Char's Counter Attack

So at home on a friday night...pretty sad, and instead of studying I thought why not watch an old classic from my DVD collection. One of the greatest from Tomino, another kill-em-all production, Char's Counter Attack brings forth the final saga in a several decade long battle between the loveable but for all intensive purposes evil Char Aznable, and the compassionate protagonist Amuro Ray.

Spoiler's ahead, but you will read on because you crave my ideas.

The movie opens with a spectacular battle in which we learn of Char's plans, a large change considering how we last viewed him as suspected dead in Zeta Gundam. Char’s ambitions aren’t simply to claim independence from the Federation but to ‘liberate’ Earth of all human life. Having grown tired of seeing mankind repeatedly abuse the planet with pollution, he has decided that the future of humanity lies in space; a place where everyone can realize their true potential. Basically at some point he got it in his head that fucking up the planet forever would be a good idea.

The movie is the classic space opera, good and bad. Char represents the repressed emotions, over-zealous ideals, righteous beliefs, but overall evil within us. Char essnetially is the most persistent character of the GUndam universe, unfortunately, he is on the wrong side. There are times when you want Char to win. You want to see his goals fufilled as if they were your's manifested in some space-battling-visual orgy...with robots.

The thing about this film is the volume of characters introduced and many of them new. Even a seasoned veteran of the Gundam universe like myself can have trouble keeping track of various Feddie ensigns or crazy Zeon play-boys. It's like Shakespeare in a way - major and minor characters, each dying alike by the hundreds, few fulfilling their ultimate goals. It's just like war - it doesn't matter who's famous and who's an unknown, for you die all the same. Some find this impersonal, and some find it very realistic. In the midst of all the action, there really is something to be said about this movie - and how space, in the future, can be a graveyard of the lost just like the battlefields here in Earth. It is actually a movie that forces you to think about ideals and beliefs and wonder if they're really worth holding on to when all they seem to lead to is self-destruction, as it seems to do for Char. I think it's kind of ironic in a sense, Char works so hard to free human's from the "pull of Earth's gravity" as he so elegantly says, that is to say, rids humans of the Earth. That he turns space into the same put of despair and misery to which Earth has been for all of human history. Irony.

Skipping the next hour and a half of intense beautifull drawn battle scenes. Many of which are high quality and elaborate to say the least. A testament to high budget and great techniques in animation of 1988. I will proceed to perhaps the crux of the film. The end.

The film culminates in a final one vs one Char and Amuro, the classic fight to which we were gifted with in Mobile Suit Gundam and now are privileged to sloppy seconds, in no way sloppy. On a pure technical basis, Amuro has always been the better pilot and this is quickly apparent as he dispatches Char's attacks with relative ease. But this is not to say that Char is bested, as he is no doubt the second greatest pilot in the Gundam universe next to Amuro. The dynamic duo create a masterful battle of which is a visual orgasm. But this is not why one [nay, why I, many do watch for the Mecha] watches this film.

Throughtout the fight the pilots exchange banter in which the true philosophy and ideals of the characters, and the overlying themes of the series come to light. A human saga one might say. Amuro questions Char's motives and beliefs, he brings to light what is wrong and what is right and in an ever changing world can we ever be sure that our actions will not have consequences, if they do can we live with them, can you live with them?

Char's gripes strike alittle deeper, he blames Amuro (which is true in a sense) for the death of a mutual friend of theirs in the past-Lalah Sune-perhaps a love interest for both Lalah represented the good within both the characters who obviously have shades of grey within. "Lalah could have been my mother" Char states, an unusual statement but for anyone who has ever met someone like this, and this author has, these word's carry alot of weight. Unsuprising then is Char's long distent for our hero Amuro. Char questions Amuro's motives, he wants to know why he protects Earth and the people there who only use him as a weapon of destruction. Char brings to light the irony in Amuro fighting to protect people who use him only to kill. The take away message from Amuro was that the people of Earth need to be their own judge. Simple enough.

To make a long story short. Char is one upped by our 'hero' Amuro and the pair vanish forever after some intense ass overloading of energy within a prototype-frame which connects to a pilots brain. In a explosive light show the greatest protagonist and antagonist of the anime world disappear forever but as with any Eastern production, of course this is not explicit in it's satement so it is up to us the viewer to decide. For me, I like to pretend they both found that peace that a lifetime of battle never awarded them.

Odd how attached one can get to drawings eh? Such is the gift of beautiful story telling. After having watched Gundam for so many years of my life I can safely say this is a powerful and gripping ending to an emotional tale.