The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has always been more than just a mashup of giant robots, with the series paving the way for more realistic and grounded mecha fiction. That's definitely the case in the newest series, which goes more grounded than the brand has in a while. While taking things back to their roots, this series also puts the titular giant robot in an unexpected light.
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Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is a new Netflix hit that adds to the One Year War of Gundam's original Universal Century timeline. Featuring a realistic scope and artstyle courtesy of Unreal Engine 5, the series feels far grittier than most anime of today. This enhances the pure terror at the level of warfare perpetrated by the show's main Gundam, which is, in many ways, similar to that of a slasher killer.
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The Gundam EX Is an Invincible Slasher Villain
Zeon Runs for Its Life In Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance
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Instead of focusing on characters affiliated with the "heroic" Earth Federation, Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance centers its story on members of the Principality of Zeon. The leader of the ground troop is Iria Solari, a former musician who was forced into the military life by the war. Having already lost her husband in battle, she fights to be reunited with her son. Likewise, while the characters cut up and occasionally bicker, the Zeon forces truly feel like allies stuck in a relentless situation. This is only made worse by the threat they're all up against. While the series' protagonists are pilots of the Zaku mobile suits, their firepower is useless against the series' main threat.
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Gundam EX is the actual Gundam seen in Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, and it's a truly fearsome opponent compared to its enemies. Boasting incredible armor and artillery, Gundam EX easily eclipses the technology seen in the Zeon Zakus. This is due to the fact that, by this point in the One Year War, the Earth Federation's mobile suit technology was far more advanced than almost anything that Zeon boasted. Despite their best efforts, the Zakus can't do anything to the Gundam EX. At most, they're momentary distractions that keep it from destroying convoys or military bases, but even these efforts don't last long.
While each blast from the Zakus' weapons seemingly bounce off their opponent, Gundam EX's guns kill the Zaku pilots with a single blast. Massive explosions do little to stop the powerful mobile suit, and the closest comparison is that of a slasher movie villain. Much as Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are able to easily withstand the attacks and tactics of their prey, the Gundam EX is almost supernaturally endowed with durability in the eyes of its victims. Thus, Zeon forces cower in fear at its power, and even when they bravely fight against the Gundam, their efforts are in vain. Thus, what could have been an equal duel devolves into a race for survival, with Iria the mecha equivalent of a "final girl" from a horror movie.
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The Gundam EX Has an Unexpected Pilot
It's revealed that the pilot of the Gundam EX isn't even an adult, but rather a young boy. This shakes Iria to her core, as she realizes that the Gundam EX pilot is not much older than her own son. While it's certainly an ironic twist, it also speaks to a large degree of tragedy in the show and the franchise as a whole. In the One Year War of the Universal Century timeline, both sides are engaged in brutal conflicts that rob them of countless lives and their own humanity. Both sides demonize and dehumanize each other, all in an effort to make the senseless killing more "justified." Thus, the Gundam EX is only one example of the many young lives who are wasted in the name of a war that even they largely don't understand.
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Once again, this could be seen as a sort of throwback to classic horror stories. In the case of Frankenstein and its many adaptations, the creature was created by the scientist and unleashed on the world with neither having a true realization of what the monster was. This could be compared to the Gundam EX pilot, who's forced to fight a war not of his own making. While the Frankenstein monster ends up engaging in several violent acts, he ultimately just wants to be left alone and have nothing to do with the cycle of death. The same is the case not just for the boy piloting the Gundam, but all who are involved in the One Year War. It's worth noting that even franchise hero Amuro Ray is merely a child when he becomes the pilot of the iconic RX-78-2 Gundam. In fact, he at times grows tired of the fighting and even refuses to pilot the mecha, showcasing the traumatic effect that it has on him and others like him.
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Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Brings Back the Series’ Realistic Tone
Netflix’s Newest Gundam Show Is Peak Military Sci-Fi
When the original Mobile Suit Gundam debuted in 1979, it was a breath of fresh air to the wider mecha anime genre. Beforehand, the mecha genre was previously dominated by fairly childish and lighthearted Super Robot anime. These made the piloted robots into veritable superheroes, giving them incredible powers and having them perform over-the-top feats in order to save the world from alien invaders and similar threats. There were rarely consequences in these stories, and the conflicts tended to be resolved in an episode or two. The first Mobile Suit Gundam changed all that by creating the "Real Robot" subgenre, going in a far more realistic direction than what had come beforehand.
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Unlike the more unrealistic Mazinger Z or Grendizer, the various mobile suits in Mobile Suit Gundam actually took considerable damage from even basic battles and had to be repaired. The conflict was presented as a true war, with characters (namely grunt soldiers piloting Zakus) being killed off. Even if characters such as Amuro Ray had some level of plot armor, they still struggled and had to learn how to use their mobile suits. In fact, Amuro is seen reading an instruction manual on the mecha in the show's first episode. For the most part, this more realistic tone has remained the norm for the franchise, with one of the few exceptions being Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Likewise, the series Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team really focused on the realistic military aspects of the brand. It did so by lowering the scope and raising the stakes, making even basic skirmishes into true life-or-death situations.
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This tone finally returns full force in the latest entry of the series, as Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance feels like a truly modern manifestation of the Real Robot genre's ambitions. The Zaku pilots actually feel like soldiers who've fought alongside each other, and they employ tactics in an effort to survive the onslaught of the Gundam EX. Their battles aren't merely "video game battles" that hinge on excitement and flashy techniques, but they're instead matters of military strategy and maintaining resources. There's a debate over whether to outfit the decommissioned Zakus for battle or lie low, which speaks to just how fearsome the threat of the Gundam is. On the whole, the tone of the new series is the closest that the franchise has been in years to true warfare, particularly the gritty tone of The 08th MS Team. Adding to this is the art style, which looks more like a gritty military-based science fiction video game than a modern anime. It's closer to the spirit of the franchise and the subgenre as a whole than even Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, and this helps make Gundam: Requiem of Vengeance into such a pulse-pounding watch for fans of hard-hitting sci-fi thrills.
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Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance can be streamed on Netflix.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance
TV-MA
Animation
Action
Sci-Fi
- Release Date
- October 17, 2024
- Cast
- Celia Massingham , Lavance , James Watts , Daniel Wishes , Andrew Woolner , Maxwell Powers , Jessica Spies , Maurice Shelton
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Seasons
- 1
- Character(s)
- Iria Solari , Kneeland LeSean , Reid Ghelfi , Kale Zavaleta , Ander Heaton , Ony Kasuga , Hailey Arhun , Alfee Zydos