Kidou Senshi Gundam II: Ai Senshi-hen

I originally started watching the very first series from 1979 back when I was in High School and was quite an enjoyment. You can clearly see in a way how life was like back in the 70s and Mobile Suit Gundam portrays the people’s perspective and outlook of the future with its flying cars, giant robots and Space Battle Ships.
This trilogy does a great job in condensing the story line with a very decent pace. This second movie does an even better job in following this military drama.
Though it was intended for children the plot touches on deep subjects such as the death ... of family and friends, betrayal and self improvement through difficult times, all which you can see in the path of the MC Ray Amuro. He keeps fighting in this long and difficult war of attrition.
The art and battle scenes are vey well executed compared to its first movie. The music is very good and reminiscent of what you would see in films from the 70s.
I would recommend people getting into Gundam and this trilogy is a perfect way to start.

Tonally, it feels inconsistent with the ending of Gundam I, featuring more comedic moments from dedicated slapstick characters (the three children), and being all together less bleak due to the dramatic change in Amuro's character, who had ended the first film being infected with terrible PTSD, and an inability to define himself outside of his ability to pilot the Gundam. There's a lack of focus which further complicates things, where the first film was heavily focused on detailing Amuro's descent from just an innocent child into a victim of PTSD, Gundam II lacks any specific theme or character to specifically explore in depth.

Not to say ... Gundam II is a bad film, but it is lacking in the overall cohesion and refinement of the first film - it has its moments (a lot of really nice moments), but they all fail to properly go anywhere and are mostly one off moments, and the focus on the controversy around the discussion of Newtypes was a welcome addition to the story. A further thing to note, is that a lot of named characters are easily killed in the film, new ones and old ones, which adds a certain sense of gravity to the war, knowing that the residents of White Base aren't magically saved from death just because they have a name and history to them.

The audio direction also feels as though it is glorifying the combat a lot of the time, rather than being juxtapositional.

I've talked about the Gundam franchise quite a few times. Including the first Mobile Suit Gundam film. To kick off this year's film festival week, I'm going to be talking about the second film in that trilogy, Soldiers of Sorrow. To start with a quick recap, the Federation and space Nazis IE Zeon are at war. Our protagonists are a Federation force largely made up of teenagers, because so many adults have died. They're piloting the White Base on a mission.

Story:

So, our protagonists continue to make their way to Jaburo while getting into constant battles with Zeon and receiving limited support from the Federation ... higher ups. Meanwhile, Char is continuing his subtle quest for revenge.
The story actually has the same major flaw as the first film. A lot of what happens whether its character deaths or "twists" is really obvious. And not just based on mecha tropes but based on general science fiction and literary tropes that predate this franchise. The death flags especially. Every time a major character is about to go to their death in this and the previous film, they have some scene where it's very obvious they won't return from what they're about to do. Which does make it a little boring.

The only part of the narrative I'm really invested in is Char's whole story arc. Which is kind of compelling and the idea behind it may not be original but it's one where there are a lot of ways to go with it. And I do still appreciate the fact that the series does explain why teenagers are out on the battlefield.

Characters:

The characters, save Char, are still pretty uncompelling. Which isn't just a problem because it makes it difficult to get invested in the film, but it's a problem because we have multiple death scenes that we're supposed to have some emotional response to. And it's difficult to imagine anyone actually having that kind of emotional investment in these characters. So, these scenes that are clearly supposed to have an impact just fall flat.

Another issue I have with the series is that the personnel of White Base ultimately decide to keep taking a trio of small children into battle with them. Which is one of those things where it doesn't have verisimilitude and it's just stupid in context. It made some sense in the first film when they were on the run and didn't have anywhere to leave them, but this is after they have a chance to send them to safety.

Art:

The artwork has the same issue as the first film. It simply hasn't aged well. And it's one of those cases where it would be completely forgiveable if there was a really strong script to recommend the film but the relatively mediocre script just makes it more glaring.

Sound:

Like the first film, the acting is completely passable but limited due to the under-written characters. The music is still pretty good. Matsuyama Yuushi & Watanabe Takeo did a good job.

Ho-yay:

There's none to be seen.

Areas of Improvement:

1. A more complex cast. Having some supporting characters who are a bit under-developed is fine but the main cast in this is are lacking. And the characters who die and we're supposed to sympathise with are also quite shallow. And that is a pretty significant issue.

2. Still needs some subversion. Again, it's not a problem to play some tropes straight. It is a problem when you use a lot of tropes and play all of them straight. I shouldn't be able to predict which character is about to die based on one scene five minutes before their death with a hundred percent accuracy.

3. Small children do not belong on a vessel designed for war. I shouldn't even have to say that.

Final Thoughts:

Like the first film in the trilogy, this one isn't bad nor is it good. It's largely just a super tropey, mediocre piece. As such, I'm also giving it a 5/10.