English Dub Review: Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway

 

Overview:

Twelve years have passed since Char’s Rebellion and an anti-federation organization called “Mafty” has emerged. Led by someone named “Mafty Navue Erin”, Mafty carries out fierce attacks of terrorism. Assassinating high-ranking officials one after another. The person who calls himself “Mafty” is none other than Hathaway Noa, son of Bright Noa, a hero of the One Year War. Things don’t go according to plan when he crosses paths with Federation Forces officer Kenneth Sleg and the beautiful Gigi Andalucia.

Our Take:

After being announced in April 2020 and three delays Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is finally out on Netflix. Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is a planned movie trilogy based on novels written by Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The Universal Century timeline is massive with tons of stories. But this one has definitely been one of the most highly anticipated in a while.

Not including Universal Century stories the Gundam franchise is still massive and can be overwhelming. In a lot of ways, Mobile Suit Gundam is like the Star Wars of anime. There are people with psychic-like powers, political intrigue, and lightsabers (though in this they’re called beam sabers), and there is a huge extended universe. There’s really something for everyone and it’s no wonder that Gundam is in the top twenty of highest-grossing media franchises.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is a fantastic film and I found myself smiling almost the entire time. Which is saying something because as far as mobile suit battles go (usually the reason to watch a Gundam series) they are few and far between. The movie has a pretty awesome opening segment that leaves a really strong first impression. It also has a message that resonates today which is interesting since it was first written thirty-two years ago. Hathaway thinks that humans are ruining the Earth and should move to space so Earth can heal for a time which is definitely a topic of discussion today. I felt like I had my favorite characters in the Gundam universe pretty much settled. After seeing this movie I’m not sure, Hathaway Noa is a really interesting character especially if you know his past from Char’s Counterattack.

Hathaway is the son of Bright Noa, who was the commander of White Base in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. Being the son of a war hero can be hard to live up to. Not only does he not follow the same path but he’s pretty much in open rebellion with the Federation. I really hope we get to see how his father reacts when it’s revealed who “Mafty” is. I also think it’s a pretty bold decision to make your main character the leader of what is essentially a terrorist organization.

When it comes to the animation Sunrise absolutely knocks it out of the park. If delaying the movie three times gave us this then by all means keep delaying things. The mobile suit fights, though sparse, are absolutely stunning. The beam effects pop like crazy and seeing the sparks of a beam weapon melt light posts was really cool to me. The opening segment is a flight that takes place in outer space and the way they showed gravity affecting the stewardesses and passengers was a cool wrinkle they added. Believe me when I say your eyes will be pleased watching this.

In one scene Hathaway and Gigi are running around street level during a mobile suit battle. The animation during this had me on the edge of my seat. It’s not the first time we have seen a mobile suit battle from a human’s perspective but it is the first time it has been presented this beautiful and jaw-dropping. Seeing them run through the street during that was one of the big highlights of the film for me.

The soundtrack is handled by Hiroyuki Sawano, who also handled the soundtrack for Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Narrative. The music tracks make everything in this movie better and I have come to learn that anything Sawano touches instantly goes up in my book. The theme song “Senkou” by [Alexandros] is awesome as well. I’m actually listening to it right now as I write this review.

The sound effects are what you expect from the Gundam franchise. Which is by no means a bad thing, I still get a smile on my face whenever I hear a beam rifle fire. The sound effects during the mobile suit battles really pop and crunch making you feel the weight of the fight. Gunshots sound like they should and Sunrise are experts of space sound effects by this point.

It took a while but a good portion of the cast list for the English dub has been revealed. I was trying to wait as long as possible because I really wanted to talk about the voice actors in this. At the very least I wanted to talk about the main three characters and their VA’s have been confirmed. Caleb Yen plays Hathaway Noa, Aaron B. Phillips plays Kenneth Sleg, and Megan Shipman plays Gigi Andalucia. Aaron B. Phillips is a relative newcomer but earned a lot of praise for his role as the gentleman thief Laurent in Netflix’s The Great Pretender. Apparently, he’s just great at playing cocky characters because Kenneth definitely does not lack confidence.

I really liked Megan Shipman as Gigi. She expertly went from being playful and seductive to serious and almost melancholic at will. Gigi is a really interesting character who is still pretty mysterious by the end of the film so I hope to learn more about her. A big part of me feeling that way is because of Megan’s portrayal and I hope she gets the opportunity to play the character in the next two films.

The standout goes to Caleb Yen as Hathaway though. The way he played Hathaway made me view the character very differently than I thought I would. The last time I saw Hathaway was during Char’s Counterattack when he was still kind of a spoiled brat. Twelve years did a lot to mature him and Caleb is superb with that. The line “So tell me then, how does one go about destroying the depths of this mechanism?” when describing the Federation gave me chills. He’s calm and collected but when with Gigi he has some PTSD of his time with an ill-fated lover and you can sense that in the delivery of the lines. Caleb helped make Hathaway one of my favorite Mobile Suit Gundam characters if not my number one character.

I am giving Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway a 9.5. The only reason I’m not giving it a 10/10 is because of the barrier of entry. I feel you need to at least have seen the original Mobile Suit Gundam (or the recap movies), Char’s Counterattack, and possibly even Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn. That is a lot to ask of someone to understand a movie, but I will say it is undoubtedly worth it. They’re also more accessible than ever with Netflix getting the three recap movies (though they are not dubbed), Char’s Counterattack, and they have always had Unicorn. If you are more interested in watching the forty-three-episode series you can find that on Funimation dubbed. So really there’s no excuse to miss out on this sci-fi epic but I do understand that is potentially a lot of time to invest.