機動戦士ガンダム /Kido Senshi Gundam episode 37
Mobile Suit Gundam – 37

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Gihren is angry at the loss of Solomon base and decides to form a final line of defense at A Baoa Qu. On White Base, Amuro goes in for a checkup and has a chat with Frau Bow, who no longer appears to see him with romantic eyes but the eyes of a friend. He promises to tell her about what happened at Side 6 when he’s had a chance to think it over. On the Zanzibar, Char makes plans to dock at the now mostly deserted Texas space station colony as White Base enters the Texas zone, looking for Zeon forces remaining from Solomon. Spotting some, White Base launches its normal units, not knowing that M’quve has been waiting for White Base. With his custom-made Gyan mobile suit, M’quve plans to remove the White Base threat for good before Char gets his new mobile suit.

M’quve launches with a squad of Rick Doms, which immediately seek out the G-Armor unit to engage it. Amuro extracts Gundam and he and Sayla destroy most of the Rick Doms, not realizing they’d been lured into the area where M’quve is waiting for them. Inside Texas, Char, Lalah, and a man named Flanagan are on a covered wagon, returning from a test of her abilities. She senses something touching her mind and assumes it is Char, but he denies it. Back outside the station, M’quve springs his trap, causing an asteroid he’d been standing on to explode. M’quve assumes Gundam was destroyed in the blast and starts to celebrate until Gundam shows up and attacks. M’quve is dismayed and afraid and starts firing as he retreats from Gundam’s advance.

Amuro cautiously follows M’quve’s Gyan into Texas while Char and Lalah return to the docking area. Lala asks if she is ready to pilot the new Elmeth mobile suit and Char says that she is. Further, he states his belief that she will surpass him, which is why when she was orphaned, he sponsored her to live on Side 6 with the Flanagan researchers. Char receives word that M’quve has entered Texas and decides to take the prototype Gelgoog to check up on him with Lalah taking a buggy. Meanwhile, Amuro dodges all of M’quve’s traps, leading M’quve to think that Amuro is a Newtype. Char enters the battle and Amuro immediately figures the red Gelgoog belongs to him.

After a brief exchange of gunfire, M’qvue orders Char to withdraw since this is his fight. Char agrees and leaves to observe. Amuro has exhausted his beam rifle energy, so M’quve comes out with an energy sword. Amuro wields both of his energy swords and the battle is engaged with M’quve desperate to get one on Char. Lalah again senses something and as Amuro finally has M’quve’s mobile suit, she sends out a telepathic message to tell them to stop the fight. Amuro hears it but continues slicing the Gyan. M’quve sends one last message to one of his officers as Char races his Gelgoog to Lalah’s location to shield her from the Gyan’s massive explosion. Amuro seeks out the mind that touched his and he and Lalah discover each other’s name.  Outside the station, White Base presses the attack on M’quve’s small fleet and remaining Rick Doms.

Thoughts/Review:

Well, this was certainly an interesting episode. For the first time, the term “Newtype” is used to describe Amuro and clearly that’s what Lalah is as well. Amuro has certainly grown in power since he’s able to predict the movements of Zeon mobile suits and find their weak points (to say nothing of finding the weak points of Zeon capital ships).  However, he acts like a veteran now.  When M’quve sprung his initial trap, Amuro was very cautious from that point on.  I was glad to see him not racing blindly after M’quve.  Even when Char showed up, Amuro dealt with the changing situation and when Char withdrew, Amuro returned his focus on M’quve rather than try to follow Char. Its that kind of writing to show character growth that makes the show more enjoyable.

We got to learn more about Lalah here besides the fact that she’s apparently a Newtype. Somehow, Char learned about her when she was younger and had her sent to Side 6 for testing. How Char knew there was something special about Lalah is still a mystery but he did and I guess from the level of devotion Lalah has for Char, he’s stayed fairly close to her, as much as the war would allow. Now, Char’s going to put her into a new mobile suit and she’s willing and eager to do so.  Despite this, it still seems like Char’s just using her as a weapon.  If Lalah decided she didn’t want to pilot a Elmeth, would Char still treat her the same?  I do wonder because Char has his own agenda despite fighting for the Zeons.

I liked Amuro and Frau Bow having their chat. Tomino-sensei appeared to be closing down any notion of Amuro and Frau Bow having any kind of romantic relationship but if he can make Mirai be in love with someone out of the blue then anything can happen.

Despite Amuro’s expected win happening on schedule, M’quve ended up proving to be a better tactician than I remembered him from his time on Earth. After all, he knew that head-to-head combat with Gundam would probably be a losing proposition and thus led Amuro into trap after trap.  Had Amuro not been a Newtype, M’quve would have easily won, something that even surprised Char,

Since Char and Amuro are still on Texas, I guess its times for a showdown between them in the next episode. Looking forward to seeing it. ^_^