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It's been a few years since its release, it's one of the most divisive Gundams, and it's getting compilation movies, so let's watch Reconguista in G. picture here when im not phoneposting Gundam: Reconguista in G is the latest show by Tomino, father of Gundam, and personally my favorite of the lot. Featuring character designs by that one Eureka 7 guy, fights influenced by dance choreography, wild looking robots, and racism. It has a far more optimistic tone than a lot of the other Gundam series, and it's just generally a lot of fun. How are we doing this? Two episodes a week starting the week of Oct 7th. If somebody wants to set up a group watch through cytube or whatnot you are more than welcome. Isn't this show bad? G-Reco suffers from trying to fit a 50 episode series into a timespan half that length. The pacing isn't great and it can get a little confusing. Some people absolutely hated it. Some called it the herald of a new age of storytelling. I think it's at least worth giving a watch for yourself. Do I need to watch/enjoy other Gundams to enjoy this one? G-Reco is set far, far in the future past even (or shortly before the answer keeps on changing) the one Gundam series that's supposed to be set centuries after every other Gundam. There are a few references to other series, but it's definitely intended standalone and is pretty unique in the franchise. It's closer to King Gainer than Gundam. There are differences between the Blu-rays and the streaming version. I'd recommend the former if you can. everythingWasBees fucked around with this message at 15:20 on Oct 2, 2019 |
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Oct 2, 2019 15:16
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You cant stop me forever, bees!
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Oct 2, 2019 16:25
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[banging my fists on the table] klim nick klim nick klim nick KLIM NICK
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Oct 2, 2019 16:39
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Yes, milk nick
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Oct 2, 2019 16:43
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The world is not square.
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Oct 2, 2019 18:06
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MonsieurChoc posted:The world is not square.  I'll be real with you, I don't quite remember much of this show but I'd be potentially game to re-watching it?
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Oct 2, 2019 18:10
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everythingWasBees posted:
As an update there, Sunrise just animated a 40th anniversary thing where Amuro watched the Turn A's Moonlight Butterfly consume every other Gundam setting, including G-Reco. Basically, on one end you have every other statement by staff, everything in both shows, and Sunrise's official position. On the other end, you have Tomino and his deepseated love of messing with people obsessing over continuity. Things might change with the movies, but right now, it really feels more thematically fitting for Turn A to live up to its name as the universal quantifier for all Gundam. Anyway, watching Zeta right now, but I might try to keep up with this. What I've seen of G-Reco has been interesting, even if I'm not sure I'll like it.
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Oct 2, 2019 21:23
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ed good
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Oct 2, 2019 21:39
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Me watching and enjoying every episode of this good show:
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Oct 2, 2019 21:52
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i mean the continuity doesn't really matter, it's just waaaaay after UC
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Oct 3, 2019 02:22
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Excited to rewatch G-reco for the third(?) time.
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Oct 3, 2019 21:09
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I watched this as it aired, so I’m glad to watch it again while we wait for Hathaway’s Flash and the compilations and whatever else. The G-Reco suits have toilets in them, and... https://twitter.com/casvail/status/1179769289357660160?s=21 Do any of them wash their hands in this series?? Has humanity regressed to the point of having mobile suits while lacking in good hygiene manners?  Edit: unless that’s a wet wipe...? wolfs fucked around with this message at 07:31 on Oct 4, 2019 |
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Oct 4, 2019 07:29
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I'm in. I'm on a Gundam watching spree and it's probably better for me to watch a Happy Tomino show before diving into Zeta Gundam (which was next on my list). Also I don't know anything about this show and going in blind may be interesting!
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Oct 5, 2019 10:11
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So, are we started? I managed to watch both episodes we're supposed to be viewing, and I want to know if it's safe to talk about them yet.
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Oct 8, 2019 00:13
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It's the 7th and it is evening so yes, it is indeed kosher to discuss the 2 ep's you just watched.  e: Unless I'm dumb and I violated the sacred simulwatch accord, in which case, I might suffer a punishment too poweful! 
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Oct 8, 2019 00:28
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I won't be able to watch them until late tonight or tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to this. The only time I tried to watch Reco I only made it about half dozen episodes in because nothing was making sense, and i didn't realize that was kinda by design. This time I'll have you all to hopefully explain what's going on and why.
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Oct 8, 2019 01:02
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So. G-Reco The first episodes of an anime tend to be pivotal. It’s where the audience first connects to characters, learns the premise, figures out if they’re going to stick with things or just ditch. Gundam’s known that since the start, with Tomino involved in some excellent first episodes. “Gundam Rising” and “Howl at the Moon” are all time classics, even as they go in very different directions. G-Reco doesn’t start nearly that strong. It’s not a total bust, to be clear. Bellri and Luin are established pretty well with Tomino’s typical economy. Bell’s a natural prodigy with a remarkable disregard for the circumstances he finds himself in, and Luin’s a hard worker with a chip on his shoulder (that he tries to hide) due to the discrimination against whatever a Kuntala is. Aida and Raraiya aren’t exactly Sochie and Diana yet, but Sochie took her time to be engaging instead of a pain in the butt, so just having a neutral opinion on them, Manny, and Noredo isn’t too bad. Just on the cast, it’s perfectly fine so far, with hints that it could be actively good. (Although I can already see what people mean about Bellri not seeming particularly committed to, well, anything. His switch from “Should we pilot the Gundam?” to “Hot drat!” took about half a second.) The bigger problem is that the hook isn’t that strong right now. There’s some kind of conflict between Pirates who are apparently Amerian and the Capital, but the scope and the stakes aren’t terribly clear. There’s a mystery about the G-Self, but since we don’t know what the setting’s like, it’s hard to know how big a deal that is. It’s mystery, but mystery isn’t inherently a guarantee of viewer investment, and the way characters skid around even this early makes it harder for the show to do the “enjoy spending time around these characters and their dynamics” draw. Which leads, naturally enough, to the common complaint about not knowing what’s happening. Past Tomino experience and some of the talk made me assume, or at least hope that it was a The Wire deal. You see a guy’s name on a door, and then you’re supposed to know when people talk about McClusky, it’s that guy. If you catch it, the dialogue is natural, and if you miss it, well, gently caress you, the show’s not going to repeat it all for people who weren’t paying attention. There’s some beats that feel like they gesture in that direction, like the way what a Kuntala isn’t stated yet while being firmly implied to have a specific meaning, but the show doesn’t go that way as a whole. On the one end, you get things like Raraiya’s scene with the cheerleaders, where you get full on old school no apology exposition dumping. On the other, you get the infamous cutaway in the middle of Bellri and Aida’s political discussion. We get a moment that could easily and naturally express the two political philosophies in conflict, and then, right as Bellri’s going to say the official Capital line so we know where they stand… boom. Pointless cutaway to some Mobile Suit action. We cut back a sentence later. It feels like a clear statement of intent. The show isn’t just doing its thing and if you get confused, it happens. This is deliberate, almost spiteful rejection of informing the viewer. It’s the sitcom gag where a completely ridiculous circumstance’s explanation is drowned out by a foghorn, but in a much more dramatic show. Sure, there are gags (executed with less effectiveness than similar ones in Turn A, I felt), but when Bellri kills a man, we’re meant to think it matters. And that kill felt awkward with the rest of how our hero is presented. Bellri’s calm and carefree for most of his screentime, and even taking it relatively easy in combat, but when Aida’s yelling at him to not shoot, he lines up a dead-eye blast on the enemy cockpit and just kills the guy. It’s not the panic of Amuro’s first kill, or the sad resignation of Loran. It’s not even Mikazuki’s detachment. It just felt… odd. It's a good looking show, and even an interesting one, but I'm already seeing why people were turned off. Still. In for a penny and all that. We'll see how it goes. (When this is done, I think I'll want to check out Gainer. I've heard similar good things about it to this, but I've also heard fewer of the complaints.)
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Oct 8, 2019 11:44
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Oops, I forgot to mention. Ep 1 and 2 aired together and kinda together make the first episode, so probably best to think about it as a single episode in terms of the pacing, rather than two. The way plot beats are introduced are definitely set up that way, yeah. There are seemingly throwaway lines that end up being the only bit of exposition explaining pivotal parts of the conflict. If you're not paying attention, you're out of luck, and the next episode previews will make fun of you for it. Definitely not something you can watch and understand while multitasking. Tomino even did a apology that iirc was translated more accurately as "I'm sorry people didn't understand the show." Not apologizing for the show, but for people not understanding it. How Bellri treats combat, and how the rest of folk from the Capital treat it, is kind of an essential element for the show, and something I originally meant to touch on in the OP before I made a short OP. The whole thing is meant to feel off. These are trained soldiers who do not know or expect real combat, in a peaceful nation that's isolated from any ongoing wars. As is kinda suggested by the cheerleaders, they treat it almost like a sport.
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Oct 8, 2019 21:19
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I watched g reco once and hated it maybe a second watch will give me a better appreciation for it.
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Oct 8, 2019 21:40
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everythingWasBees posted:
That was also a theme in Turn A, though, and Turn A was much better about it. The utter military incompetence of everyone not named Harry Ord is both a running gag and a running tragedy in Turn A. They're a bunch of kids with guns (easy does it) who run around pulling the trigger every time they don't get their way. Two episodes in, it's not as strongly expressed here. Both sides are armed, and it appears (although the show cuts away before we get the answers) that they both have incompatible ideological positions, unlike Turn A where focus was put on how both sides had enough common ground that they didn't need to fight. Further, while Turn A put emphasis on random carnage, with Dylan Heim killed and his wife driven mad in an attack that was basically "WHEE! We have lasers! Fear us, Earthnoids!", Bellri's kill feels weirdly deliberate. He rants a little, lines up a killshot as he's begged not to, and kills the guy as his opponent pauses in shock at seeing Aida. It doesn't mesh with the character as presented that well, not even in a "He doesn't understand the magnitude of his actions" way, since he was just talking about how horrible it is to possibly kill your own allies. It clunks. Turn A's cast felt different from modern people, but understandable. I'm already seeing problems here.
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Oct 9, 2019 01:33
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I remember watching around 8 or something episodes of this before I bounced off due to just not liking the two leads for some reason or another, I can't really recall why even. All I remember about this show is really liking the side characters way more than the two focus ones. Maybe I'll try giving it another go during this but I'm not sure I'll have the time, will chime in later if I do.
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Oct 10, 2019 13:51
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Man I always forget how cool the grimoires are in these early eps. https://sakugabooru.com/data/d1123f088efb1989dd8d582ef71afc70.webm
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Oct 10, 2019 17:55
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So, is anyone else still watching? Just got through episode 3, where the covert ops mobile suit turned out to have prominent identifying markers, and where Our Hero just... lets the mobile suit he's in get stolen? Yeah, that makes very little sense. For anyone. If he was planning a little high treason, good for him, but he didn't indicate it. Meanwhile, the Capital Army is reacting to the loss of an unknown superweapon and all its pilots with barely a shrug. Also, heard excitement about Klim Nick, and he's fun, but... I don't know where the show wants to go with him. On the one hand, he's got the "I'm a genius! Oh No!" bit, the low flight into a forest, and Dellensen and Aida talking poo poo. On the other, he just made ace-in-a-day without killing enemy pilots, Dellensen lost his air mobility when he downed Nick, and Aida's... Aida has not been very impressive so far, to be blunt. And she assumed that Klim Nick wouldn't even try to be careful when he's aiming as far from the cockpit as possible on all his takedowns and making plans for the future vis a vis the space elevator. I know that Gundam's all about letting the viewer decide things for themselves, but it still feels odd. Moving into episode four, in addition to motivations feeling even weirder and Aida crying more (not that characters showing emotion is bad, but once you have a character cry that much, it loses emotional payout potential later. And when a character doesn't do much else...), has flashbacks and inner monologue. A lot of flashbacks and inner monologue. Which... Okay, like I said, the pitch is that G-Reco is confusing because it's honest. Tomino's not letting you know a lot of the basics because he's dropping you into the world, sink or swim. And that's cool. But now it's using all kinds of techniques that violate the "realism" of the setting. If you're willing to animate flashbacks and let us into people's thoughts, then setting things up for maximum confusion feels deliberate. Again, like I keep going back to, where The Wire has viewer confusion coincidentally as a result of broader goals, G-Reco feels like the confusion itself was the objective. Also, it's really hard to tell non-lethal takedowns from kills on this show. So, yeah. I know this is a divisive show, and right now, I'm leaning negative. chiasaur11 fucked around with this message at 00:57 on Oct 18, 2019 |
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Oct 16, 2019 12:01
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Klim is an excellent pilot who's also overconfident, naïve and easily distracted. 'Sheltered, coddled genius' is the phrase you should keep in mind.
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Oct 17, 2019 11:36
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Just caught up with 3 and 4, and yeah, not much to add that hasn't already been said, except that I'm leaning slightly more toward positive. Partially because it's still a very pretty show, and I'm honestly kind of digging the immersion into the setting I'm getting. My biggest complaint is more of how little the main character seems to be bothered by all of the people dying either directly or indirectly due to his actions, despite the fact that he otherwise seems like the kind of person who would be.
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Oct 18, 2019 00:35
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Paper Kaiju posted:Just caught up with 3 and 4, and yeah, not much to add that hasn't already been said, except that I'm leaning slightly more toward positive. Partially because it's still a very pretty show, and I'm honestly kind of digging the immersion into the setting I'm getting. My biggest complaint is more of how little the main character seems to be bothered by all of the people dying either directly or indirectly due to his actions, despite the fact that he otherwise seems like the kind of person who would be. I mean he's very clearly bothered by Cahill's death, he even said in ep 4 part of the reason he's sticking around with the pirates is to make up for it, and the others he may very well not be aware of.
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Oct 18, 2019 15:32
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Another week, another two episodes. Minor thing first, but considering that Raraiya subtly recovering is one of the things people pitch as G-Reco being subtle, it was weird that we just had Noredo say "You're getting more lucid." It's not being subtle so much as it's, I don't know, just kind of buried in other stuff? Definitely seeing what people meant about the fights in this. While other Gundam shows (that aren't Iron Blooded Orphans) tend to have some token combat in every episode, G-Reco spends a lot of time on fights that... don't really seem to do much for the narrative. The Capital Guard and the Amerian army skirmish, then the plot goes on mostly the same as it would have if they hadn't, and the fight takes up most of the episode. It's also kind of confusing motivation-wise, with Bellri talking about how he's totally going to go back... after killing pilots from the Capital. Even if people aren't used to war, that seems like it'll be a complication. (Also, the Amerians being at war for decades kind of hurts the whole "Nobody knows how to war!" angle. After decades, I'd expect some baseline competence. Like maybe "Have a room for prisoners instead of letting them go wherever".) Oh, and Aida crying in these episodes really illustrated what I meant about dramatic weight, I think. Aida crying in private after praising Bellri? That's a really good beat, showing the contrast between her obligations and her feelings, hating Our Hero for killing her boyfriend, while needing to praise him in public since he's a useful asset. Except her crying in every other episode means that it feels less like a dramatic revelation and more like just another crying scene. Which is kind of a shame. Finally, what was with Mick Jack getting sinister villain music? That was weird.
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Oct 22, 2019 08:58
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Yeah, one more episode done, and I just might tap out. I loved Turn A, I'm enjoying Zeta, but this is just... not good. This episode, we finally had what Kuntalas are explained, and I admit it. Despite having read the answer already (not like I was spoiling things much when it was on the web site when the show first aired), I was kind of curious what the show's delivery would be. This is supposed to be a thing everybody in setting knew, more or less, so how to get that into a conversation naturally was an interesting little problem without an "As you know, Bill..." moment. And then the answer is Mask just explaining what Kuntala were to a member of his all Kuntala squad who has apparently never heard of them before. I'm sorry, but how do people defend this? G-Reco does all the lovely, clunky exposition and all the weird narrative shortcuts a regular show uses. The only difference is that it uses them so badly the viewer is left more confused than if they hadn't done anything at all. No wonder Tomino wanted to go back and fix this! It's a great looking show, with really interesting, relevant concepts, and then it just loving trips all over itself so that things literally every other Gundam show can do in its sleep (I include SEED and AGE in this descriptor. Hell, I include IGLOO in this descriptor) are a mess. It's not that I don't know what's happening. It's that I don't much care. I know that there's the whole story about the dangers of stories angle (which IBO did too, coincidentally enough, if from a very different angle), but a lot of this is just weird even in that light. Again, we get internal monologue sometimes, but never when its helpful, we got the flashback to the guy Bellri iced first but with no more reason to care about him than we had before, we get some real clunky exposition, but not when it'd be helpful. A lot of defenses seem to be not "It's a smart show, so there's some things you won't get.", but "It's a smart show because you can't understand it." Communicating badly then acting smug when you're misunderstood isn't clever. To his credit, Tomino doesn't seem to take that angle in interviews I've seen. And his past work seems to indicate that this is just taking his old strengths and weaknesses and kind of letting them spin out of control. I really hope the movies manage to make it all work. But I don't think I'm going to be watching them.
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Nov 1, 2019 00:37
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Speaking of Tomino interviews: https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/in...ntimacy/.152531
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Nov 1, 2019 06:41
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Sorry for being late, I haven't been feeling very well the last couple weeks. I'm gonna try to catch up this week and with that in mind: Ep 5: Hell yeah introduction of the other best boy, Mask. I really love how intense he is at all times and the Elf Bullock is one of my favorite robots from this show, though it hasn't really revealed why it's so cool yet. The whole thing with Aida feeling frustrated at accepting help from her boyfriend's killer and then having to thank him afterwards is also IMO really well done. The fight this ep is really fun too, I laugh every time Mask suddenly thinks he's in the ocean. Ep 6: This is in many ways one of the weaker episodes of the shows IMO. While I disagree with the idea that we have no reason to care about Dellensen (He's consistently shown as caring for the people under him and unlike his CA comrades seems to genuinely want to save Bellri) there's no denying the tragedy of the episode would have been stronger had we spent more time with him. The fight while mostly really good looking (reflector pack so cool love purple robots) gets really weird and disjointed right at the end. I remember seeing a youtube video that spliced in part of the scenes in the OP that seemed to belong to this fight and it flows way better, maybe they had to cut them for time or something but it's very strange. On the other hand the subplot about the division between the CA and more moderate forces in Capital Territory (mostly represented by Bellri's mom) finally comes to a head in their shouting match over the radio and it's quite well done.
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Nov 3, 2019 23:04
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You know, it's weird. When Turn A had slow paced, kind of chill episodes examining life in general, I was on board. In G-Reco, it leaves me as cold as everything else. Up through episode 10, and it's not working any better for me than before. The Montero's destruction in the ninth episode is just... bizarre. In a setting where radio interference is worse than any prior Gundam series to the point you need to high five other pilots to communicate at all, the crew of the Megafauna just sends one of their Mobile Suits out to be remote controlled. Then it explodes without doing much of anything. What was the point of any of that? It loses a cool looking MS, violates the rules of the setting Really, a lot that happens in this show doesn't seem to have much particular purpose. There's moments that gesture at what seems to be the show's intended themes, and some of them (like some of the Capital Army's amazing incompetence and the bit where Noredo is offended by her homeland being written off as enemies) actually work. (Also, good ED). But mostly, things just happen. Episodes don't reach either satisfactory conclusions lately or edge of the seat cliffhangers. They're just kind of... done. It makes for kind of awkward viewing, even when it can be marathoned.
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Nov 5, 2019 13:29
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Ep 7: The scene with Bellri's mom faking not being able to use the glider to escape to then immediately realize she can't actually use the glider makes me laugh every time. Other than that though this episode is mainly fight and while I enjoy the fights in this show there isn't a lot to say necessarily. The Elf Bullock shows why it's the best MS though (laser legs gently caress yeah!) Ep 8: We finally get some concrete ideas about both the Capital Territories and Ameria's philosophies and how they clash through Bellri's and Aida's parents. In a way I find it funny how this show has a reputation for having characters act completely alien yet it does an excellent job making both CA and Ameria's opinions re: technology understandable from both sides yet completely incompatible. I also really like the scene of Mask's internal struggles at the end of the episode.
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Nov 5, 2019 20:05
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Ep 9: I love the scenes of nature as the megafauna is making its way towards the Capital Tower, this is such a pretty show. Out of all the episodes so far the fight in this one seems the most unnecessary, though it does introduce Barara I suppose. Rusita's exasperation with all his staff being away at the party gets me every time. Ep 10: I love, love, love the fight in this ep, the high-torque pack is so cool and the final punch-kick combo looks amazingly good. This episode also marks the end of Bellri's split allegiances as the Guard is now for all intents and purposes in an alliance with the megafauna against the Army, just as the conflict moves to space properly.
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Nov 8, 2019 01:48
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