#Char's Counterattack-Beyond the Time

[slowlysointernet]

Another interesting moment in ''Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beyond the Time'' where Char thinks Nanai's voice is his mothers :

I bet some people who read this will still be confused and say that he wants Nanai as a mommy 🙄😂.

[peterrrei]

[kaxtwenty]

Toward the cobalt, there is a shining Earth That is where sadness begins All that we love is returning there

[holmslice69art]

[youreaclownnow]

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR DESTINY TOKI NO MUKOU 

YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR FUTURE YAMI NO MUKOU

WE CAN SHARE THE HAPPINESS SAGASHITE YUKU AISHI ATTA ANO HI O

[ceddrawing]

[daydreamycrustacean]

you cant just threaten me with narrative parallels to big boss and not deliver. i need this

AHEHEHEE....( •̀ ω •́ )✧ Ive spent all noon going insane over char and ive listened 3 times to beyond the time, so you chose the perfect time for this.... Okay. so basically,

meme comic aside, here's a more structured and elaborated version of these points, taken from something that I wrote in my notes app at 2 am, plus some other points. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. Im not good at putting my thoughts into words.

----------------------

-they are both soldiers who end up being idolized and turned into a symbol. this idolization makes people want them to be in a position of leadership.

-being better known for their nom de guerre, "the red comet/char aznable" (which also counts as this, since it's a fake name tied to his identity in the one-year war) and "big boss", adds to this idealization, and with it also comes depersonalization, as their identity becomes just an image of a war hero that exists in peoples heads. a legend, rather than a real person.

-the artificiality of this legend is brought home in the way that it is taken, replicated, and put into other people, showing that anyone can be "the red comet" or "big boss". that's right baby. clones! Be it The Patriots making supersoldier clones of big boss for war purposes or Sunrise making Char after Char for anime purposes. But Char does also have actual in-universe clones???

-And also phantoms... the much clearer example of the artificiality of these legends/identities. I don't know anything abt Gundam Unicorn and so the only things I know abt Full Frontal are from the wiki. but he's just Venom Snake. Hey, what if we took this random guy and altered his appearance and mind to be the red comet/big boss?

-Okay its time to talk about The Boss and Zeon Deikun. Their deaths turn them both into symbols that represent the ideals that they preached. Ideals that everyone else takes and misinterprets for their own purposes. Their deaths also kickstart Big Boss and Char´s...everything. In a way, both Big Boss and Char dedicate their lives fighting for the ideals that their mother/father represented. Are they any good at this? Or are they yet another person taking these ideals and twisting them beyond recognition? Let´s say that´s up for debate.

-"So both Char and Big Boss ended up being idolized just like The Boss and Zeon Deikun? Even though it's something that they did not want and tried to avoid?" YES! Unavoidable fate. Repeating mistakes of the past...Sins of the Father... one of the key themes of Metal Gear. THE theme of metal gear. Big Boss more consciously tried to avoid the fate of The Boss by leaving the US military and hated being seen as a hero/called Big Boss because of The Boss. Char never outright states that the reason he does not want leadership is because he does not want to suffer his father´s fate...but his choice of accepting leadership is tied into his father´s fate nonetheless, with "Maybe human sacrifices run in your family" and Char casting himself as that human sacrifice in Char´s Counterattack. Is the reason as to why thinking about Char makes me so insane because his narrative of not being able to escape his father´s shadow taps into one of Metal Gears main themes? who knows...

-I said that Char´s "The Boss" figure is Zeon Deikun...but I think Lalah is the emotional aspect of this. She is the more clear Mother Figure whose death scars and haunts Char the way The Boss haunts Big Boss. Yes, Char also lost his real mom when young but shes not as important as Lalah.

-They just miss their mom bro :(

-cue millions of jokes about Oedipus complexes (more prevalent in the gundam fandom. for some reason.)...not gonna comment on this but they are there. and I can't ignore it if I'm talking abt comparisons between them.

-Okay, mothers/fathers talk aside. Their relationship to war and conflict. Not much else to say that I didn't say in the image. Its all they know and and all they think themselves capable of. Though thinking about their similarities on this did remind me of something that Beltorchika said in Zeta about Char, about how she thinks he's someone who is incapable of living without war and how definitely similar things are directly said about big boss in metal gear. there's more to this and about whether this is true and why...but my eyes are starting to hurt. I need to finish this.

-Lets go back to leadership. despite the fact that they both do not initially want this position of power, they do eventually give into it to help soldiers/Spacenoids respectively. Big Boss wants soldiers to not be used by governments like he was used (but he does end up using them nonetheless. oops) and Char wants Spacenoid independence from the Federation, although Char´s motivations in cca are more complex than just this, I do believe part of him does genuinely see helping spacenoids as his "duty" and something he needs to sacrifice himself for.Okay that was my last big point. finally this is done. more stuff:

-the_man_who_sold_the_world.mp3

-I don't know. all war criminals know these days is be bisexual and lie. <- all there is to say abt their heavy homoerotic subtext. which yes they also both individually have. although big boss´ is stronger bc he's in metal gear. I also can't ignore it. It's still a character aspect.

-forgot abt Quess...use of child soldiers ig. awesome.

[ninthprime]

mildly arbitrary rating of every gundam i have watched so far

in order of me starting them

witch from mercury: 7.5/10. we’re never gonna get confirmation of people’s various theories that this show was originally planned for 50 episodes and i’ve also heard that the showrunner’s series tend to be kind of just Like This, but gwitch has a lot of missed potential mostly focused on 1. its seemingly incomplete worldbuilding and 2. the fact that the arcs of much of its secondary cast (guel, nika, shaddiq) appear to jump over a few steps or just are missing something. on the other hand, the arcs of its primary cast (particularly suletta) are great, suletta herself is a top-tier protagonist, the tertiary cast is one of the best i’ve seen in gundam (i love earth house), and sulemio is probably objectively the best gundam romance even if i’m pretty sure it’s not my personal favorite.

gundam 0079: 9.5/10. the GOAT. you know how it is. every single person who got into gundam via gwitch like i did but still hasn’t gone back to watch 0079 is doing themself a total disservice. you watch this show and both everything about mecha and everything about modern anime in general suddenly clicks completely in your brain. everyone who has been obsessed with char aznable and amuro ray for the last 40+ years has been completely right. i think its only big flaws are some of its treatment of women (though later shows like ZZ have way more glaring issues there) and its shortened length, but frankly if you hadn’t told me it got cut short seven episodes early i would not have noticed, because its finale may be one of my all time favorite television finales ever. just go watch it. i’m sitting you down right now

zeta gundam: 8.5/10. a really ideal sequel in a lot of ways that are remarkable considering the gap of time between it and 0079. focuses on new characters who reflect on the last show while still being their own things, and brings back the cast of the last show in ways that feel like they make sense while still being unexpected and making you look at things in a new light. deeply iconic and atmospheric in ways that are a little overwhelming at times; it is a dour show. has way more glaring flaws for me than a lot of the fandom brings up though, mostly in its pacing and its villains. this show has an entire middle section i barely remember and do we need both the four and rosamia storylines? and frankly i do not care about the titans that much (other than sarah).

zz gundam: 8.5/10. zz defender crop is here. please ignore everyone who tells you that you can skip zz. zeta’s other half in ways that aren’t just “it started two weeks after zeta in real life”- it also fixes zeta’s pacing, provides a welcome counterpoint to its dire tone, and its villains are literally just improved versions of zeta’s (glemy is better scirocco! haman is a top tier gundam villain in general!). i think the middle section of this show- the entire time they are on earth- is my favorite section of UC gundam, or at least tied with 0079’s ramba ral and finale arcs. i do think the dip in quality people say it has in the last arc is true. also probably has the largest Woman Problem in any gundam i’ve seen so far (i have a threshold for bad women writing so high it is practically antifeminist but unfortunately emary breaks that threshold, what the hell is up with everything about emary) even though i love some of those women very much. secretly has the boldest and most thematically interesting gundam finale so far. ple forever

char’s counterattack: 8/10. as i’ve said before: a gorgeous film about two men being so divorced that thousands of people die. genuinely iconic and also very bold but i often find myself torn as to whether i want tomino to be more explicit about what he’s saying here. we could have saved ourselves years of “was char right??” debates but then again, it’s the spirit of cca to claim that only you have the right take about cca. beyond the time is a good song

gundam unicorn: 7.5/10. politics here are often confusing and messy, and i think it suffers from its core characters (banagher and mineva) and their relationship not getting the time they need. on the other hand, i’m interested in what it says about the worldbuilding of UC (even if i think it didn’t execute it that well) and its secondary cast is great; i did nearly cry about marida and zinnerman so that sure works. full frontal does not bug me nearly as much as he bothers most people although i think he has the same “needs more time to cook” issue banagher and mineva have. i even kind of like what they do with riddhe and i usually dislike that archetype. in other words: i would have been nuts for the forty episode (and properly paced) version of this show. marida forever

gundam hathaway: 7/10?? hard to tell here without having the next two movies. was a bit hard to get invested in the conflict near the end as we met many characters who are not developed yet. but the relationship between the core trio here is intriguing and i like hathaway as a protagonist a lot.

the rest of my “gundams i am most interested in list” is victory -> turn a -> 00 -> iron blooded orphans so that’s the next four shows. after…who can say

[hibiscus-ships]

Jenni would jokingly ask Fang if she could add Beyond The Time from Char's Counterattack to their wedding playlist and he'd take her request seriously 🌺

[rtgame]

also ive been having this really weird issue where i'm in bed and dozing off and then suddenly something related to char's counterattack flashes in my brain and jolts me awake

anyways what the fuck did they mean when they chose beyond the time as the song for that movie

[femboyyuri]

crazy that they kept making music after TM Network released their hit Beyond the Time that served as Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack theme

[slowlysointernet]

Char mumbling Amuro and Lalah's names in his sleep is because Lalah visits Amuro in his dreams and somehow Char also is able sense the two in his dreams.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack PS1 Game:

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beyond the Time Nanai's POV:

The scene also happens in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children Chapter 6 with Amuro waking up but theres no Char moment mumbling their names.

[feuerwizard]

Caleb watched as Astarion vanished in a swirl of arcane mist, reappearing moments later on the rafters high above. The vampire moved with a fluid grace that belied his undead nature, his boots barely making a sound as they settled on ancient wood.

For a fleeting moment, the wizard envied his companion's ability to simply disappear, to leave behind the smoking ruins and the weight of his own memories. But Caleb knew there was no running from his past, no spell that could erase sins that stained his soul.

With a heavy sigh, he turned his attention back to the task at hand. The goblin king lay dead at his feet, a twisted heap of charred flesh and singed finery. Beyond the shattered remains of the ladder, he could hear the scrabbling and snarling of the remaining goblins, no doubt rallying for a counterattack.

Caleb's fingers twitched, the familiar itch of arcane energy dancing across his skin. Despite the chaos of his earlier outburst, he could still feel the wellspring of magic within him, ready to be called upon once more. But this time, he would maintain control. He had to.

With a whispered incantation and a complex series of gestures, Caleb began to weave the threads of the Polymorph spell. Skin gave way to feathers, bones hollowing and realigning themselves into the delicate structure of avian anatomy. With a powerful beat of new wings, the wizard flew upward to perch near Astarion, tiling his beak as though to ask “what now?”

“Either you think I’m stupid or just a fool who laps up whatever spills from your lips,” Astarion hissed, sharp enough to flay. “Because that looked nothing like some momentary lapse in control.” He didn’t wait for Caleb to argue, didn’t need to. The evidence was all around them: castle walls scorched and screaming in silence; the acrid tang of charred flesh still heavy in the air. Caleb’s flames had danced their ruin, and though the fire guttered out when he regained himself, its ghosts lingered, etched into stone, into memory itself.

This temple of Selune would never be the same.

Astarion’s gaze darted to the splintered ladder and the dead goblin king sprawled like some toppled idol. Time, always against them, pressed its hand to the small of his back, urging him forward. “...This is a subject for later.” The vampire’s words rang like unfinished business. There was no room to dwell. Not with the scuttling sounds of goblins gathering, not with the ladder swaying as though it might crumble at a breath.

Making for his bag, Astarion rummaged around for a scroll, and just as soon as Inveniam viam was uttered, the spell erupted in a whorl of mist. A heartbeat later, the rogue was gone, perched high on a rafter, boots settling lightly against the ancient wood. Crimsons scanned downward, catching on Caleb, the mage still grounded. Astarion let out a slow breath, something close to a sigh but not quite indulgent enough. He hoped, for both their sakes, that Caleb had enough fire left in him— not the kind that burned temples to the ground so much as got him out of there alive.

[char-x3]

🤗❤️

[lesser-mook]

『BEYOND THE TIME (メビウスの宇宙を越えて) アクシズ阻止ver.』

Imagine making something so iconic, a statue along with it’s movie feature animation is featured on public display like it’s a historical monument.

Japan is really something. This is just great.