ON GUNDAM: UC 0087 MOBILE SUIT ZETA GUNDAM REVIEW/RETROSPECTIVE 

I'm on the spectrum and Kamille's behaviour fits like a glove. I see in him both a ton of what I suffer from and what other people like me with Type 1 autism suffer from, even a lot of the stuff you feel goes against the reading. Even discounting the part of the show where he literally says he's autistic, It's a very easy reading to make, and I don't think that reading really detracts from his character or is a cop-out.

First of your videos I’ve watched, 40+ minutes in. Everything so far has been so well done and been well informed, and the humour is additive in a way that is sadly uncommon. I am really enjoying this.

I was, right now, taking a bath thinking about when this video would get released... I open my computer and here it is, amazing!

I'm nearly halfway through this but I can't help but nortice that you put "her tragedy" of all things as background music for Kamille's section, lmao. It's a pretty cool essay so far, finished watching Zeta recently and I really think it deserves a rewatch considering how complex it is.

I wonder what is Tomino sans opinion about the internet and how it changed society.

amazing use of No More Heroes ranking sound bits in the women section

Desculpe falar em outro idioma, mas sinceramente, você é um dos melhores canais que conheço sobre gundam e mecha no geral.

What i found extremley strange is how Bright keeps wearing the EFSF uniform even after officially joining the AEUG.

Amazing works, thank you!

It's a shame this type of discourse didn't exist in the early 2000's so we didn't have a literal Great Wall of misinformation gleefully repeated as "trivia" which permeated into the overall perception of such series.

dude you are incredible I am seriously gaining a totally new appreciation for this franchise through your vids. well done on the wider theoretical aspects of your essay as well

A bit disappointed there was no hour long dissection for Yazan Gable's character arc throughout the show, but great job nonetheless.

I love Kamille as a character the most for his lack of hesitation in escalating any conflict

Damn, that was epic!

This video helped me fully realize why I love Zeta

brilliant

79's ost is incredible, and still makes me feel all sorts of ways, but man is zeta's ost a glowup of massive proportions

Damn, you really went there. This is surprising quality considering my initial reaction was "three hours? God damn." I think a deep dive into Hathaway's Flash is in order.

Awesome! Cant wait to watch/listen during work tomorrow, thanks for your videos.

Have to grab some popcorn now

Zeta Gundam holds a special place for me because it was the first Gundam I watched in full outside of catching Wing and 0079 on Toonami as a kid. While I regret not going into it with the full context of 0079 it really drew me in with its storytelling, fantastic ost and a great cast. I have quite the fondness for this series, definitely not without flaws but incredibly ambitious and bold as a followup to such an iconic series. Another great retrospective I really enjoyed it.

It feels surreal how good your videos are, you are absolutely tragically underrated and don't have a fraction of the views you deserve, and I really hope this doesn't deter you from making more videos. Zeta is possibly my favorite Gundam series alongside Turn-A and this was a blast to watch from start to end.

another excellent video. I really like your structure of using multiple questions on certain aspects of the show, then using your answers to form a thesis that answers the big question at the start. This video's question is very interesting. As much as people argue about the UC's canon, not much think about if the sequels are necessary. I agree with your conclusion, and wonder if later videos will also approach ZZ and onward with this in mind. Also 10/10 use of No More Heroes 3's kill screen.

Lovely video. I’m hoping of one day putting out Gundam videos like these. Can I ask you where/how you found some of these more obscure interviews with translations?

The first video had stuck in my head ever since I devoured it. I'm only still half an hour into this one, and I'm all ears again. I feel like you're making something quintessential here. I'm maybe way too lucky to have learn about Gundam like this from you.

I will have to come back to this once I've finished my rewatch of Zeta, but what a work. Looking forward to it once I'm done.

2:41:17 YES. YES! YES!

1:18:14 The Suits are cool but yeah they are bad people. And I think it took Gundam Unicorn to convince more people that The Earth Federation ITSELF its Bad and not 'Just that time the Titans rose to power and made everything bad'

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I honestly don’t think Zeta is sexist or any of Tomino’s works sexist especially 99% his shows are more critical over the traditional family dynamic we see in the 50s & the fact most of sexist characters like Paptimus get brutally murdered by women or in his case their ghosts I honestly find Mazinger Z (Anime) & Yamato (1974) more blatantly sexist than anything by Reccoa lol but that’s just my take anyway really loved your video keep it up!!!👍👍👍😇😇😇❤️❤️❤️

Finally commenting on one of these videos because, well, 0079 and its spinoff works were the actual extent of my firsthand experience with Gundam! My only experience with Zeta's story that wasn't related to the current Gundam Versus games was... Gundam vs. Zeta Gundam. In the grand scheme there to promote A New Translation, but in the West the only actual English dub of Zeta material during the days of SEED, which didn't even feature the original Ocean cast because of a union strike in Canada. Yeeeeeeah. For me, that game was enough to get me a very shallow understanding of Zeta--AEUG fights the Titans, they steal the Mk II, which gets replaced by the Zeta, Kamille murders his way through the Gryps Conflict and eventually Axis and Scirocco show up and Axis overtakes everybody, and it's your job in the campaign mode to change history and keep characters from dying. That's it. Of course I later found out about Jaburo being a trap for the AEUG, about Four being Kamille's first flame and Kamille hating his name as a running gag--okay that last one I already knew through watching SD Gundam in the early days of RU-vid. But this game's quite shallow retelling of Zeta as a whole meant that it frankly never held any BIG wallop moments for me like Lalah, so I just never played it that much as a kid until very, very recently--just about the same time Argon started making videos I bet. But even so, it does preserve a lot of what made Zeta special, like the soundtrack, all the varied mechanical designs (and a model viewer so you can actually appreciate them all AND the models from its predecessor Federation vs. Zeon), and a surprisingly neat combat system that, while nowhere near as slick as Encounters in Space, comes pretty close to emulating how these fights play out. It's a sequel to FvZ, it knows it, and it wore it on its sleeve as any sequel should. I still hold it as an important stepping stone towards my eventual interest in Gundam as a whole--as a kid I chose to lust after this game and SkyGunner as my big gaming aspirations instead of Battle Assault 3 or Never Ending Tomorrow, games that probably would have steered me towards the dark side of Gundam fandom in those days so I do owe Zeta that much. I remember Kamille seeming far more violent than I was willing to gravitate towards in that time. I also seem to remember wondering when the heck Puru was gonna show up because before playing I'd somehow thought Four and Puru were both major players in the story--thanks SD Gundam, you tone-defying amalgamation of... whatever you are. I never really had the wherewithal or the confidence to fairly assess Kamille as a character, which is probably why I always cemented Amuro in my head as my personal favorite Gundam protagonist. But now, the idea of Kamille, at least the initial IDEA of Kamille as this rebellious teenager who just woke up one day, chose violence and proceeded to singlehandedly dismantle an entire quasi-fascist special operations unit that I then knew began as a result of what happened in 0083 (thanks to that OVA's retcons and Encounters in Space running with it for the best ending of Cima's story), is such a neat idea for a rebel protagonist that even in comparison to the guy he seems like he would later inspire, Shinn Asuka, he comes out head and shoulders above the pale shonen imitation of his meaningful, purposeful ass-kicking. With the help of context I learned later for that serious playthrough, I laughed whenever he pasted someone Jerid loved. I smiled when I took Char and got to clean Haman's clock. I even got to appreciate the truth of Char's Dakar speech in a new light after grabbing an undergrad degree in history, even if the game never explained why he needed to give that speech in the first place. It never replaced a full viewing but it didn't have to. For me, Zeta may not have possessed any of the same gutpunches or bestowed upon me the same personal emotional cornerstones as 0079. But I knew it as a fun romp through probably the most adventure friendly Universal Century setting this side of the One Year War--even if it came at the expense of a few hundred virtual space Nazis along the way. Thanks Zeta, even if I never got to appreciate your heaviest ideas until now.

This is a magnificent video, that goes to great lengths to analyze the story and put it into a proper historical context. If anything I would like to add to it with two details or ideas that come to mind: 2:56:46 I read online in several places that Reccoa's last dialogue with Emma had a translation error that worked as a surprise twist to explain her erratic behavior. Supposedly, she implies she was either molested or raped, which, in insight would explain her emotional instability and volatility, as her emotions are simply unchecked, having her get into dangerous situations (As she herself points out many times) without a care for her own safety or well being. It would also explain why she seeks relationships with unavailable or manipulative men that she could later recoil from or justify as a "seduction" of some sort; and probably with enough time, she might just have dumped Scirocco for another guy on a whim (Note that even Scirocco pointed out that she was NOT a newtype, and he didn't manipulate her feelings at any point with his abilities). It doesn't justify her terrible decisions, but would explain WHY she takes those terrible decisions and then proceeds to regret them deeply. It could very well be that it is a coping mechanism she developed to avoid dealing with her trauma of the unspecified event. But again, said theory depends of actually knowing Japanese and being familiar with Japanese euphemisms to determine if it was indeed a mistranslated, or rather that she was just terribly written. Secondly, Kamille might have a strong will, but there is only so much a strong will can take before it falls into despair or is severely traumatized, and I think there are hints of Kamille's impending fate as the series closes. There is a very short but (I believe) important scene just before Kamille faces off against Scirocco: Just as he goes to meet Fa one last time, he very non-nonchalantly opens up his helmet WHILE in space and it takes Fa's quick reaction to this to save him from certain death at the vacuum of space. He doesn't even blink at this, clearly showing the battles and deaths around him have dealt a huge blow to his mental and spiritual health. Hes clearly distraught and non-reactive to a certain degree, simply focusing on his anger against Scirocco, who he perceives is mostly to blame for all the death surrounding him. Its really quite tragic, seeing how his lack of emotional control lead him to fight Scirocco filled with hatred and anger, only for Scirocco to exploit this to finally strain his mind and soul before dying.

stick here finally its been release !!!

just some comments about the lady rankings i always thought Beltorchika would fit right in with the girls in Mean Girls tbh i think your giving her to much credit lol Khamil is a lovable little goblin boy with mommy issuses dont take it 2hard that he only blames his mom Hamon should of been #1 she a str8 up baddie have you looked at Jared's hair??? sexy af!!!

Another video so great I can almost forgive Reccoa not being champette #1

Woah this vid needs more views

good stuff but I think you're a bit too harsh on Rosamia and sort of miss the reactions Char and Fa have to Kamille after her death. While she definitely is played as another romantic interest for Kamille she also gets him to fill the bigbrother/paternal role that the show explicitly says she's been conditioned to take advantage of despite Kamille understanding she truely isn't related. When you get the chance rewatch Rosamia's interaction with Fa and subsequent death; there's a lot more fear and regret in the the supporting characters as Kamille effectively parrots what Fa told Rosamia. In their efforts to protect Kamille they've helped damage his perception of newtypes/self post Lahlah death styled mind meld gone wrong with Haman

I'm interested to see what your take is. I'm five minutes in and fascinated by your thesis question. I'll say straight up zeta is the end all, be all, of anime for me. The best of gundam, and everything that follows is just trying to recapture what made zeta special. I can't wait to see your argument and what you think. Will be responding at some point for sure.

0079 Gundam didnt need a sequel, but its great that it got one

Any form of media retrospective that looks at the history of production and the actual humans behind very human works, is a thumbs up from me. Good job man

26:25 Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." Zeta is 6th letter

Hey ArgonBolt, seeing how well put together this video is, I was wondering if you planned on uncovering the story behind Gundam SEED's production, success and influence on other anime as well as future plans of the Cosmic Era (Gundam SEED movie and possible continuation?).

While there are a good many compelling points for why Zeta seems to be the darling child of many, I still do not rank among those that do. The Titans feel almost comically evil to the point where I can't take them as seriously as I'd want to, and points to Gundam's overall non-subtlety in general. Other than the obvious stinker of Reccoa's joke of a character, nobody seems to really mention Katz, and how he is equally as destructive with his presence, allowing many slipups and annoyances to happen. It's weird people hate the kids but not the other teenage character, that is too much for me to ignore for the show's shortcomings. Yeah, teens in rebellion and all that, but this gets more ridiculous later on too. Another after-effect of changing so much from the original, ironically, is that everything after Zeta from Tomino's UC catalogue just feels like Zeta, again and again to the point where Zeta could be considered the litmus test for whether or not one enjoys the UC timeline in general, for the most part. A lot of changes happen in Zeta, yes, but nothing past here feels like there is an ounce of change that feels noticeable, and while not blatantly as creatively bankrupt as Seed Destiny, this too is also just another inspiration that I feel that series has taken from UC, in a rather unflattering way. The increased presence and handling of Newtypes also becomes more in line with how Unicorn could come to the conclusions it did, with that final encounter. I understand I'm definitely in the minority when I say this, and while I do not hate UC in general, it does lead me to not get as much enjoyment as some others do in this regard. Zeta does handle wonderfully a sequel in as good of a regard as it possibly can without being too off-putting, and it is something I will give that credit for. I really wonder how ZZ answers the "is this a necessary sequel" question though.

Alright, I finally found the time to sit down and watch this retrospective! Zeta is definitely one of my favorite Gundam entries but it had been quite a few years since I watched it so it's been a pleasure to get this refresher along with your analysis of it. Your commentary is always witty and insightful in equal measure and that keeps the watching very fun in addition to being instructive! Also yes, fuck Reccoa! It's honestly impressive to consider that she exists in the same series as Fa or Emma, considering how opposite they are, not just in concept but also in how well-executed these concepts are.

Camille is a name for both boys and girls in France.

I wish CDA had been written better or that gap in history never visited. It really is criminal the undermining it does to Haman's character.

Emma deserved better // I feel like the sequel aged better than the original.

2:17:26 That's extra funny with Unicorn in mind

I hated this show so much. And lasted until the middle of episode 7. Using your video to get through the rest of it. Thank you

I've read some of the other comments, and like a few of them, I agree that the politics really detracted from the video. I don't begrudge you having political beliefs or even believe that political beliefs in a gundam video are out of place. It just feels oddly aggressive and detracts from the video. That said, I will continue to watch your stuff as it is well researched, and I respect your passion.

A lot of my questions, speculative or confusion, have been answered by your explanation, research and speculation. Zeta laid me down as soon as it starts. Alas I found it overwhelming compares to '79, and felt like it was reasonably rushed (pacing wise) due to the density of the story they're trying to deliver. They left little time for things to settle in. After watching Zeta, I acknowledged I couldn't grasp it as well as 79 and I need to rewatch it someday. After this video, I know I'll feel more equipped when the time comes. I went ahead and watch Double Zeta after finishing your previous vid. Thought it'd be nice if I can keep 1 series ahead of your series. And if you ever planned to talk about more women there, I can't wait to listen about Elpeo Puru who I noticed is also rethreading many characters of Zeta.

I always thought it was so funny on my first watch of Zeta that it's so clear how much of a loser Jerid is that he keeps failing and losing subordinates and prototype suits every single time he sorties out and yet he keeps getting promoted and getting girls on his dick. So much so that Yazan lampshades his luck in an almost meta level like 10 episodes before he dies.

~~Gungriffon retrospective next~~?

i never thought I'd find a channel that talks about Gundam with leftists perspectives. you are my favorite RU-vid channel now

A shame Chars character is assasinated and ultimately mishandled by Tomino in the end.

So, in Japanese culture corporal punishment is not frowned upon to the degree it is in the West. It's not uncommon for School Coaches in Japan to beat the ever loving shit out of their students without any complaints from the parents. The trope of an unruly Japanese Jock archetype getting a book thrown at him by his teacher is something that actually happens in Japan.

This deserves so much more views.

Bandai: Yes.

Shoutout to Nagano wanting to put all his effort into L-Gaim to the very end, that was a nice tid-bit.

As a brazilian, I really didn't expect Bolsonaro to appear on a Gundam video, but here we are

9:17 >EVA Will get its own video Oh...you poor man. Such a Series that has been done written and Rewritten with so many Video Essays saying something sucks, Something is great, Some saved industry, and RUINED the Industry all in one show...

I will agree with you that the Titans and Federation suck, but then again so do the Zeon. So yeah, I'm team AEUG all the way.

Kamille might be you but Judau was me

1:01:31 I must insist on the fact that even though Camille Claudel from which Tomino drew inspiration was a woman "Camille" is not gendered and can as much a boy name.

Does anyone know the song which play during section one? I have looked through all the linked songs and have looked through the zeta ost and cannot find it. Sorry if it’s an obvious answer.

42:14 well ACCCSHUALLLLAYYYY you're wrong because grammatical error

Carne Asada twist😂😂😂

Zeta is good however i do not like how new types abilities are used as plot armor. And the main character can see that ok Sirroc is evil but not char, the guy literally solves everything trying to drop objects on earth lol please forgive miss spells

Seems like you only dislike Reccoa because you dont like her personality. Like it or not, people actually act like this, garbage people like this are real. Im talking from experience here, she is the character in this show that feels the most real to me

This one too, this video has so much engagement and that's what robots love. Please put this at the top of everyone's list of recommended culturally significant motion pictures to watch on the john. I was paid to say this, 5 Czechoslovakian eurodinars to be exact.

Ironic that Gundam warns about stuff, the drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine has been touched upon in Gundam Wing. Although i have been unable to find that speech by Treize Kushrenada on youtube.

I find the straw man arguments you provided for Reccoa a bit jarring because I’ve yet to meet anyone that even tries to defend Reccoa’s betrayal because of how terrible it is

IDK man. Return to monarchy sounds pretty good right now to me. The assumption that a return to monarchy is a backslide I think reflects a sort of Marxian whiggishness that history and modes of human existence progress linearly.

Camilles father is worse but it doesn't matter, they're both unjust.

Egend

1:25:31

"Elon Musk is the worst kind of Oldtype." actually fitting and hilarious since Tomino has stated his disapproval of Musk.

I didn't appreciate Zeta when I watched it. The dated animation was a big barrier and I felt like I was doing homework, but this essay really elevates the viewing I had. Thanks for this. I do think there's some credence to reading Kamille as autistic, though. Its more in line with the autism I've seen in my women friends (not to parrot the debunked idea that autism is gendered) with the high masking, proficient at work, dysregulated emotions at home, and social awkwardness/strained interpersonal relationships. I don't know what the literature was like back then, but weaves in with Kamille being inspired by who he was inspired by. Do you think there's a sympathetic reading of the Titans that might be making moves to stop something like another colony drop?

even tho i support the Titans i do agree with you argon that the transforming mobile suits in zeta are weird af

I really hated zeta and something tells me this video won't change my opinion. I'm into Muv-Luv

You’ve met people who are sympathetic to the titans? How? They quite literally a max authority no objective force they’re the most pure evil in all of gundam? Gotta wonder how anyone can sympathize let alone defend them

This entire video was extremely cool until the capitalism bad section.

I find 0083 more sexist lol

I really do enjoy your gundam stuff, but your leftist, pro misandristic approah in your 1st and second rants have turn me off to your works. Its obvious imo that your a pro leftist shill, your not a casial but your leanings in your rants arent in your best intrest. Im aaking you to keep your opinions to a minimum and stick to the lore.

IMO the big variety of MS in Zeta isn't a good thing. They all look weird, like the mechanical beasts from a super robot show.

This is a year or so late but on your views on Reccoa, have you heard of the SA theory. It's long comment from reddit so I'll just copy paste it here. -U/DenkouNova: It's because Reccoa was raped, or otherwise suffered sexual violence from male soldiers. It's a part of her dying words that were lost in translation. We don't know when it happened, most likely during OYW when she was fighting against Zeon, possibly repeatedly. In Japanese there is the word "disgrace/shame/humiliation" as a common euphemism in Japanese for rape. It's the kind of word you will use to make a sex reference that kids won't understand but adults will. It's not 1985 urban slang or anything, the definition of shame as rape is actually listed in dictionaries today: 辱め【はずかしめ】(n) shame, disgrace, being raped Reccoa uses that euphemism in her dying words, at 18:04 after the end of the opening of episode 49:「エマ中尉わかってよ。男達は戦いばかりで女を道具に使うしか思いつかない…もしくは、女を辱めることしか知らないのよ…！」 "Lt. Emma, understand me. Men are so involved in their fighting, they think of women as mere tools. Sometimes even... not knowing anything other than to disgrace them!" Emma is taken aback by what Reccoa just said, and she replies「辱められたって…レコア・ロンド…」: "You were... disgraced...? Reccoa Londe...". Her reaction is serious enough that we know the "humiliation" being talked about is not about typical high school bullying. Nothing else could explain Reccoa's constant search for reliable male figures, and the deep feeling of betrayal she got from Quattro simply ignoring/rejecting her. Unfortunately the English word humiliated does not have all the facets implied by the hazukashime Reccoa uses. It would be weird to have Reccoa suddenly confide to Emma using the very rash word rape out of the blue, especially when sexual issues are not mentioned anywhere else in the series. So the word humiliated stayed in English, with all the things it implies, and also all the things it doesn't imply.

I mean... you speak of Macross's animation... it was bad. Really, really bad. SOME of it was okay. But a lot of it was awful. There were entire scenes where they forgot to color in panels or entire slides. There were whole sequences where none of the rules of animation direction were followed, there were whole episodes that felt like someone just kinda... forgot... what they were animating. Macross was a mess. It always was. But people forget that because "LOL ROBOT PLANE GO BRR"