Final month, I attended a US screening of the second film within the Cell Swimsuit Gundam Hathaway trilogy, The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. It was truly my second time seeing it, having catched it throughout a visit to Japan. I had initially deliberate to put in writing about it after that first viewing, however I got here away confused about just a few issues that I felt would profit from a repeat viewing.
Previous to the discharge of the primary movie in 2021, the Hathaway’s Flash novel was at all times one thing of a thriller to me—a piece I merely learn about in devoted on-line boards or guides for Gundam crossover video games. It’s wild to consider how by the point all this wraps up, it’ll be 2031 and a complete decade could have elapsed, alone the 30 years since I realized concerning the novel.
Within the first Hathaway film, we had been launched to Hathaway Noa as a full-grown grownup, years faraway from the kid and teenager we noticed in earlier works like Zeta Gundam and Char’s Counterattack. Whereas he’d beforehand been finest often known as the son of Shiny Noa, commander of the famed White Base from the unique Gundam, right here we found that Hathaway is now the top and namesake of a militant anti-government group known as Mafty. Whereas dwelling his double id, he encountered a mysterious feminine Newtype named Gigi Andalucia, who reminded him of Quess Paraya—the lady he cherished and whom he noticed die in fight after having defected to Char Aznable’s Neo-Zeon.
After a giant battle, the primary movie ended by introducing a ton of recent faces as Hathaway reunites with the opposite members Mafty. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe continues from there, and I’ve to confess that I initially obtained just a little misplaced retaining monitor of everybody, attempting to recollect if I even noticed them final time, all whereas they threw names and locations round. By the second viewing, although, I got here to know that Mafty was attempting to coordinate an assault on a gathering of Federation management, all whereas Hathaway struggles together with his relationships in direction of girls and his sense of guilt/duty as chief. All of the whereas, Gigi contends with the truth that she has been sheltered and showered with each luxurious conceivable as a consequence of being each such a robust Newtype and the favored mistress of one of many richest folks on the earth.
Hathaway is surrounded by beautiful girls, lots of whom have emotions for him, and the movie actually needs to make that clear. Watching within the second, the frequent indulgent photographs can really feel gratuitous, however the movie ultimately reveals that there’s a larger level being expressed past cheesecake: Hathaway suffers from PTSD led to by his involvement each direct and oblique within the demise of ladies from his previous. He angrily and desperately chides himself for feeling sexual want when he’s purported to be combating for loftier targets, as Char Aznable did. On this mild, our protagonist turns into one thing of a pathetic James Bond, whose ache and willpower develop into a type of charisma that draws girls and acts as each a curse and a blessing. In different phrases, the fanservice is portrayed in a distracting method as a result of it’s meant to point out how distracting it’s for Hathaway himself, and I discover having such patheticness in a fundamental character to be fairly fascinating.
Now, whether or not that method works is a extra difficult query. It’s not the principle driving pressure of the film (which might be the entire “making an attempt to overthrow the Federation” factor, however that turmoil does reveal itself to be the inspiration of Hathaway’s character and the factor that undergirds his actions. Within the second, nevertheless, the T&A can really feel extreme and gratuitous, and like an try and get some sexy followers.
An analogous problem exists with Gigi. There are numerous scenes of her mainly taking part in style mannequin and residential designer in ultra-wealthy settings, and so they’re in the end meant to point out how Gigi is trapped in a gilded cage. She has her place and privilege as a result of she’s desired by a really highly effective man who values Gigi for each her psychic items and her physique, and this provides her entry to greater than most may even dream of. On this context, all of the opulence seems like an try and train some type of autonomy, and the constraints of this are what entice Gigi to the mess that’s Hathaway Noa. Nonetheless, the sheer quantity of pricey outfits, furnishings, and decorations portrayed—to not point out Gigi’s statuesque magnificence that could be very uncommon in Common Century Gundam even amongst its most lovely characters—may come throughout as attempting to enchantment to folks with comparable tastes, or maybe these obsessive about luxurious items.
The film can also generally simply be visually exhausting to observe. Along with not at all times being clear who’s on what facet, there’s a selected downside that stems from Hathaway’s Cell Swimsuit, the Xi Gundam. It’s a chunky hunk of metallic that just about seems like a really burly and pointy linebacker, and between that, the evening battles, and the quantity of weapons being fired, generally motion scenes generally is a big blur. Quite than having the ability to observe the “choreography” so to talk, I discovered myself having fun with it extra once I let the chaos wash over me and lived in Hathaway’s head. There’s additionally a large second that actually delves into his psyche, and the world portrayed there satirically exhibits how rather more readability these battles might have had.
I’ve given some criticisms, however I in the end did like The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. It feels each mainstream and experimental, and I do like that Hathaway Noa is such an uncommon protagonist whose inside struggles oddly appear extra related than ever with how the male libido has develop into a bizarre battleground in tradition. He’s an imperfect hero whose makes an attempt to develop into extra ideally suited are stuffed with pitfalls.
Because the credit completed throughout that first viewing I watched whereas in Japan, there was a lady behind me who was crying. Speaking to a different lady subsequent to her, she merely commented that it was actually good, all whereas drying her tears. If a movie can transfer somebody that a lot, I really feel prefer it’s gotta be doing one thing proper.
