Episode 01: Gundam Rising

Episode 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam holds a special place in my heart. As far as pilot episodes go, it's not half bad. It introduces our central characters, Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, as well as showing off early that this is a show about how war is bad and sucks a fucking lot. Amuro is an experienced pilot, but he does his best. My favorite part of this episode is hearing the soundtrack + its motifs, it feels like hearing it for the first time every time. I also like seeing that Amuro's father was NOT happy to be sending children to war... it adds to the unfortunate circumstance that Amuro finds himself in.

Episode 02: Destroy Gundam

Episode 2 is another great example of early depictions of how much war affects children the most. Fraw Bow gets some interesting perspective as becoming an overseer of the smallest children. Everyone the whole time is like "why the fuck is a child piloting that mech" about Amuro Ray, up until the captain basically is like "well... child soldier will have to do." It's so tragic. Amuro also clearly is not ready to fight. He's too young, he has no experience, and he isn't what I'd describe as pro-killing people.

Episode 03: Vote to Attack

As the name describes, episode 3 features everyone voting on whether or not they should attack the Zeon army. It's interesting how Amuro is shown to be working on the mobile suit almost 24/7 because his only options are really do that or die... it's a really unfortunate scenario he's put in and it's shown very well. The relentlessness of Char throughout these early episodes is also a good way to show early on that Char is also a victim of this war, but instead he's fighting for himself rather than for everyone else. It's interesting. Overall I'm not sure I'd say there's much else about this episode.

Episode 04: Escape from Luna II

I find that the base being unable to let them rest is very interesting and also quite sad. The Luna II bases inability to "support civilians" is so totally bullshit. I also hate that they're like "oh well a civilian controlled a military secret so now we are going to put you in martial court" it's sooo. insaane. Char in this episode is quite cunning as well, and it's quite good to show how the average soldier would recognize Char's obvious plan but a military commander wouldn't even think it a possibility. The imagery of this episode is also quite fun when Char and the Zeon army infiltrate. An unfortunate amount of flashing in this episode, though. I love Bright Noa in this episode too, the way he takes charge is very neat. The Federation/Zeon fight in this episode is extra hype as well.

Episode 05: Re-Entry to Earth

The guy with the coffee plantation sucks but I respect why he's there. It's just a poorly aged thing. Another awesome fight. I have little to say in terms of the theme's of this episode it's just a cool fight and the Gundam hammer is AWESOME. Amuro is a bit stupid in this episode but I get it. Also Garma jumpscare.