Movie Digest
The plot follows Hathaway Noa, now known as Mafty Navue Erin, as he forms a terrorist organization to combat the Earth Federation’s injustices. The novel was remarkable since it was Tomino’s only semi-canonical Gundam production.
The Feel-Good Part
The artwork is fantastic. Davao is a lovely city that has a distinct Philippine feel to it. The mobile outfits are immaculate. The Penelope is occasionally rendered in CG, although it is always quite clean. The figures walk around like real people, not 2D anime cartoon characters with large eyes.
The Battle of Davao was the most gorgeous section of the film. The fight takes place in the midst of the movie, not at the end. Davao’s night fighting and wreckage were breathtaking. The Messer’s landing in the middle of a coconut grove will live long in the memory.
The Disappointing Factor
When their background is crucial, it’s disappointing that most of the supporting characters don’t get the same attention as the main ones. Hathaway has the sense of a big picture. From the graphic budget to the names connected, everything is in place. However, it is limited in its ability to fully adapt the work. The action, which resembles John Wick’s operator gunplay, also feels out of place. The CGI operates some of the time, but not all of the time.
In-Depth Analysis
The 105th year of the Universal Century sees an era of hard-won but brief peace thanks to the sacrifice of war heroes like Amuro Ray. The Earth Federation maintains a military presence on the planet and its satellite colonies. Despite the failure of Char Aznable’s uprising against the inattentive Federation, his revolutionary ideology of full freedom for all human beings continues on. Despite being the son of a distinguished Federation commander, Hathaway Noa exemplifies both soldier Amuro Ray’s unwavering loyalty and rebel leader Char Aznable’s aggressive fire. Hathaway, haunted by flashbacks of Char’s Rebellion, leads Mafty, a renegade faction of his own. He assumes the alias “Mafty Navue Erin” and performs acts of violence in defiance of the Federation’s rising dictatorship.
Hathaway’s hidden identity is revealed by a young woman named Gigi Andalucia after averting a hostile seizure of a plane by a terrorist gang falsely claiming to be Mafty. Hathaway meets both Gigi and Federation colonel Kenneth Sleg, but his double existence puts them in risk as the Mafty-Federation violent confrontation reaches a head.
Star Power
Mafty and Hathaway are depicted as flawed activists with lofty goals who genuinely want to change the world for the better. However, such lofty goals are unlikely to help ordinary people like those seen in Davao who simply want to go about their daily lives of catching fish in the sea or driving taxis for a living. Mafty, on the other hand, is preparing to force all humanity to relocate to space, which will obliterate their daily existence. Colonel Keins is Hathaway’s polar opposite. He is a commoner who appears to be grateful to the Federation for providing him with a comfortable existence in exchange for his service in the Federation military. He will go to any length to find Mafty, including employing torture.
Overall Opinion
This is the ideal Gundam film. Except for the Mobile Suits, New Types, and Minovsky particles, Gundam Hathaway is the most scientifically accurate Gundam anime to date. I would recommend this film to those who have a longer attention span and appreciate nuanced ethics, in which we could see the errors in various nationalistic policies and terrorism while yet empathising with why someone may believe in them.
