Synopsis:
In the dangerous outer space zone known as the "Thunderbolt Sector," a savage battle of attrition is waged between the defending Zeon Living Dead Division and the encroaching Federation Moore Brotherhood. Two aces - Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz and Federation pilot Io Fleming - commence a heated and personal rivalry as the violence escalates and both they and their allies gradually fall victim to the horrors and tragedies of war.
Based on the manga of the same name, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt was originally released as eight Original Net Animation (ONA) episodes, the first four of which were later compiled (with new footage) into the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky film, while the second four were compiled into Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower. As of this writing, the remainder of the manga has yet to be adapted to animated form, so the anime remains unfinished.
Note - this review is just for the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky film (the first four ONA's). Please click here for my review of Mobile Suit Gundam: Bandit Flower, the second entry in this series.
Release Date:
2015-2016 (ONA's)
2016 (Film)
Episodes:
4 (ONA's)
1 (Film)
Timeline:
UC 0079
My Grade:
A
Review:
In a word, "Wow." My wife Leah and I knew nothing of this film going into it, other than that it "starred" the Full Armor Gundam and Psycho Zaku, which I knew from gunpla. Upon viewing, we were absolutely blown away by the top-notch animation, pulse-pounding action, and gut-wrenching story. This is not a film for the faint of heart - it's dark, depressing, and at times horrific in its portrayal of the cost of war. But it is a masterpiece of storytelling and animation that should not be missed.
Aesthetically, the animation is gorgeous, with eye-popping visuals from start to finish. The characters are pretty unique in their design, with a sinewy look that reminded me of Peter Chung's art for Aeon Flux or Reign: The Conqueror. The two main mobile suits are way over the top, each outfitted with more fuel tanks and weapons than even their many extra arms can hold at once, but the staging and animation sequencing always makes it look believable, as if these two titanic robots could actually maneuver as they do.
While it may at first seem like another "Zeon and Federation ace pilots rivalry" story, the characters feel completely unique to this narrative. Neither is really the main character or hero, though the Zeon side is portrayed as more sympathetic. The Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz is a member of the "Living Dead Division," a team of amputee soldiers who have patriotically found a second life defending the high-value Thunderbolt Sector, a vital Zeon supply route. This team is overseen by a body led by Karla Mitchum, a scientist who studies amputees and supplies them with prosthetics, and who has been working on the secret Reuse P. Device project, an ultra-powerful mobile suit that can only be piloted at a horrific cost. Daryl is himself a below-the-knee double amputee, who enjoys listening to old pop tunes on his vintage radio, and frequently has dreams of running as a child on the beach (before losing his legs in the early months of the war).
Daryl's foil is Io Fleming, a talented and merciless Federation pilot who is fueled by his love of free-form jazz, which he listens to as he engages in combat. Io is slightly unhinged due to his own wartime trauma, and has a strained relationship with his drug-addicted girlfriend (and acting Captain of his ship) Claudia Peer. Io thirsts for battle and lives for the thrill of piloting his mobile suit.
When he assaults the Zeon forces using the experimental new Full Armor Gundam prototype, Io lays waste to the Living Dead Division, causing Daryl to lose his left hand in the encounter. Juxtaposed against a flashback of when he originally lost his legs, the grief Daryl experiences when he wakes up in the infirmary only to realize he's missing another part of himself is truly visceral.
As the story progresses and things look even more hopeless for the Living Dead Division, Daryl is ordered to make one final sacrifice - in order to utilize the experimental Psycho Zaku (the culmination of the Reuse P. Device project), the pilot must be a quadruple amputee, which allows him to interface with and directly control the powerful mobile suit with his mind. During surgery he dreams of holding his father's hand as they walk on the beach before awakening with his last limb gone. Absolutely heartbreaking stuff.
The best Gundam stories are all character-driven, and this is one of the standout examples. Everyone here feels totally real and even the side roles, like the various crew members on both sides, are given plenty of weight and time to shine.
The story builds to a pretty insane climax, which left us hungry to watch the next film, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower, though we were ultimately disappointed by that one. On its own though, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky is more than satisfying and stands as one of the most intense, emotional, and gripping entries in the entire Gundam franchise.
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