Back when Gundam: Hathaway came out last summer, Sunrise announced rather quickly that Netflix secured the rights for the film in several western regions.
However, the same thing did not happen this summer for the premiere of Cucuruz Doan’s Island, the latest and greatest Gundam film. That led me to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the film might get a limited theatrical run instead.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Last night the subtitled version of the film was shown in a “one night only” release (with a dubbed version airing tonight in the same theatres). Naturally I grabbed a ticket as soon as possible, and I’m here now with my intentionally vague and spoiler free review.
Setting the Stage
Generally speaking, when dealing with a large, multimedia entertainment franchise, you can be sure that any feature film is going to be friendly to new and casual fans. But that is absolutely not the case there. In order to really, truly understand and appreciate Cucuruz Doan’s Island, you need to be deeply familiar with the lore of the One Year War.
On one level, you need to understand that this film is a remake/retelling of a single episode from the original 1979 show (namely episode 15, also named Cucuruz Doan’s Island).
On a different level, you also need to understand that the film retells this story within the context of the alternate universe of the Gundam: The Origin manga (which itself is a retelling of the original show). Origin makes a whole lot of changes to not only the timeline of the One Year War, but also other aspects of the story, all of which are reflected here in the film.
And on top of all that, the film makes no effort to catch viewers up to what happened earlier in the story, nor does it try and reintroduce the cast of characters. It just starts, and expects you to know what’s happening and who’s who.
It’s one of those things works out perfectly fine for hardcore fans, but is still puzzling when you step out of your own fandom and consider that feature films usually aren’t made for such a narrow audience.
Then again, I’ve heard (unconfirmed) claims that Japan is generally far less concerned about canonicity and plot holes, so it’s entirely possible that this was intended for a wide audience, namely “anyone in Japan who is at least vaguely familiar with the original show”, and that we westerners are simply overthinking it all.
Why remake a single episode?
Episode 15 is notorious for having terrible animation. It was considered so bad that it eventually received a sort of “soft ban”. It’s typically not aired on TV or streaming sites, nor does it show up in most DVD and Blu Ray collections.
Changes from The Origin
The Origin changes quite a lot of details in its portrayal of the One Year War, but here are the things that you most need to be aware of coming into this film:- GM mobile suits are introduced far earlier in the story, and in fact are present in the film
- Sleggar Law joins the crew of the White Base earlier in the story, and in fact is present in the film
- In the original show, White Base carries the Gundam, one Guntank, and one Guncannon. In The Origin it has a different complement of mobile suits, which is why the film features two Guncannons and no Guntanks.
- The White Base also has access to the Core Booster earlier than it did in the show, and Sayla is already a pilot (which doesn’t happen in the show until quite a few episodes later).
- In general, mobile suits are depicted as being both slower (on foot) and faster (when jumping or otherwise using their thrusters) than in the show. In specific, Zakus are depicted as being much more capable than before, while Guncannons are depicted as being far inferior (the Gundam itself is roughly as capable as always, while GMs are roughly as incapable).
- Uniforms are slightly different, Bright Noa is aged up a bit (not that you can really tell), and the teenage pilots all have official military ranks.
- In the original show, neither the battle of Odessa nor the Battle of Jaburo has taken place by episode 15. However, in The Origin, White Base heads to Jaburo almost immediately after landing on Earth (meaning it’s already been there by the time this film takes place), and is preparing to head to Odessa by the time the film ends.
My Review
TV shows and films take different approaches to things like pacing, dialogue, and action. I lack the media literacy to explain the differences with any sort of nuance or detail, but I know it when I see it. If I had to try and explain, I’d say that TV is more of a slow burn, giving characters and plotlines room to breathe and evolve, while films have to crank through everything as quickly and economically as possible.
With that in mind, I cannot overstate how much this film feels like a 90 minute episode of a TV show. It spends a ton of time just hanging around with its characters, with a few scenes here and there to move the plot forward.
Furthermore, compared to other Gundam films, there’s not a ton of action. And while the fight scenes are well animated, they aren’t nearly as intense or bombastic or visually overwhelming as the fights in Gundam Narrative, Char’s Counterattack, etc.
On the surface, this makes it sound like Cucuruz Doan’s Island is a dud, and I guess it is if you compare it to those other blockbusters. But if you view it as a retelling of a TV show episode - one that’s trying to preserve the feel of a TV show episode - then it’s a smashing success.
The film channels so much of the spirit, the pacing, and the tone of the original show. Even its modern animation has a sometimes rough, painterly quality that hearkens back to the animation cels 1979. I don’t believe for a second that Sunrise is going to do a full remake of Mobile Suit Gundam, but this film is a perfect template for how they would (or should) do it.
And that’s exactly why I loved this film. It felt like more OG Mobile Suit Gundam, even if just a little taste. That’s not something I was ever expecting to get, but I’ll take it.
At the same time, I can and will acknowledge that if you haven’t watched the original show, or aren’t familiar with its characters and story beats, I don’t think you’d get much mileage out of it. Normally I’d fault it for that, but again, I think Sunrise knew exactly what it was doing when they made this. Cucuruz Doan’s Island accomplishes its mission, for better or for worse.