The Story: Universal Century year 0079...The civil war continues between the Federal Forces and the rogue outer colony of Zeon... The White Base, its understaffed crew of teenage soldiers, Gundam Mobile suits, and pilot Amuro Ray continue to try to elude Zenon forces and adjust to life as soldiers in a bitter war. Things for the crew are worsened when the powerful Zeon family Zabi blames them for the death of their prodigal son and make it their personal vendetta for Zeon forces to destroy the base. Young Amuro Ray continues to be haggard by the pressure of being a soldier, divided between his skill for piloting the Gundam Mobile Suit, his revulsion at harming others, and the responsibility of protecting his comrades lives. Plus, he hears unwelcome rumors that may explain his strange natural skill for piloting the main mobile suit.

The Film: While aimed at a more teen/mature audience and a fantasy, this part of the Gundam saga falls prey to many melodrama conveniences and a cheesy music video moment that add up to weaker storytelling than the first film... During an attack, Sayla, one of the White Base teens, jumps into the Gundam suit and takes off into battle, intending to ask the Zeon's about the Zeon she saw that resembled her long lost brother (Char, the rakish Zeon commander). Yes, on one hand it moves her plot forward, but on the other it is just a monumentally stupid decision. Then, in the following scenes, she attempts to interrogate a captured Zeon soldier, who very casually answers her questions about Char in an unconvincing, too convenient, perfect exposition... Amuro just happens to be lounging around overhearing the captains discussion about how Amuro may be a New Type, a freak, leading him to storm off... Amuro and his Zeon enemy very coincidentally cut open each others canopy and reveal themselves as the pilots- this after having met at a saloon earlier when Amuro had a fit and ran away from the base... It's not that I mind such storytelling foibles in my fantasy, but when you get them scene after scene in such a serious story, it just dampens your suspension of disbelief. For me, (others may not be bothered) it began to blur that line and between entertaining and pandering. Luckily the last half brings up better realized plotlines like spies and sabatoge and the crew getting officially assigned and becoming a more grounded fighting force.

Probably, the most important plot point brought up in this second installment would be the speculation about the existence of the Newtypes- sort of an evolutionary step, more skilled and psychicly intuitive humans. This adds even further to Amuro being a youth that has to deal with pressures that no youth should have to take on. Not only is he forced into being a warrior, but his uncomfortable adolescence is heightened tenfold by being told he may be some freak of evolution. If a teen doesn't feel different enough and is uncomfortable with themselves, try telling them they are a genetic anomaly.... A confusing aspect of this series brought up in this second installment, is the nature of how the fighting suits dehumanize your enemy, making it easier to fight. When Amuro betters a grizzled Zeon captain, the captain says something like, "You didn't win with your own two hands. It was only because of the Gundam's abilities.", and this is clearly meant as an insult. Yet, the captain was fighting in a suit as well? Its a rather ridiculous point, like saying, "Its the gun/bullet that kills, not the man." Likewise its a bit puzzling when Zeon forces invade the ship, both sides going hand to hand, or rifle to rifle, for the first time having to stare their enemy in the face, yet everyone, including Amuro, puzzlingly has no trouble fighting.

The DVD: Bandai. Like the first volume, same scant extras. NOTE: at 25:21my copy pixelated and broke up for about 6-10 seconds before resuming to play fine. I checked it on both of my players and it repeated the problem on each one. No idea if this was a defect on just my copy or all copies.

Picture- 1:33:1 Full screen Original Aspect ratio. Well, it looks as good as it is bound to get. Of course, being a late 70's animation show it falls prey to restraints of the time. Everything looks fine, and any flaws, grain, weak color, are due to the nature of the existing elements, not the DVD transfer.

Sound- Original Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, Japanese with optional yellow English subtitles. Now, usually I'm not one for meddling with soundtracks. Just because you can change a mix, add new sound fx, and so forth doesn't mean you should. Often it kind of ruins the original charm. In this case though, I really liked the remix. It seems to stay very faithful to the original recording, only it just amps up the sound fx and score much better, rounding out, pumping up the audio more than the original. In any case, fans have either one to choose from.

Extras- 14 Chapter Selections---Liner note bio of co-creator Yoshiyuki Tomino.---15 pages of credits.

Conclusion: As I said with Vol 1&3, the presentation offers very nice audio and an image as good as its likely to ever get. But, it is pretty much completely lacking in extras, making it a purchase for those true die hard fans, a casual consideration for the general anime buff, and a rental for the uninitiated.