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How is Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (ONA)? Community score: 4.3
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How is Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (ONA)? Community score: 4.2
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Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (ONA) ? Community score: 3.7
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Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is a thoroughly average experience, occasionally veering into brief moments of greatness before returning to normalcy. Its most prominent feature—its animated appearance—is a real mixed bag.
This series is another entry in the growing catalog of hard-hitting war stories that attempt to carve out their own niche in the world's dramatic events. One Year War. We go straight into the later stages of the conflict with Zeon and Federation forces clashing in hot spots across the globe. The Red Wolf serves as our main cast member and serves as the audience's perspective, regarding their beliefs as spacefarers, citizens of the Principality of Zeon, and as are soldiers. Most Federation soldiers are faceless—and often faceless— enemies that send them running from place to place but rarely interact directly with our protagonists.
The main cast is written well enough. Most of the time is devoted to Iria and Kneeland as the main cast. Iria Solari is an excellent professional who still fights for her principles. Kneeland LeSean is the capable, if somewhat rough, young soldier in the unit. There are a few other notable characters, such as Captain Zydos and Dr. Kasuga, but it's Iria and Kneeland who take the spotlight for most of the six-episode runtime. The voice cast for both English and Japanese give good performances, although they don't have the most engaging material to work with. In terms of characterization, they are handled well but don't do much to go beyond the typical archetypes found in military science fiction stories. What was difficult with this cast was blending in and realizing they were believable human characters when their facial expressions and lip movements were so unnatural.
This means it's the best time to enhance images. The animation was done using Unreal Engine 5, which for those who don't know, is the latest version of the long-standing video game engine. Unreal tends to work well with surrealism, and that's definitely the style the team is going for here. The visual language of Requiem for Vengeance is firmly entrenched in the “real robot” side of the equation. We get actual battle losses, considerations like ammunition and machine repairs, soldiers worrying about supplies and maintenance, the whole nine yards.
It's hard to argue that the series doesn't achieve its aim of making the One Year War a believable conflict where everything falls into place. The HUD, cockpit, and pilot suit are lovingly rendered in every detail. Zakus, covered in makeshift abrasion-resistant armor crafted from tank parts, looked suitably battle-ready and disheveled. Transport ships exploded under the weight of anti-aircraft fire, launching huge fireballs of deadly beauty. It all looks like a bitter conflict that never actually happened, but perhaps, if you squint hard enough, it has just the right amount of authenticity to make it possible.
But for every area of visual power, it seems the number of disappointments or missed opportunities doubles. These machines may look photorealistic, but the characters are rubbery and doll-like. Their faces are too close to the real thing to compare them to the real thing, and in that regard, they are too short. The characters' expressions, eye and mouth movements, and postures make them look like… well, NPCs in a video game. There's a stiffness to the characters' movements that makes them feel as robotic as the machines they control.
It doesn't help that the visuals are generally not perfect for mobile or clashing suits. The fight scenes are fine enough when the action is more methodical. For example, seeing a Zaku crouch down and fire a machine gun at a distant target looks and sounds as heavy as you'd expect. Lighting is a particular area of strength, with the Robot often lit up with fire at night and looking as menacing as the white devil moniker suggests. However, there are times when the show doesn't look or sound convincing. Mobile suits running around the battlefield seem a bit too light and weightless. At times, the weapon's firepower seems downright weak, such as Gouf's chain gun shooting that looks a bit like a garden hose in a high-pressure environment. This is to say nothing of the ground battles with human soldiers, which look stiff, but there are also a lot of people standing at full height and firing rifles into the distance.
Unreal Engine's visuals look so utilitarian that there's little room for broader artistic expression. The direction is competent, but the material doesn't leave much room for taking big risks. The most unique sequence is Iria's dreams, which impress you in every way you expect. I think her dream of playing the violin in a crowded theater is probably the best sequence in the series and a great thematic warm-up. But those moments are few and far between.
The tempo is also divided similarly. On the one hand, with only six episodes, it's not a huge investment of time. I took it down in one go and felt it move at a good speed. Each episode has a fairly clear goal and they move from location to location without getting bogged down. However, the fight scenes have a very repetitive pace, which greatly reduces the drama. Most battle scenes involve a tank rushing into the frame and people screaming, then within three to five seconds it explodes. Then, a mobile suit will enter the frame and make everyone scream, but just a few seconds later it will explode or be thrown out of the way. Occasionally, the vehicle that appears and explodes is a plane or a cannon, but the arrangement is the same every time: the vehicle appears, everyone scrambles, it explodes, foams, washes, repeat. There isn't much information about meaningful landmarks, battlefield overviews, or methodical progress. Enemies appear from off-screen and explode, not unlike a video game—which doesn't dispel the general video game cut-scenes feel that the visuals imbue from the start.
It also doesn't do much that's unprecedented. done in other Gunma franchises or war stories in general. The only real novelty here is seeing these mobile suits come to life in an actual video game engine. Alternatively, you've probably seen a war story—maybe even a Gundunda story—that explores many of the same themes and does it better. That doesn't mean this movie is a failure, but it does make Requiem for Vengeance feel more like a gritty One Year War tie-in movie than a must-see story in its own right. its.
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance fails to impress or differentiate itself from many other titles in the franchise. If you simply have to have more GTA then it's serviceable in that respect, but aside from the recognition appropriate to the iconic mobile device, it's a fairly forgettable product.
Episode 1: Rating:
Episode 2: Review:
Episode 3: Review:
Episode 4: Review:
Episode 5: Review:
Episode 6: Review:
Mobile Suit Gunma: Requiem for Vengeance is now streaming on Netflix.