Anime Film Review: Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative
English Title: Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative
Japanese Title: 機動戦士ガンダムNT (ナラティブ)
Director(s): Yoshizawa Toshikazu
Screenwriter(s): Fukui Harutoshi
Studio: Sunrise
Released: 2018
Series Runtime: 1h 29m
Starring: Enoki Junya, Muranaka Tomo, Matsuura Ayu, Umehara Yuuichirou
This film is based on the eleventh and last novel of the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn novel series, Phoenix Hunting (不死鳥狩り) by Fukui Harutoshi, first published in 2016.
Set in 0097 UC—about eighteen years after the One Year War in the original series (1979) and one year after the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 series (2010)—the premise is that the third Unicorn mobile suit, the Phenex, has reappeared after disappearing a few years ago. The first two units, RX-0 Unicorn Gundam and RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee, have supposedly been dismantled.
The plot follows childhood friends Jona and Michele; along with Rita, they are known as “Miracle Children”, presumably Newtypes with precognition. Michele is the adopted daughter of the family who owns Luio & Co. whilst Jona is a Federation mobile suit pilot.
Luio & Co., with Michele running the operation and Jona piloting the specialized mobile suit RX-9 Narrative Gundam, is assisting the Federation in capturing the Phenex. Michele’s motivation is partly because Rita is the pilot for the Phenex.
It is not absolutely necessary to have seen Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096 and the narrative does well at explaining the significance of the Psycho-Frame used in these Unicorn units without clumsily reliving the entire series.
The “present” is broken up by flashbacks of the three childhood friends. These provide the necessary background to the characters as well as the current situation. The progression is typical of the Gundam franchise: the military (kinetic) conflict between the Federation and Zeon elements escalates to something big and potentially cataclysmic, as well as hints of internal political squabbles, albeit superficial.
Setting aside that there is nothing particularly spectacular about the film, the main weakness is that the flashbacks, whilst necessary, do not have sufficient emotional resonance. Intellectually, the viewer knows the three friends were close and that both Michele and Rita are important to Jona, the main viewpoint character. Emotionally, however, this doesn’t hit until the end, which is better than nothing, but it is too late.
Visually, the production is generally excellent as one would expect. The rendering is very polished. There are a few shots in which the main characters are too different, where the graduations are insufficient. This is common but avoidable. The other problem is that some of the action is too fast. Again, this may be common in the franchise but the Unicorn RE:0096 series is generally not too bad in this regard so not sure why this film went on that.
The music composed by Sawano Hiroyuki is similar to Unicorn RE:0096 with his trademark mix of orchestral, synth and rock elements. It could be just the mix but it is not as grand or memorable as the series. The song “Narrative” sung by LiSA is rock-pop whilst “Cage (NTv)” sung by Tielle is sparse with the use of keys and chorus guitar, creating a nice ethereal and melancholic feel.
On balance, the film is more of the same, which is fine in itself, but the emotional resonance for the main characters and their relationships is insufficient.
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