by The movie “Mobile Suit Gundam Kukurus Doan no Shima” will be released on June 3, 2022, and the new TV animation “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury” will be broadcast in October of the same year. Even in the Reiwa era, the popularity and momentum of the “Gundam” series have not declined.
Especially the fans of the First Gundam generation should be excited about the movie version of “Kukurusu Doan no Shima”. Many people like me can’t wait for the release and look back at the TV version of “Mobile Suit Gundam” and the three theatrical versions.
While watching the fierce battle of Odessa, the death battle of Jaburo, the action of Solomon, and the battle of Texas, I suddenly remembered the existence of a mobile suit called “Gann”, which is the favourite machine of Colonel M’Quve.
M’Quve is famous for leaving the impressive words “Oh, Ilagan, please deliver that jar to Kycilia” and “That’s a good thing!” At the time of his death. The mobile suit developed for M’Quve is Gann.
The design of the Gann, reminiscent of a medieval knight in armour, is stylish and cool, and the characteristic circular special shield called “Gann Shield” looks great again. The protection contained floating mines called “Hide Bombs” and weapons such as “Needle Missiles”.
I remember a friend who loves Gundam often put in tsukkomi, such as “Is it safe to have an explosive in the shield to prevent attacks?” It may be unsophisticated to ask the anime mecha for a reason and consistency, but was that Tsukkomi correct?
Although it was a long time ago, I would like to consider the operation of Gann’s shield while verifying the battle scene of M’Quve again.
Weapon rack in the shape of a shield?
First of all, regarding Gann, M’Quve said in work, “Gann is a mobile suit developed for private use.” Judging from that statement, it is probably the aircraft developed in a form that incorporates M’Quve’s intentions.
Gann’s armament is specialized in close-quarters combat with the simplicity of only a beam sabre and shield suitable for piercing. In addition, M’Quve’s ability as a pilot is considerable, and Char, who was watching the offence and defence with Amuro, was even impressed with “M’Quve, I’ll do it well …”.
There is no doubt that it was developed with anti-Gundam in mind, and in the TV anime episode 37, “The Duel in Texas”, it was restrained from a long distance with needle missiles and hidden bombs launched from shields. Skillfully guide Amuro’s Gundam with the installation type booby trap that M’Quve is good at. It led to hand-to-hand combat where the actual value of the Gann could be demonstrated.
Projectiles such as needle missiles and hide bombs may have been indispensable only for Gann, who do not have a beam rifle. Then, was that special shield a role like a weapon rack because it did not have a protective function as a shield?
Gann Shield also functions as a shield.
However, in “The Duel in Texas”, there is a scene where Gann’s shield prevents Gundam’s beam sabre. The circular shield was severely torn at that time, but no missiles or mines were detonated. If you say “such a sturdy structure” or “it was a material that does not explode”, you can see it differently by unravelling the battles of M’Quve.
I’ve revealed to Char, who had put in a horizontal spear, that there was an implicit plan, saying, “I pulled in Gundam because I had my way of fighting.”
Looking back on the battle with Gundam, Gann fired a needle missile and a hidden bomb before reaching the distance where the sabres slashed each other. Due to the structure of the shield, it is unlikely that such a large amount of ammunition can be loaded, and it is no wonder that M’Quve, a brain sect, calculated that it would be used up properly before hand-to-hand combat.
If you’ve run out of missiles and mines and you’re no longer afraid of detonation, and you’re ready to start hand-to-hand combat with Gundam when the aircraft is the lightest, everything will be as I’ve expected. It will be.
When it comes to that, Amuro, who is awakening as a new type, may have been the only miscalculation for him that he outperformed the performances of M’Quve and Gann, who are good at close combat.
Was Gann ahead of the curve?
Gann was a prototype mobile suit of Zymad, which aimed to become Zeon’s next central mass-produced machine. Unfortunately, the competition was defeated by Gelgoog, equipped with a beam rifle, but I don’t think the general soldiers could handle sharp armaments like Gann properly.
However, it must be remembered that the idea of arming the shield of mobile suits has been passed down to later generations of portable cases. Gann isn’t the only mobile suit with explosives on its security.
I don’t know if I’ve come up with the idea, but at least Gann’s shield isn’t just a dangerous thing, and it can be said that it’s one reason why it wasn’t a mistake, depending on the operation.
Besides, if I won in “The Duel in Texas”, a different history of mobile suits might have been born … As a Gann lover, it’s a nostalgic episode that makes you want to immerse yourself in such a delusion.
