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NEWS: Sentai Filmworks Licenses Aura Battler Dunbine Anime

I’ve always been interested in checking out Dunbine after reading about it in Animag back in the 80s (one of their issues was in large part an episode guide to the series, likely for the benefit of fans watching unsubbed tapes).

Perhaps they shall bundle it with the related series and instant anime classic Garzey's Wing? Gotta get that on bluray someday, right?

I surprised that people are excited for Dunbine as I found it to be boring, nonsensical in character motivation, full of cheap shock deaths and the start of Tomino's creeping sexism that would climax in Victory Gundam. I said it's his first truly bad work and a dress rehearsal for everything wrong with Zeta Gundam which takes what's terrible about Dunbine and turns it up to 11.

Never heard anyone say Zeta was straight up BAD though, that's interesting, what do you hate about Zeta?

As someone who has spent all of my adult life navigating my way through both Gundam fandom and extremely progressive social groups, Zeta has always felt like the hardest installment of the franchise to defend to my non-anime-inclined friends. This Tumblr post represents a pretty good summary of the most common feminist criticisms of the show (some of which I agree with more than others).

I’ve always been interested in checking out Dunbine after reading about it in Animag back in the 80s (one of their issues was in large part an episode guide to the series, likely for the benefit of fans watching unsubbed tapes). Kind of remarkable it gave rise to two atrocious OVA follow-ups: Wings of Rean and Garzey's Wing, both of which were demolished in Anime World Order podcasts over the last few years.

I always thought Tomino meant well with his female cast even if sometimes it could come out the wrong way. Victory had Krazy Katejina, sure, but part of the core conflict was a well-intentioned matriarch leader being relegated to a mere figurehead due to the too entitled meddling of crotchety old men, could be tragic a lot of times, but he at least holds sympathy for women. Never heard anyone say Zeta was straight up BAD though, that's interesting, what do you hate about Zeta?

Most of the protagonist cast is unlikable in a petty not interesting way. The Titans are boring, one-dimensional antagonists (Jerid aside and he gets wasted in the end) who aren't even fun in a cackling supervillain way with no real plan beyond committing as many war crimes as possible which will somehow beat the AEUG. It's pacing drags terribly. It's mecha battles are a monotonous blur. It has nothing really intelligent or insightful to say about war or humanity that other Gundams don't do better. It's tragedies are hollow and contrived. And it is above of all, deeply sexist. (Only Victory and Age are worse then it on that.)