The Stardust Memory Gundam caught my attention mainly because one of its directors: Mitsuko Kase. While I’m also a bit of a fan of her, her directional style is completely different to the stuff we usually see in Gundam: both the early Tomino Series and the later incarnations.
And seriously, the work that she pulls off here belongs to her best. The animation is beyond incredible, and the battles all know how to not go over the top. The weaknesses of the different pilots in combat play a huge role here, and this makes the battles much more intense than your usual Gundam battles. The tension between the different characters is great, and the characterization, despite throwing in lots of Gundam archetypes (most notably, ignoring orders) gives an entirely new dimension to the Gundam formula.
Oh, how I would have wished to sing these kinds of praises for the entire 13 episodes of this OVa. Unfortunately, Mitsuko Kase only directed the first five of them. Derailing is a big word… but that’s exactly what this show does after that point.
And I’m not kidding here. Few series I’ve seen have transgressed from so good, to so utterly bad in such a short amount of time. I really wish I could, but aside from the animation I just can’t say anything positive about the mess that this show eventually devolves into. As the characters move into space, the show loses all of its subtlety and battles simply turn into the endless repetitions that we’re known of Gundam. The characters all lose their charms and devolve into generic archetypes. The male lead once was an interesting new version of Amuro Ray due to his rookie status, but he soon develops a bad case of constipation, somehow gets to be the only one who can pilot the Uber Gundam of this series and has as much personality as a brick wall.
There is a plot, and it would have been a fairly good one if only the execution wasn’t so ridiculously stupid. Plot twists are pretty much pulled out of the creators’ asses. Is your Gundam destroyed? Well, conveniently people have been developing a brand new one behind the scenes. Need some extra drama? Well, you wouldn’t believe the stuff that this show pulls in order to get there. Not to mention the godawful ‘foreshadowing episode’ (you’ll know which episode I’m referring to, right when you see it due to its elephant-like subtlety). Even for Gundam’s standards, the plot twists are just BAD beyond belief.
I often see people praise the UC Gundam timeline, and how it’s so much better and superior than the other Gundams and stuff, but I disagree. For me, Gundam has been a string of series that actually disappointed in their second halves more often than that they didn’t, often derailing the plot completely into pointless angst or stupid plot twists like this one. Oh, let’s hope that the currently airing Gundam Unicorn can avoid this because for me, it’s likely to be the most overrated franchise in anime at this point.
| Storytelling: | 6/10 – Starts off tense and realistic. Ends incredibly unbalanced, wastes too much time, and pulls random plot twists from out of nowhere. |
| Characters: | 5/10 – Start off full of promise, ends with a ton of archetypes and caricatures, a ton of emo and pathetic romance. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Starts off amazingly fluid with an excellent soundtrack. The animation dulls in but it’s still very good, aside from a cop-out at the climax. Oh, and the good music somehow disappears. |
| Setting: | 6/10 – You’ve got to love, how at the end some disclaimers and Deus ex Machina are pulled to fix the continuity errors that this show created… |
I did not know that only the first five episodes were directed by her. This…explains a lot.
IMHO, Char counterattack and War in the pocket are the best UC Gundam series. Of course, Unicorn has a pretty good start. 😉
I KNEW Stardust Memory wouldn’t be worth it. Still hoping you’ll go for 0080(War in the Pocket). It’s a simpler story than most Gundams, but it’s better off for it.
Please… just watch 08th MS team and 0080, they’re UC’s true high marks.
Have to agree with everyone else. 08th MS Team and War in the Pocket are the best of UC Gundam. The only part you might not like are the last one or two episodes of 08th MS, but it’s still solid. Neither have extended scenes in space.
Meh. To me, UC Gundam was already dead upon the RIDICULOUS Zeta and the RIDICULOUSER ZZ.
MS Team is nice, War in the Pocket is alright, but really?
Did the UC series really needed to go on after the original series? I’d say no.
Errr…there’s a few key parts where you are just flat out wrong about the plot of the series. For one Kou doesn’t end up as “the only guy that can pilot the Gundam”….he just steals it and is rightfully court martialed for it AFTER I should mention getting it destroyed. Also the only plot twist that was really truly awful and actually a true plot hole with the one about Nina and Gato somehow being lovers even though neither one recognized the other in the early episode where they see each other face to face. See what I did there? I actually went out of my way to pinpoint and actual fault of the show instead of generalizing it across it’s entire run and confusing people needlessly as to what the hell I’m talking about.
Anyway it’s clear that you have a hard on hatred for Gundam so I’m not really expecting much in the way of these “reviews” other than for that to come through overwhelming as the crux behind them. It’s just a shame that you and others have to bring down people’s expectations for the franchise by spreading this “truthiness” about it. Seriously what is it with Gundam and atrociously biased blog reviews anyway?
Kaioshin: the reason I wasn’t specific is simple: I try to write spoiler-free reviews. As much as I hated that particular plot twist, I don’t want to ruin it for those who are genuinely interested in it. That’s why I’m being this vague about them.
Also, it’s not like I hate every gundam. I really liked Turn A Gundam and the original Gundam. Call it bias, but I was genuinely interested in this OVA during the first five episodes.
@PSGels: IMO trying to write such reviews really weakens them because sometimes you really need to quote from the script in order to truly illustrate a point. I will not deny that Stardust Memory has it’s share of incredibly disappointing weaknesses in the writing (Nina’s character and everyone she interacts with in any given scene is a good example), but there are so many points up for contention here that one might mistake a spoiler free review as being disguised by a lack of clear information so that if nobody knows the show via first person experience then the issues won’t arise and the generalization will be taken for granted. Not trying to accuse you of anything, but it’s just how it comes across to me. Anyway Spoilers are coming now:
For example the foreshadowing episode you mention I assume refers to the conspiracy in the Federation that is being lead by the future Titans founders. It doesn’t really lack in subtlety to me because a) I know the future of the timeline having seen Zeta Gundam first like one would have if they watched the franchise while it came out (Zeta predates 0083 production wise) and b) It’s a bunch of old men in rooms talking for the most part. It doesn’t get much more subtle then talking and scheming behind closed doors.
The fact that there’s a 3rd Gundam isn’t really a plot twist either as it’s made clear during the lunar arc that it’s always been in space and under construction at Anaheim while the rest of the crew has been chasing the 2nd one around.
The show also doesn’t really lose it’s gravitas entirely after the first half either. I can name some great scenes like the Axis soldiers returning to Earth and finally seeing it after years in the asteroid belt as being full of personality and emotion. The final battle that plays out over the last 3 episodes is also extremely high stakes and multi-layered in it’s portrayal and has overtones of the problems to come in the Universal Century during the Zeta era. You may very well not pick up on all of them as I failed to the first time I watched it, but the thing with Gundam is that there is usually so much going on at one time that it requires multiple watchings to take it all in and truly appreciate it. This could be seen as a crucial weakness or a great strength depending on how you feel about rewatching shows.
Also the “Deus Ex Machina” and disclaimers were deliberate and I felt more than enough to suffice for continuities sake. Considering that the only people that actually knew about the Gundam Development Project have either been shifted out of the military and public eye and/or brought under the Titans direct command and/or “disappeared” and that all of the evidence regarding it has been scrapped (Both by the destruction of the Gundams in battle and the destruction of the research and plans for the Gundam Development Project) as well, the Titans have their perfect origin story of a Zeon terror attack on Earth as justification for their existance. Gundam Project? What Gundam Project.
However in terms of the “romance and emo” I agree you are bang on and it’s just a total mood killer every time it comes up. Also you mention wasted time which is also fairly true. Episode 3 is a total throw away with regard to the paint ball duel and the entire Von Braun arc could almost be considered one too if it weren’t for the fact that Anaheim Electronics and it’s CEO’s scheming plays such a huge if low key part in how the remainder of the series plays out.
So yeah I agree that their are some major issues with the shows continuity, that some characters are just awful (Nina, Monsha, Cima and even the lead Kou come to mind immediately upon saying this) and that it probably deserves a score of around 6 or 7 out of 10, but the way it’s been spun like the whole second half is nothing but a comedy of errors just doesn’t sit well with someone who knows better and can and will contest such a view. For others it’s probably not going to matter because people tend to believe the first thing they hear about something from authority figures and little I say is going to change their mind.
For those who want a third opinion though I recommend a podcast called Gundamn which is done by longtime Gundam fans who themselves showcased a lot of dissatisfaction with Stardust Memory, but in a way that truly illustrates why it’s seen by many as a disappointment. It also helps that’s it’s pretty funny too:
http: //www.mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10127
Lol,saw Kaioshin’s comment coming a mile away. Anyway, I’ll admit the plot could of been handled better, and the love triangle was totally unnecessary. As for being emo, I don’t remember much of that being in 0083 so I wonder if its just psgel, who seems to be a bit sensitive about angst/emo, then again I’m pretty tolerant about that kind of stuff. Overall, I’d give it between a 7.0 and a 7.5: good fights,good beginning, and serves as a nice tie in to the U.C. Also,I like how it has a bit of a Top Gun flair to it.
So if you like that much about the first 5 epis. of this you MUST watch 08th MS TEAM, Mitsuko Kase is the unit director (and full director after the original’s director’s death).
Kaioshin: fair enough. Although I do want to note that the foreshadowing episode is the one where
[spoiler]
That old lieutenant dies. Throughout the entire episode, the creators just kept hinting at how old he’s gotten, how he’s lost his strength, and how nostalgic he’s been to see the young pilots taking over his duties, et cetera.
Math: nice. Though what is a Unit Director anyway? How does that differ from a regular director?
I actually think that on its second half the 8th MS Team becomes pretty much the same as Stardust Memory. I mean, there’s a clear shift of focus on the second half.
On the other hand, War in the Pocket is pretty unique among Gundam series, and maybe my favorite of them. I strongly recommend you watch it next.
08th is good in a lot of areas but it’s place has become highly inflated in the Gundam metaverse IMO.
Inflated to the point of even being damaging to the other shows getting their due I would say because for some reason people on the internet keep pushing it as a gold standard for Gundam and if another series doesn’t have this or that which was featured in 08th MS Team then people are going to bitch about it and then go on and on about 08th MS Team in comparison even if it’s not a working one. It really slays me that people still call Zeta Gundam the overrated/over-hyped entry in the franchise since I wouldn’t say it’s reputation is anywhere close to as exaggerated as 08th’s is.
I mean never mind that 08th MS Team has it’s own share of problems including a cobbled together romance that is only slightly more believable than Kou and Nina’s, the weakest antagonist in the U.C portion of the franchise by far surpassed only by the ones from Seed Destiny for the franchise as a whole, too many standalone episodes early on for it’s own good, and the forcing of the supporting cast of the 08th MS Team into the background during the second half in favour of bringing the crummy romance I mentioned to the foreground. Also if you are going to watch it I strongly recommend skipping the final episode as it has nothing to do with anything and only serves to weaken an otherwise solid finale.
@Psgels: Oh that….yes Burning suffers from a problem prevalent in many mecha series (though somehow noticeably absent in Zeta for the most part) where whenever a character is going to die the episode suddenly shifts it’s focus over to them. It’s a dead giveaway.
Man I agree so hard with that last paragraph.
It just feels like Gundam has never been as good as it should be, with such an attractive premise.
Unicorn has me very excited though…this could be the one I’ve been waiting for.
Now someone needs to explain to me how people can rave about Zeta being the best and how it’s deep, mature, realistic, and entertaining or something like that.