In the year 153 of the Universal Century, the tyrannical Zanscare Empire has taken hostile control over Side 2, a space colony outside of Earth's orbit. Following in the footsteps of the long expired Principality of Zeon and the more recent Crossbone Vanguard, Zanscare rules over its subjects with cruelty, routinely using a large guillotine for public executions.
Living in Central Europe, space immigrant Üso Ewin joins the League Militaire, a militia made up of civilians frustrated with the Earth Federation's inability to combat the Zanscare Empire. Üso's latent abilities as a psychic Newtype awaken and allow him to pilot the Victory Gundam, the only mobile suit capable of holding off the elite BESPA forces of the Zanscare Empire.
Hoping to protect his best friend Shakti Kareen and locate his parents within the ranks of the Federation, Üso fights on with the Victory, striving to bring an end to the empire's reign.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
ninjasan8
Story: Without a doubt, V Gundam is the saddest Gundam story to date. And before anything else is said, I think it's worth a mention to say that a lot of people die, and most of the time for no good reason at all. That aside, I have to say I really loved the storyline. However, some of the story arcs in the middle could have been left out, and the story would still be intact; a lot of the time during said arcs I found myself wondering why the characters were doing what they were doing. There's not a lot of narrative glue tostick the parts together, and to keep one interested during some of the low parts. But, overall it's a nice story, with an emphasis on death, and at least during the last arc, a huge emphasis on the beauty of life.
Art: Very good. V Gundam uses a very simple art style to convey the characters and the Mobile Suits; which is both good and bad. Most of the Suits are very similar to each other, and are very rarely any unique. Characters however, look very nice, and some are just too cool for words, while others are just meh. Battles are everything you would expect from a mecha show, and although somewhat exaggerated at times (or almost all of the time), they're mostly very good. The simple style works here to make the art very nice looking even today.
Sound: Not much to say here. There's an excellent cast of actors working on the voices, and the mecha sounds are great, but nothing really stands out in this category.
Characters: We've got a cast of mostly children and women, with the main villain and one of the main characters being male. The rest of the male cast are either lesser characters or very old men. I can't quite remember why the cast is like it is, but it brings a fresh look on what might be a stale storyline. It also has the effect of removing almost all romantic involvement between the main characters. There's a peace-loving-battle-scarred boy, a princess girl, and a group of what seem to be orphaned children. Interaction between them is what really pushes the story along. Without a doubt, Oliver and Captain Gomez were my favorite characters, both of which received little screen time, but both of whom were very central to the story.
Overall: No where near as good as First Gundam, V Gundam is nonetheless a very nice looking, anime featuring a somewhat lacking storyline that'll get your emotions running if you're not prepared for it. Definitely recommended if you've seen the other UC animes, however, the story is completely separate from the main meta-plot.
JizzyHitler
Victory gundam is a series that catches quite the bad rep with it often being regarded as one of the worst entries in the franchise, when I was going into the series I was embracing for the worst , but what I ended up seeing wasn’t the travesty some see it as but rather a solid series that was able to convey some truly beautiful moments and messages that can even act as a entry level gundam as its pretty much stand alone from other gundam despite being a universal century entry. Now don’t get me wrong, victory gundam has flaws that has garnered itinfamy, many of the negatives attributed to victory gundam come from its supposedly forced deaths and odd placement of goofy and absurd moments. And those flaws are sadly quite true as there are many deaths that frankly felt forced and didn’t need to happen in addition to some downright bizarre scenes that feel completely out of place with the show’s generally dark and depressing tone. However while victory gundam has its weak points I also believe it does so much right that it can outweigh its faults in the end, that is if one’s tolerances for what it does wrong is strong enough and this is going to greatly determine whether victory is for you or not.
As unconventional and potentially dissuading as this may be its probably best to address the negatives of this series first before getting into what the show does right so try not to get dissuaded dead on arrival, Like I said I believe one's tolerance of the following things are really going to determine whether victory gundam is really for them and knowing what to expect is best in determining this:
-Deaths: lets tackle this one right off the bat, victory gundam is billed with the largest body count in the franchise, and frankly there are quite a few deaths that didnt need to happen. Victory gundam has a bad tendency to introduce a character and give them focus for an episode only to kill them off immediately that same episode. Many of these deaths feel very formulaic and can create a disconnect in emotion the series should be conveying during these death scenes and instead makes them feel sloppy and lacking in impact. It really can make the deaths seem predictable and there are more than a few times where the reasons they die are completely avoidable. The worst case of this is a heroic sacrifice about halfway in of a semi important character up to that point where he/she kamikazes into a enemy to supposedly save another character....however the enemy is completely unaffected and the person they supposedly were saving was just fine without their sacrifice ultimately making their death needless.
HOWEVER! Whilst victory gundam has its poorly executed deaths not all of them are bad, actually there are some truly well done and powerful death scenes. In fact most of the dumb and absurd death scenes are only done on really small and unimportant characters (admittedly sometimes as a result of the dying after being introduced complaint above) but whenever a generally major character dies (and alot of times even really minor one off characters) have some really impacting deaths. Its poorly done deaths are a big issue with the series but there is still really well done ones in there and Id actually argue there is more well done ones than bad and the good actually play a major part in developing the main character uso which ill get into in a bit. If you cant possibly forgive a series for dumb mistreatment of (mostly minor) character's mortality then victory gundam may irk you in the wrong way but if your willing to forgive the series in favor of the ones it does right than it may be more up ones alley
-Absurdity: Victory gundam is a really dark series depicting the most brutal and at times disturbing imagery in the series; in some regards victory gundam is the most realistic gundam in the sense that the true brutality of war and the destruction these mechs are capable of causing are most accurately displayed in this series. And it’s for that reason these random absurd scenes can really hurt the show. Now you’re probably wondering what I mean by absurdity, what I mean by that is Victory gundam has a handful of really out of place goofy scenes that distract the dark tone of the show, worst of which is when the main character fights a squad of jetpacked bikkini soldiers who he unsurprisingly obliterates cause he is in a fucking mech (this scene is on youtube under the name "Bikini Babe Assault in Victory Gundam" if you don’t believe me). They are pretty rare but their appearances are memorable (but not in the good way) so that they will stick around in your mind and potentially hurting the series’ image. These scenes are generally pretty funny but when the show’s point is to be a dark and serious war drama being funny is not a good thing.
Alright so if your still reading and shaking your head in disapproval from how I started off a review for a series I’m recommending by immediately shit talking it then its time to get into the part where I actually say why people should watch it. Victory gundam has its flaws but I believe victory also does much right:
-Characters: This is by far the strongest part of victory gundam, for starters Uso erwin our protagonist has an instantly likable personality, to top this off the way his development is handled is truly excellent. His development is dependent on him coming face to face with the horrors of war and changing as a result of them ultimately becoming a scarred but matured character similarly to zeta gundam's protagonist Kammile Bidan. His character development was very visible and by shows final 10 episodes he felt entirely different than he did at the start. He was a character I really grew attached to and he showcases a real display of humanity, he’s a 13 year old boy experiencing true hell, many of his actions feel genuine like a 13 year old boy would do, he has his naive moments which may or may not be a turn off to some but that just makes him feel more genuine as when you’re young you are naive, To top this off the series isnt sugar coating his maturing nature as he shouldn't be maturing and experiencing what he is at his age, its the loss of innocence due to tragedy which really sums up uso's character as a whole. Out of all the gundam this kid probably goes through the worst experiences and that really is saying alot in a franchise like this, and this hell he goes through really makes him a compelling character.
Uso is a strong pro but he alone doesn't carry the show, he wasn't alone in his likability as the entire supporting cast(minus the doa characters mentioned above) was generally quite lovable and also experience a fair share of development with interesting and enjoyable personalities. Victory gundam still has action every single episode like the ones before it but the show felt like it has more focus on slower and contained moments of characters just interacting and talking, this really helped make the cast easier to grow attached to. I legitimately gave a shit about most of the cast and this really is what made victory gundam for me. The relationships between characters were actually enjoyable to see interact. Shatki the series heroine will get some differing opinions depending on the viewer though, she makes a few dumb decisions during the series that have led to some people disliking her but if you take a step back from our perspective her actions are more logical in her shoes and to her knowledge than to us the viewer who see the entire picture, I personally really liked her just like the rest of the cast but I will not deny some will find her off putting. Marbet and Odello whom make up the guardian archetype and the best friend archetype respectfully to the protagonist uso are particularly really memorable and undergo quite alot of development themselves.
-Pacing: One of the things I immediately loved about victory gundam was its pacing, not because it was always exciting moving from one event to another but rather the complete opposite. It was able to slow down instead of jumping into one traumatic situation after another. This is something that really helped me appreciate the world, characters, as well as made it less tedious as this made victory gundam feel more dynamic as a series progression wise. It’s not a super slow series but it has a good sense of when to slow down and when to speed up. Though it must be mentioned that the pacing in the first 4 episodes is off because they are told out of order due to a classic case of executive meddling, long story short the gundam originally wasn’t meant to appear until episode 4 and the execs didn’t like that so they placed episode 4 first in its broadcast with the 3 episodes before that being told in a “how we got there” type of story.
-Sense of morality: to me gundam 079's greatest strength was is showcase of how both sides of a war have people just fighting for what they believe is right, they have their reasons for doing what they do as well as have their own loved ones goals and ambitions. This strong aspect of 079 was immediately discarded come time for zeta and ZZ in favor of inhuman and absurd villains of zeta’s titans whom lacked any sense of humanity while ZZ was being....well ZZ. Victory gundam was a return to form for this theme and it does it extremely well. Just like 079 it does have a small number of "hurr durr im evil" characters usually as higher ups giving order but it does an exceptional job humanizing the enemy army regardless. You’ll see enemy soldiers talking about their families, showing genuine care for fellow soldiers and civilians, and one thing I absolutely adored me was showcasing how they also express fear of death as well. This humanization of the enemy is also the main reason victory gundam is such a heartbreaking series as the deaths of such enemies (as well as allies) only make it more and more depressing, which in turn I believe makes victory gundam truly sell the horrors of war more so than any other gundam (aside from war in the pocket). Though there is one elephant in the room I must mention while praising its depictions of morality. That elephant's name is katejina loos. Katejina is essentially evil incarnate and her reasons behind why she is such a disgusting human being isn't really touched upon aside from her relationship with one other major antagonist. To me she’s like ghilren zabi from 079, in the midst of this army that share humanity among its soldiers is this unnaturally evil and insane one that your just desperately waiting for the protagonist to squish them with their mech. At the very least she does end up being an entertaining and effective villain as her sheer brutality and unstable nature leads to interesting conflicts but I still wish they at least tried to give her some sense of humanity as there is another character that goes batshit psycho by stories end and acts similarly to katejina but was more a tragic outcome of his/her experience that made them what they were in the end, katejina is just a bitch.
-Tone/atmosphere: Thanks in part to its absolutely excellent ost which utilizes alot more softer sounding string driven music (youtube songs like "the white ghost" and "shakti" to get an idea of its feel) victory gundam does a great job of setting its tone. It can create a very dire atmosphere as well convey the depressing nature of the series whilst also leaving room for a feeling like not all hope is lost. The soundtrack is beautiful and in part really makes the series itself feel beautiful. As stated before this will occasionally be thrown off by some absurd moments here and there but ultimately I felt like victory gundam continually retains its feeling of dire and depressing atmosphere whilst not losing the prospect of there being the possibility of a better future, and that itself leads into one last thing that really makes victory gundam for me…
-Hope for the future: I think its ironic how victory gundam is frequently regarded as the most grimdark in the franchise when it has the most focus put on how there is a hope for a more peaceful future, it goes out of its way to try and say that all these sacrifices and horrors experiences are not all for naught. The series is depressing and has a body count through the roof but it goes out of its way to showcase how the possibility of a better life is not lost. The way it expresses this is through the idea of the younger generation being able to carry the future from the ashes of war which is the main reason the cast is made up of large portion of young kids. People are not dying for nothing they are dying for the prospect of a future where the next generation wont have to experience the suffering the current one has, it idolizes the idea of new life and really sells through how this isn’t some hopeless situation but rather an opportunity to help those in the future. One specific scene in the 2nd to last episode which gets its own insert song specially for this one scene is the best example of why this theme of hope for the future is so important to the series and also stands as one of the best scenes in the entire show.
I am not going to say victory gundam doesn't deserve the flack it gets as I hopefully made clear it does do things really wrong and those that label it with such a infamous label are fairly justified, its not for everyone but I do truly believe there is alot Victory does right and even exceptionally, its just a matter if you can tolerate its shortcomings. Its got its faults that will ruin the experience for some but I believe there is truly a beautiful story to be found here for those that are capable of forgiving its shortcomings. Speaking personally victory gundam was a heartbreaking and powerful story that was able to evoke legitimate emotions from me and while yeah I really wish parts of it were better handled or cut entirely I cant deny that after finishing the series looking back on it there was just so much of it I appreciated and loved about it, and hopefully there will be others willing to give this a shot and experience it the same way I have.
MS06FZ
Renowned as being the most depressing Gundam show, Victory is an odd sort of a series. At times it evokes the bleakness of Tomino's older works such as The Ideon and Zeta Gundam, while at others it's a humorous space adventure with wacky kids in the vein of Xabungle. The art is similarly variable, with some episodes looking wonderful and others distinctly less so. The music is consistently good, however, with a full set of quality OPs and EDs, plus a brilliant, poignant insert song or two. Essentially, Victory picks up the UC storyline long after even F91 and Unicorn are done and dusted, with the Earth Federationcompletely ineffective. Elements of the show work with this, such as the cameo appearance from a Salamis or two in some episodes, but it does stand alone in its own right.
The main character is incredibly likeable - Usso gets on with it, does what has to be done and doesn't vacillate, whine or arbitrarily punch people for making fun of his name (too much.) He has a badass action Haro. He has a likeable dog which survives the whole series.
Contrasting him is Shakti, who is useless and annoying for a good part of the series. The villains are similarly unimpressive, with the only really good ones being Katejina and a few of the minor Zanscare leaders. The rest are fairly forgettable rehashes of UC archetypes (Chronicle is one of the weakest Char analogues in the franchise, notable for being as much of a failure as Zeta Gundam's Jerid Messa)
Mech design is all over the place, from the stylish and deadly V2AB to the plain insane Dodgore and Adastrea, which would be better suited to a super robot show. When it hits its stride, the results are spectacular but unfortunately that doesn't happen too often.
In terms of serious military drama, Victory comes across as a slightly tasteless black comedy rather than a bleak space horror ala Ideon or a depiction of a morally bankrupt hellhole as shown in Dougram. The climactic moments when Usso loses someone close to him are rarely hard-hitting but often ridiculous - almost equivalent to a mecha version of the Saw or Final Destination movies in their overly elaborate and telegraphed natures.
So all this criticism laid bare, what redeems Victory?
Firstly that it's different to a lot of Gundam despite deriving from it. It's at times fun, at times kind of bleak and frequently unpredictable.
Secondly, its likeable characters are really pleasant and nice to watch.
Thirdly, while the pacing is a little wacky and sometimes not ideal, the ending arc is very intense and powerful. One moment, where the insert song is used perfectly to accompany a moment of sacrifice, will stick with you.
By all means give Victory a good go before giving up on it. Just be prepared to accept it is very flawed.
Thetrebekoning
Man this was a slog. So many problems but I'm too tired to go into it all. Scattered observations to follow: - The Music is legitimately good, and the cast is doing their best with a really bad script. - People talk about how brutal the deaths are in this show but they really aren't. Like, there's nothing visceral in most of the deaths in this show (except maybe three or four, and most of those are confusing in just how much more violent they are that it doesn't work, it just shocks), and almost every death is telegraphed to shit and played upfor maximum emotional effect. The problem is the characters just aren't written strongly enough or given enough time to live, so most of their deaths just do not matter to me, even some really major cast memebers.
- Katejina's arc makes not a lick of sense and is by far the worst thing about this show.
- Really wishy-washy characterization and many characters just make random ass decisions to give the plot a little extra zazz which makes many of them seem stupid or delusional and while there are good characters in this show, almost all of them get a turn to be massively unlikable or brainmeltingly stupid. While Katejina is probably the worst character here, Shakti is easily the biggest victim of this writing tendency.
- The show can't make up it's mind about what is and isn't necessary in war, what its function is, why people sacrifice so much for it. The themes are really screwy here.
- The show has a massive fucking woman problem and not to be that guy but like seriously there is so much gross shit in here it's wild.
- Why do grown women wanna fuck Uso can we cut that out.
- The show does not touch on earlier UC events like nearly at all so its inclusion in the UC is baffling considering Tomino and Sunrise would start doing AUs immediately after.
- The characters and MS designs are all just kinda eh for the most part (though I do like the design of the V2), and while the animators stay on model like 95% of the time, they also use a lot of obvious shortcuts that make it look cheap even in comparison to earlier full-length series.
Honestly if I wasn't trying to get through all of the series I would not have stuck with this one. If you're not a completionist, skip it. 4/10: Ass.
Stormy_77
Gundam has always been a series I watch. I've always been drawn to the Mecha Genre, the newer series are usually awesome in sound/animation but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give a chance to the older ones. Luckily for me Victory Gundam was actually enjoyable (unlike Z or ZZ) Story and Characters Story wise, Victory Gundam follows the generic gundam story line. Young hero, happens to "fall" into piloting the "latest and greatest" suit. Gets conscripted into fighting for adults whether willingly or unwillingly. Grows up, finds his own reasons to fight/not fight which usually includes a love interest somewhere. Goes to space, comes back to earth,goes back to space and there is the inevitable big battle to end it all.
Victory Gundam succeeds for three reasons.
First - the character development is very well done. Unlike some heroes, Uso is actually both identifiable and likeable. The supporting cast of characters all have their own storyline and despite the fact that there are a lot of supporting characters somehow you grow to know (like or dislike) each and every one of them even the dog and baby. That's a smart dog. I want one just like him. Throw in a Haro too while you're at it. By the end of the series the baby is actually walking and starting to talk. How is that for true to life?
Second - This portrays war in a realistic manner. It isn't one of those gundam series where people escape death all the time in fact, if I were to give a tagline to this series it would be "In War People Die". I felt bad at 90% of the deaths and cried more than once. That is effective storytelling.
Third - although there was the slow part, the story really picked up in the last 5 episodes and I probably enjoyed those more than the preceding 46. The ability to surprise, move the viewer and entertain at the end is the mark of good anime.
Art/Animation
Very dated with a lot of frame reuse, so was ok for its time but compared to current anime it really shows its age. Nothing special here and one reason why I couldn't give this anime a higher score.
Sound
Pretty average OP/ED songs although Shakti's song was very catchy and the sad music really works. Sound effects were ok also.
Enjoyment
I only had 2 issues with this anime. First - Katejina (ugh!). Secondly, why is it in every Gundam Series the adults are all too willing to give their latest and greatest suit to some young, irresponsible fighter pilot ace? Ok the second reason is applicable to all gundam series but seriously if I were a captain I would NEVER let them pilot those suits until they were mature.
That being said, although it took some time to finish it I liked this a lot. Completionists should watch this series.
MoonTurkey
Victory Gundam is known to be extremely depressing and for good reason, Tomino, the creator of the Gundam Franchise was depressed at the time because Sunrise was merging with Bandai and this is personally his most hated series and even said 'You are a fool for watching this' But as a Gundam fan I felt it was my duty to watch this and I can see why he hates it so much. While Victory is a 'kill em all' series, a lot of it was rather unpleasant to watch as there were a lot of deaths that were a little extreme like beheading, vaporized bya beam saber, and crushing your skull. Death is nothing new in the Gundam series but these were some pretty heavy killings and I wouldn't have much of a problem with it except for one thing which is that the main character Uso Erwin is only 13 years old, the youngest pilot at the time before Gundam AGE and all these things happen around him, its a little much for the series and of course the bath scene which I still find very unusual.
The animation is nice and very smooth but for some reason, none of the characters or mech's have any shading, its a solid colour which didn't really bother me but it does stand out while you're watching the series.
There are quite a few characters but I'll focus on the main 2 which are Uso and Shakti. Overall Uso is a likeable character with good traits and a skilled pilot, he does mature quickly in the series. Shakti however is probably one of the most hated if not most hated female lead because she constantly gets captured and actually sometimes goes to the enemy only for the league militaire to rescue her and suffer a casualty each time because of her.
Overall the series pacing was pretty clustered at first but did have a good ending, the characters were likeable except 3 people overall and it did have a pretty decent Gundam.
TakaCode
At one point Mobile Suit Victory Gundam was my most hated Gundam Show of all time. I hated the narrative and plot of Victory Gundam. I hated the characters, aboustly despite the pacing, hated the lack of actual substance of the show where characters would die randomly for no reason in the show and I hated the visuals for Victory Gundam as it’s very poorly animated and lack any detail. Even if Victory Gundam had a great soundtrack I still despise it for being a poorly animated and written shit show where I thought Gundam Seed Destiny, ZZ Gundam, and Gundam Build Fighters Try werebetter written then Victory Gundam. That how much I despise it.
However as soon I went to Gundam forums and facebook groups and I declared that Victory Gundam was the worst Gundam show ever made I got a lot of blackish from many hardcore Gundam fans who actually thought Victory Gundam was a good show. Many fans of the show thought me that I didn’t understand the show because the creator and director Tomino was going through depression and I should feel bad for him. Honestly I felt bad for Tomino that he was going through depression but at the same time I thought Tomino should have abandoned the show halfway through and let another director take over the show because the show could have been a lot better and tolerable if the show changed directors halfway through but history is history and we cannot travel back in time to 1993 and change things around.
As people continue to blackish me for my opinion of Victory Gundam as well them telling me to re-watch it again my friend contacted me about my opinion my Victory Gundam and he told me to come to his house to get his Victory Gundam Blu-Rays that were released by Nozomi Entertainment in the US. Since I live in the UK I had to borrow his small Region Free Blu-Ray player that allows Blu-Rays from the USA to be played. I ended up borrowing his Victory Gundam Blu-Rays and the Blu-Ray player for a month and when I was not busy with personal life I sat down and watched the whole thing in 5 sittings and by the end of my re-watch I was honestly I liked it the second time watching. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think it was a great show but at the same time, I don't think it was a bad show and am going to tell you why.
Hello, everyone, this is Shawn aka KurataLordStage and welcome to my review of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam and with that out of the way let’s get started.
Story.
It is the year UC 0153 90 years since the One Year War, 60 years since Char rebellion and 30 years since the Crossbone Vanguard the earth is still lossly controlled by the greatly weakened earth federation who are under attack by the BESPA the armed forces of the space colony-based Zanscare Empire. Only a ragtag resistance movement, League Militaire, stands in BESPA's way as they swiftly conquer much of space and start their invasion of Earth, with the advanced mass-produced mobile suit, the Victory Gundam, as the League Militaire's secret weapon. However, BESPA's power continues to grow, using violent means, including public executions with guillotines, to strike fear into those living on Earth.
The story follows a 13th-year-old Uso Ewin who is living peacefully on earth with his childhood friend Shahkti in the Eastern European town of Kasarelia. However, the peaceful days would come to a end where they are thrown into a conflict when they encounter with they encounter ace BESPA pilot Chronicle Asher. Soon, Üso finds himself joining forces with Marbet Fingerhut and the rest of the League Militaire, Now Uso must pilot the Gundam so he can fight against the BESPA as well discovering the true horrors of war.
The story of Victory Gundam begins in a very odd way because episode 1 is actually episode 4 while the episodes 2 to 4 were actually episodes 1 to 3, however, there was a reason for this awarkawd start. Around this time Bandi brought the rights to Gundam as well as Studio Sunrise and needless to say director Tomino aboustly hated it. The main reason why episode 4 was showed first instead of the actual episode 1 is so Bandai can promote the Victory Gundam mobile suit to increase model sales.
The one thing that should know that Victory Gundam is easily the darkest Gundam show to date even surpassing Zeta Gundam and this is mostly due to the fact that director Tomino was suffering from depression where if you know the man well it leads to a kill them all series.
Besides that what do I think about the story of Victory Gundam? Honestly, I thought it was just decent for the most part.
For starters, I really like the tone of Victory Gundam for the most part as it perfectly captures the atmosphere of war in a more darker manner. Unlike all of the Gundam shows before and after Victory, this one is mostly dead serious in terms of tone as it rarely has any lighthearted moments.
I also really loved the themes that were explored in Victory Gundam such as betrayal, death, immigration, peace, and insanity and the show did a pretty great on exploring it' themes without being too preachy about it.
The final 12 episodes were Victory Gundam were pretty awesome overall as it was well paced had a lot of great elements which I won't mention due to spoilers, good writing great battles and the ending for Victory Gundam was great as it perfectly concludes the series in a sad but satisfying way.
However, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam has a lot of problems.
The first problem I had with Victory Gundam is the pacing. In terms of pacing Victory Gundam has some of the worst pacing I have ever seen in a Gundam show and while it’s not as bad as Wing and especially in Seed Destiny it’s still a big problem due to how nothing really important happens in the middle portion as it’s only featured a lot of repetitive fights in space.
The second problem I had with Victory Gundam were the deaths themselves. While I liked of how Victory Gundam explored the theme of death the problem is the execution at times for example characters who got little to no screen time until that point suddenly become the focus of the episode have the audience to get attached to these character for they respective episodes only them to be killed off by the end of the episodes. The was okay in the beginning but it really got annoying and predictable as the series went on. Honestly, what is the point of putting characters in the spotlight if they are going to be killed in the end?
This is just subpar writing and it really just toys with the audience emotions.
The third problem that I had with Victory Gundam is how women were portrayed. I understand the writers tried to make Women as ruthless as men in a war setting however they writers really jumped the shark here because all the women in Victory Gundam are either ineffectual or unexplainably psychotic and because of that they were all really hard to sympathize with which is a huge problem in terms of characterization.
The fourth and final problem with Victory Gundam was the despite being a dark Gundam series it was way unnecessarily over the top for its own good meaning the show would be too flashy about the deaths and other stuff in the show. It wasn't so bad in the first half but the second half really got carried away with it’s over the top nonsensical deaths to some of the cringe-worthy stuff like the Lupe bathtub scene in episode 29 which completely screwed up the tone of the series greatly.
Beside those shortcomings, I thought the story for Victory Gundam was okay that had a lot of good themes and elements.
6/10
Characters.
Like with the story the characters in Victory Gundam were decent for the most part.
Uso is pretty good Gundam protagonist. Despite being the youngest protagonist in Gundam he maturely says otherwise as he develops as a very compelling character to struggles to prevent the death of his friends and comrades but can never keep people from dying no matter how very hard he tries not to mention he is a greatly skilled pilot.
Shakti is probably my least favorite character in this show. While she was a decent chararter in the beginning but once she started to reach Lacus, Marina and Relena levels of annoyance and preachiness I started disliking her greatly.
The characters in the league militare were decent and enjoyable characters overall however apart from Odelo who was a good character they were all pretty underdeveloped.
While the Zanscare Empire as just as ruthless as the Titans in Zeta Gundam however unlike like Titans in Zeta Gundam where some of the characters were actually likable every character in the Zanscare Empire minus Cornicle and Katejina were lackluster.
Chronicle Asher is the char clone of the series but is honestly not a good one. While he, not a good char clone I thought he was still a pretty decent chararter overall and I really liked his sympathy where he doesn’t like to target non-combatants but instead he rather order civilians away from areas of danger.
Katejina is a pretty interesting character because she is probably the character that I enjoyed the most in this show. Yes, she did some unspeakable acts through the series that would make anyone angry but think I enjoyed about Katejina was her journey to madness. She went from your typical spoiled rich girl who worried about Uso safely due to he being young in the League Militaire to an utter psychopath where she switched sides with the Zanscare Empire after being captured by Chronicle.
While I personally don’t like Katejina as a person thanks to her unspeakable acts I still liked how the show did with Katejina.
Overall the characters in Victory Gundam were decent but enjoyable for the most part.
6/10
Visuals.
For a show made in the early 90s, I thought the visuals of Victory Gundam were alright.
The character designs were pretty good for the most part and I really loved of how the show was able to showcase different skin colors instead of the usual white skin characters that we all seen before in many. It really gives characters more diversity in terms of how they looked.
As for the mecha designs, I thought there alright. I really loved the Victory Gundam and V2 designs as there were both original and great designs not to mention I really liked thy feature that they have such as V2 Wings of light.
The mobile suit for the Zancare Empire were pretty weird of Gundam standards. While I give them points for trying to be original but some of them were outright ridiculous like the Gedlav.
As for the actual animation, I thought is alright overall. While the show has no stock footage used and some of the fights were well animated I thought at times the show can get pretty choppy at times with its animation.
6/10
Sound.
The soundtrack is great as it perfectly fits with the dark tone of the series.
Both the opening and endings themes were pretty great overall yes they are very light-hearted compared to the rest of the show but I thought they were all great and catchy.
The Seiuyuus did a great job with the roles that were given so I have no complaints whatsoever.
Unfortunately like with ZZ, Turn A, and X victory Gundam does not have an English Dub.
Overall the soundtrack and voice acting for Victory Gundam were pretty great.
8/10
Final Thoughts.
So after re-watching Victory Gundam for the second time what I think about it?
While I personally thought it wasn’t an amazing Gundam show by any stretch of the imagination I also thought it was not that awful. While I prefer to watch most of the other Gundam shows that came before and after it I find the experience of victory to be pretty enjoyable for the most part. It still has a lot of problems in terms of the story and characters but it wasn’t an insulting pile of shit like ZZ Gundam, Build Fighters Try and Seed Destiny was. I thought Victory Gundam was a decent Gundam show that had a lot of good things in it but it does it have the problems that prevent it from being one of the good ones. The pacing was way too slow for its own good at times, it was way over the top with its themes at times and dark nature and some of the characters were not that good.
Victory Gundam may get a lot of hate from non-UC Gundam fans and for very understandable good reasons mind you but I must remind you all that Victory Gundam wasn’t a total disaster. Victory Gundam had to potential to be awesome but sadly it was mismanaged and toyed with for the most part and because of that, this show ended up being a decent at best.
If you haven’t seen any Gundam show before I recommend you to avoid it until you have seen most of the U.C Gundam shows that came before it in the timeline.
After Victory Gundam was done director Tomino would be kicked off from the team and Victory Gundam would be the last U.C Gundam show from the timeline and for what it was I thought it was a decent end to a great timeline.
Final Score 6/10
konomasa
WOW!!!! victory gundam talk about a tear jerker. well in this gundam series there was a lot of adventures and non-stop action. at first glance you'd think this was a kiddy show but once you watch it'll surprise you. the downside to it is alot of tregedy's. but i think they ended The UC era with a bang i was actually satisfied when it ended.
ggultra2764
Victory Gundam is another Universal Century chapter in the Gundam franchise, only this one takes place years after the events of Char's Counterattack. The series effectively blends ideas from older UC titles that aired up to that point featuring a guerrilla faction opposing the powerful dictatorship (Zeta Gundam), a young boy forced to confront the realities of war (Gundam 0080) and the usual conflicts of war that arise between humans living in space and on Earth. The series expands on the "youth forced to confront realities of war" plot element with Uso and other children seen in Victory Gundam joining up in League Militaire's effortsand coping with the merciless and crude situations faced by adults in fighting various deadly battles. The series explores the efforts of both League Militaire and the Zanscare Empire showing both sides to have their sympathetic and corrupt elements, especially as you come to learn more of the inner workings of Zanscare that rely on deception, manipulation of the masses via spiritual ideology and fear to maintain their society. With Yoshiyuki Tomino in the helm as Victory Gundam's director, the series is infamous for having the highest kill count among his direction of titles in the Gundam franchise and it shows as many among both warring factions in this series get killed off throughout the show's run.
The series isn't without its rough elements for quality. The earlier episodes of Victory Gundam have some awkward structure in their narrative which mostly stems from Bandai's influence to introduce the titular Gundam of the series much earlier than originally planned for advertising reasons during the time it aired in Japan. There were also occasions when Uso would grate on my nerves for his angsting over fighting Zanscare forces, especially during heated moments when he is in the middle of battle and shouting at his foes while fighting. Victory Gundam also brings back the absurd Core Fighter concept used from the original Gundam series where the Gundam unit is divided up into head, torso and leg parts that it can assemble together while in midair. While this element has its unique moments where mobile suit pilots will abandon damaged parts to prevent the entire unit from being destroyed or implementing their divisions for battle tactics, suspension of disbelief is pushed a bit in seeing mobile suits fully assemble their parts in the middle of heated battle scenes.
The visuals to Victory Gundam are standard for the time period that the series aired having subdued color tones, decent details on scenery and character designs, mobile suit designs looking a bit rough with drawn details and animation shortcuts being the norm for battle scenes. The insert music for the series does its part to compliment peaceful and tense moments seen throughout the show, but doesn't have anything memorable that stuck out for me. I did personally feel though that the musical choices for Victory Gundam first OP and ED sequences were a bit too upbeat and energetic with the type of plots that the Gundam franchise was known to depicting up to the point Victory had aired.
Despite having its rough moments though, Victory Gundam made for a solid continuation of the Universal Century continuity of the Gundam franchise exploring Uso's involvements with League Militaire and coming to grips with the harsh realities of war as he deals with conflicting ideologies, betrayal and the loss of comrades. It is definitely worth a look if you are a fan of the Gundam franchise.
Quiddity131
Victory Gundam is just one of the numerous shows in the Gundam franchise, but has the notable distinction of being the last television series to take place in the Universal Century timeline. While this is the same universe that iconic Gundam characters like Amuro and Char lived in, it is so far in the future that there really isn’t a need to be familiar with earlier Gundam shows (although you may get a little more out of it if you have seen previous UC shows). The show stars Uso Ebbing, a 13-year old boy who lives in Europe and is suddenly brought into the conflict betweenthe Zanscare Empire, a powerful military force that originates from the colonies, and the League Militaire, a small resistance force from Earth. As with any other show from this franchise, Uso’s claim to fame is piloting the hero’s powerful mobile suit, the Victory Gundam and helping defend his friends and allies from the Zanscare Empire.
The show is a mixed bag for many. I’ve heard some people who think it’s one of the franchise’s best shows, I’ve heard others who think it’s among the worst. It is definitely one of the show’s most polarizing. The show is known in particular for two things, its absolute brutality and the sheer absurdity of some of the show’s sequences. An often-said rumor on the web is that director Yoshiyuki Tomino was really upset at the time over the sale of Sunrise to Bandai, so he purposely made the show really ridiculous and over the top in an attempt to kill the franchise. I wouldn’t be surprised if said rumor has no facts behind it (as most web rumors), but does the show often come off as one where the director had that mentality? Yes.
A common theme of UC Gundam shows is the effects of war and how rough it can be and this show is constantly pummeling you with that theme. Only a few episodes into the series an enemy soldier finds out that he’s been fighting the 13-year old Uso. He’s so upset that the war has forced little kids like him to fight that he pulls out a grenade and blows himself up. There are a group of characters introduced into the show with the express purpose of being killed one after another, often right in front of Uso. Episode after episode ends with him sobbing over the latest horror that has occurred. To make it even worse, the show frequently has a character die only to work into the storyline something that makes their death pointless. There’s a particular moment in the show when there is a major death which is done in the most brutal fashion imaginable. As if this isn’t enough, they reveal moments later that there was a cease fire declared and if things just happened slightly differently, it never would have happened. The moment in question is arguably the most brutal in the entire Gundam franchise and I’ve known of people that have thrown up their hands and quit the show in response.
From the opposite end, the show has several scenes in it that can only be described as complete absurdity. Two scenes in particular are really famous among the fandom; the first being when an enemy soldier tries to interrogate Uso by getting naked and going into a bathtub with him, and another when a group of women in bathing suits are sent to attack Uso while he’s in his Gundam and are promptly killed by him. Both scenes are completely nonsensical yet somehow made it into the show without ending up on the cutting board floor. There is a lengthy set of episodes where the Zanscare episode are using giant wheel themed ships which are among the strangest designed in the franchise and a style we never really get again in Gundam. These are just a few examples of the absurdities that this show throws towards us.
The show has its share of both strong and extremely annoying characters. Uso is a likable protagonist and you really feel for all the things he goes through. Uso’s friend Katejina undergoes a transformation into one of the most heinous villains of the franchise and her character is one of the highlights of the show. On the other hand another friend of his, Shakti, often makes mind boggling decisions and you often get very frustrated with the character but know that she is so critical to the plot that she will continuously be there and there’s no avoiding her.
Story-wise, the show is pretty strong but takes a while to get going. The first 10 or so episodes should have been greatly compressed. You also run into a problem in that the first episode should technically be the fourth, but the sponsors forced the show to move around the order to get the titular Gundam in the first episode, making the start of the show very confusing to watch. But once you get beyond this the pace is usually pretty quick. Neither the animation or the design is a big highlight; the show is the first in the Gundam franchise to lack the interesting character designs of either Yoshikazu Yasuhiko or Hiroyuki Kitazume. The often insectoid-type mecha are a bit different than Gundam shows past, but at the same time it is hard to think of many mobile suits that are memorable, whereas I consider there to be many from earlier shows. The show has several strong opening theme songs although they kind of mask just how rough the show really is.
I think the show leaves a big emotional impression on you, and is generally worth a viewing for that reason alone. Other than being probably the darkest and most brutal show of the franchise, there aren’t aspects that I can say that single this show out as one that you have to see above all the others. It is more accessible than other Gundam shows but is likely to not be a good choice for your first Gundam show. It’s a memorable show for me, but I can see that many may not feel the same way.
LaLeLuLiLo
Victory Gundam is really quite something, not as a show but as a testament to everything that Tomino has done for gundam thus far. This would be the last main universal century title to come out, and tomino last gundam show for a while before coming back but on a different project. The reason i’m putting Tomino in such high regard is not because he was the director, but also the writer for all the early main gundams. To the point that his very being is integral for him making these shows. With each passing title it’s easier to see the motifs, tropes, and clichesthat people like tomino continually implement in their shows that give them their very own signature feel. The problem is that their not always good and victory gundam exemplifies all the good and bad qualities of a gundam show. Even without the meta-understanding of the series the show by itself has many problems.
The problems with the show are apparent as soon as the first episodes, as the way it was structured is shaky at best. The show has two timelines, while it really isn’t that confusing, it really offers nothing interesting that couldn’t have been done by going in a linear fashion. the only reason this could have been is to show off the gundam early so that people aren’t confused they are watching the wrong show since it would have taken several episodes for the iconic mech to appear. The show does pick itself up after a few more episodes and it becomes easy to notice how the show is very similar to many of his previous gundam works. While it doesn’t inherently make the show bad it does make it difficult to watch something that has been done before. Thankfully the show does add a bit to the show starting with the setting initially taking place on earth and being presented more as a historical work than a Sci-Fi as there are many historical analogs depicted in the factions. It also tries more to depict the Minutiae of battle to a certain amount of extent than its predecessors. Yet despite all this the show quickly falls on its face again and this becomes a common cycle throughout the entire show.
The most noticeable failing would be the character deaths mostly on how the characters were handled, and their are a lot of named character deaths. The trend shows itself early on after the introduction of the shrike team as many of them are killed off with only a smidge of personality. Their deaths may have been fine just as that, but the show makes a grand deal about this with the way it was shot, the blaring sad music, and the crying characters. While it may be tragic and could be argued that it’s in service of the characters that are still alive, it still does nothing for the viewers. While there may be sympathy for their deaths the fact that they don’t have enough development of being actualized tangible characters makes it difficult to empathize or reach a higher level of emotional investment. This doesn’t happen all the time as it’s more of a hill and valley situation but it’s still a lot of character deaths, and as more time progress after each episode it’s easy to realize how forgettable many of the character deaths are.
As the story continues with the cast moving into space, and back to earth there is some credit to be given as there are some refinement to the formula of the show. While the plot make sometimes feel a bit erratic with sudden shifts in objective it still manages to keep a sense of cohesion that was lacking in the previous shows. The show also has a bit more downtime between the action so that the show doesn’t just feel like a sporadic mess of mech-battles. The shame is that they are never used to their fullest extent to develop the characters which the show really needed. So while not perfect there is a clear sense of progression even if it wasn’t handled that well.
As the show started to head towards its final act there was one word to describe this show with Katejina being a prime example, and it’s that the show is very abrupt. There are times when there are transitions that make no sense and it takes time to get my barring of what was going on. While there may have been logic behind what was happening there was never a follow through before it happened that destroys the flow of the story. The reason katejina is the example is her entire betrayal to the zanscare empire. While there may have been some logic to it the way it transitioned her character was terrible with it being mostly a few throw away lines before we see her again fully changed. It’s parts like those where i feel like a miss something and when going back i find nothing at all, and it was just a sudden change and makes the show more difficult to follow with.
Victory was made during the cusp of the japan bubble burst that hampered their economy and i feel that it may have affected the quality of the anime. The show feels like a regression of art style as it’s quality feels like something that would have made between 079 and Zeta. it doesn’t have the cartoonish characters or plastic like mechs of gundam, but it also doesn’t have the more detailed look of the character and mechs of zeta. Still that character designs for many of the characters are still appealing and the mechs look decent even if some of them are dumb like the insect themed bespa suits. The animation for the show is good enough as well but there are noticeable dips with obvious tricks to give a sense of movements and many stilted frames that feel jarring to watch. The audio for the show is decent with the voice acting and sound effects being passable less because it’s bad performance, but because it may have been recorded on a poor device. Still the soundtrack is good with the orchestrals adding more thrill to the battles, and overall bringing some emotion to the show.
While the show may be over hated, i do see the reasons why. From it’s abrupt plots and character development, mostly shallow characters, and seemingly poor production quality.
Not to mention watching this after more than 3 main series with the similar formula ,and the refinement of the repetition not being substantial enough to really warrant watching this. Victory just ends of being an ok-ish enough show not worth remembering.
DjNastyDevice
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam is an anime television program set in the fictional universe of the Gundam franchise's Universal Century timeline. It consists of 51 episodes, and was directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki. Victory Gundam is set in UC 0153, and succeeds the Federation and Crossbone Vanguard conflict of Gundam F-91. Therefore, it takes place well after the events of the Earth Federation versus Principality of Zeon conflict (which could be said to have ended with Char's Counterattack). The greatly weakened Earth Federation comes under attack by the BESPA forces of the spaceborn Zanscare Empire; only the AEUG-like League Militaire stands in their way. The mass-produced VictoryGundam is the League Militaire's secret weapon against the invading BESPA.
I watched most of the gundam series there are and i must say its not high up my list. And im a kind of guy that likes nice graphics and this series is a bit older,so its not very good in this aspect too. I watched it because i ran out of Gundams to watch. I sugest watching it if you are in same situation..gundam lover running out of gundams to see.
digisoulwings
Being a Gundam fan for years, the only shows I've watched in entirety were Wing, and Build Fighters, before starting a complete watch with my partner a few years ago. Watching what came before Victory was highly enjoyable, and I love so many of the characters and other series, but Victory wasn't anything like the ones before it. Story -- 3/10 (poor) For being a Gundam series, the story was driven by the MC piloting the Gundam, and stopping the enemy, which is every series' base plot. Why I didn't rank it higher was due to specific characters and influences in the show. The entire plotwas not very cohesive and left me wondering really what was happening at some parts. I know that the MC is supposed to develop, but the story made him (a 13 yr old kid) into a man way too fast.
Art -- 3/10 (poor)
The art was well, very lacking. For most other series, the artwork and backgrounds, and even the facial features are conveyed so well, but in Victory Gundam, everything seemed too rushed and simple, like they didn't even care - and it shows.
Sound: 5/10 (mediocre)
As much as I enjoy the OSTs of the other series, this one didn't have that much, save for a noted battle theme, and a few character themes sprinkled throughout, as well as the 2 OPs and 2 EDs, which are highly misleading for the series as a whole. The strange feeling of silent scenes was very apparent here.
Character -- 4/10 (decent)
Here we go. The only reason why I marked this section as a 4 is due to only two characters. One is Odelo, a supporting character who enriches the MC with his upbeat and often love-struck personality, and the other is Chronicle, the main antagonist to the MC and Victory's "Char" model. Though I enjoyed those two, I'll first touch on the few "bad" characters I disliked.
The MC, Uso Ewin, is only 13, I repeat, ONLY 13. (Probably the youngest pilot?) and his introduction is well enough okay for the series beginning, but as we get further, he experiences things no child/young teen should ever go through. (though, this is a Gundam series so it's inevitable) He watches one of the people responsible for him piloting the Gundam die, as well as other "fodder" characters die, and this is a stupid attempt at making him grow by experiencing loss in order to become the man the show needs him to be. The deaths are so dumb, and you can tell when a character is going to die due to certain scenes, and words reflected in their actions, and it becomes stale and unenjoyable after the third death.
A supporting character, Shakti, was obviously someone Uso had ties with, as a friend. But did she have to come along on the ship? NO, she didn't -- but she was used as a driving force for Uso to accomplish the goals needed to move the plot (or what little plot there was). She was very annoying with her attitude of "no fighting needs to happen if I can just talk with the enemy." and she's often kidnapped to force the Gundam team to fight. Honestly, I hated her and just wished she'd die.
Enjoyment -- 4/10 (decent)
As much as I was ready to go into this thinking it was great, I was misled. At first, I enjoyed it and then seeing the enemy mobile suits made me think twice, but both I and my partner sat through the most unsurprising 51 episodes and are glad it's over. My partner even walked away at the few recap episodes, and I almost skipped them myself. It was all over the place, and the only real sense of enjoyment came when Odelo was on screen.
Overall -- 3/10 (poor)
Even if you're a hardcore fan, please don't expect this show to be anything like its predecessors or even what comes after. You'll be let down and underwhelmed. It has the Gundam name, but not the quality we've come to expect. Victory Gundam is one show I'll likely never watch again.
Spirit_Chaser
After watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Ideon, Zeta, ZZ, and Char’s Counterattack, next came Victory Gundam. I wondered how Tomino and the staff would approach this, seeing as though they’d have to bring something new to the table. I was not disappointed, and impressed with the amount of fresh ideas that were poured in. This is the culmination of his work up to this point, as it follows a similar story behind a prodigy pilot, and is a critique of war as in the original, has some comedic moments that reminded me of ZZ, and mystery as in Ideon. Taking place several decades after Char’sCounterattack, the Earth Federation is now under attack by the newly emerging Zanscare Empire. They use old execution methods, such as the guillotine, to send a message of fear into the public, and want to take over space. Their religious leader is not a bad person, though others in the upper crust of leadership have different intentions and use for her. Also leading them among the ace pilots if Chronicle Asher, who despises the corruption of the Earth, and though he is part of this wicked Empire, his motivations are for the best of mankind.
Uso Ewin is the young protagonist, who finds himself in the beginning forced into the war, and becomes Chronicle’s rival as a result. Uso himself stands out on his own compared to previous Tomino protagonists, such as Amuro, Cosmo, Kamille, and Judau. As the others, he is critical of war, and also critical of himself. The war in Uso’s head feels more brutal than the war on the battlefield at times. One of Uso’s greatest strengths, is his improvisational and unorthodox style of combat. It is amusing and fascinating to see how creative he gets with the Victory Gundam, and resorts to many brilliant strategies that often perplex his opponents. It’s a breath of fresh air that deviated from keeping the fighting repetitive and predictable when compared to the earlier works.
The large cast of characters grow to love each other, and struggle together to defeat the empire. One by one, many begin to take up the Gundam. Shakti is Uso’s childhood friend, and often worries not just about the war, but about Uso as well. She sees the effect war has on him, and worries that he will be consumed by it and lose himself.
Uso becomes the hope against the empire. The adults, as shameless and useless as they are, are self aware that mere child is fighting the strong fight for them. As Uso struggles, the war continues to expand with all sorts of wonderful new ideas, that make Victory great and unique on its own. By the end, I placed it in my current top 5. There is also something else that Victory Gundam does that makes it it’s own. It’s what I have not mentioned yet. It’s own unique interpretation of something Tomino is known for doing in his work.
Victory Gundam Deeply and emotionally breaks it’s own characters. Uso painfully learns what loss means, as he sees his precious friends obliterated, often in needless ways. There are times you’d think he’s had enough and is ready to check out, but he keeps going. There are many episodes that focus on his tragic feeling of loss. Characters don’t just appear for the sake of it and die, there is meaning and value behind their circumstances and choices that leaves an impact on the viewers. The effect on the viewers can invoke bleak feelings of depression at times from how morbid Victory Gundam can be.
As Uso fights, he shows what I love about Tomino protagonists. Too many times, main characters are cowards that rarely ever grow or go anywhere. I can understand why. Instead of being a pathetic excuse of a main character for people to relate to, Uso is a character to aspire to be. Uso carries the fire of the protagonists before him, and fights in such a brave manner that it’s inspiring to watch. I always appreciate the short, passionate, and blunt comments Tomino protagonists make as they fight, and their analysis and realizations of war that give the viewers much to think about. Uso is also on the search for his parents. This leads to an interesting connection between him and his Gundam, that is very similar to the connection between Shinji and his Eva-01 unit from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
As the war rages on, there is an interesting focus on love on the battlefield, all too tragic to the reality that many times our significant others don’t make it. Victory Gundam interprets this as painful as it will come to show.
As Uso fights, and tries his best to overcome the reality of war, he becomes the new Newtype prodigy. As he fights on, the other characters grow with him. Some for better, and some for worse. Some characters, such as Katejina, fascinate me with some of the most interesting writing and twists.
Uso has the same curse that Yang Wen-li has from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. They are both outright critics who despise war, and yet, they appear to be as if they are the best suited for it because of their skills. Uso, however, gets put in situations where he could almost be genocidal, and the most kill hungry protagonist I’ve seen in Gundam thus far. There are times he loses control. Times he gets ahead of himself. Times where he kills, and starts enjoying it too much.
Despite this, You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. Besides, it took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. Uso is one of these madmen. To the extent that he resists his enslavement is the extent to which he is free.
As much as the soldiers try to arrest the people on Uso’s side, and try to blame them, it’s clear that Individuals do not create rebellions; conditions do.
The new mobile suit designs in this add to how unsettling this series can get, and it can get very unsettling. Many of the enemy mobile suits look like insects, in such a way, that they look intimidating; almost as if they were organic. At one point there is a centipede type mobile armor, and a giant serpent type. It feels as if this had to inspire the maverick designs in Rockman x3. Still, I appreciate the demonic like presentation in the designs of many of the mobile suits in Victory Gundam.
The animation does have some problems. There are a few odd slideshows that remind me of the production issues in Super Dimension Fortress Macross. There is reused animation that was very noticeable to me during the re-watch. Because of the lack of shading, some of the characters’ noses can look strange. Overall, however, the art and animation is very enjoyable, satisfyingly expressive, and horrifying when it needs to be.
The soundtrack is fantastic. The usual tracks played during battles and build ups are iconic, and can really help in setting the tone. The insert songs help make some of the best moments in Victory Gundam. If you are looking for a great finale, the last 2 episodes of this series ascend it to a different level.
Something about Victory Gundam that is interesting is it’s approach with Newtypes. Yes, you should watch the previous Gundam entries before this. If you don’t you’ll miss the history, context, and breakdown of what the Newtypes are. That is because this series never explains what they are. As a result, those viewers not familiar with the older entries may get confused on what a Newtype is. For viewers like me that did the homework and learned the history with the older Gundam entries, I felt a lot of appreciation for what this series does with Newtypes. Towards the end, it becomes even more important to know the context, as Newtypes start emerging everywhere.
To me, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam is a dark, yet beautiful story that is surprisingly hopeful despite the reputation this has with some viewers. It's tragic to see Western anime websites and viewers hold almost no regard to it. To me, this shows that Tomino, and the staff, were able to take Gundam and take it somewhere new in a wonderful way. At this point in Gundam history, and as much as he may not agree with it, to me, Victory Gundam is Tomino’s victory.
Armio
A Gundam for Completionists The show is not very good and barely ties into the grand narrative of UC (unless you end up reading Crossbone). To keep it simple, I would only recommend this to people who are all in on Gundam. The animation is inconsistent, and the plot has no idea where it's going, it just knows that it wants to talk about the weakness of women and their power over men. There are positives though, the show starts off very interesting, and has some unique mobile suit designs. Uso is also a very cool Mc who has to struggle with a lot of things despitebeing only 13. The OST is also godly (the track 'Victory Gundam' is likely the best BGM created for an individual suit ever. Sorry Z Gundam). Unfortunately it seems that they used up all their creativity on the few good ones, as they seem to not have enough tracks to use; silent battles or happy music playing during a serious scene occurs often.
Gundam fanatics will likely find the weird sinilarities to titles like "Turn A Gundam", "Reconguista in G" and "Gundam AGE" fascinating. The ultimate plan of the evil Zanscare Empire also immediately clicks once revealed, fitting perfectly as a unfortunate result to the events of Chars Counterattack and Unicorn Gundam.
A shortened version of this show would do wonders for it, as the episodes 31-40ish had little consequence. Maybe someday a movie remake will be announced.
algoPotaku
Another gundam anime, where we see almost the same story. A young protagonist who for one thing or another has to fight in a war. At the beginning of the anime, the protagonist does not want to fight or kill people, this decession makes him one of the protagonists most committed to peace since in the other series everyone is as good as war if not I kill they kill me. There you realize the ability they give to the protagonist of the series, he is also a very sentimental person that I liked because it breaks with the gundam scheme of the flying acekilling everyone. It is also quite dense to see how it says I do not kill the enemies and for not killing them the consequences are worse. The animation is fine for the time it was made but it is not the most attractive to see. Character development is very confusing, as with some you don't understand why they do one thing, it's like they don't give a justification, it's only like this to help the plot. In all, it is a good anime of mecha where you play a lot with politics and between sides. Like almost all gundam anime it has a very correct level in all aspects. I didn't like the ending and I liked it at the same time. In other words, there are things that I liked and others that I did not. I feel like the character they had to kill was not killed. Also at one point I feel that they were inspired by the Macross franchise since well I am not going to spoil it but you will notice it. I recommend it if you want to see gundam but it is not even close to the best series. Entertaining but I can't recommend it.
En español:
Otro anime de gundam, donde vemos casi la misma historia. Un protagonista joven que por una cosa o por otra tiene que pelear en un guerra. Al comienzo del anime el protagonista como que no quiere pelear ni matar gente, esta decesion lo hace uno de los protagonista mas comprometidos con la paz ya que en las demas series todos estan como bueno es la guerra sino mato me matan. Ahi te das cuenta de la habilidad que le dan al protagonista de la serie, tambien es una persona muy sentimental eso me gusto porque rompe con el esquema de gundam del as de vuelo matando a todos. Tambien se hace bastante denso ver como dice no mato a los enemigos y por no matarlos las consecuencias son peores. La animacion esta bien para la epoca en la que se hizo pero no es lo mas vistoso de ver. El desarrollo de personajes es muy confuso como que con algunos no entendes porque hacen una cosa, es como no le dan una justificasion solo es asi para ayudar a la trama. Dentro de todo es un buen anime de mechas donde se juega mucho con la politica y entre bandos. Como casi todo anime de gundam tiene un nivel muy correcto en todos los aspectos. El final no me gusto y me gusto a la vez. O sea hay cosas que me gustaron y otras que no. Siento que el perosonaje que tenian que matar no lo mataron. Tambien en un momento siento que se inspiraron en la franquisia de Macross ya que bueno no voy a hacer spoiler pero lo vas a notar. Lo recomiendo si queres ver gundam pero no es ni por cerca la mejor serie. Entretenida pero no la puedo recomendar.
vexium
After having watched many an anime and not bothering to review one, even after several years of not logging into this account, so comes a time when, after viewing Victory Gundam, I felt compelled to deliver this abrupt introduction to the most misunderstood Gundam show to date... Hey there, reader, do you like motorcycle tires? Do you like bike wheels so much you wish they could fly? What about if they could tread the ocean surface and act like whimsically half-rotated UFOs swarming about the seas? And how about if they were the entire bottom hull of a ship, like one massive tank tread - bigenough even to squish your mom? Or dare I say, would you like them if they spun about, rotated, and generated motion in space? You do? Well then, do I have the show for you.
Hey there, reader, do you like fan service? Do you like harems of girls in your anime shows, void of a reasonable explanation but bountiful in the voluptuous department of volume? Do you like entire companies of soldiers clad in nothing but bikinis for the sole purpose of trolling the protagonist? Do you like your main character to be suggestively dominated and put in inexplicably compromising situations with women twice their age? Boy, do I have the show for you.
Hey, reader, do you like popcorn blockbuster action movies? Do you like action scenes with completely unrealistic outcomes, where the Hero performs stunts that make Tom Cruise look like a girl scout scared of knocking at the neighbor's door? Do you like when people parachute onto buildings and objects from impossible heights, with no realistic chance of survival, yet done with such impeccable grace as to seamlessly move on with no comment to the next insurmountable feat? Well, you guessed it, I have the exact show for you.
And that show is: Victory Gundam. Put your grievances aside. The plot is impressively terrible. The characters are surface-deep at best, inscrutable at worst. The ending makes absolutely no sense. The entire 3rd arc of the story is a ramshackle-monstrosity of motifs coagulating into a climax of needless death and seemingly random conclusions to arcs we didn't know existed until but an episode prior.
But that doesn't matter, because you know what does? Victory. Victory is what matters, and our boy, -the- boy, if you will, Uso, is going to achieve it. By God, he's going to achieve it even if Shahkti has to walk into the enemy encampment a thousand more times. He will achieve it so hard, every girl on Earth and in space is going to be 'miring so hotly that the Char Aznable of the story will actually disappear from the story for no good reason other than that we are simply too busy admiring Uso from the perspective of literally every female character in the show. Mission achieved, Victory accomplished.
Plot holes? Yes, those exist - in fact, if you look closely, you can glance through the swiss cheese of the show and stare into the realm of what could have been, and with that glimpse, great sadness will creep upon you, wondering what actual heights our Victory could have risen to. BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS, because we have Victory. And Victory is sweet, if not a little bitter at times.
Still, you might ask, what will Victory get me, in the end? Will Victory be worth it? Victory, with a visually augmented and stunningly clear capital 'V', is not only worth it; it's so worth it, you might find yourself wondering what else is. For instance, is a coherent story worth it? If we can just enjoy unique artwork and oddly captivating hand-drawn combat scenes of giant mechs delivering ultimate annihilation, do we really need any characters to make actual sense? Apparently we do, because Uso is that character, and for the better part of the story, you will be fooled into thinking that Victory is the development of this young boy into a war-torn but headstrong soldier, overcoming all odds and miraculously accomplishing the impossible, all to finally save the day.
But, FOOL that you are (for taking popcorn action too seriously), none of that matters, because you will undoubtedly find that true Victory, and incidentally the actual best case I can make to watch this show, is found in the hearts and souls of us all. We all share a passion for life and love that Uso and crew serve up in spades across the breadth of the story, making it real even when it's absolutely, certifiably, nonsensically surreal. These genuinely human moments, while fleeting, recapture the heart-wrenching success of the whole Gundam universe, despite taking place in a surfeit of flimsy plot developments.
In all seriousness, the real Victory is getting through this series without saying "huh?" once, but if your faith holds fast and you remain constant to your beating heart, to that undying, innate dream to live and love beautifully this one life we have, you may find you actually enjoy this wonky ride for what it is: a winning excuse to spend some time with Gundams, those beasts of burden tearing our hearts and souls out over endless, wanton strife.
Oh, except for Katejina. She has no soul.
10/10, would never watch again. 7/10, if you choose to take this show seriously (if it wasn't clear by now, you shouldn't).
