^^^ The show really did fall to pieces in the last couple episodes, having so many plots but no time at all to follow through on them (and then dedicating way too much time for a really bad Lauda arc, Fuck Lauda) Before the finale almost everyone watching was certain they'd announce another season, like they did with IBO, so there was some pretty massive whiplash when they just wrapped everything up the way they did. Unfortunately, Suletta and Miorine's relationship was the biggest victim of that pacing. I love the messy politics and themes of the older series, but I would have even forgiven them dropping the ball on all that and its characters if they really focused on their relationship, and sadly they just didnt allocate enough time. Even a few more minutes for them instead of everyone in meetings relaying things we already know would go a long way. Between the horrible production conditions and Okouchi dropping the ball every show he writes, I'm not surprised.
I'll also push back on the narrative that Gundam doesn't and has never done explicit romance or kissing. Turn A, IBO, thunderbolt, 00, 08th MS Team, even the worst hetero nightmare show SEED, theyve all done explicit romance and kissing. IBO in a roundabout way ends with a lesbian domestic partnership executed extremely similarly to Suletta and Miorine. Turn A in its own way is extremely queer in themes and coding, the main character Loran can very easily be read as trans or nonbinary, etc. Now, the scene of them floating in space is evoking a very romantic scene from F91, but like the sword fight a couple episodes prior it kind of ends up using the reference to scaffold all the meaning and weight into that scene, rather than doing the work itself.
All that said for all my problems with the end of the show, I don't mind the ending these two got itself all that much. It's cute it's nice i'm glad they got married and i'm happy for everyone who's happy. Personally I just really wish they put the time and effort to give it the weight it deserved.
last edited at Jul 4, 2023 11:47AM