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Errinundra's Anime

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ANN Yoshiyuki Tomino page

My average ranking: 6.88

Director Pantheon: Yoshiyuki Tomino▲▼ Rating▲▼
Aura Battler Dunbine (TV) Good

Brain Powered (TV) Decent

Étoile de la Seine (TV) Very good

Review

Mobile Suit Gundam - The Movie Trilogy Good

Even though the trilogy is a compilation of the original series, the compressed plot didn't present any problems. Perhaps the original series had lots of filler. The result is in stark contrast to director Yoshiuki Tomino's earlier effort in compiling Space Runaway Ideon into the movie Ideon: A Contact, which made it pretty well incomprehensible. Only in the third movie were there scene jumps that suggested missing material. In any case, the basic plot of Mobile Suit Gundam is much more entertaining than Ideon: A Contact.

Even though giant robots don't normally appeal to me, I enjoyed the antics of Amuro Ray and his mechanical suit. The individual battles were thankfully brief, if spectacular, and the film happily avoided that curse of later anime melees - the extended exposition and posturing in the middle of the fights. The viewer can hear the characters' thoughts while in battle but it rarely interferes with the action. The famous Char Aznable is quite the villain. I've never seen a bad guy retreat so many times and still maintain the respect of his superiors. He was quite a likeable fellow, though, and I was gratified to see his silhouette through the window of a spaceship at the end of the movie.

The influence this series had on anime of the 80s and 90s is quite apparent. From Nausicaa to Evangelion I can see the spirit of Gundam at work.

Space Runaway Ideon (TV) Good

Space Runaway Ideon: Be Invoked (movie) Very good

For sure, Be Invoked has not aged well in some ways. In particular, the characters are dated in their design, their personalities and the dramatic roles they play. Nevertheless this remarkable film makes up for these shortcomings with an intensely dramatic crescendo of violence that you will not quickly forget. Be Invoked is famous as the anime where everyone dies and, believe me, no-one is spared. Knowing that, however, doesn't reduce its impact, especially when the combatants finally understand all too well that their own innate violence is the catalyst for their destruction. And then, if that's not enough, everything is turned on its head in a most unexpected rapturous ending.

Although completely different in style - owing a considerable debt to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, this is more a space opera than mecha anime - the end surely inspired End of Evangelion. Despite its inferior production standards and its simpler plot, it still manages to be more convincing than its spiritual successor in its depiction of human "evolution".

Look out for the homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dune in the last few seconds.

Space Runaway Ideon: Contact (movie) Not really good

As a re-hash of the 39 episode series and a prelude to the main event - Be Invoked - this film jumps from one unexplained situation to another and thrusts characters upon the viewer without any introduction. In this intergalactic war, both sides call home "Earth" and each other "aliens", so it took me a while to work out who was fighting whom. Yes, it all ends up being rather a chore to watch but it is a necessary forerunner to one of the most memorable anime around.
Turn A Gundam (TV) Very good