is a 1988 Japanese anime science fiction film directed and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino. It is set in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam franchise. Featuring the talents of Shūichi Ikeda, Toru Furuya, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Maria Kawamura, Nozomu Sasaki, and Kōichi Yamadera, among others, it focuses on Char Aznable's attempt of genocide on the planet Earth by pushing the asteroid called Axis into a collision with the planet. As a result, Char's rival from the Earth Federation Amuro Ray tries to defeat him in combat and avoid a slaughter in the process.
In addition to being the first original Gundam theatrical release, Char's Counterattack was also the first Gundam production to make use of computer graphics during a five-second shot of the Sweetwater colony rotating in space, being made at Toyo Links. Char's Counterattack was released in North America on DVD on August 20, 2002, and was broadcast on January 4, 2003, on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.
Upon release, the film made a gross of ¥1.16 billion in Japan. The film was praised for its production values, though the rivalry between the two leads earned mixed responses for being recycled from the original 1979 television series. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino also expressed doubts about the film he directed in retrospective. Nevertheless, Tomino wrote another novel known as Beltorchika's Children which focuses more on Amuro's personal life and was adapted into a manga series.
Plot In UC 0093, Char Aznable returns to prominence and leads Neo Zeon in battle against the Earth Federation, aiming to plunge Earth into a nuclear winter by dropping asteroids to progress humanity's evolution as Newtypes. A Federation task force called Londo Bell, which includes Bright Noa and Char's rival Amuro Ray, engages Neo Zeon during an asteroid drop operation at Fifth Luna. Amuro fights Char but is forced to withdraw due to Char's superior abilities in his MSN-04 Sazabi mobile suit, as Fifth Luna successfully collides with Lhasa.
On Earth, Federation Vice Minister Adenauer Paraya and his rebellious daughter Quess narrowly escape Fifth Luna's collision on a shuttle, bringing along Bright's son Hathaway who develops a crush on Quess. They rendezvous with Londo Bell's command ship, the Ra Cailum, and head for the space colony Londenion per Adenauer's request. During the journey, Amuro works with close friend and engineer Chan Agi to fine-tune the psycoframe of his custom mobile suit, the RX-93 v Gundam (pronounced "Nu Gundam"). Hathaway and Quess discuss Char's willingness to destroy Earth despite having allied with the Federation in the past, and Quess resonates with his motives, leaving Hathaway skeptical.
Arriving in Londenion, Adenauer and the Federation secretly negotiate a peace treaty with Char, granting him the former mining asteroid Axis. While relaxing in the colony with Quess and Hathaway, Amuro recognizes Char and attacks him. Quess betrays Amuro and leaves with Char, much to Hathaway's distress. Sensing her potential, Char begins manipulating Quess, learning that she is a powerful Newtype. Char announces to Neo Zeon that the treaty is a ruse to gain control of Axis and sets its trajectory for a collision with Earth. Neo Zeon ambushes and cripples a Federation fleet, which Quess participates in and kills Adenauer as her mental state further deteriorates.
With Londo Bell left to fend themselves, Bright leads the task force to stop Axis by any means necessary. Hathaway begs to join to save Quess, but Amuro stops him out of fear for his safety as he deploys in the hastily developed Gundam. Neo Zeon thwarts Londo Bell's attempts to destroy Axis, while an emotionally unstable Quess meets with Char, who instructs her to continue fighting. Quess descends into violence as she fights Londo Bell and the Gundam. Hathaway sneaks onto the battlefield and tries convincing Quess to stop fighting. Before Quess can aim her weapons at Hathaway, Chan kills her to protect him, causing a traumatized and enraged Hathaway to kill Chan in return.
As Londo Bell and Neo Zeon sustain heavy losses, Amuro and Char duel each other to settle their grievances, and Char reveals he secretly helped in contributing to the Gundam's psycoframe out of a desire to evenly match Amuro. Bright and the Ra Cailum land on Axis to plant explosive charges. Char attempts to stop Amuro inside Axis when Amuro is informed that the asteroid is rigged to blow. Both men escape in time as the charges detonate, tearing Axis in two. Amuro gains the upper hand and defeats the Sazabi, taking Char's escape pod captive. However, Londo Bell realizes that one half of Axis is still aiming for Earth.
Char ridicules Amuro's failure to stop Axis, though Amuro is determined to push the asteroid away using the Gundam. Amuro's refusal to give up hope is seen by the pilots of both sides, who respond by joining him in the attempt to stop Axis, but it is not enough. As Amuro and Char argue on their philosophies, a massive amount of energy emanating from the psycoframes of the Gundam and Char's escape pod is formed from the collective will of humanity. The psycoframes overload and release the energy, engulfing both men in a stream of light and successfully diverting Axis' descent. Amuro and Char vanish in the phenomenon, as Bright, Hathaway, and the people of Earth watch the resulting aurora in awe.
Production and development
After the production of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, the movie was planned in response to fan desire for a conclusion to the rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. The film was originally planned to be released in January 1988."Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack Official Record Complete Works -Beyond the Time-", September 21, 2022, Bandai Namco Film Works, P220
The movie was directed and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The first draft of the script was over two hours long and featured Beltorchika Irma, Amuro's partner from Zeta Gundam, now married to him. Concerns were raised over whether it was appropriate for a robot anime to have a married main character. In subsequent drafts, Beltorchika was removed and her role was filled by two new characters, Chan Agi and Quess Paraya. The character Mineva Lao Zabi, who had appeared in Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ, was also omitted as her presence would have made the story overly complicated. The original draft of the story was adapted by Tomino into a 1988 novelization entitled . Notably, this novelization featured a new revision of the v Gundam design later dubbed the Hi-v Gundam (read "Hi-Nu" Gundam), and replaced Char's Sazabi with a new Mobile Suit named the Nightingale. The novelization itself lead to a trilogy of novels by Tomino entitled Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash released between 1989 and 1990.
Tomino began storyboarding in April 1987, one month behind schedule, and the final cut was completed on September 6."Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack Official Record Complete Works -Beyond the Time- Storyboard Collection II", September 21, 2022, Bandai Namco Film Works Co., Ltd., P398
Animation CG animation was used to depict the Space Colony Side 1's Londenion and Side 5's Sweetwater,Newtype 100% Correlation 10 Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack ], published on May 1, 1988, Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Monthly Newtype, P53 due to the structures' intricate detail and rotation."Newtype 100% Collection 10 Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack", published May 1, 1988, Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Monthly Newtype, P53 CG designer Hideki Nakano spent three months on the one-and-a-half minute scene to make sure that the immense size of the colony would be properly conveyed in theaters."Newtype 100% Collection 10 Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack", published May 1, 1988, Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Monthly Newtype, P52-53
Original Mobile Suit Gundam character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko decided not to participate in the project, and the job was instead given to Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ designer Hiroyuki Kitazume."Newtype 100% Correlation 10 Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack", May 1988 Published by Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Monthly New Type, P39 Then director Yoshiyuki Tomino said, "This is not an extension of ZZ, but a new work, so the characters will also change." During the design process, he didn't have enough time to talk with Director Tomino, so it was decided that Director Tomino would select rough sketches of characters drawn by Kitazume.Char', published May 1, 1988, Kadokawa Shoten Co., Ltd. Monthly Newtype, P39 Tomino didn't give any specific instructions about the design, but said, "I want you to avoid becoming a manga in order to draw a human drama." Kitazume tried to create a design that could show human facial expressions, but even during the design, Director Tomino said that the length of the neck of the character as a whole should be designed with Western actors in mind, not Japanese, "The jaw line is below the shoulders.""Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack Official Record Complete Works -Beyond the Time-", published September 21, 2022, Bandai Co., Ltd. Namco Film Works, P297, 300
Mechanical Design's design work includes Yutaka Izubuchi, Yoshinori Sayama, Masahisa Suzuki, and Kazunobu Nakazawa. The design of the mobile suit was competed in a competition similar to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ. In this work, gimmicks such as transformation and combination were not added to the MS, and the size itself was increased The flow of heavy armament that continued until the previous work has stopped, and simple humanoid aircraft are the center. Masahisa Suzuki and others submitted numerous rough designs for the main characters. ν Gundam, Re-GZ, Jegan, and other Earth Federation Forces mobile suits. Yutaka Izubuchi designed the Neo Zeon mobile suits. Director Tomino had two requests regarding the main character's ν Gundam: "I want to put a cape on the Gundam" and "I don't want the Gundam itself to transform or combine."
Initially, it was decided that Mamoru Nagano would be appointed as the main mechanical designer for this work. Director Tomino said, "It's not a TV series, so I'll entrust all the designs to you." He was in charge of almost all designs in the play, such as enemy and ally MS and ships, cockpits, MS control systems, and Psycommu helmets. It was considered under the condition that the mecha that appeared in the previous work (First Gundam, Z, ZZ) would not be used at all, but the design line proposed in response to Director Tomino's request. The Gundam was also progressing with a design line that overturned the so-called Gundam common sense was not liked by the client, and he himself clashed with the staff around him, so he had to drop out halfway through the previous work Gundam ZZ. For that reason, all the designs were redone at the stage of trial drawing to see if it would be reflected in the actual drawing, and although the concept was the same, Nagano's design itself did not appear in the work at all. In later years, Nagano said that he had quit the Gundam series three times in a row, including this one, saying, "There are so many things I don't want to remember.""Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack Official Record Complete Works -Beyond the Time-", September 21, 2022, Bandai Namco Film Works, P222, 230