Once again I owe the internet and legions of fans of the Gundam universe for providing fan subs on unreleased in the US Gundam series.

How to start this review of the black sheep of the Tomino age the Universal Century. Nothing could equal the greatness of Zeta and I'm sure Tomino knew that and changed course with Double Zeta. Infused with slapstick and zany antics the entire feel of the show is different.

For following up an epic series with epic space battles, huge reaching plot lines and personal stories Gundam ZZ doesn't live up at all. Double Zeta is a super robot show mixed with Gundam elements with a large dosage of Newtype juice.

I guess I should start with a quick summary of the series. The Titans lay defeated, the AEUG has only the Argama left and Char is missing and the Earth Federation is left in shambles as their own forces need to regroup. The only power left in the Earth sphere is Axis and Haman Khan. The crew of the Argama and a few newtype kids are all that can stop Haman's rule of the Earth sphere. Too bad the show isn't as good as the premise.

Judau Ashta, our hero, is the complete opposite of Kamile, brash and impulsive, but also selfish and pig-headed. The survivors from Zeta Gundam get pushed to the back as Judau and his friends take control of everything and run the ship. I'll give credit here; one of the few things the series does right is giving Judau reason to fight. First it's for pay and food, then it's to save Leina when she is taken by Glemy Toto (this produces my favorite sub-plot, Glemy teaching Leina the fine art of manners and being a lady), then to avenge the death of his sister and finally once he has “awakened” to fight for the hope of mankind.

Episodes 1 to 19 of the show are a complete waste. Relying mainly on slap stick, stupid characters, dumb battles and pure luck on Judau's behalf, he never becomes a serious pilot worthy of piloting a Gundam. The most despicable act in this run was the treatment of Yazan Gable, one of the two pilots in Zeta Gundam that Kamile could not defeat without using his awkening newtype powers. In Zeta he was a sadistic pilot capable of besting any main character in the series. For the few episodes that he's in ZZ he's a fool, a clown, a humorous distortion of his Zeta character. None of the other new enemy characters are much better, Mashymre Cello is a dope and obsessed with Haman, Chara Soon is annoying and only there to show her cleavage, and Glemy Toto, for how important he will be, is a bumbling fool.

Eventually the plot moves forward in episodes 20 & 21. A childhood friend of Torres, a bridge crewman of the Argama, has a change of heart about selling out the Argama to Neo-Zeon and sacrifices herself to save the ship. While it marks a turn in the tone of the series it doesn't make it a much better series.

Here's a list of things that bothered me:
1) The entire Moon-Moon arc is pointless, it serves to give Mondo a non-selfish reason to fight, when there are only a handful of episodes left.
2) There is no war. Neo-Zeon/Axis takes over the Earth without a shot being fired it seems.
3) There was no reason to drop a colony on Dublin, it made no sense in Haman's goal of ruling the Earth sphere and getting people to leave the Earth for space.
4) Haman's attraction to Judau is weird, though a nice twist on the older guy/younger girl popular in anime.
5) The African stories, while good stand alone shows and stories, contributed little to the overall story, save the Leina episodes.
6) Glemy's rebellion against Haman was barely setup in the series, how he gained control of a ship, let alone a fleet and winning soldiers to his cause, after being such a useless pilot I'll never understand.
7) The Near Argama vs the entire Neo-Zeon fleet is not a believable showdown.

The second half, taken on its own is a decent addition to the Gundam timeline but several things are elft unexplained. Glemy Toto, the ineffectual-Lu Luka infatuated Neo-Zeon pilot, starts a rebellion against Haman and the main Neo-Zeon forces, yet its hardly explained. Why he hates Haman, how he gathered forces to his side and what he plans to do are either under-explained or not explained at all.

During the African campaign Judau's sister Leina is believed to be killed, but turns up alive and in Sayla's protection, completely removing the weight of her death and cheapening the series. To me a conversation between Sayla and Bright about her brother Char seems to be the main plot hi-light of the second half, it sets up Char's Counterattack, regardless of the storyline of the show.

Even the final climactic battle between Judau and Haman is a disappointment.

I really didn't like this series, it was nothing of the Gundam I liked and a lot of the Gundam I don't like. If you can survive a shaky horrible beginning, under-explained and just confusing plot elements and characters who are more caricature than character then Gundam ZZ is an enjoyable show. However if you liked Zeta Gundam and any other Universal Century Gundam series then this is not the series for you.

I rate Gundam ZZ a very weak 4/10. To be watched by completists only.

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