217 | Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky

About this episode

The episode discusses Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, focusing on its narrative and themes compared to previous Gundam entries.

Ya like jazz? Marcus's third Mobile Suit Gundam entry continues the gang's discussion on the Universal Century and the One Year War, with a grittier, more self-contained narrative than what we discussed in our episode on Unicorn. Musically unique and visually stunning, Thunderbolt gets our praise primarily because it feels less focused on the minutia of Mobile Suit Gundam and more focused on being a war movie: it hits a lot harder this time around thanks to its adult main characters, more terrifying and dramatic combat, and more mature war-centric themes like drug abuse or child soldiers. It's not a winner for everyone—Iris might have thrown in the towel on Gundam as a whole this episode—but the gang has a lot of praise for this short, two-sided ballad where nobody wins in the end. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

People in this episode

Hosts: Alex, Michael

Topics covered

• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Universal Century
• One Year War
• war movie
• mature themes
• animation

Keywords

• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Thunderbolt
• Universal Century
• One Year War
• war movie
• animation
• drug abuse
• child soldiers

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky, Unicorn

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