White Base in the first place. I find his saltiness to make sense, it was just sort of odd for him to stand out so much.
There was also a bit deeper meaning in the entire chance meeting in the rain portion. The whole simply knowing someone was there, being able to ‘hear’ what they would say before it was said… it’s all been building up to it, as said above, and is one of the deeper philosophies of the series.
It’s not just this episode. If you look back through the episodes there have been times when he just knew something was there or something was about to happen. The most stand out being when he fought the Black Tristars, they have been building to this the whole series.
Back then, I just saw this as his growing experience along with having a talent for the job.
I find his saltiness to make sense, it was just sort of odd for him to stand out so much.
Hmmm, you have a point there but I would have just preferred Hayato to have been shown being angry during other Zeon encounters to give it more of a sense of continuity.
There was also a bit deeper meaning in the entire chance meeting in the rain portion. The whole simply knowing someone was there, being able to ‘hear’ what they would say before it was said… it’s all been building up to it, as said above, and is one of the deeper philosophies of the series.
Well, I’ll pay closer attention to this aspect.
Dunno what’s up, but the site keeps forcing me to sign in with Google even when I try to post anonymously. Needless to say, it’s a bit annoying.
Side 6 is a bit of a breather sequence. It’s a chance to get to know some of the White Base crew a little better, and a chance to get reacquainted with Char. More importantly, while the events at the Side are pretty straightforward as far as the One Year War is concerned, the visit inadvertently set something in motion that will have personal consequences long after the war is over (and I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about exactly what right now – everything will become clear soon enough).
Bloom, as you’ve no doubt figured out, is a fairly good guy overall who genuinely wants to do the right thing. He’ll reappear again briefly in Char’s Counterattack, when he has a small but important role.
Side 6’s unusual role as a neutral Side is explored in more depth in Gundam 0080. The six part OVA series is set in one of the colonies in the Side – Libot – and the Side’s status as a neutral is an important plot point.
Dunno what’s up, but the site keeps forcing me to sign in with Google even when I try to post anonymously. Needless to say, it’s a bit annoying.
Sorry about that. Blogger/Google can be quite a bit annoying on a whole range of things.
I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about exactly what right now – everything will become clear soon enough
Good to know. ^_^
Today is another story as only men may be physically abused, especially by women. ^_^;
Yeah, anyone else find this disturbing? There seems to be anime girl punches a guy at least once a episode and its always girl. Men arent even allowed to slap women, let alone hit them with hammers or electrocute them. This is sexist and harmful if you ask me.
This is the current, unwritten rule of things — a man is considered the majority and the woman a minority. Thus, anything a man does to a woman is evil. However, as a minority, the woman can do anything she wants to the man, and it is all justified.