Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

 At last my journey to Universal Century come to a full circle as i get to finish watching Victory Gundam! This series is no doubt the most depressing one in whole gundam timeline but quality wise it is very mediocre. Victory strongest point is its undiluted portrayal of the bleakness of war which it still reigns at the top of all Gundam Titles. Where your average Gundam series glorify war to some extent with most of the main protagonists side mostly unscathed, V Gundam doesn't hesitate to kill most of the characters from both sides, sometimes dying meaningless deaths showing a good view on Horrors of War.

 But having a high death toll doesn't necessarily make a good series. Yoshiyuki Tomino is known for being the father of Gundam but his ability as anime director is much to be desired. His works usually have good animation and Opening song but storyline is pile of mess which Victory is no exception. I hate Tomino's antics of shoving kids doing stupid things and main protagonist being random angst which regularly appear in the series he work on. V Gundam had a solid start but after first 12 Episodes it really drags on afterward. I can stomach ZZ but for some reason i had a hard time with Victory even though the latter was regarded better. Out of all gundam series V Gundam probably had weakest supporting cast and antagonists. Zanscare Empire could be fleshed out further but in TV series they are just rendered as One Dimensional Villain with Chronicle Asher being the weakest Char Clone out there. Katejina is quite a good villain though, a showcase of how war changes a person's personality for worse despite her character change is rather drastic making her Rau Le Creuset's Predecessor. As for the supporting character, for some reason they are quite forgettable save for Shrike Team which Tomino unfortunately kills them mercilessly. Lastly Shakti is easily the worst Gundam Heroine of all series

 Despite Victory Gundam many flaws, Uso Ewin is one of the top Gundam Protagonist out there. He wins out for being the most steadfast gundam protagonists. Throughout the series, he faces the deaths of people close to him which some met really grisly death and still able to snap out of it. Keep in mind tha Uso is just 13 years old kid and endures what would make most people have gone insane. As for Victory Gundam, it is simply a good design and the concept where it can separate damaged parts to keep the fight is a good addition into Gundam series. Overall for me, Victory Gundam is a wasted potential partly due to Tomino having a bad habit of turning good materials into pile of crap. But at very least i am happy enough to overcome another hurdle for my Journey into Gundam series.