The following may contain spoilers for Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance.
Director / Erasmus Brosdau
Screenplay / Gavin Hignight
Production / Bandai Namco Filmworks (Sunrise), SAFEHOUSE
Release Date / October 2024
Coming off from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, the next major production takes on a whole new direction with the involvement of western creators and the use of animation technology not seen in previous Gundam production. Yes, I am talking about Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance which at one point was quite divisive among fans due to the mobile suit designs, but as you watch the 6-episode series, you will realize that this is entirely intentional, and adds further realism it requires. Personally, I didn’t mind the designs too much and I was more interested on how the animation will look since the last time we had a fully-CG Gundam production was Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO, and there has been leaps and bounds with the use of CG since then, especially with the use of Unreal Engine 5. As it’s being released by Netflix, all the episodes have already dropped to let’s look at this unique take on a Gundam story with Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance.
The year is Universal Century 0079, towards the last months of the One Year War where the story focuses on the Eastern European front where Iria Solari and the Red Wolf Squadron is faced with the terrifying power of the Gundam, or the White Devil as Zeon soldiers call it, and how this encounter changes her life forever.
You can only tell so much story with six episodes and Requiem for Vengeance does tell a relatively simple story, but that doesn’t mean it there’s no weight to it. And while it’s not the first time this was done, MS IGLOO again comes to mind, our perspective and the main protagonists are from the Principality of Zeon. Gundam stories aren’t exactly black-and-white so given the proper context and motivation, you could easily reverse the protagonist’s perspective and have Zeon, the enemy in the original series, be the good guys. Basically, the story is about Solari and her ragtag group of Zeon soldiers who are just trying to escape and defend themselves against the Federation’s terrifying new mobile suit.
We learn a lot about Solari in these six episodes: how she recently lost her husband, their son remaining in the colonies, and how she apparently has Newtype capabilities. The combination of missing her son, and connecting with the Gundam pilot through her Newtype powers ultimately defines the action she takes throughout the course of the series. As for her ragtag group, they’re alright, not the most memorable bunch but they do provide good bouncing points of dialog, especially with Kneeland LeSean and Alfee Zydos. There’s also Hailey Arhun, the spunky badass archetype, and the seemingly naïve doctor Ony Kasuga. These two provide a dichotomy of perspectives when it comes to the impact of the war. Arhun is completely desensitized by it while Kasuga appears a little naïve thanks to this nature as a doctor who wants to save lives, regardless of side.
Going through the visuals, I’d say they look pretty good. Fortunately, animation for the human movements and faces don’t cross the uncanny valley though they do like in-game cutscenes, which I guess is better than looking creepy. What I really liked are the mobile suit choreography and battles. With how fluid modern animation is nowadays, we’re used to seeing mobile suits moving incredibly fast and doing dynamic poses, especially coming from SEED FREEDOM, so it’s refreshing to see how clunky these 18-meter-tall mobile suits move, and how fast the Gundam is compared to the Zakus and Goufs from Zeon. The design themselves, while polarizing for some, does look very realistic, and if this is what they’re going for with the Hollywood live-action Gundam movie, then I’m all for it.
I would also like to note how they were able to make the Gundam terrifying. We’re used to seeing Gundams in such a heroic fashion that the deliberate choice to portray them in such a manner does justify the psychological effect it has on Zeon soldiers. Seeing it just decimate one base after another, multiple mobile suits in ease, and being unable to do anything about it will drain morals from soldiers and haunt them for a good while.
Lastly for the voice acting, I did watch the English version as it is the “original” language and they do sound the parts quite well. I’ve yet to watch the series in Japanese as of this post, but those watching Requiem for Vengeance as a gateway Gundam series would have a good time with the English voice cast.
Overall, Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is a more western-oriented spin on a One Year War story. Sure the U.C. 0079 timeline is already overcrowded with stories, not to mention how the absence of the Gundam EX in future media is just explained as lost data. But if you’re not very particular about such details and you just want a Gundam that tells a relatively simple yet compelling story, then Requiem for Vengeance is worth a watch.
