0080 War in the Pocket Review

Another gundam anime review, an OVA this time. 0080 War in the pocket is a 6 episode ova that happens during the towards the end of the One Year War.

Unlike other gundam ova which usually concentrate on another part of the war not seen in the main series , such as the gundam seed stargazer ova, this one draws from the perspectives of civilians.

Our main protagonist is 11 year old Alfred, who will not be piloting a gundam by chance. The ova starts off with a zeon mission to destroy a prototype gundam in the Artic.

The mission ended in failure as the shuttle launches,

Zeon's Hygogg stares blankly as the mission fails.

And that is the bulk of all the action in the first 3 episodes of the ova. After the zeon mission, we get introduced to Alfred and his friends having fun in school. Which is fine, except that this is a gundam series and i am not too interested in schoolkids' squabbles. Alfred is a fan of Zeon and their MSs, which is quite unique since zeon is usually portrayed as the bad guys in gundam series.

Fighting occurs in the colony and a Zaku II kai crashed in a park.

Alfred met the pilot Bernie and they became good friends.

The rest of bernie's gang arrives and they hid a Mobile suit in a warehouse. Of course, pesky Alfred found the place again.

Believing that war is fun and cool, Alfred decides to help the Zeon group. Together with Bernie, the pair manage to discover the Federation's base where they kept the prototype gundam.

Bernie also meets Alfred's neighbour Christina, who is the federation's pilot.

By the end of episode 3 i was getting very frustrated with the ova. Alfred seems to behave like an idiot and nothing major happens. The upbeat soundtrack did not help as it makes me feel like this is a kids'show.

Then episode 4 shows that this ova is strictly not for kids. Major Spoilers ahead!

The prototype gundam NT-1 ALEX is discovered and the zeon group embarks on a mission to destroy it.

Gabriel Ramirez Garcia, one of the zeon soldiers blew himself up as a last ditch effort to destroy the gundam.

The fighting was extremely brutal considering the upbeat mood from the first 3 episodes. Most of the gang died in the process and bernie managed to escape with the injured commander steiner. Christina appears and launches in the gundam alex.

The kampfer appears and attempts to blow up the gundam. I must say the kampfer is my favourite Mobile suit in the ova.

The kampfer manages to blow up the Alex's armour pieces. 

However, the alex is a far more advanced suit than the kampfer and it destroys the kamfer easily with its gatling guns. With the kampfer gone and the pilot killed, only Bernie and the injured commander steiner remains.

Episode 5 starts and things turn out to be worse for Bernie. Steiner died due to serious injuries which means it is a one man show for Bernie. And surprisingly enough, his Zaku II Kai is still lying in the park undiscovered.

Bernie has also received news that Zeon is going to use nuclear weapons to blow up the entire colony, jst to destroy the gundam. With Alfred's encouragement, Bernie decides to stay and make one last attempt to destroy the gundam in order to save the neutral colony. 

With Alfred's help, Bernie manages to fix the Zaku II kai.

Zaku II Kai lies in ambush, luring the alex to the forest.

As Bernie fights, Alfred hears from his father that the Zeon's nuclear plan has been foiled. He runs over to stop Alfred's fight, which has no reason to continue anymore.

Using giant Christmas balloons as doppelgangers, Bernie makes the gundam waste much ammo.

  Zaku II Kai manages to get a hit on the gundam alex's torso with a heat hawk.

The final stand, as Alfred comes running.

Christina manages to pierce Zaku II Kai with the beam saber, killing Bernie and bringing the whole pointless fight to an end.

Bernie left Alfred a tape recorder for his last words. Christina left for earth, unaware that Bernie was the pilot  in the Zaku II Kai.

In the last scene, the school announces that the one year war is over. Bernie cries as he remembers Bernie. Two of his friends came to console him. They told Alfred not to worry, the next war would start soon and it would be better and flashier! This brings a bitter and grim ending to the ova which started off like a kids' show.

Conclusion:

I actually liked the ova much better than i thought i would. It is a radical change from usual gundam series, and this one is about how the war affected the innocent's lives. The first 3 episodes, which do provide a good setting for the fighting that occurs later, are still too long winded and unnecessarily upbeat.

I was shocked at the ending when Bernie friends said they were looking forward to the next war.

Bernie's tragic fate also was quite unexpected.

Thumbs Up:

1. Battle scenes are solid and down-to-earth.

2. Plot is a departure from other gundam series, and is told from the Zeon's perspective through Bernie.

3. Ending is rather unexpected.

4. Good character development.

Thumbs Down:

1. First 3 episodes are too long-winded.

2. Soundtrack is quite annoying, for me at least.

Verdict: 7.5/10 A refreshing change from usual gundam series. Non-gundam fans can probably relate to this ova more so than other series.

Seriously, no one knew such a big zeon mobile suit was lying in plain sight in the park?