Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt - Volume 8 (Review)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By: MithrandielMiss my previous review? You can find it here!

Spoilers ahead!

After an extended focus on Io Fleming and the federation forces, Daryl Lorenz and his Zeon unit take center stage - and man is it one hell of a return. While the gundam battles are brief, the plot progression is impressive, with a tidy conclusion that brings our fated rivals together once again.

Summary

Daryl and his squad are currently on a high-priority mission to discover the location of the Nanyang Alliance's manufacturing facilities. The volume opens with a dead-end of intel, which results in the needless slaughter of hundreds of monks, with many more captured and their women and children being taken away.Following a new lead, Daryl and the others make their way to a rig known as "The Floating City" - rumor is that there are disabled veterans going missing there, and since the Psycho Zaku unit can only be piloted by soldiers with no limbs (prosthetics only), it seems like this may be a good place to get more info on where these units are being made.What follows is a high-stakes infiltration mission, as Daryl and the others go undercover in an attempt to learn more about the Nanyang Alliance's influence on the rig, and extract critical information.Elements of the mission appear to be successful, until Claudia Peer reveals her abilities as a medium for Nanyang leader Levan Fu. Using her to channel his fearsome Newtype powers, Levan demonstrates his abilities as Daryl and the others are exposed, barely escaping with their lives as a familiar Federation ship suddenly descends upon the rig.

Review

Ok so let's just get this out of the way first - Daryl Lorenz is the best. His squad of troublemakers reminds me of a well-constructed heist film, and the volume actually plays out with the same flair and feeling as Ocean's Eleven - except it's in space, with giant robots. Alright, we'll get back to that in a minute.I was definitely struck by the early battle sequence surrounding the Nanyang temple. Though it was an easy win for the Zeon forces, the ensuing massacre was a somber reminder that the ever-present horrors of war continue to make up the heart of Gundam franchises. There are indications that the captured monks will be subjected to torture, with the women barely escaping sexual violence as one of the commanding officers steps in to stop his men. The imagination doesn't have to work very hard to consider instances where such mercy isn't granted. While we've seen a number of grand conflicts before, reminding the reader of the weight of civilian involvement was a good choice in the opening chapter, and it does a good job of lending weight the conflict.The majority of the volume surrounds Daryl and his men conducting the infiltration and information-gathering mission, which is executed with cinematic quality. It seems to have it all: a spunky guide, conversations surrounding their fearless leader's abilities, monitoring patrols, strategizing entries and exits, mistakenly walking in on a woman while she's showering and things being awkward for the rest of the volume as a result...you know, the usual.As this is going on, we get some great insight on a character that was only recently re-introduced: Claudia Peer. Now a "medium" for the Nanyang Alliance, she operates to perform the will of Nanyang leader Levan Fu. She arrives at the rig with orphaned children for the monks to care for, and after Daryl falls in the crowd attempting to retrieve Dr. Mitchum's hair-tie , she helps him to retrieve it. As a result, the two share a moment.I was really struck by this moment in particular - there's this presentation of Claudia as an elevated religious figure in this space while Daryl is shown on his knees, increasingly limited by his prosthetics in the real world. He realizes that he's most valued in the cockpit of the Psycho Zaku, a machine they're desperately working to re-create, and appears to contemplate whether he has value & worth outside of war. As a result, throughout the volume he struggles with his calling, and his fight on behalf of Zeon. This only gets worse when Levan Fu eventually reveals himself via Claudia.Daryl's introspection is complemented by the unique cast of characters that surrounds him as the volume goes on. Ultimately, the closing scene turns out to be a high-adrenaline rush that conflates Levan Fu's fearsome powers with Daryl's struggle against him, and is capped off  by the arrival of Io Fleming and the rest of the Spartan crew. A cliffhanger to be sure!Overall, this latest volume was everything I hoped it would be. Daryl's return was fantastically executed, with an entertaining cast of characters around him and a compelling story arc that certainly has me eager for the next volume to arrive.Many thanks to VIZ Media for providing us with a digital copy of this volume in exchange for our honest review![/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]