Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway

The Earth Federation still stands and is rotten; the administration has turned compulsory migration to the space colonies into a punishment while its own privileged class stays on the planet. A group called Mafty is assassinating federation officials. Its leader is Hathaway Noa, son of a decorated captain, who grew up inside the war. During an attempt to hijack an aircraft he meets two people, and both complicate his plan. Shukou Murase directs. The source is Yoshiyuki Tomino's novel. The film is attached to the main Gundam timeline and continues the events of earlier films directly; Hathaway appeared as a child in one of them, and what happened to him there is the reason for this one. The subject is terrorism. Hathaway knows he is using unjust methods for a just cause, and the film neither absolves nor condemns him. The animation is among the series' highest; a night battle through a city is the most discussed passage, and the lighting is deliberately kept realistic. The music is by Hiroyuki Sawano. It was planned as the first of a trilogy and does not complete itself; the ending runs straight into a continuation. Who it is for: followers of the Gundam series and viewers who like politically grounded science fiction animation. Who it is not for: the context is heavy for a newcomer, the pace is slow, and the film does not finish its own story.