Epitomising 0080

The climactic battle of Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket deserves detailed attention.

I’m a little ambivalent about doing this, however. On the one hand, I love 0080 and I’m aware that not everyone who reads this will have seen it – so it’s a chance for me to recommend it. On the other hand, I’m going to write a commentary on the final battle of the series, and so by its very nature, it will be spoileriffic.

I really wish I was able to write good reviews, because then I could encourage you to watch this without giving away the ending. But I can’t. All I can do is say ‘This is great, and I can’t tell you why without ruining some of it for you’. It’s your choice whether to read on or not.

If you’d rather read a review, here are three. [The first comes from ANN, but the other two are from unvetted blogs. You Have Been Warned.]

136 Words per Second

Sometimes I like to pay (ridiculously) close attention to short stretches of animation, an activity I call, half in jest, ‘close reading’. This is one of those times.

This particular slice of animation is the second fight scene from the third episode of Seirei no Moribito (also known as Guardian of the Sacred Spirit), though I’ve attempted to ensure that this will be of some interest regardless of whether you’ve seen the show or not: the entry is lavishly illustrated and contains no major spoilers. It just so happens that this is, in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of animated action ever to have crossed my laptop’s screen, for reasons which will hopefully become clear shortly.