機動戦士ガンダム0080 ポケットの中の戦争 (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket). As expected from a UC Gundam series, this 1989 OVA stands up to time and still leaves an impression.

I haven't seen very many Gundam, but War in the Pocket struck me as a unique work. Not only was the protagonist an 11-year-old civilian and remained a non-combatant at the end, but the battles also occurred in a peaceful neutral colony where the residents mainly view wars as gossips materials. Despite the casualties and destruction caused by the Cyclops Squad in an attempt to seize/destroy Gundam NT-1, most of the people of Side 6 went on business as usual when the One Year War ended and didn't give it much thought.

Except for Al, who experienced first hand the tragedy of war and what it could bring. I think it's fair to say that War in the Pocket is a story of maturity through the coldness of war. It was Al in War in the Pocket, but it could as well be anyone.

To be frank, I didn't like Al at all in the beginning and found him to be a brat at first. Loud, nosy, self-centred, eager to prove himself, complete with a hero worship mentality. Through that fateful night of the attack, the lies and burst bubbles revealed by Bernie, and lastly the final strikes by the Zaku and the Gundam, the boy was forced to grow up and shoulder the consciousness of the cost of peace which was too heavy for his young mind.

While it's not uncommon to have people from opposing sides being attracting to each other, I think this is the first time I've seen it ended like it did here. Without knowing the truth of the final battle, that the colony would be nuked if the Gundam isn't destroyed and that the battleship equipped with the nuclear warhead was apprehended, both stood their grounds and threaded down the path they believed in. And at the end, neither knew the identity of each other. It's tragic that Bernie died in battle when there was no longer need for him to fight, but I think the irony only served to emphasize the cruelty of war.

Due to the age of this thing, I wasn't expect to recognize any seiyuu, but I managed to pinpoint 林原めぐみ(Hayashibara Megumi) and 秋元羊介(Akimoto Yousuke). I was suspicious of Bernie's seiyuu, but I'm not familiar with 辻谷耕史(Tsujitani Kouji)'s younger voice so I missed it. The biggest shock was when I saw 浪川大輔(Namikawa Daisuke)'s name in the credit as the CV of Al. After learning that Shinji from Evangelion was voiced by Ogata Megumi, I was convinced that all young boys were voiced by female seiyuus, and I thought it's the same for Al. I'd have never guessed. It's not even similar to Eigetsu's voice, which is the youngest I've heard Namikawa-san so far! That's really something.

On a last note, it may be just me, but I find 美樹本晴彦(Mikimoto Haruhiko) and 安彦良和(Yasuhiko Yoshikazu)'s character designs to be much better suited for a Gundam series than all the post-2000 ones. But who am I to talk? I haven't seen enough Gundam...

Next Gundam series on schedule: Gundam 00. Probably won't be able to finish it before the 2nd season airs, but I'll see where I can get.