First Impression – Gundam G no Reconguista
Time for some Gundam on Metanorn! I hope this does better than Gundam AGE…
Oh my god Gundam G no Reconguista is here and I have to say right off the bad Sunrise brought out their A game because WOW it looks so amazing! I guess it helps that this Gundam series is using an old school style especially with the designs of the mechs and characters, but is that going to be enough to keep everyone interested? I certainly hope so.
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Fantastic Style
Aida-“I got wild space hair for days.”
Any long mecha fan should be able to recognize Yoshida Kenichi’s character designs especially if you have seen both seasons of Eureka Seven, Bounen no Xamdou and Overman King Gainer. So what do you think of the character deigns? I have always loved seeing designs for characters because they have a bit of an old-school vibe that takes me back to the original mobile series, of course with all these retro designs I think that is the mind set to bring back that original fan base and it helps that the story of Reconguista takes place in the Universal Century of the Gundam timeline which is always called the “best” and that topic is still a huge debate among fans today! Personally I love all the UC stuff even though I only know it because of Char, but I have to admit I haven’t seen much of that timeline because I got started in the fandom with Gundam Wing, G Gundam and Gundam 00 and whatever came afterwards.
Mr. Gundam is watching you.
I guess most of you are asking yourself can I watch this without prior knowledge of the past generation of Gundam? I would say YES give it a shot because for the most part Sunrise uses a lot of the same themes that they always use and you can find those in just about every non-Sunrise mecha such as several young teenagers pulled into a war, various factions fighting against each other, but honestly in the end it will always be the classic theme of good versus evil; however I know that some of the new fans might be confused on the technobabble found in both of these episodes and trust me as a fanboy of the brand I will be the first to say that even I was confused as well. Then again I come to expect that out of these long winded series because it will take a while before they establish what the hell is going on and I will warn you ahead of time that Reconguista could run for at least fifty something episodes which is quite normal for the franchise much like the Precure universe with the only exception going to Gundam Build Fighters season one which is only twenty-five episodes.
Story mode
I can’t tell who I like more! Raraiya or Norendo…
So what is going on in the world of Reconguista? I guess we will be following roughly three factions in this series starting with the pirates, The Capital Army and The Amerian’s but we don’t really get a clear idea as to why these factions ae against each other or do we? I know Aida thinks that the Capital Army is more of a dictatorship and Bellri is being brainwashed by them? If that is the case I suppose that makes for an alright story even though we have seen the whole government/Army happens to be completely evil while the other side turns out to be the good side all along *cough* Akame ga Kill *cough* so what do you think about the story so far or was this a case of lacking? I honestly have no idea where the story will be going, but given the studio and brand we are dealing with here I will say we might have to sit around for a while before we get or answers.
Bellri and Aida! Friends? Rivals? Enemies? Love interests? It is hard to say what these two will be.
I guess I should talk about the three important characters for a moment starting with adorable Raraiya! What kind of role will have in all of this? Does she add to the story and the biggest question of all about her! Did that jump from the Gundam at the start of episode one really mess her up her brain or is there some other reason she is acting dumb? Besides all of that I know that whenever she sees the Gundam it kind of freaks her out. Next up the super sexy Aida who comes off as the cool character or did you not find her cool at all? I thought it was great to see a female Gundam pilot for once because that is kind of rare, but I think she is interesting so far we just need to know more about her motives and overall role. Now to talk about Bellri who to my surprise was not the typical mecha lead we are used to aka the angry teenage boy who is plotting revenge! The only thing I will say about him was the two EHHHHHHHS he did in the second episode did get a bit annoying to me, but overall he appears to be a smart pilot who is not afraid to fight which is quite refreshing. While we have all these unanswered questions floating around there is one thing I do know and that is the eventually team up between Bellri and Aida after they get over their differences and start working as a duo or will Bellri take the Gundam for himself? We shall see I hope that is not the case.
FK YA EXTRA GUNDAM
Raraiya-“I once caught a space fish this big yo!!”
Bellri-“Anyone order the freaking massive sub?!”
Slapping people is always a thing in Gundam…
Raraiya-“DUDE I AM SO HIGH RIGHT NOW.”
End thoughts
Damn these two episodes were certainly filled with everything that I come to expect with any Gundam series! Such as an interesting world, rival factions going to war, young teenage pilots, lots of interesting characters and solid animation. I mean sure all of that was really cool and all but I hope am not alone when I say that I was somewhat confused about the actual story so far or did you get it? I understood most of it but of course I know what to expect when dealing with Sunrise mecha anime so for now I will have to simply sit back and let things play out every week! So what did you think about the episodes? Did you enjoy them and what was your favorite moment and which character as you the most curious? Bellri, Aida, Raraiya or that pink haired cheerleader Norendo? I can’t choose right now because I like all of the characters so far and I can’t wait to see the next episode.
Preview
See you next time Gundam fans
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
The animation style’s quite old and grainy, like something from the 90s.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah 90’s 80’s and 70’s represented in Reconguista it seems hahah and I love it <3
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
not completely, the city and background is very different!
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Talk about old school. All handdrawn and is just vintage looking. The storyboarding was pretty bad though. It’s pretty choppy and the scenes don’t connect well with one another.
Tomino must be kidding though if he praised the acting of the main characters as they weren’t that good. Even the pink haired girl done by Kotobuki Minako stands out more.
At least Bellri isn’t a typical teenage pilot forced into the Gundam, though he seems to be destined to pilot it given those eyes.
And Gundam seems to be breaking ground now by having female main characters that can pilot and fight. This and Build Fighters Try.
It’s watchable I guess and I’ll continue watching. Given how AGE was, it’s a pretty easy hurdle to surpass that and it will take talent to go below that.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Weirdly, Gundam’s actually has had quite a few female pilots (many that were both supporting and main characters), some of actual Gundam models, and even some that piloted the main Gundam itself. It was really only the recent series that kind of cut down on female pilots. They still haven’t had a female MC yet, but I don’t know if that will ever happen…:(
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
@Belatkuro: Yeah the retro style is great I kind of love it! I know some will find it to be terrible and lame but at least they aren’t reusing the AGE or SEED character designs again so that is a plus for me. As for the story yeah we still need time for the story to unfold and I assume since this will be more than 25 episodes we will get a better understanding soon.
I am quite pleased with Bellri’s character and YES at least he is NOT like the past leads that are angry and emo about being in a war! I kind of hope Sunrise will experiment more and show us a female that can carry a Gundam series without having a guy step in to become the main character.
YES WATCH MORE! I hope a lot of non Gundam fans watch this and get the urge to explore more of the universe.
@Irensharda: Yeah there are females in each and every Gundam, but how many of them have actually piloted the main Gundam? That is what stood out the most for me while watching Aida and I know there are some that pilot the heavy hitting machines like in Unicorn and past Gundam as well.
Trust me I would love to see a kick ass female lead in a Gundam series I have been hoping for that to happen one of these days, but sadly we just have to wait! I know Sunrise does other non Gundam with female pilots which gave us Hina in buddy Complex and two/three in Valvrave! Then again those are terrible examples…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Well, while there have been quite a few female pilots, the only ones I can remember off the top of my head that piloted the main Gundam at one time or another was Sayla Mass in 0079 and Christina MacKenzie in 0080. But there are probably a few more I’ve forgotten.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ahh I haven’t gotten into the 0079 universe yet, but I have seen 8th MS team which has a female pilot that used a huge battle armor! That was cool and yeah like I said I really hope Sunrise takes more chances with mixing up the gender roles in Gundam.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
No wonder the character designs looked so familiar! It didn’t click until you mentioned it, they look like they’re right out of E7 or Xamdou.
Aside from the nice character designs, I felt let down. I agree with zztop, the style looks really old school. Now normally I could live with that, if everything else was up to par. But the G-Self gundam design? It looks even worse animated than it does in pictures.
I also felt the plot was jumping all over the place without sufficient explanation. What do pirates have to do with America, and what are the world factions? Aida is too damn inconsistent, jumping from initially good operator to a puppy-love follower. And I have no idea what role Raraiya is supposed to fill. Right now she’s a paper-weight. And Bell? For a newbie, he jumps from unable to move the thing very well in one episode to being battle proficient in the next. And it doesn’t explain or even show how he learns… he ain’t no Kira, it’s like they skipped a bunch of episodes where he underwent training (because from what I can determine, the G-Self is a new unidentified mobile suit).
The mech designs are god-awful horrible caliber. Unless the series does a 180 and becomes the Next-Awesome(TM) thing, I can’t see myself watching another episode, when there is that many more interesting shows this season (imho).
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I love me some Eureka character designs <3
I will admit the design of the main G-self looks a bit laughable especially the head unit! Instead of the traditional V crest they usually use they decided to go with a pair of odd horns instead and I can't figure out why unless the G-self is stage one and it gets blown up or upgraded later on which I could see happening because its what Sunrise usually does.
Right they will get to that explanation later on I guess they wanted to focus on characters for the first handful of episodes and eventually we will learn what the "story" is for Reconguista. I dunno about Bellri, but he goes to a school where they receive military training much like Inaho from Aldonah.Zero so I assume he just knows what he knows through training? I don't think there would have been time to squeeze that into the first two episodes. Bellri > Kira in terms of likability I am happy that our new main character is not an emo kid and is confident and not afraid to fight.
Sorry you feel that way about not wanting to see anymore, but I kind of like the looks of all the machines we have seen so far even if they do look a bit silly.
True this is just not your cup of tea and that is fine~
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Is this based on a manga or is this an original series?
Nooo, Kira 100%~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I refuse to accept otherwise.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Kira’s clone is coming back in another Sunrise mecha anime this season, so you’ll be okay. 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Cross Ange or Buddy Complex?
I have yet to watch the former, so I’m assuming that’s the one you’re referring to (it’s queued up with all the others this season, planning to take a whole bunch for a whirl, as I spent today watching Edge of Tomorrow – which was actually pretty good, considering it has Tom Cruise).
I didn’t get a full sequel to Buddy Complex, I am disappoint. Two episode special is not enough.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
(This is a review of episodes 1 and 2)
Well, if it wasn’t for that CGI seen here and there, I could have sworn this series came out in the 80s!
I really didn’t see much of the promotional material for this, but I didn’t know this series was going to be THIS retro. I feel like I’m watching something between the original Gundam and Zeta in terms of anime era, complete with the animation, settings, sound effects, special effects, OP, and unfortunately, the gender roles to a degree (why are all the soldiers male, and all the girls are cheerleaders looking for a husband, while doing hi-jinks and being quirky?).
The first thing I noticed about this series is that it’s very busy. Something is always happening and there is practically no moment when less than three people are on screen together.the world is very colorful and again, very busy. And sometimes, not in a good way. I’ve been reading subtitles for over 13 years and it’s second nature to me now. So I was pretty surprised when I was actually struggling a bit to both read the subtitles and watch what was going on, but there was so much happening on screen and so many words being said that my eyes were actually straining to keep up.
As for the events going on, I’m still putting it together, but it seems that there is the Capital that Bellri is a part of, the space pirates that Aida is an important part of, and there is mention of the have-yet-to-be-seen other part to this conflict, the Amerians (the future Americans, if anyone remember Turn-A Gundam). Right now, Bellri and Aida are on opposite sides, but I have a feeling that some alliances will be shifted soon, and it won’t be Aida. I liked Bellri okay, except for his rather old-fashioned MC style of being a pacifist and being quirky and a genius and asking ridiculous questions. It was also a surprise that his mom was the scientist genius and not his dad which is the usual. However with his connection to the G-self and to Aida with the whole iris thing, I’m wondering if we don’t have a Kira/Cagalli situation here?
As for all the other characters, I really don’t care about most of them, other than the princess, Aida (best girl so far), Luin, the weird Raraiya Monday girl, and all the guys in the military and research areas. I absolutely cannot stand the pink-haired chick (Noredo) with the slingshot. Only two episodes and I already want to kill her. Good job, guys…
Well, while this series definitely has some adjusting it needs to do and a little settling down that needs to happen to let the audience get used to this new world, I’m interested in what happens next. So, call me intrigued for now.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
No CGI isn’t it great? I love the oldschool vibe <3
Yeah I have been drooling and staring over the promotional art and trailers for weeks as I waited for this! Hell even Gundam Origin which is coming out later this year looks AWESOME! Yeah I dunno why there are cheerleaders running around, but I assume that is just the school setting blending in with the Army stuffs and one of the girls has a boyfriend that blue haired guy that tagged along on the rescue mission to save Aida.
Sad but true it was very busy with something always going on in the background or characters moving around constantly, but would we really want them to stand still and not move? I guess that is a preference thing I guess; however yeah it was distracting while reading the subs to glance up and see X character doing something random.
I have a feeling Aida/Bellri might be related somehow because that guy scanned them and both of their eyes were the same or was that just the sign that both are special aka Newtypes? I could see that being a thing and what of Bellri's father? I assume he is with the Pirates or Amerians? As for the Kira/Cagalli connection that is also a possibility even though I hope that is not the case.
LOL ill admit there were moments when I wanted Noredo to shut up because she comes off as bossy, but I come to expect such things from her voice actress who was in Doki Doki Precure as a similar bossy type. Raraiya at the moment is the token moe girl that everyone is drawn to because she comes off as that way for now! I certainly hope that she has a bigger role later.
Yeah I hope things slow down a bit and we get a better understanding as to what the hell is going on.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 140 comments
I have to ask this as a gundam newbie: can you watch this show without having watched other gundamn shows? Is this a continuation of any of the Gundam universes? Or can I just jump right in?
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
No, you don’t. Most Gundam series can be enjoyed on their own. There’s only a few that are direct sequels to previous shows, like Gundam Zeta, Gundam ZZ, or Gundam Seed Destiny.
The only thing you need to know, and that’s just because they use very small easter egg references to it, is that this series takes place about 1000 years after the Universal Century (UC) shows (the original Gundam 0079, Gundam Zeta, Gundam Unicorn, Gundam Victory, etc.) but before Turn-A Gundam (Correct Century (CC)) which takes place about 2000 years after this series. This series only mentions the UC era in passing and shows a couple of mech models from that era in a museum. However that is it. You can come in here completely fresh and need know nothing about any of the other shows.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I R now confused to which Gundamverse has taken priority. Obviously Minovsky/GN Particles are to blame. x_x
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah as Sumarii said it “Minovsky particles is prettu much Gundam magic.”
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
P much what Irensharda just said I can agree with! I mean besides the Gundam technobable this is typical mecha with similar themes that are found in every other giant robot anime.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You can just jump right in. I don’t think that I’d have understood any more of it if I’d seen any other Gundam series. The first episode is really choppy and makes very little sense anyway. When I watch the second one, I’ll see if I am following it any better.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And the answer is ‘not really’. I can’t figure out whose side anyone is on, or why they’re doing anything, or what’s going on. It’s just “Go!Go!Go! Move!Move!Move!”
And I gotta say don’t really care for the 80’s designs and look. It’s like watching Transformers when I was a teenager. Things from the past generally should stay in the past. 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
LOL yep welcome to the world of Gundam! I just assume with 50 episodes there is bound to be some slow story or confusion along the way.
Ohhh? Not a fan of the old school designs? True I guess it might not work for everyone, but it beats the designs from AGE which is really for the kids anyway LOL
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
AGE looked downright sketchy
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
finally a good gundam series after so long and a lot of useless series
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Sounds like you finally got a good fix to tide you over. 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Oh man I really hope this blows AGE out of our memories! I just wish more non fans would give it a shot and try it because it looks like a great starter Gundam that anyone can jump in and watch, but since its a brand with a lot of history behind it the new fans tend to be afraid to try and that makes me a bit sad! Then again we all got different tastes.
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
yes…i wonder if i can hope again…the art is a bit old…but the colors make up for it…pink haired girls *w*
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, if anything the word recongquista has me intrigued…but I’ve learned not to hang a history hook on my anime.
This was a visual treat, and a writer’s nightmare. Like HWY says above, who is who and what is what? I hope that changes over a period of time. Looks like the third episode will decide…
POWUH: 600-699 with 691 comments
it’s a Gundam series…things are going to be confusing at the start, if i may be bold i would put my money on the 10th episode, that’s probably where things are going to pick up
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 386 comments
welp first impression won me over, I really like the art style, maybe a little too much but it reminds me of the old Gundam art-style so That’s already a Plus for me. So I’m sticking around for this one, hopefully it wont me too disappointing but its gundam so not too much to expect as far as story or characters so we will see..
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Umm… this is a lot of fun and all, but…
I’m on episode 3 now and I’m not really sure what the hell is going on?
What does each country want exactly? Are they fighting or something? Are the pirates fighting, and what for? The right to have solar power?
And what’s the status on beautiful pirate girl? Is she a prisoner? The admiral’s dinner guest? New pilot recruit? And why are security personnel allowing her to accompany MC to all sorts of fun places like the cockpit of a captured advanced robot fighter they just confiscated from her? Heck, security personnel even seem to be rooting for her to take the damn thing out for a spin!
And does she want to be rescued? Or is her main motivation to run away from all the destruction her rescue parties are causing?
And what does the MC want? Just hang around and look at interesting things while doing awesome stuff for whatever side happens to benefit from having his presence around? I don’t get it.
Or do I even care? Should I just say “screw it – robots and space cheerleaders – booyah!”
?
I’m so confused right now.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Oh, and for the record, I’ve never ever watched a Gundam episode before. If that matters (and from the comments, it seems that it does).
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
You don’t need to have watched any other Gundam series to enjoy this one but Gundam does have a process that’s pretty consistent throughout. There’s a reason most Gundam series are at least 25 episodes or more (in fact most are twice that). It usually takes a little time to set things up, develop characters, and lay out the plot.
After seeing these last three episodes I can tell you that some sort of hostile feelings between the Capital (where Bellri is) and the country of Ameria, who the space pirates seem to be working as privateers for. There seems to be a fight over energy since the Capital is monopolizing it and other countries like Ameria are struggling because of it. Aida is against this and Bellri argues against her using the Capital rhetoric. Aida is definitely some big shot among the pirates and so I’m going to say she’s most likely a rebel princess from somewhere. Klim Nick, the new pilot from last episode, is the son of the Amerian president. So right now all of our main characters are going to the pirates head quarters, we’ll have to see what goes on next time.
It’s not too hard to understand, you just have to be patient with it. Everything comes out piece by piece and will build a bigger, more complete picture along the way.