Ah The Earth Sphere, Always At War With Itself…..
The Gundam 00 stuff may be over, but that doesn’t mean that MS Igloo 2 (Aka the U.C Gundam OVA that most people probably don’t even know exists with all the focus that is on Gundam 00 and thus will probably be getting limited blog coverage elsewhere) isn’t getting any coverage here at Anime History. A little backstory may be in order for this OVA so here is a rough summary before we begin with the picture summary. The date is U.C April 27th 0079 and Zeon is well into it’s Earth Campaign. Currently the situation for the Earth Federation is looking hopeless as the seemingly insurmountable war machine that is the Mobile Suit Zaku is ripping the Earth Federations poor outdated excuse for a mechanized war machine to shreds. Earth Federation ground forces are on the retreat everywhere and Zeon is still gaining territory as we are introduced to our hero Ben Barbarry who is not liking the situation at all and is tired of losing to the Zeon. He’s also seemingly plagued by the what appearts to be a personifaction of the of the Spirit of Zeon in the form of a death god who is coming to claim his life. When the time comes to take a stand against the Zeon onslaught will Ben be ready? Now is the time to find out.
Earth Federation Gets It’s Ass Kicked Picture Summary Take 1:
Alas The Federation Salamis’ Could Not Defend The Upper Atmosphere….
And Many Zeon Drop Ships Are Able To Get Through. They’ll Be Getting Payback On The Way Out But For Now It’s Invasion Time
As If To Taunt The The Earth Federation Infantry, This Particular Lander Stops Short Of Crashing Down On Them Only To Fire It’s Retro Rockets And Land Several 100 Meters Away Before Releasing It’s Zaku….As If To Merely Delay The Inevitable
Time To Get The Hell Out Of Dodge
See This EF Troops, This Is Your Enemy, The MS-06 Zaku II. Feel Free To Run In The Opposite Direction Should One Try To Engage You….
The Zeon Haven’t Even Finished The Landing Operation And They’re Already Acting Like They Own The Planet
Even They’re Light Support Vehicles Make The Federation Jeeps Look Like Antiques
And It’s Like This All Over The Globe. Unfortunately For The Earth Federation It’s Time Of Dominating The Earth Sphere Is Over For The Time Being
Even The Quiet Tranquility Of The Rainforest Was Shattered By The Thundering Footsteps Of The Zaku II….
And Losses For The Federation Side Would Only Continue To Mount
Zeon Sets Up It’s Air Patrol With A Pair Of Dopp’s Scouting The Area
But Will There Arrogant Belief In Their Own Superiority Eventually Become Their Downfall?
For Now Though The Spirit Of Zeon Menaces The Earth And It’s People
And She’s Kind Of Creepy….
Sparkle Sparkle………..What?
This Land Is Zeon’s Land Now
But The Fight Contiues Elsewhere With These Brave Men
And As The Sun Set’s On Them They Wonder If Soon They’ll Be Going To Their Graves To Join Their Fallen Comrades
This Man Sits Alone Though, As If To State That He’ll Have No Part In This Continued Losing Streak
His Name Is Ben Barberry And He’s Looking For His Chance To Make A Stand Against The Zeon
Could There Be A Little Disgust In His Eyes For Those Who Won’t Stand And Fight To The Last Breath?
Ben: “BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THIS IS BULLSHIT!”
Racial Stereotype Spotted. This Is Papa Sydney Lewis, Barberry’s Apparent Backman And He Also Happens To Be Voiced By Nobuyuki Hiyama
You Kind Of Get The Sense That Barberry Startles Easily….Then Again If You Almost Got Run Over By A Tank What Would You Do?
Never Forget To Salute Your Superiors
This Freaky Looking Dude Is Michele Corematta Who Appears To Be The C.O Of This Particular Outfit
Corematta: “No, Your Squad Is Actually The One Over There”
Is It Just Me Or Does Barberry Look Unimpressed And Does Corematta Look Like A Total Douche Here?
Stop Freaking Out Already!
More Feddy Stomping For Zeon
Oh Yeah, He Totally Knows He’s Sending Those Men To Their Deaths
I Doubt The Cover Of Night Is Any Sort Of Precaution In This Situation But Hey, Whatever Makes You Feel Safe……
Holy Shit, Barberry’s Totally Tripping!
It’s The Spirit Of Zeon/Death God And She Kind Of Looks Like A Final Fantasy Boss Now
Welcome To Your Doom….
Cool, The Spirit Of Zeon Has An Emo Slice…..Wait….
Barberry: “What The Hell Was That All About?!”
How I Feel When Watching A Kyoani Show Sometimes
And So The Convey Continues Through Verdant Fields….
And Bombed Out Cities….
Until….Wait Something’s Not Right Here
Better Hunker Down And Call For Backup
Well….You’ve Just Run Into Across A Pair Of Rampaging Zaku’s, It Was Nice Knowing You Guys
…..Don’t Tell Me Your Going To Try And Play Hero Now…..
Yep, It Looks Like It’s Ben Barberry To The Rescue
I Love This Particular Shot Of The Zaku II Coming Up Over The Horizon Here. It Just Shows Again The Sheer Size Of A First Universal Century Mobile Suit
What Would You Do If A Zaku Was Chasing You’re Motor Vehicle Down A Dirt Highway?
PWNED!
Look At This Poor Sap…..Yeah He Knows What’s About To Happen
It Can See You Even When You’r Not Moving You Know. By The Way, I Still Love The Flare And Sound Effect Of A Monoeye Focusing To This Day
And The Chase Is On
And The Chase Is Over
Insert Squishy Sound Effect Here
Barberry’s Had Enough
But The Zaku’s Just Getting Started As It Launches A Flare To Call For Backup
A Real Battle Of Man Versus Machine Is About To Begin
Nothing Like A Good Old Missile Barrage
I Like How The Zaku Gets Thrown Off Balance Here Just At The Mere Sight Of A Missile Heading It’s Way
And There Goes The Machine Gun
And Here Comes The Pain
Unfortunately All It Does Is Sever The Power Cables
And Backup Is Already On It’s Way
And That Of Course Means Another Machine Gun Wielding Mobile Suit To Deal With
Man, Zaku B Isn’t Taking Any Of The Federations Bullshit
And Zaku A Despite A Lack Of Weapons Is Perfectly Happy To Toss The Federations Own Vehicles At Them Like Toys
Luckily It Has No Way Of Actually Aiming The Damn Thing So The Feddies Escape Unharmed For Now
Ready, Aim…..
BOOM! You Saw It Here First Folks, The Earth Federation Just Took Down A Mobile Suit On Foot
But Now It’s Zaku B’s Turn To Get Pissed
And Barberry Finally Sees The Mess He’s Gotten Himself Into
The Body Count Is Going Up
And Only Continues To Rise
It’s On Now
Quick Sydney, Confuse The Zaku WIth Your Fancy Jeep Driving Skills
Oh Shit It’s Got Anti-Personnel Weaponary Too?! Man These Zeon Think Of Everything
Say Goodbye To Sidney Lewis
Barberry’s The Only One Left, He Might As Well Make His Last Stand
Leg Rockets Fire!
One Of Those Holy Shit Moments You Hopefully Never Have To Experience In Any Sort Of Way
boom
Well It’s A Good Thing Zaku’s Can’t See Directly Below Themselves
Zaku B’s Pilot Is A Relentless One Right To The End Isn’t He?
The Many Victory Poses Of Ben Barberry
And Also His “You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me!” Face
BRAAAAAAAAGH! ZAKU SMASH!
Unfortunately Unlike The Actual Story Of David And Goliath, Barberry’s Best Wasn’t Quite Enough To Fell The Mighty Zaku
You…..You Can’t Really Be…..
………Well I Guess He Wants To Literally Go Out With A Bang
Is Barberry Shooting At The Zaku Or The Spectre Of Death He Thinks He Sees Ready To Claim Him, Perhaps We’ll Never Know….
YEAAAAAAAH! EMPTY THAT SERVICE PISTOL!
Hmmm… This Isn’t Quite Working Is It?
Leave It To Sunrise To End A Story On Such An Uplifting Note
Unfortunately This Looks Like The Last We’ll Be Seeing Of Our Hero
Thoughts: Well that was depressing. First let me state the obvious in that I found the animation and choreagraphy of this first episode to be absolutely incredible. There’s certain parts of the episode where I could sweart that Ben Barberry was actually a live actor in how detailed his face and gestures and expressions were. The movements of everything was also incredibly fluid and among the most realistic looking CG I’ve ever seen used in an anime. It absolutely puts Gonzo’s efforts with Kurogane No Linebarrel to shame. The music was also extremely fitting for what little of it there was, ranging from haunting to melancholic. Like the first MS Igloo’s OST it has a very military feel to it, but there’s also some piano and violin work as well.
It’s rare that we get to see many war stories, especially Gundam ones, that are viewed from the perspective of the losing side, and like the first MS Igloo where we saw the parts of the war where Zeon was losing form their side, here we see the parts where hte federation was losing from their side. The tone of the OVA as I mentioned is one of sheer hopelessness and doom for the Earth Federation side, with an actual personification of the death and destruction brought by Zeon added to showcase just how low the Federation and Barberry’s morale is at this point. Their war effort is completely outclassed by Zeon’s as this is before the Earth Federation even had the Core Fighter let alone a Mobile Suit to compete with Zeon’s Zaku and as we seem them valiantly try to make their last stand, it’s hard not to cheer when Barberry’s men happen to down that first Zaku with just rockets and sheer grit and determination. Unfortunately like in real life, sometimes that’s not enough and they lose anyway, but the point is that unlike his comrades, Barberry stood his ground right to the very end and I’m hoping that his story will be told to the rest of the EF forces somehow to give them a morale boost in the 2nd OVA.
For what is supposed to be a Gundam OVA I guess it’s kind of funny that the only Mobile Suit we actually see is the Zaku II. Of course this is still months before the Gundam we eventually see it’s first battle on Side 7 so that actually makes perfect sense. Anyway, I really enjoyed this OVA, and it’s great to see some U.C goodness from Sunrise again. If Gundam 00 is not your cup of tea or you find it too unrealistic, I strongly suggest giving MS Igloo a try as it might just be up your alley. For now here’s the ending sequence/theme since I would be neglecting my duties not to include a video of it.
MS Igloo 2 Ending ~ Mr. Lonely Heart
Rating: Ten Out Of Ten
Wow. Just…
WHY HAVE I NEVER HEARD OF THIS?!? :O
I didn’t enjoy the previous MS Igloo save for the fist and last episodes which were really awesome. This ep might even be better! I’m really excited about this now.
@Chris: Probably becuase it’s had an insanely low profile and release compared to Gundam 00.
@ghostlightning: It looks like it’s going to have the same vignette style that the first series had, only without a recurring character so if you didn’t like the first one then unfortunately I might have to say that you may not like the second one either. MS Igloo is best described as for the hardcore Gundam fan and probably requires a fair bit of background knowledge of the One Year War era of Gundam to get the maximum enjoyment out of it. For me though it was the OVA of the year that I’ve seen thus far.
Dun dun dun duuuun. Eagerly waiting for part two, though I really have to wonder if regional DVDs will be released for this…
Glad that someone’s finally written up something about this low profile series before I have decided to. I haven’t gone much into UC stuff, but as I’m into military hardware, I knew I would like this kind of series. However I’m not sure how many people will appreciate this sort of series as they’re unsung heroes and nobody would remember these ‘mere grunts’. It is also likely that the next two episodes will have the characters following the similar fate given how the previous series has ended (or so I’ve heard).
Damn, I was hoping he’d find a way to down the third Zaku… somehow. Quite reminiscent of Shiro’s rocket launcher ambush in 08th- which asks the question: with the ruins and range of the anti-MS rocket, wouldn’t it be a better option to take on the Zaku’s in close quarter, where their mobility would be limited and there won’t be as much time to react to the attack?
It’s great that they’re continuing the series. Despite the switch of sides, I was hoping to see some experimental Federation attack vehicle of some sort. Instead, we get an upgraded rocket launcher… I wonder how huge the odds would be in the next episode.
@Andrew: If you saw the vid, then you would know that the mobile suits had anti-personnel weapons which obliterates any person without much thought. In fact, that’s quite ingenius, considering that the zaku is a hulk.
My take on this episode is that there are TWO Zakus. The second one that falls into a ditch is not put out of action by a Regina missile. It comes up at the end and Babula treats it as if it were the 3rd. My two cents.
Nice read really. I loved it. Also, it’s far from the first time we’ve seen MS with Anti-personnel. Commander Topp used it in The 08th MS Team. Also though, a real world parallel is that in WWII up to today some tanks have been fittied with AP mines on their outer hulls with detonation triggers inside, so if the enemy get too close, just cleanse your sides. The end of this episode reminds me of Saving Private Ryan as well….when Tom Hanks is firing his M1911 .45 caliber pistol at a Tiger tank xP Except in this case he’s firing a 9mm at a Mobile suit. Ironically, both firearms are manufactured by Colt. Roflmao. (Yes, many sources indicate Colt Firearms Company will survive into the UC Era and supply the EFGF with rifles and handguns, while a Company called H&L will supply Zeon small arms and MS arms. Although it could be typo and the company is actually H&K. K and L are awfully close on the keyboard…)
Eitherway, good ending to this episode. It may be depressing, but it’s dramatic and realistic.