Mike's Top Fifteen Favorite Fights In Gundam!

 

Gundam is a franchise that features deep philosophical and ideological themes about the nature of war and humanity's capacity for understanding one another.

Also, it has giant robots hitting each other in pretty animation and that's what this list is about!  The philosophical and ideological stuff is merely a bonus that elevate certain choices here, but these are the fights across various iterations of the franchise that have steadfastly stuck with me.

First off, an honorable mention!

HONORABLE MENTION-  Garrod Ran VS Demar Griffe
(Gundam X episode 26- "Don't Say Anything")

Garrod Can (Not) Advance

Gundam X isn’t a series known for its epic battles, but I wanted to represent it somehow and this is a skirmish that stood out to me.  The villainous Frost Brothers recruit a number of ace pilots to attack main character Garrod Ran and his Gundam Double X one at a time, and the first among these is the deranged Demar Griffe.  Given the EXTREMELY light-weight Correl mobile suit to do so, Demar manages to run circles around the Double X using the Correl’s high agility.

Armed with only a beam knife, the Correl cuts off the Double X’s left arm, slashes up its chest, and stabs the Gundam’s backpack.  Garrod is nearly killed until he manages to block a final stab at his cockpit with his beam rifle, which explodes and knocks Demar and the Correl on their asses.  

Never one to pass up a cheap win, Garrod then utterly shreds the Correl (and Demar) with the Double X’s vulcan and machine guns.  The Correl is so under-armored that it buckles completely under this barrage, making it one of, if not the ONLY non-grunt mobile suits to die from what are traditionally considered a Gundam’s weakest weapons.

A Vulcan Salute

The Correl’s a cool-looking suit and its swift movements are well-captured by the animation.  A more amusing reason I like this fight is a bit meta.  Gundam X is infamous for being crushed in the ratings when it originally aired on television in Japan by the then newly-popular Evangelion.  Perhaps even more embarrassing is the fact that Evangelion had already wrapped-up its run by the time Gundam X started airing, so it was losing to Evangelion REPEATS.

The Frost Brothers were like "Get in the robot, Griffey"

The Correl, with its slim, lanky design and use of a knife as its main melee weapon, certainly reminds one of an Eva Unit, doesn’t it?  I doubt it was intentional, but at least Garrod was exacting some kind of proxy payback on Evangelion by destroying the Correl so viciously.

15.  Kira Yamato VS Rau Le Creuset
(Gundam Seed final episode- “To A Future That Never Ends”)

Freedom Fries

Some people might prefer Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala’s epic clash that takes place midway through Gundam Seed, and it certainly carries more emotional baggage between two characters who are best friends.  I however, think Seed (and the Cosmic Era fiction in general) is better when it keeps things simple and straightforward.  Good Guy versus Bad Guy and that’s what you get with this final battle of the series, as Kira Yamato and his Freedom Gundam takes on card-carrying masked bad guy Rau Le Creuset in his brand-new Providence Gundam.

Not to say this fight doesn’t have emotional stakes either, as Rau kills Kira’s Girlfriend # 1 Fllay Allster in the middle of it and then tries to kill Girlfriend # 2 Lacus Clyne soon thereafter.  It’s just that Kira and Rau’s actual (and standard) Gundam verbal back-and-forth during the fight amounts to Rau reiterating a single basic point over and over and Kira responding “NUH-UH!!!” in various ways over and over.  It’s not the deepest philosophical argument between Gundam rivals, at that.

House of DRAGOONS

Thankfully this fight is blessed with great animation, a breakneck pace that never lets up for the entire episode, and a killer score.  The Providence’s remote “DRAGOON” weapons whittle down the Freedom’s attached “METEOR” unit with their constant firing and box Kira in multiple times.  Kira even has to pull some Jedi tricks with the Freedom’s beam sabers and slap DRAGOON shots away.  

The piece of score that plays during the early part of the fight while Rau is at his DRAGOON spam-iest seems perfectly matched to the frantic and overwhelming movements of those remote weapons as they dart through space and hound the Freedom.  Just listen to it here-

As the fight winds to a close, Kira engages his plot armor and just steamrolls through the Providence’s remaining weapons-fire, impaling the enemy Gundam (and Rau himself) through the cockpit with the Freedom’s double-sided beam saber.  This happens right in front of the space super-weapon GENESIS, which is about to fire and Kira barely manages to escape as Rau is consumed by a massive blast and dies with an unhinged smile on his face.  Pretty epic way to go out and a suitably dramatic finish to this fight.  

Make sure to watch it in Japanese, as Kira and Rau’s voice actors both give their all throughout and really scream themselves hoarse.  For bonus points, this fight also has the tangentially-connected moment of Yzak Joule’s epic kill of the Raider Gundam in the middle of it too-

LOVE LOVE HYPER-IMPULSE SNIPER RIFLE!

14.  Io Fleming VS Daryl Lorenz
(Gundam Thunderbolt episode 4)

They went all Jojo.

In a corner of space called the Thunderbolt Sector, a private little war takes place between a sect of the Earth Federation called the Moore Brotherhood and a specialized Zeon unit known as the Living Dead Division.  This is the setup of the first manga arc and first four episodes of Gundam Thunderbolt and it’s fairly self-contained even though the anime continues on for an additional four episodes and the manga… is STILL in progress to this day.  

“Thunderbolt” is basically Gundam “But-What-If-MOAR-EDGE???”  It leans into the ugly side of war moreso than virtually any other Gundam series (and that’s saying something, really) and is just filled with nasty, terrible people and horrific acts.

“Thunderbolt” succeeds largely through pure style- visually, viscerally, and above all else… musically.  I’m not actually much of a fan of jazz or blues, but both musical styles are baked into this series and melded into its fabric so skillfully that it’s impossible to ignore and not appreciate.  This climactic duel between dual protagonists Io Fleming and Daryl Lorenz is so very memorable because of its score and how Io’s love of jazz and Daryl’s affinity for blues clash as much as the actual characters do.  It doesn’t hurt that the animation is absolutely gorgeous throughout either.

0079 but Amuro and Char are modding

The Full Armor Gundam and the Psycho Zaku are both just swollen with weapons and thrusters, which both characters expend and shed as the battle drags on.  The bulk of it takes place inside a destroyed and breached space colony, allowing for both zero-g and urban combat at the same time.  Even though Io and Daryl have never truly met face-to-face, their absolute hatred for each other is evident with every shot they take.  I like how luck plays such a big role in this engagement too, as the unstable environment of the colony as well as the larger Thunderbolt Sector itself serves to give both men an advantage or disadvantage at times.

Gundam Thunderbolt’s manga has been going on for so long and taken on such a life of its own that many fans don’t even consider it Universal Century canon any longer.  Admittedly, the mobile suit technology displayed in this very episode does feel a little advanced for the One Year War era.  Still, canon concerns aside, this fight is one of the best Gundam animation has to offer, even if it’s low on my own personal list here.

13.  Asemu Asuno VS Zeheart Galette
(Gundam Age: Memory of Eden) 

Martian vs. Pirate

Gundam Age has sort of a bad reputation among fans, whether the target of people’s ire is the more “cartoon-y” character and mecha designs or the haphazard plotting of the anime.  The adapted plot of the anime was originally intended for a video game, which was released during Age’s run on television, so that sort of explains the “start-and-stop” nature of it to some degree.  

Most fans will agree though, that the strongest part of Age’s story was the relationship between the second protagonist Asemu Asuno and his rival Zeheart Galette.  This classic “best friends forced to become enemies” trope was mined for most of the best drama in the series and it’s no surprise that Age’s later compilation movie “Memory of Eden” chooses to focus squarely on it.

“Memory” adds an expanded final fight between Asemu and Zeheart in their customized Gundams that was sorely lacking in the actual series.  Asemu’s pirate-themed Age-2 “Dark Hound” and Zeheart’s Gundam Legilis (recolored from its less-distinct scheme in the show to a more worthy Char-clone red) get to go at it longer and more viciously than they did in the show.  After sacrificing his own troops and the girl he loved in pursuit of victory, Zeheart is deluding himself into thinking he needs to stay the course, only for Asemu to do what Gundam friends do and “correct” his friend with his fist. 

BAKAYAROOOOOO

I’ve always had an affinity for fictional battles between former best friends and I can’t help but think of the brawls Peter Parker and Harry Osborn used to have in Spider-Man comics.  There’s something really personal and viscerally unpleasant in that concept- that true friends can potentially hurt you worse than enemies if things go sour.  

I’m also reminded of a scene from a Green Lantern comic, where Hal Jordan asks his former mentor and current arch-nemesis Sinestro if they were ever really friends, and Sinestro responds “That’s the tragedy of it, we’ll ALWAYS be friends.”  The tragedy of Asemu and Zeheart is certainly played out explicitly in their final scene, as they make peace and Zeheart dies after pushing Asemu away from the defeated and exploding Legilis.

It’s really easy to see why the series version of Asemu and Zeheart’s final confrontation is so unsatisfying when you compare it with the version seen in “Memory of Eden”.  Zeheart just rolls up on his enemies, doesn’t even attack Asemu first, his resolve is cracked after about a SINGLE sentence from his bestie and he then gets curb-stomped easily.  The movie version lends the appropriate weight to their relationship and battle and one almost wishes that the series could have focused entirely on these two.

12.  Team BUILD DiVERS VS Alus
(Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise episode 25- “To the Tomorrow I Envision”)

OUT OF OUR WAY GUNDAM X REFERENCE

The Build series of anime walk a fine line of selling wacky Gunpla to fans while actually telling good stories around that chief marketing goal.  The first Build Fighters series managed to do it admirably, while its sequel Build Fighters Try suffered a bit in the story department.  The first Build Divers series only managed to grab onto some compelling storytelling with its final arc of episodes, leaving some fans a bit wary of its sequel Re:Rise.  Thankfully, Re:Rise regained the perfect balance that the original Build Fighters had, selling its product and also telling a great story with likable, well-developed characters.

Re:Rise might have the highest stakes of any of the Build series, with literal life-and-death battles taking place in the digital world meant for battling plastic models.  The “NPCs” that populate the world of GBN (Gunpla Battle Nexus) are sentient (if digital) beings and can die like anyone in “real” life.  

Without getting into TOO much context, our main characters end up fighting an ongoing battle against Alus, a rogue AI that has been corrupted into trying to destroy GBN.  In the final fight, our main protagonist Hiroto Kuga and his teammates confront Alus and reveal their trump card… their individual Gunpla can all COMBINE!

Energon, It Is The Sun

The Re:Rising Gundam debuts with an awesome “GATTAI!” sequence that finishes with it conjuring a miniature SUN in its hands JUST TO POSE in front of!  This was a complete surprise to me and many viewers the first time around and is a great moment in a great series.  There actually isn’t much of a fight after this, as the Re:Rising proceeds to one-punch Alus’ sole remaining guardian Gunpla, then engage in a beam struggle with the AI’s main fortress.  

All of this happens as Re:Rise’s second (and best) opening theme “HATENA” is blasting in the background.  Simultaneously, these scenes are inter-spliced with Hiroto’s would-be girlfriend Hinata participating in a shrine maiden bow ceremony in the real world. It’s only symbolically-related to the Gunpla-goings-on in GBN but you’re still goddamn invested in it too thanks to how well-developed and likable this cast of characters are.       

The lead-up battle to the combination sequence is pretty great as well, with all the main characters showcasing how far they’ve come in combat skills and emotional maturity.  Alus manages to survive losing the beam struggle and there’s ANOTHER final battle in the following episode, but this scene is what many people think of when they think of Re:Rise as a series.  Maybe it’s more of a “moment” than an actual fight, but it’s still earned, emotional, and epic.

11.  Sei Iori and Reiji VS Ricardo Fellini
(Gundam Build Fighters episode 15- “Fighter’s Radiance”

The final battle between Italy and Japan over who loves Super Mario more

Following up last entry, we have another in the Build series, and this one is an actual proper fist of a fight!  Main characters Sei Iori and Reiji are in danger of being eliminated from the Gunpla tournament they’re participating in after some foul play interference in their last match.  They can’t lose their next match or they’ll fall out of the top 16 bracket of competitors.  Unfortunately, their opponent is Ricardo Fellini and his Wing Gundam Fenice, one of the best in the world and a de facto mentor to both Sei and Reiji.  

Fellini is presented with the knowledge that if he just loses this match on purpose, Sei and Reiji will qualify and he won’t lose his spot either.  He could just let them win without consequence to himself and perhaps have a match with them later in the finals.  While Fellini initially stews over this fact, he ultimately decides he wants a fair and unrestrained match with Sei and Reiji, as they’ve shown so much progress and potential over the course of the tournament.

The match begins and Fellini goes at them with 100%, quickly putting the protagonist duo on the defensive.  After some exchanges of fire and Sei pulling some Amuro Ray trap moves on Fellini, the two Gunpla are damaged severely and reduced to melee weapons.  Fellini has some heartfelt memories about his prized Wing Fenice and even apologizes to his own Gunpla- (“Does it hurt, Fenice?  I’m sorry, partner.  I didn’t build you to display on a shelf, I built you to WIN!”)  

Meanwhile, Sei decides to let Reiji reveal the Star Build Strike’s trump card- the RG System.  He’s realizes that even if this is still only the first hurdle they need to clear in the finals, Fellini won’t be beaten by anything less than their best.  The two Gunpla slug it out in close range, incurring massive damage.

I didn't hear no bell

They finally clench up and slump against each other, and the match is decided as a draw, meaning Rei and Seiji aren’t eliminated.  The audience has been struck silent by such an intense clash of wills until some guy begins a slow clap and everyone applauds the result.  Fellini and Sei’s respective love interests are left in tears at the manly display of competition.  Sei and Reiji’s chief rival Meijin Kawaguchi strides away from observing the match with a smile that someone bears after they’ve just witnessed the sickest shit ever.  

There are more great fights in Build Fighters after this, but this is the one that always stands out to me for being both a great fight and a great moment for all characters involved.  It’s just all-around an emotional, rugged affair that leaves nothing on the table and leaves you as exhilarated as the fictional audience watching it unfold.

10.  Mikazuki Augus VS Hashmal
(Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans episode # 38- “Hunter of Angels”)

RULES OF NATURE!

The primary backstory of the world of Iron-Blooded Orphans centers on an event called “The Calamity War”, which occurred 300 years prior to the series’ start.  A horde of giant rogue AI mobile armors was loosed on humanity, devastating the world’s population.  The Gundam Frames were created to fight those mobile armors and eventually emerged victorious.  

In the present day, the remaining Gundam Frames are prized as valuable weapons and regarded as legendary throwbacks from the era of the Calamity War.  When one of those marauding mobile armors- the Hashmal, is accidentally reawakened, the members of the private military organization Tekkadan find themselves facing off with this ancient horror.

Tekkadan’s leader Orga Itsuka is hesitant to let his best bro (and our main Gundam pilot of the series) Mikazuki Augus to face the Hashmal.  Connected via the invasive “Alaya-Vijnana” system to the Barbatos, Mika has such a level of synchronicity with the Barbatos that damage it suffers can potentially be transferred to his own nervous system.  After all other attempts to halt the Hashmal’s advance towards population centers fail, Mika finally tells Orga that he’ll handle it no matter the cost to his own health.  

Mika faces off with the Hashmal, and with a Gundam’s natural enemy in front of it, Mikazuki declares he’ll “remove the bothersome chains” from the Barbatos.  Overclocking the Alaya-Vijnana system, Mika and the Barbatos proceed to attack the Hashmal ferociously.  Jagged red energy trails spill from the Gundam’s optics and blood leaks from Mikazuki’s eye as they work in unison to destroy the mobile armor.

Barbatos doesn't need grappling hooks like those Attack On Titan wusses

The onlookers to this display of violence are shocked into inaction, witnesses to a combat that hasn’t been seen in 300 years.  A Gundam versus a mobile armor may as well be a knight versus a dragon to them.  It’s the stuff of legend, and the animation, sound design and score of this episode make sure the viewer knows that.  The “tire screech” sound effect of the Barbatos sliding under the Hashmal’s legs is particularly memorable.  

The cinematography of this fight also bears special mention, with some great camera angles and frantic cuts that still never make you confused as to what is happening, even as the actual characters in the show are unable to follow it.  I love the POV shot of the Barbatos’ arm cannon rotating around to fire at point-blank range in particular.

In yer eye, Robot Guy!

Mikazuki and the Barbatos eventually defeat the Hashmal, but at great personal cost, leaving Mika’s right side completely paralyzed.  In continuing to pilot the Gundam, he’s basically having to trade parts of himself to a demon for more power, adding to the underlying mythical feeling of this fight.  An overarching theme of Iron-Blooded Orphans was always showcasing the cost of obtaining more power for one’s self and nowhere is it more evident than in this battle.

9.  Shinn Asuka VS Black Knights
(Gundam Seed Freedom)

Griffin stop or I'll tell Stella!

Shinn Asuka, the would-be main protagonist of Gundam Seed Destiny, was done dirty.  For reasons only truly known to the creative staff of Seed Destiny, his character began a downward spiral shortly before the midpoint of that series and never pulled out of it.  He ended up crying in the dirt, defeated by the main characters of the previous series after serving as an unquestioning attack dog and pawn of the main antagonist of the show.  

It wasn’t even like Anakin Skywalker, where there was some element of Shakespearean tragedy to his fall that viewers could find some measure of pathos in.  Nope, Shinn just gets stomped after having the massive potential he displayed earlier in the series completely squandered.  Fortunately, Shinn got a second chance when Gundam Seed Freedom, the “reunion movie” of this corner of the Gundam metaverse, was released some twenty years after Seed Destiny’s end.  Everyone loves a redemption story, and Seed Freedom is Shinn’s, as the movie does wonders for his reputation.  

Shinn still takes his initial licks from the movie’s antagonists, the mind-reading enhanced humans known as the Black Knights.  He’s bested in a practice sword duel by one of them and his new Immortal Justice Gundam is handily thrashed by another at the midpoint of the movie.  For the final battle, Shinn is reunited with his signature Destiny Gundam (now slightly refurbished as Destiny “Spec-II”), and takes on four of the Black Knights’ mobile suits at once.  

Despite the Destiny being outdated in terms of technology, Shinn successfully engages all four superior opponents WITHOUT TAKING A HIT.  The psychic Black Knights can’t even read his mind initially, whether it is because he’s operating on instinct or Shinn is just that plain dense.  At one point he breaks away from his foes to go and remotely recharge his gal pal Lunamaria Hawke’s Impulse Gundam with the Destiny’s own regenerating deuterion reactor.  That right; Shinn is so in control of this fight that he has time to literally hook up with his girlfriend in the middle of it.

It's a Deuty call

Unable to pin the Destiny down due to its “Wings of Light”, which provide unmatched maneuverability, the four Black Knights decide to play dirty and use their combined mental powers to drag out Shinn’s inner darkness and fill him with despair.  This backfires since Shinn’s an utter angst bank, and the Black Knights are terrorized by the memory of his deceased former love interest Stella Lucier, who manifests as a giant demonic monster in Shinn’s psyche.  

Shinn then reveals the Destiny’s new gimmick- the ability to manifest holographic duplicates of itself and floods the battlefield with them.  They allow Shinn’s wingperson Hilda Harken to sneak up on one of the Black Knights behind a Destiny duplicate and cut her down, in homage to the classic “Jet Stream Attack” from the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime.  

Psychically-linked to their fallen comrade, the remaining three Black Knights can only blubber in panic as Shinn executes a rapid triple-kill on them.  Running through nearly his entire arsenal of weapons in one go, Shinn kills the remaining Black Knights so swiftly it looks like the Destiny was in three places at once.  Then just to style on them, he ends with a goddamn Seed Destiny Blu-ray cover pose.

Shinn Goku Satsu

MESSATSU

This fight is exhilarating to watch and almost completely walks back Shinn’s pathetic performance at the end of Seed Destiny.  It doesn’t hurt that “Meteor” by T.M. Revolution, the Seed series anthem for when epicness is occurring, is blasting in the background during Shinn’s final killspree.  Not surprisingly, Destiny Gundam model kit sales in Japan skyrocketed after Gundam Seed Freedom was released in theaters.  

For fans of the character, this was finally “justice for Shinn”.  No, wait… not “Justice” for Shinn… more like, this was Shinn’s DESTINY.  Yeah, that’s what he’d prefer for sure.

8.  Marida Cruz VS Jegans
(Gundam Unicorn episode # 1- “Day of the Unicorn”) 

Attack of the Drones

A lot of the fights on this list are pivotal or climactic battles, but here’s the VERY FIRST mobile suit combat we see in Gundam Unicorn.  Chased by the anti-terrorist organization Londo Bell through space, the Neo Zeon remnant faction known as the “Sleeves” have to fend off a trio of Jegans that bear down on their ship, the Garancieres.  The crew’s ace pilot Marida Cruz launches in her Kshatriya to deter the pursuers and easily dispatches the first two Jegans with her remote “funnel” weapons.  

However, the leader of the Londo Bell squad, piloting an enhanced “Stark” Jegan, is not as much of a pushover.  He keeps Marida on the defensive and sacrifices his Jegan’s extra armor to push through the funnel barrage, engaging the Kshatriya at close range.  The two suits clash with beam sabers before Marida finally creates an opening using the Kshatriya’s impressive array of thrusters and slices the Stark Jegan in two.

The main reason this brief and seemingly minor skirmish is on this list is because of the production values of it and what it meant going forward for Gundam Unicorn.  Originally a series of novels, Unicorn had a lot of money put into its animated adaptation and they certainly were going to show that off as often as possible.  The animation is beautiful, the direction is captivating, and the score is thrilling.  

There is so much detail and nuance put into this battle that serves very little plot purpose other than to introduce us to the crew of the Garancieres and Marida Cruz in particular.  From the beautifully-detailed interior shots of both the Kshatriya and the Jegan’s cockpits to the attention given to the setting in which they duel, everything looks amazing.  After watching this scene for the first time, I was completely sold on Unicorn as a series in terms of action at the very least.

Sometimes you just gotta go ham on that cheese

I really appreciate the fact that even though the battle is framed as a main character (Marida) fighting a few expendable grunts, the unnamed (and barely-seen) Stark Jegan pilot still makes an impression with his combat skills and determination.  He even waits until the sun is at his back to obscure Marida’s vision before his final attack.  If Marida wasn’t piloting a far superior machine (and she herself wasn’t literally bred for combat), the poor guy might have actually done some real damage.  

In whatever case, this was only a taste of great things to come from Gundam Unicorn in terms of animation direction and detail.  It certainly helped the Kshatriya become my favorite mobile suit design from the series, along with Marida being my favorite character from Unicorn as well.

7.  Bernie Wiseman VS Christina Mackenzie
(Gundam 0080 episode # 6- “War in the Pocket”)

Bernie's getting tenderized!

Going from the last entry to a near-total opposite, here’s a climactic fight that might not be heavy on flashy action, but is dripping with emotional and personal stakes.  A member of a Zeon unit tasked with destroying the new Gundam Alex, Bernie Wiseman is left as the last survivor after the mission fails and the rest of his team are killed.  When he hears that the Zeon will instead nuke the colony to destroy the Alex, Bernie decides that he has to complete the mission himself in order to protect the innocent civilians that live there.  

Bernie’s made acquaintance with Alfred Izuruha, a young boy who discovered his secret and Al’s next door neighbor Christina MacKenzie, with whom he develops a mutual attraction with.  What Bernie doesn’t know is that Christina is actually the test pilot of the Gundam Alex and the stage is set for tragedy as Bernie puts his last-ditch plan into action.

After he and Al restore his damaged Zaku II Kai to working condition, Bernie sets a trap for the Alex, luring it out of the Earth Federation base it is housed in and into a forest laden with booby traps.  Memorably, Bernie uses giant balloons of Santa Claus and a snowman as distractions for the Alex.  He manages to damage the Gundam, but a round from the Alex’s gatling gun penetrates his Zaku’s cockpit and wounds him.  Bernie tackles the Alex down a hill, which sets off more planted explosives, but the Gundam is still largely unharmed.  

In the meantime, Al has learned that the Zeon ship carrying the nuke has been shot down, so there’s no reason for Bernie to fight anymore.  The boy rushes to the battlefield, desperate to save his friend, but only arrives in time to see the Gundam and Zaku deliver a simultaneous final blow to each other.  The Zaku’s heat hawk decapitates the Alex, but the Gundam’s beam saber stabs clear through Bernie’s cockpit, causing an explosion that throws Al to the ground.

We started out like Romeo and Juliet but it ended up in tragedy

When he recovers, Al is shocked to see an unconscious Christina being rescued from the damaged Alex’s cockpit.  As for Bernie, the Federation soldiers on-site confirm that there’s nothing left of the Zeon pilot but “a pile of hamburger”.  A sad end to Bernie Wiseman, made even moreso by the fact that neither he nor Christina ever realized who they were fighting against and that the combat was ultimately completely unnecessary.  In fact, little ten year-old Alfred is perhaps the ONLY person who realizes the full extent of this tragedy, and that knowledge is a terrible burden for someone so young.

Neither Bernie nor Christina are ace pilots, so the combat has this sluggish, hesitant, but desperate quality to it, captured perfectly by the beautiful animation.  As stated earlier, this fight isn’t the flashiest or the most exciting, but the tension and character drama built up around it is almost unparalleled in Gundam.  It is one of, if not THE, best examples of Gundam’s larger themes about simple misunderstandings based on ideological differences and the ultimate tragic folly of war.

6.  Sai Saici VS Domon Kasshu
(G Gundam episode # 37- “Shin Ryusei Kochouken!  Blazing Dragon Gundam”)

Now he's a dragonfly

Let’s face it, I could probably do a “favorite fifteen fights” from G Gundam ALONE.  The whole premise of the show is “Gundam but Street Fighter” and that makes it one of the most unique iterations of the franchise (and the first true “AU” series as well.)  This pick for my favorite fight in the series might seem an odd choice, but I think G Gundam thrives on the unconventional anyhow.  This is the rematch between main character Domon Kasshu and one of his fellow Shuffle Alliance allies, Sai Saici of Neo China.  Taking place in the finals of the Gundam Fight tournament, Domon’s had to take on all his close allies in rematches and this episode is Sai Saici’s turn.

Sai Saici is the kid of the Shuffle Alliance and the youngest Gundam Fighter ever, barely into his teens.   He’s the trickster/comic relief of the cast, but what often goes overlooked because of that is he’s also a martial arts prodigy and extremely capable.  Sai Saici’s actually the only member of the Shuffle Alliance that forced Domon into a draw in their first fight- a fact that Domon reflects on in this very episode.  

Sai Saici is someone Domon’s never actually defeated cleanly, and he knows not to underestimate the kid.  Sai Saici is also taking this fight very seriously, as the premier of Neo China has promised to restore his lost Shaolin temple if he wins.  With his late father’s dreams of doing so running through his mind, Sai Saici commits to defeating Domon no matter the cost.

The fight between the Dragon and God Gundams starts off rather evenly-matched, with Domon’s mentor Master Asia commenting that either of the two combatants could win after recognizing Sai Saici’s skills.  However, Domon manages to disable both of Sai Saici’s arms and the fight then turns in his favor.  That’s when Sai Saici decides to stake his life on the match and reveals the ultimate technique of his Shaolin order, the “Shin Ryusei Kochouken.”  His Dragon Gundam, now cloaked in gold and green energy, rises above the ring and sprouts butterfly-like wings.  

The observing premier of Neo China recognizes this ancient technique as a kamikaze move and all the onlookers watch in shock as Sai Saici dives at the God Gundam.  Domon busts out his faithful “Bakunetsu God Finger” technique to counter, but the Shin Ryusei Kochouken triumphs, destroying the God Gundam’s right arm.  Sai Saici believes victory is now assured, only for Domon to immediately follow up his first God Finger with a SECOND performed with the left hand!

The ol' Southpaw Surprise

Even impaled on Domon’s arm, Sai Saici refuses to yield as he stubbornly wills the Dragon Gundam to keep fighting, but it’s clear the outcome has been decided.  Out of respect for Sai Saici’s warrior determination, Domon prepares to use his “Heat End” finisher and potentially KILL his friend, only for the premier of Neo China to call an end to the match.  He has been touched by Sai Saici’s performance and cannot bear to lose a young man of such quality.  The premier promises to restore the Shaolin temple (well, more or less) and as Sai Saici tearfully collapses into Domon’s arms, everyone is moved by the emotional display of fighter’s spirit they have just witnessed.

Whereas the other Shuffle Alliance members mostly want to beat Domon because he’s well… THE GUY TO BEAT, Sai Saici gets a relatable motivation and emotional episode here that almost has you rooting for him to defeat the main character!  His attempt in the middle of the fight to call upon the vague memories he has of the late father who died when he was very young is quite stirring in particular.  

Sai Saici might be the comic relief guy, but he’s also the only one of the Shuffle Alliance to really put his literal neck on the block just to defeat Domon.  I also love the left-handed God Finger that Domon busts out, which is such a “duh”, but something you don’t even consider in the heat of the moment.  This episode has some great animation and music, and both the Japanese and English casts really give their all in the hot-blooded vocal performances as well.

5.  Heero Yuy VS Chang Wufei
(Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz)

ABSOLUTE CINEMA

Right after the last entry we have another fight where the main character fights his dragon-themed comrade.  This is also just about the first fight on this list that partakes in the traditional Gundam trope of arguing respective philosophies while smashing giant robots together.  After the end of Gundam Wing the series, a three-episode OVA was produced, later retooled and expanded into a full-length movie.  

“Endless Waltz” takes place a year after the conclusion of the show and plunges the Earth into another conflict that the Gundam pilots must defuse.  They are divided this time as one of them, Chang Wufei, willingly joins up with the enemy and faces off with main Gundam pilot Heero Yuy in an intense fight taking place in Earth’s orbit.

Wufei was always the “That Guy” of the series’ five main Gundam pilots.  You know- the guy with an attitude who clashes with the others and especially the “leader” of the bunch.  Heero and Wufei actually didn’t interact directly a whole lot during the series, but they seemed to share a mutual respect for each other’s skills and convictions.  

Wufei is a warrior who feels that fighting is all he’s good at, and pacifism is an anathema to him.  Heero is a professional soldier as well, but believes in the ideals of peace espoused by his gal pal Relena Darlian.  The two pilots are placed directly on a collision course in “Endless Waltz” as Wufei refuses to accept the peace won at the end of the TV show and participates in a coup against the new government by the revolutionary Barton Foundation.

Heero’s Wing Zero and Wufei’s Nataku Gundams meet above the Earth, with Wufei wanting to prevent Heero from interfering with the Barton Foundation’s invasion.  They engage in a vicious combat of both mech-on-mech violence and words, with Heero espousing a peaceful future and Wufei not wanting those who bloodied their hands building it to be left behind in the past.  It’s a pretty compelling argument on both sides, with neither Heero nor Wufei being completely in the right or wrong.

Dammit, Wufei, we're too pretty for this crap!

Their fight becomes a reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, and once they recover from that, they clash again.  The battle only ends when Heero decides to throw the fight after hitting Wufei with a question that can’t be easily countered.  How many more deaths are necessary for the ideal world to arrive?  Is the history of war and tragedy doomed to repeat over and over in an endless waltz?  It’s a question Wufei can’t ignore as he watches Heero willingly plummet the Wing Zero into the ocean.

There’s a lot of levels to this battle, including Wufei’s own unresolved feelings regarding his old foe Treize Khushrenada, which Heero also brings up during it.  It’s just a well-constructed exchange that you can view from different lenses and pull multiple interpretations from.  In today’s world, it’s hard to discount Wufei’s feelings of bitterness and abandonment in the face of what would be seen as unrealistic idealism.  However, Heero’s desire to end the cycle of conflict and violence is certainly admirable too and the fact that you can sympathize with either position is the mark of a good dramatic conflict. 

Leo vs. Raph

The actual physical part of the fight is just a treat to watch, thanks to Endless Waltz’s higher animation budget and the redesigned and more stylish versions of the Gundams.  While most people tend to associate the EW Wing Zero design with an angel and the Nataku with a dragon, I also see this fight almost symbolically as a bird fighting a snake.  The snake motif is certainly felt with Nataku’s almost infinitely-extending, fanged claws and even works within a larger theme.  “A serpent in Eden” is a good parallel to describe the Barton Foundation’s coup against a peaceful Earth, and their main grunt mobile suits are even named “Serpents”!    

I have a lot of nostalgic fondness for this fight, as Gundam Wing was the first Gundam series I saw to completion, and I’m sure many American fans who grew up at the time it aired do too.  The OVA and movie versions of it are basically identical, except for the pieces and placement of musical score they use.  The OVA tends to use silence more and the movie version is more operatic, but I think both versions are good in their own ways.  The English dub of this fight is also quite good, and maybe it’s nostalgia talking again, but I do prefer Mark Hildreth and Ted Cole’s performances over the original Japanese actors here.

4.  Celestial Being VS Innovades
(Gundam 00 episode # 50- “Rebirth”) 

Red vs. Blue

This is kinda the first true “team battle” on the list, although it starts as a 1v1 and ends as a 1v1.  My fellow Fanhole Derek would probably consider it to follow the G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987) formula of a  3v3 “pair-off” situation for the climactic confrontation, at least for the middle portion of it.  After reclaiming their all-knowing super-computer Veda, which had been subverted by their enemies, the private paramilitary force known as Celestial Being only has a few more obstacles in their way.  Chief among those are Ribbons Almark and his Innovades- artificial enhanced humans who have schemed to bring the world under their secret leadership.  

Main Gundam pilot Setsuna F. Seiei, who has just “awoken” as the world’s first natural enhanced Innovator, is confronted by Ribbons Almark outside the massive space station that Veda is housed within.  Ribbons reveals his new “Reborns Cannon”, a mobile suit that uses the same incredibly-powerful “Twin Drive System” as Setsuna’s Gundam, the 00-Raiser.  The stage is set for these two to finally clash and determine who will guide the world.

The Reborns Cannon initially seems like a heavy firepower bombardment-type, firing large particle blasts at the nimble 00-Raiser.  Setsuna moves to close-range, only to be smacked aside as Ribbons reveals the Reborns Cannon’s transformation ability.  It can become the Reborns GUNDAM, now gifted in all ranges of combat and Setsuna is quickly put on the defensive again.  To make matters worse, Ribbons’ two surviving Innovade underlings, Revive Revival and Hiling Care, join the fight against Setsuna.

Just as our hero is about to be overwhelmed, his fellow Celestial Being comrades Lockon Stratos and Allelujah Haptism arrive on the scene in the nick of time and now as stated, it becomes 3v3.  I’ll stop right there and say; Lockon and Allelujah’s arrival to this battle is one of the hypest scenes in all of Gundam, helped tremendously by the track “Trans-Am Raiser” playing upon their entrance.  The vibe and feeling of this moment is what you’d get when you think you’re alone in a bar fight and then all of a sudden your two best friends in the world show up out of nowhere to help you kick ass!

Both Lockon and Allelujah’s Gundams are damaged to some extent, with Lockon’s in particular in terrible shape after his fight with Ali Al-Saachez in the previous episode, but that doesn’t stop either of them from coming out of the gate strong.  Allelujah’s dormant split-personality “Hallelujah” has reawakened to boot, and this crazed side of him wastes no time in tearing Hiling Care’s Garazzo to pieces and again, as Derek would put it, TAKING ITS WALLET!  The savage Hallelujah finishes the easily-hateable Hiling off with his Arios Gundam’s front pincer claw, bisecting the Innovade’s mobile suit and leaves her crying for Ribbons to save her just before exploding.

Made sure to remove her parachute before kicking her off the plane

Lockon’s damaged Cherudim Gundam does its best against Revive Revival’s Gadessa, but in a battle of attrition, he doesn’t have much left.  His support Haro tells him Cherudim can only enter the performance-enhancing “Trans-Am” mode for one second at this point, and Lockon declares that’s long enough!  He lures Revive in close, triggers Trans-Am for a second to avoid the Innovade’s would-be fatal beam saber slash, and jams his remaining beam pistol into the Gadessa’s back.  Revive only has a second himself to realize how ***ked he is before Lockon unloads the pistol, destroying the Gadessa and Revive.  His ruined Cherudim Gundam is blasted away from the explosion and Lockon loses consciousness, probably pretty happy with how frickin’ boss that just was.

OH SNAP

Meanwhile, Setsuna and Ribbons are still fighting, with Ribbons deploying some remote “GN Fang” weapons to quickly take out Hallelujah and the Arios and harass the 00-Raiser.  Setsuna’s fellow members of Celestial Being distract Ribbons briefly with fire from their ship, the Ptolemaios, allowing Setsuna to chop off one of the Reborns Gundam’s arms.  

After further distraction from Setsuna’s comrade Tieria Erde, Ribbons activates Reborns’ Trans-Am and Setsuna does the same for the 00-Raiser.  The two Gundams cloaked in red particles clash at high speeds until Setsuna manages to “quantize” with the 00-Raiser (basically teleport) and slash deep into the Reborns’ back.  Ribbons retaliates with his own slash that removes one of the “GN Drive” solar reactors off 00’s shoulders, and the resulting damage to both suits causes an explosion.

Double KO!

Ribbons manages to grab Setsuna’s lost GN Drive, thrilled that he has an original solar reactor now (the Reborns’ reactors are faux GN Drives) and flies his badly-damaged Gundam away.  Setsuna is left with only one GN Drive and a crippled 00-Raiser.  Ribbons soon comes upon the abandoned 0-Gundam, used by Celestial Being earlier in the fight, and is struck by what he sees as fate.  He was the original pilot of the 0-Gundam after all, and abandons his wrecked Reborns for it.  

Using the original GN Drive he nicked, Ribbons thinks he has the advantage now, only to see another Gundam approaching in the distance.  It’s Setsuna’s original Gundam, the Exia, which Celestial Being held onto for an emergency like this.  Using the 00’s remaining GN Drive to power it, Setsuna is back in the fight and he and Ribbons set up for another clash.

Beating down a corrupt Tōru Furuya has become sadly relevant

Setsuna and Ribbons’ final battle is spoken over by Marina Ismail, a woman important to Setsuna, who describes her own feelings towards him and her fervent hope that he can find happiness beyond the battlefield.  A song she and some war orphans she cares for were fond of singing plays over the battle as well, giving the scene a sort of melancholy that rather nicely encapsulates Setsuna’s life.  The Exia and 0-Gundam rush at each other to deliver their final blows and Setsuna manages to finally kill Ribbons.  The damage to both of their suits causes an explosion that sends the Exia flying away, but Setsuna lives to see another day in the end.

That was a lot to unpack, but it is the culminating battle of a 50 episode series, after all.  The second half of Gundam 00 has its problems, but this final battle is a very satisfying end to the series.  Aside from the beautiful animation and soundtrack throughout, there were a lot of cool surprises here, including the reveal of the Reborns Gundam and the return of the Exia.  

The dramatic highs all hit their mark, and the final duel between Setsuna and Ribbons is layered with meaning.  With the 0-Gundam being a homage to the original RX-78-2 Gundam and Ribbons Almark being voiced in Japan by Amuro Ray’s original voice actor Tōru Furuya, the message of the future overtaking the past is pretty clear.  This fight’s conclusion manages to symbolize both one of the main themes of the series and completes Setsuna’s character arc in one go.

3.  Kamille Bidan and Quattro Bajeena VS Paptimus Scirocco and Haman Karn
(Zeta Gundam episode # 50- “Riders in the Sky”/ Zeta Gundam: A New Translation III- Love Is the Pulse of the Stars)

Lucky that visor didn't shatter the other way

Here’s another climactic battle, although I have to sort of mix and match to get the ideal version of it!  This fight happens in the final episode of Zeta Gundam’s TV series, but I do like the updated modern animation of the anniversary compilation movie too.  However, the fight has a different ending in the movie that renders it non-canon to the larger Universal Century continuity.  

Basically, my ideal version of this fight is the movie version up until Paptimus Scirocco is killed, then it switches to the canon, TV series ending.  It’s all very confusing, but I’ll get there eventually!  As the sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta has always had a rep of being more violent, more depressing, and generally darker in tone.  Of course, this final battle doesn’t disappoint in any of those regards.

Coming off a penultimate episode that sees the deaths of many of the main cast, protagonist Kamille Bidan bids a tearful farewell to his de facto “big sister” Emma Sheen, who dies in his arms in a heartbreaking sequence.  Meanwhile, the AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Group) has a plan to destroy the enemy Titans fleet using Gryps 2- a space colony converted into a giant laser that they have seized control of.  

Titans commander Paptimus Scirocco enters the Colony Laser’s barrel and begins to destroy its inner workings to prevent it from firing, forcing AEUG’s Quattro Bajeena (formerly Char Aznable) to follow.  Following Char is Haman Karn, the leader of Neo Zeon, who wants him to return with her and rule the resurgent revolutionaries at her side.  Quattro quickly finds his Hyaku-Shiki double-teamed by Scirocco’s The-O and Haman’s Qubeley mobile suits inside Gryps 2.

The Hyaku-Shiki loses an arm and a leg, and Quattro escapes his two foes, disembarking his mobile suit and entering a residential area of Gryps 2.  Scirocco and Haman follow and everyone converges on an abandoned theater where they debate their respective philosophies with Quattro while he’s literally on stage.  Kamille and his gal pal Fa Yuiry soon show up to rescue Quattro, and everyone makes their escape when they realize the Colony Laser could be fired at any time.  The TV series has a bit of flying back and forth between ships and extra fighting and politicking here, but the movie version has the BEAM CONFUSE instead so it wins.

I don't know if this will work but in my mind it's brilliant

The stage is again set for the final clash as the Colony Laser fires and wipes out most of the Titans fleet, sealing the victory for the AEUG.  Scirocco wants to make his escape, but Kamille ain’t having that, attacking The-O relentlessly.  Meanwhile, Quattro notices his crazy stalker Haman nearby and tries to ambush her, but his rifle runs out of beam energy.  He lures the Qubeley close and tackles it into  the close quarters of a wrecked space cruiser’s hangar, betting Haman can’t use her remote “Bit” weapons inside there.  He’s wrong though, as two of the Qubeley’s Bits sever the Hyaku-Shiki’s remaining limbs off and it drops to the floor as nothing more than a wrecked torso.  

Haman smugly asks if she should end Char’s life now that he’s helpless, but he spies some exposed power cables on the ceiling above them.  The Hyaku-Shiki fires its head-mounted vulcan guns into them just before the Qubeley can fatally stab it, causing an explosion that destroys the entire ship.  Haman escapes the blast, lamenting that Char would have rather killed himself than be at her side.  

As for the Hyaku-Shiki and Quattro/Char… there is seemingly no trace.  Until the very last shot of the TV series, that is, where we see the remains of the Shiki floating in space- its cockpit empty.  That’s a scene that has only become more ominous and less hopeful in retrospect, for sure.

He left to secretly pursue his dream of becoming a McDaniel's spokesperson

Kamille fights Scirocco, overwhelmed by the death surrounding them and recognizing the man as someone who shouldn’t be allowed to live.  Scirocco is an elitist and supremacist who uses his latent Newtype abilities to charm women before discarding them after they’ve served his purposes.  Kamille’s own Newtype powers allow him to “hear” the spirits of many of the women (and poor Katz Kobayashi, lol) that have died in this entire conflict, and they all empower him to defeat Scirocco.  

The Zeta Gundam seems to surge with a supernatural aura as even the usually-unflappable Scirocco is put ill-at-ease by the psychic pressure Kamille is emitting.  After a final exchange of attacks, the Zeta converts to its “Waverider” mode and hurdles directly at The-O, with Scirocco suddenly paralyzed by the power Kamille is channeling.  Kamille screams so hard his helmet visor shatters as he impales The-O (and Scirocco) on the Zeta’s nosecone in one of the most badass moments in all of Gundam fiction.

TAKE THIS WATERMELON WEDGE WITH YOU TO HELL!!!

Then comes the part where the TV series and movie diverge.  In the TV series, with his last breath, Scirocco reaches out with his own Newtype powers and breaks Kamille’s mind out of pure spite.  It leads to a downer ending to the series, where much of the cast is dead and the main character’s been left mentally-shattered.  This is the “canon” ending, as Kamille being incapacitated has repercussions that echo into both the follow-up series ZZ Gundam and the movie Char’s Counterattack.  

In the Zeta “New Translation” movie version however, Kamille is spared Scirocco’s last act of revenge and happily reunites with Fa Yuiry.  Director and “Father of Gundam” Yoshiyuki Tomino was in one of his good, non-depressed moods during the production of the Zeta Gundam movie trilogy, which explains this more upbeat ending.  Plus, it probably fits better from a theatrical standpoint to end on a positive note.

In whatever case, this ending battle is still one of the best Gundam has to offer.  Even the original animation from the 80s is pretty good for its time, although it clashes pretty harshly with the new animation added into the movie version twenty years later.  The musical score is appropriately epic and the Japanese voice performances are great as always, especially Nobuo Tobita’s Kamille Bidan.  Of course, I prefer the more dramatic and tragic ending of the TV series, but I can appreciate what Tomino was going for at least with the new ending and this battle itself is more streamlined in the movie version too.

2.  Amuro Ray VS Char Aznable
(Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack)

Now kiss

The original and most famous Gundam rivalry of all!  Amuro Ray VS Char Aznable in their final duel to settle all accounts!  Or… be left even more befuddled by the other man’s hang-ups!  Like many Western fans, I saw Char’s Counterattack directly after seeing the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, not having access to Zeta or ZZ at the time.  

The movie still kinda works like that, although watching Zeta and ZZ in-between and as intended adds a whole other dimension to Char’s character motivations in particular.  Yoshiyuki Tomino wrote several versions of this last conflict between the two, including two different novels, but the movie version is what most people know and remember the best.

Having taken charge of the Neo Zeon faction in the wake of Haman Karn’s death, Char Aznable plans to force humanity to abandon Earth and move into space.  He will accomplish this by wrecking the planet so bad that people dwelling there have no choice but to evacuate, and thus directs the resource asteroid Axis to fall on humanity’s birthplace.  Of course, Amuro Ray and the anti-terrorist unit Londo Bell won’t allow this to happen and the stage is set for a final clash between legendary rivals.  

The ghost of Lalah Sune, the girl both men loved and lost during the One Year War, lingers over the conflict and is the crux of their hatred for each other.  After many deaths, including Amuro’s girlfriend Chan Agi and Quess Paraya, a young Newtype girl that Char groomed to be a weapon pointed at the Earth, the two meet on the battlefield.

Amuro’s new… uh… Nu Gundam has been outfitted with the latest “Psycho-Frame” technology, allowing him to utilize his Newtype abilities to the fullest and is the equal or superior to Char’s Sazabi.  The two exchange fire and blows as Amuro simultaneously works to foil Char’s plan to drop Axis on Earth.  

After Amuro manages to detonate stashes of nuclear warheads that Char planted on Axis to further contaminate the Earth upon impact, the two exit their suits and enter Axis’ interior.  It’s been a fast-paced battle between mobile suits so far, and now it’s time for them to confront each other man-to-man (and ideals to ideals.)  Sidenote… Amuro really loves the old “bazooka on a string” trick.

THIS WILL WORK ONE DAY, YOU'LL SEE

Inside Axis, Char chases Amuro as the younger man kinda trolls his rival by leaving several radios behind him just to berate Char’s philosophies and methods.  Char responds by claiming that Amuro’s Newtype gifts are just being abused by those in power, but it’s ultimately clear that neither man is ever going to see eye-to-eye with each other.  After they both escape Axis, the Nu Gundam and Sazabi clash again, this time in fierce melee combat on the asteroid’s surface.

Dammit, Char, stop trying to give Amuro a vagina

Amuro starts to get the better of Char, and when Char’s woman Nanai Miguel distracts the Red Comet, the Nu Gundam hits the Sazabi hard enough to eject its escape pod.  Amuro won’t let his rival escape this time and captures the pod, just as Axis is split in two by Londo Bell’s planted explosives.  Unfortunately this has the effect of causing the back half of Axis to still fall towards Earth, and Char celebrates his apparent triumph.  Brimming with Protagonist Power (TM), Amuro flies the Nu Gundam to Axis’ plummeting half and declares he’ll use the Gundam to push back the rock, with an unwilling Char along for the ride in his escape pod.

The Nu Gundam’s Psycho-Frame begins to surge with a supernatural energy apparently formed from Amuro’s determination.  Mobile suits from all factions suddenly arrive to help push Axis back, even Neo Zeon suits, apparently gripped by the mutual need to save the Earth that the Psycho-Frame has augmented.  Char still takes the wrong message from this display of brotherhood and humanity, saying humans who possess that kind of warmth are at the same time capable of destroying Earth themselves.

Amuro and Char continue to argue, even as Amuro uses the expanding Psycho-Field the Nu Gundam is creating to toss all the other mobile suits away to safety.  As things build to a climax, Char admits that he saw Lalah Sune as a woman who could have become a mother figure to him, letting Amuro see to the very core of him a second before the Nu Gundam’s Psycho-Frame overloads.  The green Psycho-Field consumes the Nu Gundam and surrounds Axis entirely, pulling both halves of it away from the Earth.  The planet is saved, but of Amuro and Char… there is no readily-apparent remaining trace.

Amuro's last thought was literally "WTF?"

There’s so much to unpack and analyze here, and even after having seen the movie multiple times, I still don’t think I’ve caught onto all the meaning and nuance layered into it.  The philosophical and psychological aspects of this fight can be subjected to endless scrutiny and discussion, as Amuro and Char are multifaceted characters with a long, complex history.  

The physical part of this duel is pretty great on its own of course, with Amuro and Char at the top of their games, in machines that let them fight to nearly their max potential at the moment.  The animation, musical score, and acting (on both sides of the ocean) are top-notch as well.  This is the Gundam duel which all follow-ups strive to live up to- the end to the most iconic rivalry in the entire franchise, and one of the most famous in all of anime.

But!  It’s not my absolute favorite.   

1.  08th Team VS Norris Packard
(Gundam: The 08th MS Team episode # 10- “The Shuddering Mountain, Part 1”)

The ace I had up my sleeve now has me by ITS sleeve

I feel fortunate that I was able to watch all twelve episodes of this series all in a row, as it was infamously staggered out in Japan over the course of THREE years.  The original director Takeyuki Kanda died unexpectedly halfway through production, so 08th Team met with obviously unexpected production delays.  Like most Western fans, I saw this show on Cartoon Network in the early 2000s, and I’d actually consider it my favorite Gundam series.  

I think 08th Team exemplifies the “Real Robot” genre that Gundam pioneered as a franchise more than almost any other iteration, and this fight is perhaps the greatest expression of that.  There are no Newtypes, supernatural abilities, or flashy overpowered weapons here; just a group of normal soldiers fighting a single, more experienced opponent who completely outclasses them.

As the Earth Federation begin their final operation to remove Zeon elements from Southeast Asia, the bulk of the enemy forces have reinforced a mountain base overlooking an abandoned city.  The 08th MS Team, led by Shiro Amada, has been given a mission to protect Guntanks that will provide bombardment of the Zeon base from the city.  While their mass-produced Gundam Ground Types succeed at eliminating Zeon mobile suits in treacherous urban combat early on, they are soon confronted by Norris Packard in his Gouf Custom.  

Packard is the loyal retainer of the Sahalin family, and father figure to Aina Sahalin, who Shiro just so happens to be in love with.  Packard is determined to eliminate the Guntanks so they can’t shoot down Zeon evacuees from the mountain base.  The 08th Team move to take him out, but he quickly eliminates one of the three Guntanks effortlessly while avoiding their fire.  The Gundam pilots quickly realize… they’re up against an ACE.

Kicking up some dust, Packard’s Gouf targets Karen Joshua’s Gundam first, as it has a beam rifle that could also easily pick off ships.  He sneaks up on her, knocks the beam rifle away and easily destroys the second Guntank she was protecting.  This has gotta be one of the most memorably-visceral kills in all of Gundam, as Packard targets the Guntank’s cockpit with his heat saber, stabbing downward and causing a spurt of oil to splatter on his Gouf.  The simultaneous screams of the Guntank’s pilots almost fool you into thinking it was human BLOOD that sprays up, and maybe there WAS mixed in there…

What use would Hayato's vaunted judo be in this situation?

Packard next shoots out the long-range cannon of Terry Sanders’ Gundam and escapes onto a section of highway in the city.  The 08th Team’s communications expert Eledore Massis coordinates with the remaining Guntank that Shiro Amada is protecting and estimates where the Gouf Custom is, allowing for bombardment to destroy part of the highway.  Shiro moves his EZ-8 Gundam closer to inspect the debris, only for the Gouf to lift a HUGE chunk of highway and toss it in his path as an intimidation tactic.  Shiro recognizes this and stands his ground, although he’s VERY intimidated as the Gouf Custom charges him.  

Shiro has the EZ-8 leap back out of close-combat range and fire all its weapons while sliding down the side of a building, but Packard stands his ground too.  Packard aims at the remaining Guntank, but Shiro manages to leap and block the shots with his own shield, impressing the Zeon veteran.  Realizing that he won’t be able to take this opponent lightly, Packard fires flares indicating to his allies that he won’t return from this battle, and declares that he’s found the place he’s going to die.

Shiro and Packard exchange fire a few more times before the EZ-8’s arm is disabled by the Gouf’s electrified grapple wire.  Packard then jolts the EZ-8 again right in the cockpit, disabling it and taking Shiro’s suit hostage as the rest of the 08th Team catch up with them.  Inside the darkened cockpit, Shiro feverishly works to get his suit back online and realizes that his lofty ideals don’t mean a thing when he’s this scared of dying.  

Shiro finally gets the EZ-8 running again, breaks free from the Gouf’s grasp, and tears his own Gundam’s disabled arm off.  Running on pure adrenaline and fear, Shiro frantically attacks the Gouf with his suit’s detached arm, screaming his love for Aina out loud for everyone in broadcast distance to hear.  It’s one of the most iconic scenes from this series and perhaps in all of the Gundam franchise.

ARMED AND DANGEROUS!  A-GAIN!

Packard hears this and realizes who Shiro is, being briefly caught off-guard and taking a clean hit.  He contemplates the irony of the situation, but still knows he has a job to do as his Gouf and the EZ-8 square off one more time.  Shiro draws his beam saber and the two suits charge each other for a final exchange.  Packard allows his Gouf to be sliced by Shiro’s beam saber, but declares victory even as he’s killed by it.  His last rounds of fire are not directed at Shiro, but rather the remaining Guntank behind them, which Packard destroys with his dying actions to complete the mission.  Shiro realizes he’s lost even if he’s the one who won the duel, and he exits his Gundam to salute Norris Packard’s remains.   

Like I said at the beginning, this fight really exemplifies the “Real Robot” genre that Gundam occupies most of the time.  Shiro and his team are good at their jobs, but Norris Packard is someone who proves the adage “Beware of the old man in a profession where men die young.”  Raw experience wins the day here, even if Packard had to pay with his life.  He doesn’t even really lose there, as keeping Shiro alive will obviously make his treasured charge Aina happy in the long run too.  

This fight is well-regarded by ALL Gundam and anime fans in general, with great animation, score, atmosphere and acting across the board.  In fact, the most popular search result for it on YouTube is a video labeled “Gouf VS EZ8- Best Fight Scene Ever Made”.   It’s my favorite fight scene in Gundam, and many other fans clearly share that view.

-  

And now that the list proper is over… one more entry for my customary “0.” spot.  Next comes… my LEAST FAVORITE fight in Gundam ever!

0.  Kira Yamato VS Rey Za Burrel
(Gundam Seed Destiny episode # 50 (Remaster # 49)- “The Final Power”)

Someone finally weaponizes flashbacks in this show

If you’re a Gundam fan, you probably know the woeful tale of the back half of Seed Destiny.  Creative differences, budgetary concerns, and as we now know, personal health issues on the part of the late head writer Chiaki Morosawa.  It was a troubled production to say the least and people (myself included) at the time often laid the disappointment of Seed Destiny’s finished production at Morosawa’s feet, which is obviously (in hindsight) unfair.  All that said, Seed Destiny is often regarded as a financial success but a critical bomb, and its final few episodes are where most of the criticisms lie.

I mentioned before in the Seed Freedom entry on this list that would-be main character Shinn Asuka’s arc came to an unsatisfying conclusion.  However, at the very least, his final duel with former mentor figure Athrun Zala had been properly built up to and made sense from a plotting perspective.  There’s another character in Seed Destiny that got derailed almost as badly as Shinn, and that’s his best friend/wingman Rey Za Burrel.  

A clone of the corrupt father of ace pilot Mu La Flaga, Rey was a younger version of Rau Le Creuset, the main antagonist of Gundam Seed.  As clones of the same man and only separated by age, Rau and Rey obviously had many parallels between them as characters, but were ultimately developed differently in each series.  Rey was a stoic type, but a loyal friend to Shinn, and seemingly unpossessed of the nihilistic psychosis that Rau demonstrated in the latter half of Seed.

Seed Destiny’s main antagonist Gilbert Durandal acted as an adoptive father to Rey.  Rey returned the favor with ironclad loyalty to Durandal, who supplied him with pills to prolong his artificial life.  Durandal also assigned Rey to the Legend Gundam, an evolution of the Providence Gundam that Rau piloted in the previous series.  In Seed Destiny’s final battle, Rey orders Shinn to take Athrun down while he faces Kira Yamato’s Strike Freedom Gundam, and this is where the problems begin.  

The most obvious disappointment with this fight is that it’s basically just a reskinned fight between the Freedom and the Providence from the last episode of Seed (see # 15 on this very list.)  I mean that pretty literally, as the show had run low on animation budget by this episode, so Strike Freedom versus Legend basically is composed of probably about 70% stock and repurposed battle footage.  In a common practice for the show, the new suits are digitally layered atop the existing animation in a mapped sequence of actions.  It’s particularly egregious here, since Strike Freedom and Legend are just new versions of Freedom and Providence anyway.

Memba this?

Kira senses Rey’s familiarity to Rau, and the writers decide to throw all subtlety out of the window and have Rey proclaim he IS Rau Le Creuset.  He begins spouting all the same crazy rhetoric about Kira that Rau was ranting about during their previous fight, which kind of comes out of NOWHERE for Rey as a character.  To reinforce this, several flashbacks are weaved in that show Durandal told a younger Rey that becoming Rau was his destiny, which again… comes out of NOWHERE.  Durandal never showed Rey anything less than affection and trust previously in the series, and now all of a sudden we’re supposed to believe he was always grooming Rey to become a psychotic madman.  

Rey says with total conviction that he needs to remove Kira Yamato from the world, just as Rau wanted.  Kira soaks this in with apprehension at first, then suddenly yells back that Rey is wrong.  He yells a SINGLE SENTENCE worth of words at Rey, about his life doesn’t have to be the same as Rau’s.  This single sentence is enough to crack Rey’s resolve completely, and as he floats there dumbfounded, Kira does his usual Freedomspam and defeats him in one volley without killing him.

Kira is so gracious he extends his plot armor to his enemies

Rey’s defeat makes little sense on multiple levels.  He never showed much doubt in Durandal’s goals or plans for him and this “I must become Rau” stuff was never part of his character before this fight.  Kira’s rep with the fandom as an unbeatable and infallible personality void was reinforced here, as he unravels Rey with a sentence and his final barrage somehow hits all non-lethal spots on the Legend to boot.  

It’s just lazy and disappointing on all levels and Rey goes on to actually SHOOT AND KILL Durandal himself in the final confrontation of the series, based solely on Kira’s vague idealism.  All of this would have been fine if Rey’s characterization here was actually seeded (ha) in the series prior to these last couple episodes, but it isn’t beyond vague assumptions.  The series even seems to treat the “revelation” that Rey is a clone like Rau as some big surprise, when anyone with an ounce of awareness probably guessed it from the first episode.

The Remastered version of this fight flows a little better than the original broadcast version thanks to better editing, but it can’t disguise the plotting and characterization weaknesses here.  There are good ideas here and throughout most of the series, but they are not given enough time to “cook” and then executed very poorly.  I’m sure they were banking on this fight coming across as some neat parallel to the original Kira VS Rau, but instead it comes across as a weaker rehash of it, which is… really par the course for Seed Destiny.  Even the Legend Gundam itself feels like a lesser Providence with most of the personality stripped out of it.

We have Providence at home

 

So yeah, this is just another disappointment from Seed Destiny, but at the very least Cosmic Era was somewhat redeemed again by Gundam Seed Freedom.  This fight exemplifies Seed Destiny’s weaknesses as a whole- shallow characterization, reliance on past glories, and an obvious waning budget for these final installments.  When I tried to think of what my least favorite fight in Gundam was, this immediately came to mind. 

-

And that was my list.  Check out the links below for some other Gundam-related lists I've written!

-Mike

Mike's Top 25 Favorite Mecha From Gundam Part 1: 25-11 

Mike's Top 25 Favorite Mecha From Gundam Part 2: 10-1 and Top 5 Least Favorite