In some anime, hundreds of people could die in one episode, and it's meaningless. In this series, one person dies, and it means everything. That is the sign of a good series.
It really speaks volumes to me that even if something like this stood on its own removed from any Gundam canon entirely and was its own thing it would still be a great anime
What always struck me about the ending of 0080 is how much Al has grown over the course of the OVA. In the beginning of the series he's got to be one of, if not the most immature character. By the final episode he has already matured quite a bit, but in the final battle scene he has the true horrors of war hit him right in the face in ways that no child should ever have to witness. In the last scene of the OVA, with the devastation of war having come right to his home and with everything he has lost and must carry with him for the rest of his life, he breaks down and cries. His classmates all gather around him and start saying things like "It's okay, there will be another war soon!" They haven't learned a goddamn thing.
I think the ending (the part that comes out of nowhere) perfectly fits with this OVA. A slight spoiler: none of the characters, protags or antagonists, achieve anything in the end (the bad guys fail to achieve anything and the good guys....ditto. And this applies regardless of who you think the "bad guy" is). The conflict here is little more than a footnote in history and none of it's characters were ever remembered. And their actions were so insignificant that something completely out of their control (or even their knowledge) rendered all of their efforts and sacrifices moot. War is rarely glorious, and for every one action hero, a hundred more are sacrificed in pointless obscurity. For every Amuro and Char, a hundred Als and Bernies existed.
Desmond Doss a real soldier who never used a weapon during his time as a field medic had a journal where he would pray for everyone repeatedly an he was quoted saying Blood had run down into the fella's face and eyes. He was laying there just groaning and calling for a medic. I took water from my canteen, got some bandage, and I washed his face. And when that blood was washed from his eyes, his eyes came open. Man, he just lit up. He says, "I thought I was blind." And if I hadn't got anything more out of the war than that smile he gave me, I'd have been well repaid. The Conscientious Objector documentary (2004)
I do really like Al's development... he start as a typical enthusiastic and immature kid... then later he was willing to risk getting executed and face certain death just to save the people he cares about and everyone else.
I was maybe 5-8 when I first saw this with my older brother, young as I was I only cared about the mecha so the themes and messages flew over my head. Then came last fight, and to say it left an impression on me would be an understatement. I couldn’t put into why that scene imprinted on me the same way Wing Zero’s reemergence in Endless Waltz did, but I knew it was stuck in my mind the same way.
War in the Pocket is more personal take on OYW and that's it's strong point. Sage mentioned that it was Gundam's 10th anniversary anime and I can see that since 20th anniversary anime of franchise Turn A Gundam was also very different from what people had used to.
The most unfornuate thing about the ova is how all the cool earth federation suits had sucky ass pilots like seriously the gm sniper 2 was on the same level of the rx-78-2 Also I wish al would appear in a another gundam some story to see him grown up
Jetfire48 that would be something to see. Did he join the military? Is he preaching pacifism? I just saw there is a manga that takes place after ZZ with a clone of Haman.
this is one of those reoccuring tropes in gundam, while the earth federation has better tech than the zeon, they have little more than children/novices available to pilot their machines because most of the adults have been killed in the colony drop or the battle of loum
Well, because the early parts of OYW, the Feds focused more on ships rather than MS...so when the Zeon surprised them by how MS can take down freaking battleships like it's nothing, the Feds had to adapt and fast. Heck, early in the OYW, the Feds had to result to jacking the Zeke's MS (look up MS IGLOO). Think of the OYW as a WW2 analogue. One side thinks in terms of outdated tactics and strategies while the other steamrolled their opponent with a new technology.
The Feddy punks did not all suck. See the episode 1 fight where one smartly placed GM causes the Cyclops Team mission to fail, and the fight inside Al's colony ended without a Zeon victory. The reason why the Kampfer was able to skeet shoot all the MS was that Thoroughbred had been in port the entire time. The Cyclops Team knew they would have to deal with a MS force, so having the Kampfer in place to deal with them was a key mission objective!
You forgot to mention the English voice cast; Bernie is voiced by David Hayter of Metal Gear Solid fame and (in a surprising bitpart), Mr. Izuruha (Al's dad) is voice by Steve Blum star of GODDAMN EVERYTHING. (But most notably Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop)
Y'know I saw 0080 when I was in middle school back when they aired it on Adult Swim. At the time Congress was voting on whether or not to declare war on Iraq. Before I saw 0080 I was in favor of invading Iraq because I was (naively) hoping it would lead to the development of mobile suits in real life by the US armed forces, much like how Alfred and his friends were so enthusiastic about war and combat without considering the full ramifications that come with it. However, after seeing 0080 I changed my stance on Iraq because it made me think what if invading Iraq may one day lead to a young, innocent Iraqi kid experiencing what Alfred did at the end of the OVA, or worse? I didn't wish that on anyone and no longer wanted a war with Iraq to happen, but unfortunately Congress had other plans.
And it's pretty much the same stance with the Middle East currently. Only this time you have a vocal minority complaining about first world problems with the media lying through their teeth and "refugees" that can not and will not adapt to society's modern laws. I apologize if I conflated the issues that things are now even worse than before.
I had roughly the same experience (except for the hoping mobile suits would be real thing). This show is a gut-punch that helped change my worldview as a teen.
@@orcatwar9810 The first four episodes came out between December 2015 and March 2016, and the second four between March and July 2017. The compilation movies of both runs are streaming on the Gundamofficial TH-cam channel
Ah 0080, one of the better Gundam series/OVAs out there. But still unappreciated in comparison to so many other Gundam series, OVAs and movies. Kinda the same with 0083 Stardust Memory and The 08th MS Team.
Ditto. Those are all my faves. And 0080 was the only one as I know that didn’t have production issues so the story is more coherent and was told the way it was meant to be told.
It's a small story, and that twist at the end does give that extra sting for the loss that occurs at the end. You never want your friend to be described as "nothing but hamburger"
I disagree with sage's opening remarks for gundam month. Not all gundam is "war is bad m'kay" that over generalizing. If you look at zeta gundam its "this is what happens when you can't learn to forgive". ZZ is literally "far will you go to protect your family". Don't even get me started on Turn-A and its theme of "the past coming back to haunt you" there's a reason they call it the dark history.
Actually, it could be argued that Gundam is saying that war is bad because the establishment itself is what perpetuates war. More specifically, war is not human nature per se, rather it is a practice of statecraft. In other words, if the hierarchical structure that is the Federation weren't holding power over the colonies, movements like the Zeon wouldn't come into existence. This is much like how in real life, when MLK called the US government the "greatest purveyor of violence" all the world over, which is what the Federation does in contrast by threatening its subjects with war.
Holy Fuck, did War In The Pocket shatter my heart into multiple bits of glass. No other anime I had made me emotionally connect with a child's and want to comfort him with the gradual loss of his innocence. Also, Bernie..... one of the most best humanized, kind-hearted, noble characters in the franchise. 😢
Exactly! Well, here's the thing Grave of the Fireflies is based on a true story in which the brother lives and has to deal with his actions and survivor's guilt. If anything it made the story feel more human and not like it was trying to beat you over the head with its own agenda.
I loved how this show in particular portrayed both sides, and how even though Bernie's more veteran comrades give him a hard time they also still see him as a comrade and look out for him. Garcia o7
Another point in 0080's favor: it shows the battlefield comradery among the Zeon troops that I don't recall the other UC timeline shows having. The way I 'member it, the Zeon pilots and officers were mainly in it for their own glory and undermining each other to score promotions or to advance their own ambitions. [COUGH] CHAR! [COUGH]
I find the recent Iron Blooded Orphans manages to balance 'awesome giant robot battles' and 'War is Awful' pretty well. No militant pacifists. No long speeches about how awful war is. Even the Series Peace Loving Princess (TM), at one point, is confronted with the fact that, as her quest for peace starts to require a bit of violence, and that means people are going to die for her, and she's got to decide if what she's fighting for is worth some human lives. Also, though the main character is an ace pilot, he's not some magical Jedi Star Child, and if the Pretty Boys have Problems, the problems are 'raised a child soldier slave' and this results in sociopathy to a level that I'm honestly wondering how many of our main characters are broken as human beings and how many are on the spectrum. Oh, and the series has a body count so rough that, and the 'super mode' takes such a high toll, that even if we're enjoying the admittedly awesome giant robot fights, there's still the knowledge that someone we care about is entirely likely to end up paralyzed or dead at any freaking moment.
It's amazing to me how important CLAMP is to the anime industry (just look at Card Captor Sakura), but you could throw a rock into a crowd and still be less likely to hit someone instead of finding a shit CLAMP anime.
Nate Rivers To be frank, I prefer their older 90's stuff. There's that sense of maturity and epicness in their art. Then Card Captor became popular and made them money thus they cash in on what's popular with the mainstream crowd. It doesn't mean that they don't write great stories now, but I still miss the old school stuff.
I'll always love Gundam 0080. The story, the music, the ED "Distant Memory." Whenever Christmas rolls around with the new year, I always make a habit to play "Distant Memory."
Wow, I did not know other people out there understood and appreciated 0080 as much as me. That's Bennett for showing me the light, and spreading the good word of this little masterpiece.
Now... Imagine, if you will, an adaptation of this directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Roger Deakens as director of cinematography... Yeah... That is a nice thought to have
If I were to have directed a live-action adaptation, I'd stick closely to it being a product of its time visually (the late 80's.) I'd use the plot of the OVA as a literal script, only deviating so much as to give a little variance for the big babies that would complain it was "too close" to the anime lol
This is fascinating to watch after SF Debris' look at War in the Pocket. With the difference in perspective you two bring, your takes on this OVA are like night and day.
Transformers has a similar problem as war is bad and the good guys the autobots want peace. The war is why cybertron is in such bad shape. But the franchise still keeps going with the war and all so takara and hasbro can sell more toys.
Yet like Gundam they have alternate timelines and universes, so they can continue to produce spin offs and you guessed it make new toys. BTW, in the American G1 continuity, Cybertron is just fine, but not so in the Japanese G1 continuity. Aren't alternate timelines great!
I've long felt that the best way to create this kind of material without seeming contradictory or hypocritical is to focus less on "war is bad" and more on "war is tragic." At least with tragedy, there's still room to acknowledge virtues like courage, nobility, and self-sacrifice, or at the very least, grim necessity.
Part of the problem is that the series is trapped even harder in the 'Good Versus Evil' scenario. The Decepticons are evil, flat-out, regardless of the media. Any good 'Cons leave the faction. Both Megatron and Starscream have had stints as good guys, or at least protagonists, but only when they abandoned their faction. Same story with Beast Wars' Dinobot. Thoroughly noble character, but he's kicked out of the Predacons and is not a bad guy. And even with the Evil Autobots, it's the Autobots that take them out. Sentinel Prime from Dark of the Moon is killed by Optimus Prime, while Getaway, from the IDW-verse, will probably be killed by Rodimus. At least, I hope so. It's an odd kind of dissonance where it feels like Bad Autobots are kicked out of the Faction. War doesn't have good guys or bad guys, and while there are soldiers that behave morally better or worse, the reprehensible soldiers are likely to have been pushed far enough where cruelty is their only option. Transformers, by dint of being kid-friendly, will never approach this. I've always been waiting for a Megatron who isn't truly a bad guy, though he leads the enemy. We get his backstory a lot, but it never feels enough to make up for the crimes he commits. I'd love to see a live-action movie reboot where we follow the Autobots for the majority of the adventure through the eyes of a human character, but the Decepticons kidnap the human only for Megatron to let them go as he expresses genuine regret in how destructive and out of hand the Cybertronian Civil War has become.
0080 was sooooo good. I remember watching it when it first came out on Toonami, and it was one of the first real "war is shit" messages I ever came across. And since I was only a few years older then Alfred at the time, you can bet it hit HARD.
I love this series. It was actually my first exposure to Gundam, Seeing the Zaku first arrive at the school and move it's single eye towards the kids, it gave me a love for the grandiose I never knew I had. Also, the ending. OH MY GOODNESS THAT ENDING!
Love this Ova and I'm so glad someone is finally giving it the respect it deserves. Most write off 0080 as a simple side tale, but it's so much more than that. Great video, my brother!
This was shown on toonami a long time ago and I remember being disappointed for it not being a happy ending. I was still a kid but it shocked me how brutal the ending is.
But 08 MS team is kind of War in the Pocket without the balls to go all the way with its premise and so it does convoluted bullshit to keep Zeon the "bad guys" and get the couple together. It is one of numerous examples in Gundam of "never let a woman in war because she'll betray her family and nation in a heartbeat for some cock." 0083 at least has the twist that the heroes of it are actually the villains of the second Gundam series.
TheHobgoblyn 8th MS more for the showing of how war was really for the soldiers. These arnt some opertavies with a super gundam. Which even war in the pocket does. This was how the frontlines were. Little supplies and parts. Thus the EZ-8 Gundam. We also do see the most "realistic gundum battle with the gouf and ez-8. It's a show that was for people who wanted frontline stuff. Not the Amoruo/ newtype and specialsuits.
They showed the Federation as fucked up as well. The Federation commander during the last battle agrees to a ceasefire to allow a medical transport to leave and then orders his Sniper GM pilot to shoot it down in mid flight. Sure the ending is happy ending sort but I still love the series to death and it has one of, and my favorite, MS fight in Gundam history with Shiro vs Norris.
The Kampfer was such a cool suit, and the Gelgoog Jager was good too. Sadly, I believe this is one of the few times they were ever showcased, and were destroyed quickly. These designs are some of my favorites regardless.
Sage, I think the reason why you find War in the Pocket better than Evangelion as a 'deconstruction' (wrong word in both cases, but ah life) of Meccha anime is that the boy is not lost in the throes of self-doubt and internal conflicts -- the boy here BELIEVES in something, and he is going to be shown that his beliefs are simply WRONG. This is almost exactly the opposite of what Evagelion was about (how to build belief in yourself, and how to come to peace with the fact that the world, and other people, are an infinite source of emotional and even physical pain). What you really dislike, I think, is what you call 'melodrama', i.e. what some people call 'emo shit' -- any kind of internal conflict that has self-doubt, especially the paralyzing kind, as its basis, especially when it is realistic enough to admit that sometimes (many times) the self-doubt wins. (That it eventually didn't win in Evangelion does not diminish the success with which they depicted the situations in which it did win.) You like people who can overcome their weaknesses, I think, because the internal pain of self-doubt (or what you called 'issues' in the other Gundam review) is damaging to the overall story. You want resolution, not simply "wallowing in self pity". Which means you miss a number of very important aspects of the show -- which is a pity. If you'll indulge me a parallel -- it's like someone who is really enamored of war, who thinks fighting a war (for your ideals, to save your loved ones, etc.) is a glorious thing, and who therefore doesn't like works of art that depict the extreme cost and the horrors of war. This person may well admit that said costs and horrors are true, but since he thinks war is 'worth it' -- he thinks the costs aren't too high -- any work of art that simply describes said costs and horrors in all details and lets the war, and its resolution ('who won? and how, with what strategies?'), fall into the background or even become unimportant... just irritates him. It 'misses the point', it 'distracts from the real important fact that there's a war going on for REAL REASONS', that 'the good side has to win'! This person would probably belittle War in the Pocket as a 'self-indulgent little piece of imagery in which the actual facts of war are ignored and emphasis is placed on the childish conflicts of a small boy who doesn't understand anything and is therefore not at all interesting.' He wouldn't empathize with the boy, because it would irritate him, just like Jarjar Binks irritates Star Wars fans. All in all, War in the Pocket and Evangelion did very different (I'd say opposite) things, and they did them very well. Personally, I'd pick Evangelion as the better one, but the topics are so different, it would be OK to me to just say that they are not really comparable.
IDK, Eva I find to be boring in its existentialism, and that it all boils down to a middle finger to fans of mecha by lumping them into the same category. Plus what else was there left of the mecha genre to deconstruct when Ideon did everything Eva had done 15 year earlier?
I've been looking forward to you reviewing this OVA for years! Glad to see our thoughts are so alike on this subject ;) Awesome way to end the year, that was a fantastic review! I hope 2018 brings you inspiration and lots of fun times!
Happy New Year, Sage!!! And thanks, I have been wanting to watch something Gundam related and this review would be the recommendation that I needed to watch this OVA.
I first watched this when I was 13. To say I was unprepared would be an understatement. Looking at it when I'm a lot older, I can see just why this OVA has a legacy, and the crazy amount of courage to produce a series like this one as the 10th anniversary. It hits home far, far more powerfully than any level of melodrama or character consequence in Zeta Gundam. Oh hi again CLAMP. At least this time it's not the series that makes a character the son of his own clone. ... I'm not joking with that one.
![[Full] 4 ต่อ 4 Celebrity EP.910 | 22 ก.ย. 67 | one31](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4TR3MVpOiw8/mqdefault.jpg)
"In war, everyone's a casualty" Peter Cullen, toonami midnight run promo.
In some anime, hundreds of people could die in one episode, and it's meaningless. In this series, one person dies, and it means everything. That is the sign of a good series.
"One of the best OVAs ever made."
Yes, I always tell people this. 0080 is not a great "Gundam" anime, it's a great anime, period.
Christopher Blair Agreed I don't know shit about Gundam yet I loved it when I watched it.
then those people hmust not have seen 8th ms team or 0083
It really speaks volumes to me that even if something like this stood on its own removed from any Gundam canon entirely and was its own thing it would still be a great anime
It's just great storytelling!
Jeff Bollen I know!
I'll admit it. This was the first anime to make me cry and I'm not ashamed to say it.
G Gundam beat me to it with Master Asia's death.
"MASTER!!!!!!!"
What always struck me about the ending of 0080 is how much Al has grown over the course of the OVA. In the beginning of the series he's got to be one of, if not the most immature character. By the final episode he has already matured quite a bit, but in the final battle scene he has the true horrors of war hit him right in the face in ways that no child should ever have to witness. In the last scene of the OVA, with the devastation of war having come right to his home and with everything he has lost and must carry with him for the rest of his life, he breaks down and cries. His classmates all gather around him and start saying things like "It's okay, there will be another war soon!" They haven't learned a goddamn thing.
You know I never thought of "endearing little shit" as a grown man's way of saying "adorable", but I'm glad I know now.
*FEELS* in the Pocket 😢
Amen to that... Wait. Aren't you that Mecha Talk guy? Hey! You are! I'm subbed to you.
Yup, that's me. Thanks dude!
Ayyyyy
Yes, several critical hits to the feels get dished out hard. Which makes it a true UC Gundam story!
Observations from the Bunker Zeta delivers in this regard too. :)
"does it waaaay better than Evangelion..."
Absolutely.
I think the ending (the part that comes out of nowhere) perfectly fits with this OVA. A slight spoiler: none of the characters, protags or antagonists, achieve anything in the end (the bad guys fail to achieve anything and the good guys....ditto. And this applies regardless of who you think the "bad guy" is). The conflict here is little more than a footnote in history and none of it's characters were ever remembered. And their actions were so insignificant that something completely out of their control (or even their knowledge) rendered all of their efforts and sacrifices moot. War is rarely glorious, and for every one action hero, a hundred more are sacrificed in pointless obscurity. For every Amuro and Char, a hundred Als and Bernies existed.
Desmond Doss a real soldier who never used a weapon during his time as a field medic had a journal where he would pray for everyone repeatedly an he was quoted saying
Blood had run down into the fella's face and eyes. He was laying there just groaning and calling for a medic. I took water from my canteen, got some bandage, and I washed his face. And when that blood was washed from his eyes, his eyes came open. Man, he just lit up. He says, "I thought I was blind." And if I hadn't got anything more out of the war than that smile he gave me, I'd have been well repaid.
The Conscientious Objector documentary (2004)
I do really like Al's development... he start as a typical enthusiastic and immature kid... then later he was willing to risk getting executed and face certain death just to save the people he cares about and everyone else.
My personal favorite of the Gundam Series. For anyone that Never seen it, you must watch it.
Believe me. Watch. It.
The Gray One Thanks for the suggestion, man.
Is that a War in your Pocket or are you just happy to see me.
I cant make a better comment then that
It's a war.
*missile flies out of pocket and blows up a small portion of your desk
How long were holding onto that gem?
Shiirow
You should see that throbbing warhead.
Shiirow 🤣 That is a good one.
I was maybe 5-8 when I first saw this with my older brother, young as I was I only cared about the mecha so the themes and messages flew over my head. Then came last fight, and to say it left an impression on me would be an understatement. I couldn’t put into why that scene imprinted on me the same way Wing Zero’s reemergence in Endless Waltz did, but I knew it was stuck in my mind the same way.
Akira fucked me up in a similar way.
i had a similar experience as well
War in the Pocket is more personal take on OYW and that's it's strong point. Sage mentioned that it was Gundam's 10th anniversary anime and I can see that since 20th anniversary anime of franchise Turn A Gundam was also very different from what people had used to.
coming back to these episodes makes me feel childhood in a way I never experienced.
The most unfornuate thing about the ova is how all the cool earth federation suits had sucky ass pilots like seriously the gm sniper 2 was on the same level of the rx-78-2
Also I wish al would appear in a another gundam some story to see him grown up
Jetfire48 that would be something to see. Did he join the military? Is he preaching pacifism? I just saw there is a manga that takes place after ZZ with a clone of Haman.
this is one of those reoccuring tropes in gundam, while the earth federation has better tech than the zeon, they have little more than children/novices available to pilot their machines because most of the adults have been killed in the colony drop or the battle of loum
Well, because the early parts of OYW, the Feds focused more on ships rather than MS...so when the Zeon surprised them by how MS can take down freaking battleships like it's nothing, the Feds had to adapt and fast. Heck, early in the OYW, the Feds had to result to jacking the Zeke's MS (look up MS IGLOO). Think of the OYW as a WW2 analogue. One side thinks in terms of outdated tactics and strategies while the other steamrolled their opponent with a new technology.
The Feddy punks did not all suck. See the episode 1 fight where one smartly placed GM causes the Cyclops Team mission to fail, and the fight inside Al's colony ended without a Zeon victory. The reason why the Kampfer was able to skeet shoot all the MS was that Thoroughbred had been in port the entire time. The Cyclops Team knew they would have to deal with a MS force, so having the Kampfer in place to deal with them was a key mission objective!
You forgot to mention the English voice cast; Bernie is voiced by David Hayter of Metal Gear Solid fame and (in a surprising bitpart), Mr. Izuruha (Al's dad) is voice by Steve Blum star of GODDAMN EVERYTHING. (But most notably Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop)
Chris is also voiced by Faye Valentine herself Wendee Lee.
Y'know I saw 0080 when I was in middle school back when they aired it on Adult Swim. At the time Congress was voting on whether or not to declare war on Iraq. Before I saw 0080 I was in favor of invading Iraq because I was (naively) hoping it would lead to the development of mobile suits in real life by the US armed forces, much like how Alfred and his friends were so enthusiastic about war and combat without considering the full ramifications that come with it.
However, after seeing 0080 I changed my stance on Iraq because it made me think what if invading Iraq may one day lead to a young, innocent Iraqi kid experiencing what Alfred did at the end of the OVA, or worse? I didn't wish that on anyone and no longer wanted a war with Iraq to happen, but unfortunately Congress had other plans.
And it's pretty much the same stance with the Middle East currently.
Only this time you have a vocal minority complaining about first world problems with the media lying through their teeth and "refugees" that can not and will not adapt to society's modern laws.
I apologize if I conflated the issues that things are now even worse than before.
I had roughly the same experience (except for the hoping mobile suits would be real thing). This show is a gut-punch that helped change my worldview as a teen.
Holy shit, actual people with rational opinions.
@@Foreststrike America hiding their agendas trying to take the oil.
Chris best gundam waifu
wreck 1990 ...and she gets no audible mention in the review. I’m not sure how good or bad that is.
War in the pocket I think is in my top 5 right next to 0083 and 08th MS team
Leo Moon Have you seen Thunderbolt?
The Count of Monte Cristo Very dark.
when did thunderbolt come out???
@@orcatwar9810 The first four episodes came out between December 2015 and March 2016, and the second four between March and July 2017. The compilation movies of both runs are streaming on the Gundamofficial TH-cam channel
Ah 0080, one of the better Gundam series/OVAs out there. But still unappreciated in comparison to so many other Gundam series, OVAs and movies. Kinda the same with 0083 Stardust Memory and The 08th MS Team.
Ditto. Those are all my faves. And 0080 was the only one as I know that didn’t have production issues so the story is more coherent and was told the way it was meant to be told.
2:04 missed a perfect oportunity to make a sonic '06 joke
Still one of my favorite Gundam series. If you aren't at least a little bit misty-eyed by the ending, then you have no soul.
I think this is one of the best Gundams ever made.
I finally sat down and watched this - my first Gundam and one of my first mecha anime ever - and... holy shit, now I'm sad
Sage's soul is weighed down by Earth's gravity, he doesn't understand the struggles of the Spacenoids and Zeon against the Federation...
Love love love everything about this one. 3 of the best hours Gundam has ever put out
It's a small story, and that twist at the end does give that extra sting for the loss that occurs at the end. You never want your friend to be described as "nothing but hamburger"
"War is a meatgrinder and you are just the next piece of beef" - Anonymous
I'm sure the DM who said that started his next sentence with "Oh c'mon guys"
I actually prefer when main characters die in Gundam shows. It's shows not everyone survives.
I disagree with sage's opening remarks for gundam month. Not all gundam is "war is bad m'kay" that over generalizing. If you look at zeta gundam its "this is what happens when you can't learn to forgive". ZZ is literally "far will you go to protect your family". Don't even get me started on Turn-A and its theme of "the past coming back to haunt you" there's a reason they call it the dark history.
Actually, it could be argued that Gundam is saying that war is bad because the establishment itself is what perpetuates war. More specifically, war is not human nature per se, rather it is a practice of statecraft. In other words, if the hierarchical structure that is the Federation weren't holding power over the colonies, movements like the Zeon wouldn't come into existence. This is much like how in real life, when MLK called the US government the "greatest purveyor of violence" all the world over, which is what the Federation does in contrast by threatening its subjects with war.
This was an important story to bring to the Gundam UC continuity: war from the perspective of children who aren't yet involved in the conflict.
"war in the pocket" is like a reverse Infowars title
Buy wars bonds and male vitality.
Holy Fuck, did War In The Pocket shatter my heart into multiple bits of glass. No other anime I had made me emotionally connect with a child's and want to comfort him with the gradual loss of his innocence. Also, Bernie..... one of the most best humanized, kind-hearted, noble characters in the franchise. 😢
Damn. I love watching AA, but when Sage recommends something, you know you've gotta watch it first. Thanks again for Magnetic Rose by the way.
musicalDrebin Yep this is a good one. Has really good music too in the opening and ending themes that fits the tone really well.
Watched it years ago. Still fantastic.
Gundam cannon aside, this is what Grave of the Fireflies should have been like
Exactly! Well, here's the thing Grave of the Fireflies is based on a true story in which the brother lives and has to deal with his actions and survivor's guilt. If anything it made the story feel more human and not like it was trying to beat you over the head with its own agenda.
I loved how this show in particular portrayed both sides, and how even though Bernie's more veteran comrades give him a hard time they also still see him as a comrade and look out for him. Garcia o7
Another point in 0080's favor: it shows the battlefield comradery among the Zeon troops that I don't recall the other UC timeline shows having. The way I 'member it, the Zeon pilots and officers were mainly in it for their own glory and undermining each other to score promotions or to advance their own ambitions. [COUGH] CHAR! [COUGH]
I can't wait for you to review G Gundam
Oh I remember watching this on Toonami a long time ago. There were only 2 instances where an Anime made me cry and the ending to this was one of them.
This is and will always be my favorite Gundam series.
Fun fact: By the time the next war in the UC Gundamverse starts, those kids would be old enough to be drafted to fight in it.
Which timeline did that happen?
@@richardpulido4624 UC
@@HolyknightVader999 UC stands for Unicorn, right?
@@richardpulido4624 Universal Century. But more specifically, in this case, the Zeta/ZZ era.
@@HolyknightVader999 Thanks for that. BTW, have you ever built a Gunpla before? Because I plan to order mine through Amazon
I find the recent Iron Blooded Orphans manages to balance 'awesome giant robot battles' and 'War is Awful' pretty well. No militant pacifists. No long speeches about how awful war is. Even the Series Peace Loving Princess (TM), at one point, is confronted with the fact that, as her quest for peace starts to require a bit of violence, and that means people are going to die for her, and she's got to decide if what she's fighting for is worth some human lives.
Also, though the main character is an ace pilot, he's not some magical Jedi Star Child, and if the Pretty Boys have Problems, the problems are 'raised a child soldier slave' and this results in sociopathy to a level that I'm honestly wondering how many of our main characters are broken as human beings and how many are on the spectrum.
Oh, and the series has a body count so rough that, and the 'super mode' takes such a high toll, that even if we're enjoying the admittedly awesome giant robot fights, there's still the knowledge that someone we care about is entirely likely to end up paralyzed or dead at any freaking moment.
Hurr Durr, I can choke a grown man with my puny arms mc.
Iron Blooded Orphans lifted a lot from Wing, didn't it?
char's counterattack damn it
War in the pocket had me bawling, no lie
Sage's gonna CLAMP down RG Veda next week.
Zedfinite bet you are proud of that one
Zedfinite Is he going to CLAMP down The Magic Knight Rayearth OVA after that?
It's amazing to me how important CLAMP is to the anime industry (just look at Card Captor Sakura), but you could throw a rock into a crowd and still be less likely to hit someone instead of finding a shit CLAMP anime.
Right when Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card is about to begin
Nate Rivers To be frank, I prefer their older 90's stuff. There's that sense of maturity and epicness in their art. Then Card Captor became popular and made them money thus they cash in on what's popular with the mainstream crowd. It doesn't mean that they don't write great stories now, but I still miss the old school stuff.
Come on sage I really wanted you to dig deep in 0080 I've seen it plenty of times
I'll always love Gundam 0080. The story, the music, the ED "Distant Memory."
Whenever Christmas rolls around with the new year, I always make a habit to play "Distant Memory."
I'm gonna watch this while having a meal.
Hamburger sounds good.
wingshad0w00982 you sick S.O.B !!!!!!
Don't you mean STEAMED HAMS?
Are you referencing what I think you're referencing from the show?
Nostalgia Works these are in fact grilled
he means mcdaniel's
The ending of War int he Pocket still makes me get misty. God damn it just stabs you and twists the blade.
I couldn't remember the name of this ova for more than ten years since i saw it on adult swim back in the day.
Can't you see, that you are sweet...
This anime makes me sad.
Wow, I did not know other people out there understood and appreciated 0080 as much as me. That's Bennett for showing me the light, and spreading the good word of this little masterpiece.
Now... Imagine, if you will, an adaptation of this directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Roger Deakens as director of cinematography... Yeah... That is a nice thought to have
Eh...
What do you mean "Eh..."?
If I were to have directed a live-action adaptation, I'd stick closely to it being a product of its time visually (the late 80's.)
I'd use the plot of the OVA as a literal script, only deviating so much as to give a little variance for the big babies that would complain it was "too close" to the anime lol
That's it. I need to check this anime out sometime.
This was such a sad series. I still can't think about it without tearing up.
This is fascinating to watch after SF Debris' look at War in the Pocket. With the difference in perspective you two bring, your takes on this OVA are like night and day.
This is one of my favorite OVA's of all time, certainly my favorite Gundam product. Watching Waltz after seeing this was just painful.
Transformers has a similar problem as war is bad and the good guys the autobots want peace. The war is why cybertron is in such bad shape. But the franchise still keeps going with the war and all so takara and hasbro can sell more toys.
Yet like Gundam they have alternate timelines and universes, so they can continue to produce spin offs and you guessed it make new toys. BTW, in the American G1 continuity, Cybertron is just fine, but not so in the Japanese G1 continuity. Aren't alternate timelines great!
I've long felt that the best way to create this kind of material without seeming contradictory or hypocritical is to focus less on "war is bad" and more on "war is tragic." At least with tragedy, there's still room to acknowledge virtues like courage, nobility, and self-sacrifice, or at the very least, grim necessity.
You want a villainous Autobot? here's Getaway/Breakaway: th-cam.com/video/k3xPuEtSrFA/w-d-xo.html
Part of the problem is that the series is trapped even harder in the 'Good Versus Evil' scenario. The Decepticons are evil, flat-out, regardless of the media. Any good 'Cons leave the faction. Both Megatron and Starscream have had stints as good guys, or at least protagonists, but only when they abandoned their faction. Same story with Beast Wars' Dinobot. Thoroughly noble character, but he's kicked out of the Predacons and is not a bad guy.
And even with the Evil Autobots, it's the Autobots that take them out. Sentinel Prime from Dark of the Moon is killed by Optimus Prime, while Getaway, from the IDW-verse, will probably be killed by Rodimus. At least, I hope so. It's an odd kind of dissonance where it feels like Bad Autobots are kicked out of the Faction.
War doesn't have good guys or bad guys, and while there are soldiers that behave morally better or worse, the reprehensible soldiers are likely to have been pushed far enough where cruelty is their only option. Transformers, by dint of being kid-friendly, will never approach this.
I've always been waiting for a Megatron who isn't truly a bad guy, though he leads the enemy. We get his backstory a lot, but it never feels enough to make up for the crimes he commits. I'd love to see a live-action movie reboot where we follow the Autobots for the majority of the adventure through the eyes of a human character, but the Decepticons kidnap the human only for Megatron to let them go as he expresses genuine regret in how destructive and out of hand the Cybertronian Civil War has become.
Lord Sathien Isn't that basically IDW in a nutshell at this point?
I saw this when I was very young and it left quite an impact on me
Top 10 OVA
7:51-8:07 Thank you; thank you for mention the part about being an audience proxy.
God the last episode made me cry so much
0080 was sooooo good. I remember watching it when it first came out on Toonami, and it was one of the first real "war is shit" messages I ever came across. And since I was only a few years older then Alfred at the time, you can bet it hit HARD.
Loves this as a kid. The totally different perspective just draws you in!
Its Gundam meets Empire of the Sun. Empire of Zeon?
RX78NT-1 - Cadillac of the Sky!!!
I love this series. It was actually my first exposure to Gundam, Seeing the Zaku first arrive at the school and move it's single eye towards the kids, it gave me a love for the grandiose I never knew I had. Also, the ending. OH MY GOODNESS THAT ENDING!
Love this Ova and I'm so glad someone is finally giving it the respect it deserves. Most write off 0080 as a simple side tale, but it's so much more than that. Great video, my brother!
This was shown on toonami a long time ago and I remember being disappointed for it not being a happy ending. I was still a kid but it shocked me how brutal the ending is.
Evangelion "I AM the mecha destruction "
Gundam *Yawn then stretch * Alright let me try... this"
War in the pocket made me cry when I watched it
Love this OVA series and it's one of my favorites in the Gundam series right next to MS Team and Stardust Memory.
While not my favorite Gundam, it is probably the best Gundam ever made.
I know this is a total nonsequitor but does anyone else periodically see JWs hat and get... sad?
I do. I find it so odd I can miss someone I've never met, only watched.
I feel the same. I watched a lot of his videos and found them very enjoyable. He seemed like such a nice guy wish I could have met him.
Oh boy, has this comment aged terribly.
Not anymore lmaooo
Yes... but for entirely different reasons.
I find this funny. I just started this episode and the "ad" that played was an episode of a new Gundam series.
3:15 Damn, Naota hasn't aged since FLCL 1.
Oh yeah, War in the Pocket is a pretty fantastic watch.
Gundam 8th MS Team and 0083 too please one day Sage.
yes 08th MS Team is my favorite of the Gundam series'
Oh yes, please, The 08th MS Team is a must here
But 08 MS team is kind of War in the Pocket without the balls to go all the way with its premise and so it does convoluted bullshit to keep Zeon the "bad guys" and get the couple together. It is one of numerous examples in Gundam of "never let a woman in war because she'll betray her family and nation in a heartbeat for some cock."
0083 at least has the twist that the heroes of it are actually the villains of the second Gundam series.
TheHobgoblyn 8th MS more for the showing of how war was really for the soldiers. These arnt some opertavies with a super gundam. Which even war in the pocket does. This was how the frontlines were. Little supplies and parts. Thus the EZ-8 Gundam. We also do see the most "realistic gundum battle with the gouf and ez-8. It's a show that was for people who wanted frontline stuff. Not the Amoruo/ newtype and specialsuits.
They showed the Federation as fucked up as well. The Federation commander during the last battle agrees to a ceasefire to allow a medical transport to leave and then orders his Sniper GM pilot to shoot it down in mid flight. Sure the ending is happy ending sort but I still love the series to death and it has one of, and my favorite, MS fight in Gundam history with Shiro vs Norris.
The biggest gut punch for me was how pointless the tragic ending was... which only made the ending all the more tragic.
Just in case it's not mentioned, Bernie is voiced by David Hayter (Solid Snake).
i can't believe sage skipped this part, it's how i got most of my friends to watch it
To quote his Castle of Cagliostro review, "SSSSSSSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEEE!"
The Kampfer was such a cool suit, and the Gelgoog Jager was good too. Sadly, I believe this is one of the few times they were ever showcased, and were destroyed quickly. These designs are some of my favorites regardless.
I Remember watching this on Toonami. I Liked 8th MS Team.
Sage, I think the reason why you find War in the Pocket better than Evangelion as a 'deconstruction' (wrong word in both cases, but ah life) of Meccha anime is that the boy is not lost in the throes of self-doubt and internal conflicts -- the boy here BELIEVES in something, and he is going to be shown that his beliefs are simply WRONG. This is almost exactly the opposite of what Evagelion was about (how to build belief in yourself, and how to come to peace with the fact that the world, and other people, are an infinite source of emotional and even physical pain).
What you really dislike, I think, is what you call 'melodrama', i.e. what some people call 'emo shit' -- any kind of internal conflict that has self-doubt, especially the paralyzing kind, as its basis, especially when it is realistic enough to admit that sometimes (many times) the self-doubt wins. (That it eventually didn't win in Evangelion does not diminish the success with which they depicted the situations in which it did win.)
You like people who can overcome their weaknesses, I think, because the internal pain of self-doubt (or what you called 'issues' in the other Gundam review) is damaging to the overall story. You want resolution, not simply "wallowing in self pity". Which means you miss a number of very important aspects of the show -- which is a pity.
If you'll indulge me a parallel -- it's like someone who is really enamored of war, who thinks fighting a war (for your ideals, to save your loved ones, etc.) is a glorious thing, and who therefore doesn't like works of art that depict the extreme cost and the horrors of war. This person may well admit that said costs and horrors are true, but since he thinks war is 'worth it' -- he thinks the costs aren't too high -- any work of art that simply describes said costs and horrors in all details and lets the war, and its resolution ('who won? and how, with what strategies?'), fall into the background or even become unimportant... just irritates him. It 'misses the point', it 'distracts from the real important fact that there's a war going on for REAL REASONS', that 'the good side has to win'! This person would probably belittle War in the Pocket as a 'self-indulgent little piece of imagery in which the actual facts of war are ignored and emphasis is placed on the childish conflicts of a small boy who doesn't understand anything and is therefore not at all interesting.' He wouldn't empathize with the boy, because it would irritate him, just like Jarjar Binks irritates Star Wars fans.
All in all, War in the Pocket and Evangelion did very different (I'd say opposite) things, and they did them very well. Personally, I'd pick Evangelion as the better one, but the topics are so different, it would be OK to me to just say that they are not really comparable.
IDK, Eva I find to be boring in its existentialism, and that it all boils down to a middle finger to fans of mecha by lumping them into the same category. Plus what else was there left of the mecha genre to deconstruct when Ideon did everything Eva had done 15 year earlier?
2:40 - Too late. SFDebris already covered -and spoiled- this for me. But let's dig in Anime Abandon style.
Hello, can you do a review of Barefoot Gen with character reviews? Especially everybody's favorite internet meme star, Eiko!
Yeah, children getting TRAUMATIZED ;)
The gundam way.
Gundam 0080 it's an excellent mini series. 😀👍
I've been looking forward to you reviewing this OVA for years! Glad to see our thoughts are so alike on this subject ;) Awesome way to end the year, that was a fantastic review!
I hope 2018 brings you inspiration and lots of fun times!
Im gonna just state the Gundam Alex has gotta be one of my favorite Gundams, top fav goes to Zeta, then Hi Nu.
I'll check this one out, thanks for the recommendation.
Always have hamburgers at New Years
Oh GOD WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!!??! 😨😰😭
Gasp! It’s on TH-cam!!! I’m gonna watch this on my next day off!
Happy New Year, Sage!!! And thanks, I have been wanting to watch something Gundam related and this review would be the recommendation that I needed to watch this OVA.
I'll buy this at the end of the year.
Only Lacking V,Igloo and MS008. Doing it chronologically and just got to War in the Pocket......oh you are so right on the MONEY! Bittersweet indeed!
I have to say that was an excellent review.
I first watched this when I was 13. To say I was unprepared would be an understatement. Looking at it when I'm a lot older, I can see just why this OVA has a legacy, and the crazy amount of courage to produce a series like this one as the 10th anniversary. It hits home far, far more powerfully than any level of melodrama or character consequence in Zeta Gundam.
Oh hi again CLAMP. At least this time it's not the series that makes a character the son of his own clone. ... I'm not joking with that one.
I just finished watching it. What a bittersweet ending. Like, seriously.
Rg Veda was one of the first anime I ever saw :)
I stopped halfway and went check it out. Then came back.
This was fantastic! Thanks for this recommendation. I loved it.
Alfred reminds me of fonto bow from crossbone gundam ghost