Gundam Seed Volume 8: Eternal Crusade (DVD) - Anime Reviews


	Number of Episodes 5 Language Options English/Japanese/English Subtitles Released by Bandai Entertainment Extras - Gundam Encyclopedia - Nami Tamaki “Believe” Music Video
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Gundam Seed Volume 8: Eternal Crusade (DVD)

After Operation Spit Break, the PLANTs are in turmoil. Patrick Zala, the new leader, orders the arrest of Lacus Clyne and her father, branding them traitors. He gives Athrun a new mission – to track down the stolen Freedom Gundam – and a new weapon to do it. But before he goes, he tracks down Lacus, who makes him question his beliefs.

The Archangel has returned to Orb, and learns that Orb is being pressured to join the Federation. And when ZAFT attacks Panama, the pressure increases and the Federation delivers an ultimatum. When the Federation attacks, the Archangel fights to defend Orb. But they face three powerful new Gundams with unusually skilled pilots.

Athrun arrives, with conflicting feelings. But the battle cannot wait, and must decide quickly what he will do. The Federation launches a final attack on Orb, and Uzumi puts his ultimate plan into action. It will be a day of great sadness, and great revelation.

The Archangel has defied her orders and withdrawn prematurely from the defense of the Alaskan base, saving their ship from imminent destruction in the destruction of base by the Federation Command.

Episode 36: In The Name Of Justice

Athrun’s father has taken control of the government and is issuing orders for the arrest of Lacus and the rest of the Clynes. But of greater concern is the stolen Freedom Gundam – Chairman Zala issues Athrun the Justice Gundam and orders him to destroy everything and everyone that has come into contact with Freedom. Athrun goes to look for Lacus on his own, and after finding Pink-chan, he is able to

Advertisement

figure out where she is hiding. The talk with Lacus leads him to question whether the leadership for the ZAFT is doing the right thing and to question the nature of the fighting that is currently going on.

Back on Earth, Kira finally gets a moment to talk with the crew of the Archangel. Learning more about what has happened since he was injured, he tells the Captain that he doesn’t intend to rejoin the Federation forces and

Advertisement

will instead work as a force towards peace. He also reveals that his Gundam is equipped with an N-Jammer Canceller, so it is one of the few nuclear powered Gundams available (hence its’ power).

Episode 37: Divine Thunder

With no where else to turn, Kira and the crew of the Archangel decide to make for the nearest friendly port – Orb. They are allowed to dock, but the government will not allow them off the ship like last time, so the crew is finally able to get some much needed rest. For Cagalli, she is able to tackle Kira and finally see with her own eyes that he is still alive. But the news isn’t all good, the Federation is starting to get desperate and they are starting to force the neutral countries of Earth to join the Federation or face being targeted as enemy forces – this comes as especially bad news for the Archangel’s crew who were hoping to avoid fighting for a little while.

The ZAFT forces are now attacking angrily – the expected invasion of Panama has begun with gusto and the Coordinators are fighting ferociously to eliminate any resistance. So it’s up to the Federation to spring a new surprise: a division of their own Mobile Suits to counter the main-line suits of ZAFT. Just as the battle appears ready to turn for the Federation, the ZAFT forces use an EMP weapon that neutralizes all of the defenses including the new suits and allows for the carpet bombing of the base there and the wiping out of the remaining forces.

In Orb, we learn that Strike Gundam was recovered and rebuilt, and more importantly, the new OS has been installed and so it can be piloted by a Natural. The new pilot of Strike will be the Commander and the episode ends with his starting his training on the new equipment.

Episode 38: Decisive Fire

The Federation sends in a formal warning that the country of Orb has 48 hours to join the Federation or be taken by force. The leader of the Federation task force has decided that this “invasion” will serve as an excellent test of the new Mobile Suits as well as some new Mobile Armor that they have developed and are looking forward to using in combat. The leader of Orb has decided to stand up against the Federation to protect their sovereignty and the country begins to make preparations to defend themselves.

The crew of the Archangel must now individually decide if they want to remain on board the ship and aid in the defense of the country. For some, the chance to stop fighting is a welcome one and a few leave. The prisoner on board is finally set free, he’s told to run for safety with the rest of the civilian population. Once the battle is joined, Strike and Freedom quickly become the primary vanguard against the swarming enemy suits – however, the numbers quickly start pushing them back so much so that two “enemies” join in on the defense: the prisoner gets to his Buster Gundam and helps protect the Archangel; and Athrun sees the conflict and jumps in to help his friend Kira. Now things are going to get interesting.

Episode 39: Athrun

With Athrun and Kira working as a team, the prototype Mobile Armor units are under constant pressure and the large dogfight quickly becomes the largest attraction in the battle. As the battle is settling in, the frustration of the Armor pilots rises and they begin fighting amongst each other and they start to show withdrawal symptoms. Those pilots are forced to retreat, and without the most powerful units available, the Federation orders a stop and retreat of all forces back to the carriers. The lull allows for S&R operations to begin and gives Athrun a chance to take Lacus’ suggestion: talk with Kira. The two pilots discuss what has happened amongst themselves up to this point and decide that it was merely the fighting and don’t hold each other responsible for the deaths of their friends.

At the Federation forward line, the Fleet Commander has finished chastising the pilots of the prototypes and gives them a drug to calm their pain. Ordering them back into the fighting, he tells them to fight better or the pain will be worse.

Episode 40: Into The Dawn Skies

After a few linear episodes, Disc 08 ends with a bang. The rejoined battle between Kira’s group and the prototypes continues as a stalemate with the attackers being forced to retreat when they run out of power and can’t continue the fight. The fight though is obviously a lost one – with most of the civilian population already evacuated, the government orders a regrouping of the remaining forces at the Mass Driver (the orbital launcher). The Orb government is going to send up a ship, the Kusanagi, as well as the Archangel to be able to escape the fighting here. Just as the ships are about to launch, the prototypes make one more attack but because of the launching ships, only Athrun and Kira can sortie to defend the ships.

In Orb, Cagalli is unwilling to leave her father behind and refuses to board the Kusanagi. But the leader is most insistent and just before the door closes, he tells her that she will be with her brother and shows her a picture of her as a newborn with her mother and Kira. As the Kusanagi blasts into space, the leaders of Orb decide that they don’t want their technology to get into the hands of the Federation, they destroy the entire city.

A very powerful episode ends a disc that was action pretty much from start to finish. Now that the new suits have started to show up, we no longer have the huge power deficit that was going on for a little while and the show has started to return to normal (well at least for the Gundam universe). Now I’m looking forward to popping in the next disc.

- Tazman

(June 11, 2005)

"This is going to be the largest lawsuit against fraudulent advertising since my suit against the Neverending Story."

- Lionel Hutz (Simpsons)

Related Links:

Anime: Gundam Seed Vol. 7 (DVD)

Anime: Gundam Seed Vol. 6 (DVD)