Gundam 0083 - On Other Side of Stardust

[RedTail]

Originally, I was simply going to post this w/ the ASA review topic, but I thought it deserved it's on thread. Here's a quote from someone from that thread.

The Tactical Incompetance of the Fedies Angers me to no end. (My Undergrad Historical Specialty was Military History (Specificly Naval Combat)

Except for the Captain of Uraki's Ship, the entire Federation fleet is full of fools. How is this possible?

duuuuhhh, Zekes have Nuke... Nuke make big blast in small area.....

That's IT! Lets Put all our ships IN THAT SMALL AREA! What a great idea!

When this episode first aired, those were my exact thoughts when I posted my "Federation Boneheads" topic, but since then, I've seen part of the series again and now completely understand that the Federation isn't really as stupid as we're lead to believe.

Wyatt probably knew most what was going to happen. He was aware of the new order (the Titans) that would arise in the future but didn't know that he would become a casualty as well because he never came in contact w/ Cima's ship since the Albion interupted them. If he had known the entire battle plan (the one Burning found), the naval review would have been smaller and he wouldn't have been anywhere near Konepei Island. Plus, judging from Bask's reaction to the colony actually hitting Earth, the "acceptable loss" had to have been the destruction of a large portion of the Federation Fleet (remember, they were still confident that they could win even after the nuke hit.)

To sum it all up, the heavy losses at Konepei Island were used as an excuse to further reaffirm the need amoung the Federation government for the Titans to be granted ridiculous freedom in dealing w/ enemies of the Federation which would lead to the gradual takeover of the government itself (so Kowen and Synapse aren't the only officers w/ brains within the Federation. The rest are just power-hungry control-freaks.) Without understanding this complex theory, it's sort of hard to appreicate 0083. It's actually a great series that does wonderful job explaining the gap between the One Year War and the AEUG's fight against the Titans.

- RedTail

[RedTail]

One more thing, it was obvious after the first run that this was all just a plot so the Titans could come to power. I'm not saying that I didn't know this. I'm just trying to explain that the Federation isn't just full of incompotent fools. They knew what they were doing the entire time.

Think of it this way. If the Japanese were intercepted before hitting Pearl Harbor, would the US have entered WWII so quickly? The Titans needed some sort of measurable casualties completely convince the Feddie gov't. Unfortunatley, they got more than they bargained for when Stardust actually succeeded and the colony hit Earth.

- RedTail

[Sheamon]

Wyatt probably knew most what was going to happen. He was aware of the new order (the Titans) that would arise in the future but didn't know that he would become a casualty as well because he never came in contact w/ Cima's ship since the Albion interupted them.

Dunno about that. The naval review getting bombed seemed like a rather obvious thing to me. Gato stole the Gundam with the nuke, and has a special bond with Konpei Island(formerly Solomon). Seems like a perfect place and time for an attack. An easy decision for Gato & Delaz, I don't see how Wyatt could have figured it out by then. And of course his policy of actually having the soldiers stand outside on the ship wasn't exactly smart either... :p


Without understanding this complex theory, it's sort of hard to appreicate 0083. It's actually a great series that does wonderful job explaining the gap between the One Year War and the AEUG's fight against the Titans.


I agree. Although the OVA started off rather slow, it ended up turning out wonderful, as you said :D Of course there is a huge flaw there for those like me who haven't seen Z/ZZ yet when we've got all these conspiracies and characters we're supposed to know from other series showing up, etc... Sure took me a good 4-5 viewings to understand the whole thing :(

[kaine23]

I actually have the 1st 14 episodes of Zeta burned to cd, and it is an impressive, yet dark series. 0083 is a nice way to build up why the Feds felt the need to create the Titans and what their definition of "acceptable losses" were.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

The worst part of the show, I think, was the Gato-Nina-Kou triangle. I felt the Nina-Gato relationship was tacked on in the middle of the series. When Nina first saw Gato and heard his name, she had a vacant look in her eyes. Later on after episode 6 or 7, she'd squirm and fidget whenever she heard his name. There is no doubt in my mind that the staff change that occurred in episode 7 or 8 is the cause of this.

I also thought the climax to this subplot was borderline bad comedy.

I actually thought the conspiracy stuff and the development of Cima's shifing motivations was the show's strongest part.

[RedTail]

The worst part of the show, I think, was the Gato-Nina-Kou triangle. I felt the Nina-Gato relationship was tacked on in the middle of the series. When Nina first saw Gato and heard his name, she had a vacant look in her eyes. Later on after episode 6 or 7, she'd squirm and fidget whenever she heard his name. There is no doubt in my mind that the staff change that occurred in episode 7 or 8 is the cause of this.

I'd have to agree. The original intention was probably just a relationship between Kou and Nina. Hell, Gato stared right at her in the first episode and she didn't recognize him. This definatley had somthing to do w/ the staff change between the first and second half of the series.

Was it a good idea? Maybe... They just didn't make it work. The story would've went on w/ or w/o a love triangle.

I also thought the climax to this subplot was borderline bad comedy.

Meh... Everyone ending up in the new test base in N. America was far too happy of an ending.

I actually thought the conspiracy stuff and the development of Cima's shifing motivations was the show's strongest part.

Definatley the best all-around part of the entire show. Although there was really little development of Cima's "shifting motivations" until the end of the show though. Still, she was always very arrogant around her peers and Gato absolutley did not trust her.

- RedTail

[RedTail]

Dunno about that. The naval review getting bombed seemed like a rather obvious thing to me. Gato stole the Gundam with the nuke, and has a special bond with Konpei Island(formerly Solomon). Seems like a perfect place and time for an attack. An easy decision for Gato & Delaz, I don't see how Wyatt could have figured it out by then. And of course his policy of actually having the soldiers stand outside on the ship wasn't exactly smart either...

There was probably earlier contact between Cima and Federation spies where they exchanged sketchy information on the attack. The best place for this would probably have been Luna. Cima's connections w/ AE would lead you to believe she made frequent stops there.

I agree. Although the OVA started off rather slow, it ended up turning out wonderful, as you said Of course there is a huge flaw there for those like me who haven't seen Z/ZZ yet when we've got all these conspiracies and characters we're supposed to know from other series showing up, etc... Sure took me a good 4-5 viewings to understand the whole thing.

Yea, I've read the same thing about the flaw, but never have been able to figure out where it is. Unfortunatley, I haven't seen Zeta or Double Zeta either so I won't know until then...

I've also heard that some of the technology is a bit advanced for it's time. Most of it seems to fit though. The only suit that looks sort of out of place is Dendrobium (Unit 3). Then again, it was said at the end that the Federation wouldn't even acknowledge the existence of the Gundam Development Project. It was probably forgotten over time. That's the best explaniation that I can think of.

- RedTail

[Sheamon]

Yea, I've read the same thing about the flaw, but never have been able to figure out where it is. Unfortunatley, I haven't seen Zeta or Double Zeta either so I won't know until then...

LoL. You misunderstood me. The big flaw with the OVA is that you need to have seen Z/ZZ before hand to understand it the first time. Was insanely confusing for me, have heard the same from others, and it wasn't until I watched it a good number of times that I was able to appreciate how good the thing actually is.

[RedTail]

LoL. You misunderstood me. The big flaw with the OVA is that you need to have seen Z/ZZ before hand to understand it the first time. Was insanely confusing for me, have heard the same from others, and it wasn't until I watched it a good number of times that I was able to appreciate how good the thing actually is.

Ah, okay! I understand now :P

- RedTail