Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

Watching this series, which was released online over the past year (and only counts 4 episodes that are each about 20 minutes long) immediately after finishing the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam was just amazing. It takes place in the same year as that original series (the year 0079, during the one year war), and so you get to see the world you were introduced to with crap 70s era animation, but here, through the lens of beautiful slick modern animation and designs, and I was just blown away. The space battles that take place between the Gundam and Zaku suits are simply breathtaking, and the fact that the soundtrack uses a lot of jazz throughout (it’s the obsession of one of the characters) adds so much to the mix, bringing back memories of Cowboy Bebop. The story itself, although on the short site, is quite interesting as well, and so we get to see a very different – and darker – take on the 0079 war. I can’t recommend this enough, especially if you’re into “Universal Century” Gundam.