Forum - View topic

REVIEW: Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway

It does follow the first novel closely--though there are more than a few little changes here or there.

I thought Gundam NT was a complete disaster, so it's left me nervous about how this would turn out. I'm actually still nervous, after reading this review...

My big problem with Hathaway's Flash is quite simple. We know that Mafty's rebellion is going to end in failure and that the status quo of the Universal Century is going to keep on being terrible, so why should I care about anything that happens here?

Indeed, that has always been the problem with the timeline since Zeta, nothing in the setting can ever get better…Gundam is in the exact some place as where Star Wars currently is right now, caring more about catering to the tastes of the original fanbase at the expanse of trying to create more new paths for it's long-term future. G-Reco may have been an incoherent mess but it was trying open new horizons and create possibilities. Hathaway's Flash just gives you a hollow drama.

Which gundam ( ) shows should someone watch first before this movie?

Kicksville wrote:

I thought Gundam NT was a complete disaster, so it's left me nervous about how this would turn out. I'm actually still nervous, after reading this review...

Gundam NT was pretty underwhelming. I really liked some of the opening sequences, and some of the themes they played with were interesting to me and I felt they clarified some things about Newtypes, but as a whole it didn’t come off as a strong experience. It felt more like a rushed OVA than a movie. The character designs were a mixed bag, but some were refreshing.

Zeino wrote:

My big problem with Hathaway's Flash is quite simple. We know that Mafty's rebellion is going to end in failure and that the status quo of the Universal Century is going to keep on being terrible, so why should I care about anything that happens here? Indeed, that has always been the problem with the timeline since Zeta, nothing in the setting can ever get better…Gundam is in the exact some place as where Star Wars currently is right now, caring more about catering to the tastes of the original fanbase at the expanse of trying to create more new paths for it's long-term future. G-Reco may have been an incoherent mess but it was trying open new horizons and create possibilities. Hathaway's Flash just gives you a hollow drama.

You’re not incorrect. I’ve been thinking the same thing. Unicorn was similar to The Force Awakens. And basically, once Unicorn was a hit, it was decided that U.C. should be shored up by filling in all the blanks and finding any holes, but because the macro narrative is set, there isn’t a lot of wiggle room. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some interesting wrinkles in all of this, character and scenario-wise, but we kinda know the broad strokes of everything going in.

My big problem with Hathaway's Flash is quite simple. We know that Mafty's rebellion is going to end in failure and that the status quo of the Universal Century is going to keep on being terrible, so why should I care about anything that happens here?

Indeed, that has always been the problem with the timeline since Zeta, nothing in the setting can ever get better because Bandai had model kits to sell and Tomino was letting his depression get the better of him when he created the vast majority of it, leading him down to some very juvenile cynical conclusions. "People are too petty and selfish to ever truly become Newtypes, Corrupt adults and their lies have already ruined everything so there is no hope for the next generation, Revolution will always end in failure and disappointment. Oh and women are irrational creatures who should not have their ideas be taken seriously, least they end up making a nightmarish dictatorship."

I looked at translations of the novels. I know how it ends. It's tragedy porn. Mean-spirited tragedy porn at that.

Yeeeeah it's definitely not great. It's kind of hilarious watching something like Gundam Unicorn, which has such a hopeful message for the future, and has some great female characters in it, and then looking at the rest of early UC Tomino stuff and going "oh wow the rest is nothing like this."
Tomino himself obviously got better, you can see that in his work for Turn-A and G-Reco, which again are very contrary to his early UC stuff and actually have some well written women in them, but yeah going back to his older stuff just puts into perspective how juvenile and outdated a lot of it feels.

Zeino wrote:

My big problem with Hathaway's Flash is quite simple. We know that Mafty's rebellion is going to end in failure and that the status quo of the Universal Century is going to keep on being terrible, so why should I care about anything that happens here? Indeed, that has always been the problem with the timeline since Zeta, nothing in the setting can ever get better because Bandai had model kits to sell and Tomino was letting his depression get the better of him when he created the vast majority of it, leading him down to some very juvenile cynical conclusions. "People are too petty and selfish to ever truly become Newtypes, Corrupt adults and their lies have already ruined everything so there is no hope for the next generation, Revolution will always end in failure and disappointment. Oh and women are irrational creatures who should not have their ideas be taken seriously, least they end up making a nightmarish dictatorship." I looked at translations of the novels. I know how it ends. It's tragedy porn. Mean-spirited tragedy porn at that.

Yeeeeah it's definitely not great. It's kind of hilarious watching something like Gundam Unicorn, which has such a hopeful message for the future, and has some great female characters in it, and then looking at the rest of early UC Tomino stuff and going "oh wow the rest is nothing like this."
Tomino himself obviously got better, you can see that in his work for Turn-A and G-Reco, which again are very contrary to his early UC stuff and actually have some well written women in them, but yeah going back to his older stuff just puts into perspective how juvenile and outdated a lot of it feels.

These "takes" are horrible. The first comes across as attention-seeking too. There is so much evidence found in a lot of tomino's anime & novels that contradicts so many of the points the both of you have made.
You guys should really re-watch tomino's earlier work's again. They are way more progressive & nuanced than what the both of you are amounting them to.

Other than Turn A, Tomino's earlier work's are far superior to his later ones in almost every conceivable way including & especially "raw" quality-wise. Tragedy porn? No what you are describing is called nihilism and tomino has never directed a single anime with true nihilism in it. Just because a story is dark & gritty doesn't make it mean-spirited or edgy. Gundam & a lot of other tomino work's are about WAR, & war has never been merciful....Ever.

Tomino's approach to storytelling is some of the best in japanese fiction. Its raw, realistic & best of all immensely subtle & nuanced. His work's are far more intelligent and smart than most fail to pick up on.

Also his female characters are some of the most well-written, complex, and humanly flawed in anime.

I swear some many anime fans in the west have such a strong & bizarre black & white interpretation of anything tomino related. What a shame.

And as a women myself, I think I have the right to decide if a vast majority of the female characters in his series getting killed in ways that can pretty much be described rightfully as fridging as it mainly serves to motive the male lead's angst is deeply sexist or not. So why don't you check your privilege and bias before decided to be reductive and dismissive of my "bizarre black & white interpretation of anything tomino related."

People seem to really have horribly reductive takes on Tomino's work, and I suggest people go back and give them another look.

As an aside, speaking to 0079, I can say I am always disappointed that Sayla was kind of phased out of the franchise.

Time for the passive aggressive snark and insults to stop now. People can actually have differing opinions (which I know is a foreign concept for many when Gundam debates come up) without being told those opinions are just attention seeking or knee jerk. I suggest some of you learn to agree to disagree. You can like a particular work, author, director, etc. just as well as someone can feel the opposite. If you cannot be civil with the disagreements then move on.

LightningCount wrote:

As an aside, speaking to 0079, I can say I am always disappointed that Sayla was kind of phased out of the franchise.

Me too, but this one is not on Tomino. It's because Sayla's VA, the late You Inoue, was too busy with other projects to come back to Gundam, and the one time she was available, it was for the last arc of ZZ, after Amuro's and Char's role in the story were cut to make way for CCA.