After ending the glorious UC era (1979-1989) of gundam-related animation works and entering the 1990s, the 'father of Gundam' Yuki Tomino once again faced a problem that could not be avoided, that is, how to continue the success of "Gundam" related works in the future. After all, the commercial value generated by this series of works is a fact that no one who is deeply involved in interests can avoid it! Although according to Tomino's bald personality and ideas, if it were not for the guidance of the sponsors, he would not even despise the production of "Gundam z", which opened the door to the Gundam series masterpieces! However, from the emergence of a large number of deformable ma and ms in this work, it can be seen that the mechanism of the so-called world-famous works actually maintains a commercial cliché, and obviously has the meaning of compromising with the trend of 'deformation fever' of robot works in the mid-1980s!
As the theatrical version of "Xia Ya" with the final significance in the UC world view, it directly raises the appreciation trend of the work to the adult world! These designs, which are either commercialized or personalized by the author, prove that the Gundam series is not so much a common system full of reflection, contradiction and progressive design, but rather a collection of the entanglements and aspirations of the creator Yuji Tomino as an animation creator.
Under this mixed emotion, the theatrical version of "Mobile Suit f91" came into being. The reason why this 'theatrical version' is particularly emphasized is precisely because in tofuno's mind, this film version is only the 'head cannon' of the entire "f91" work, and its role is to make a transition for the subsequent long-form TV version, while leaving a macro concept of the work for the potential audience group and the traditional 'Gundam fans'. Therefore, the production of this film carries too many ambitions and ambitions! However, the brutal commercial returns have greatly hit the confidence of all the producers (the box office is only more than 500 million yen, which is more than twice as much as "The Counterattack of Xiaya")! And fans for this new product that shoulders the heavy responsibility of the development of the new era Gundam works is also very few, and the overall reflection is flat.
The film's commercial failure directly led to the miscarriage of subsequent works, which also completely disrupted the overall development plan of the original Gundam series, and this fairy tale style with the color of the adult world was eventually replaced by the "sub-wind" work of "Mobile Suit V" (in fact, it is difficult to say that it is v series, that story is too cruel... ）。 At this point, the Mobile Suit Gundam series has never matured in terms of world view and human design, and the legacy accumulated by the uc series has been completely reduced to a historical monument, no longer continued by the animators (twenty years later, the 'unicorn' is more of a sequel)! This is definitely a pity.
"Mobile Suit f91" has the design characteristics common to all Gundam works: ignorant teenager, a magical mobile suit, emotionally entangled heroine, human social background in a complex political environment, war and peace...
Due to the tendency of the story setting, the environmental background and humanistic habits in "f91" have various characteristics of European culture during World War II. This is particularly evident in the costume design of the characters and the architectural style of the colonial satellite. The Rhône family, which provoked the purge of the Earth Federal Government in this game, has a European aristocratic version of the family situation and a knightly style of combat. This rather classical-style animation setting is completely different from the relatively sci-fi and futuristic worldview concept of the previous UC era, which is indeed refreshing!
As a human society of 123 years in the cosmic calendar, the federal government representing the interests of human beings living on earth, its stupid and incompetent nature has long been tired of the human beings in the various colonies of space, as the rona family, a big chaebol originating from the colonial satellite frontier side, first launched an attack on the Federation Army on the fourth colonial satellite. Although its attack forces, code-named 'Death Vanguard', fight in the name of attacking only Against Union targets, just as a bomb thrown into the enemy camp can cause the deaths of innocent women and children. The so-called 'benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, and wisdom' of the warring parties is nothing more than polite hypocrisy! Young mothers who are killed by the shells that pop out, ordinary citizens who are sucked into the vast universe by the air flow generated by the destruction of colonial satellites, the tragic situation of life is the result of war, no matter how noble the reason for the war!
Caught up in the fight for no reason, Sibuton and several classmates chose to flee and resist in order to survive, and Sicily, whose actual identity was the Rorna family hidden among these classmates, was even more difficult to sleep. The family that had long abandoned her and her mother had unexpectedly come to find her, longing for her return and deliberations, and almost overnight the story of the sparrow turning into a phoenix was staged again on this girl. The f91 Gundam, a miniaturized mobile suit based on the new biocomputer technology brought by Sibuton's mother, became the main weapon of resistance against the Rhone family... Fate once again teased the pair of lovers, one for the benefit of his dead compatriots, and the other for Cecilia, who was oscillating between the family and her own destiny.
The spirit of the Rhone family's combat is the cosmic aristocratic concept of his family's old Mazner. The so-called concept of cosmic nobility seems to be based on the spiritual purpose of the inhabitants of the universe with noble character to govern human affairs outside the earth, but it is actually a kind of vagaries and dictatorships in disguise. This spirit can easily be interpreted differently by people with narrow hearts or ulterior motives. The weapon "bug" secretly made by Sissy's biological father, "Iron Armor Face" Carosu, is the perverted evolution of this spirit, which has become a killing prop for the concept of "non-my race, its heart must be different".
Family failures, combined with excessive responsibility for family affairs, led to the overly paranoid and crazy behavior of Carosu, who had received mental and physical reinforcement. As early as "Mobile Suit Zz", Harman has warned his subordinates that the possible use of this 'Enhancer' technology can bring about the bias of non-newtype humans (Rosa Marie and Ma Shiwen are the most typical representatives), and in "Mobile Suit f91", the evil consequences of this technology are that the 'Iron Armor Face' can do the evil deeds of killing his daughter without scruples! It's terrifying!
However, the lack of reasonable transition depiction in this film has become a necessary emotional barrier for the emergence of these wonderful plots, and this sense of lack accompanies the whole film of "f91" from beginning to end!
Sissy's choice to side with TheRonnes was understandable, but it was a bit unreasonable to sit on 'Venet' and join the others in attacking the Union Army, and the change in mentality from a murderous victim and an escapee to a direct executioner came too suddenly. In the process of being wanted to escape as a rebel, Siebton's father rescued his son in time, which also led to the sad fate of death. This is the moment when the protagonist and the audience erupt emotionally, but Tomino Yuji selectively filters through this passage! It's a very arbitrary design! And when the children in the film (represented by West Button's sister Liz) teach adults and say words that are more reasonable than adults, the plot has no details about this character before, which is abrupt and disgusting!
Admittedly, according to Tomino's thinking, these details may be fully displayed in the TV version. However, he forgot that "f91", as a completely different from the summary work of "Counterattack Xiaya", needs to show enough plot and character strength at the beginning, and ensure the future continuity of the story, while ensuring the integrity and readability of this theatrical version to the greatest extent! Not all audiences have the spirit of not rejecting the order of the gundam hardcore, whether it is live-action or animation, film works need to give the audience enough information prompts and emotional ups and downs, all successful commercial works in this world, are not completely supported by fans (it doesn't matter what kind of shooting)!
"Mobile Suit f91" is precisely at this point of the fork in the head, the story into the middle stage of the entire film information began to completely make people completely unable to keep up with the rhythm! Not grasping the resonance of the audience experience and the emotional transition of the characters in the plot has become the biggest mistake of this film! The climactic part of the movie, that is, the "father-in-law killer" part that became a spoof of many fans in the future, was completely reduced to a boss battle for the boss battle because the "iron face" Carosu transformed too quickly!
And these are the epitome of the old problems of Tomino Yuji's inability to handle character emotional scenes over the years, and the old problems of strong character shaping in the "Gundam" series! Compared with the unfavorable plot design of this film, the lack of strength of "Mobile Suit f91" also indirectly lowered the audience's expectations. Among them, the similarity between Sissy's adoptive father and Siebton's father Resley is even more questioning whether the painting team can only draw a few faces!?
For the "Gundam" series that can shape Amro, Shaya, Haman, Shelok, Yazan, Feng, etc., or through personal temperament or through unique appearances, there is no special character in "f91" except for Sissy Li, who has a big miss aura! And this is almost fatal for this work that is responsible for creating the fate of the "Gundam" series of works in the new era!
Whether it is the so-called cosmic aristocratic spirit dedicated to this game, or the humanistic attitude of pursuing self-worth, the series of commercial works of "Mobile Suit Gundam" is to complete its mission of commercial success while leaving us with more spiritual and emotional interactions as much as possible! In "f91", Sissy, who is thrown into the lonely space by the air waves of the body explosion, floats and rotates in the dark universe like a wind seed that cannot find soil.
Losing gravity, we are so helpless and small in the blank universe. Following his inner feelings and belief in love, Sibuton finally found the suspended Sissy and held her tightly in his arms. If Mobile Suit f91 had an overall mediocre start and plot transition, it was left with one of the most beautiful endings in the history of our Gundam series! Since I first met this work sixteen years ago, the warm embrace in the dark and cold space at the end of the film, there is no second film that can make me so fascinated!
It wasn't until Hollywood's Gravity in 2013 that I found that long-lost heart! Lost in the cold of space may be our flesh and weight, but it cannot be the heart that craves emotion! It is precisely "f91" that activates our inner peace of mind with a pair of lovers that are not perfect, but are touching enough to activate the "space hug". This may be the stroke of Tomino Yuki himself who is not fully able to handle it properly, but has unexpected results! The previous text has spoken of the failure of various setting elements of the film, but this cannot deny the value of this film as an excellent "Mobile Suit Gundam" series of works!
Although the cruel commercial value deprived the film of its subsequent life, it is this imperfect ending that makes this film a beginning that never ends, forever staying in the hearts of everyone. And its true value needs to be measured by our own emotions!