Commentary on the masterpiece "Char's Counterattack" - its shocking ending

The 11th episode of the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX aired late on June 17th, and the surprise insert song was the hit song "BEYOND THE TIME (Beyond the Moebius Sky)" by the music unit TM NETWORK, which has become a hot topic. The song was TM NETWORK's 13th single, released on March 5th, 1988, and was written as the theme song for the anime film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, which was released in the same year. It is a masterpiece that colors the shocking ending of Char's Counterattack. What was so shocking about the ending of Char's Counterattack?

◇The birth of a new life

"Char's Counterattack" is set in the Universal Century year 0093 and depicts the final battle between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. In order to purge humanity, Char attempts to drop the asteroid Axis on Earth. After a fierce battle, Amuro pilots the Nu Gundam and finally attempts to change the trajectory of Axis as it falls to Earth.

The fall of Axis is prevented, but Amuro and Char go missing... the ending was shocking. Char's line in the final scene, "Lalah Sune is the woman who could have become my mother!" is also memorable.

This ending needs no explanation for Gundam fans, but what's important is that afterwards, we hear the cry of a baby. The final battle between Amuro and Char comes to a close with the birth of a new life.

◇ Counting backwards to depict life and death

When I interviewed the film's general director, Yoshiyuki Tomino, he said that this cry "became a lethal weapon."

"In the fatal weapon, she gives birth to a child at the end. All the things that were unclear up until that point are cleared up. I had to do it that way. I knew it all the time. When I was four-fifths through the storyboard, I couldn't find a way to end it no matter what I did, so I came up with that idea. Since I had decided on the ending, I thought it could be any way. Having to kill Chain was a desperate measure. On the battlefield, there is no dramatic development, so death is forgiven. I came up with the voice of the baby at the end, and worked backwards to depict life and death. Chain's death is not convincing. When I was cutting the storyboard, I was aware of the problem, but I couldn't wrap it up with the remaining time. I couldn't make it any longer, so it ended up like this. If you look at the way I cut corners, you can see that there are many unskilled parts."

Char despairs of humanity, saying, "I have no intention of reforming the world," and "Why can't you understand that the humans remaining on Earth are just fleas on the surface?" Amuro, who believes in the potential of humanity and says, "We need to show the world the light of the human heart," cannot understand each other. Humanity will not stop fighting, but there is also a sense of hope in the first cry.

"Char's Counterattack" is an anime that was released in 1988, during the Showa era, but it still looks fresh in the Reiwa era, not to mention not outdated.