Hathaway, Char's Counterattack, and the Problem with Amuro Ray

I recently had the opportunity to see Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway in theaters. One small disappointment was that the screening was only available with the English audio track. I was curious to see whether Toru Furuya would reprise his role as Amuro¹ in the original Japanese version, as I expected an appearence from Amuro.

That aside, the recent Hathaway film - The Sorcery of Nymph Circe - remains an impressive film. Unlike other Gundam projects, Hathaway is based on a completed novel trilogy, which means that we already know how the story ultimately ends. Although I have not yet read the novels myself, it creates an unusual viewing experience. Rather than wondering where the story is going, I found myself wondering how Sunrise would adapt the remaining material and whether they would make alter the story in the final film given its grim ending.

One of the recurring thoughts I had while watching Hathaway was how much of its story is rooted in the events of Char’s Counterattack. In many ways, Hathaway is just as much a sequel to that film as it is its own story.

Over the years I have developed an increasingly unpopular opinion regarding Amuro Ray. While Amuro is undoubtedly one of anime’s most iconic protagonists, I have found myself growing more critical of his role in the larger Universal Century narrative.

In the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Amuro is a compelling character. He grows from a frightened civilian into a capable pilot and eventually becomes one of the Federation’s greatest assets. My issue is not with Amuro himself, but rather with what he represents by the time we reach Char’s Counterattack.

Throughout the Universal Century, the Earth Federation repeatedly demonstrates its inability to meaningfully reform. Corruption remains rampant, the Titans emerge and commit atrocities, and later organizations such as the Man Hunters continue to oppress people living both on Earth and in the colonies. Yet Amuro largely remains a soldier within the system.

By contrast, Char Aznable at least attempts to challenge the status quo, albeit through increasingly extreme methods. This does not make Char right. Far from it. However, it often feels as though Amuro is content to fight symptoms while ignoring the disease itself.

Perhaps this is why Hathaway’s perspective is so fascinating. Hathaway grows up witnessing the failures of the Federation firsthand. He sees the same injustices that pushed Char toward radicalization, and ultimately arrives at many of the same conclusions. The difference is that Hathaway genuinely believes he can create change where both Char and Amuro failed.

One scene in particular stood out to me. When Hathaway battles a Federation Gundam that briefly resembles Amuro’s Nu Gundam, he experiences what appears to be a Newtype vision involving Amuro. What struck me most about this sequence is that Hathaway seems to view Amuro not as a hero or savior, but simply as a soldier who never fundamentally challenged the system he served or affected positive change.

Whether that interpretation is fair is open to debate, but it is difficult to ignore the fact that many of the problems Char warned about continue to exist decades later.

This is one reason why I find the Universal Century timeline so compelling. Unlike many science fiction franchises that present clear heroes and villains, Gundam often presents deeply flawed institutions on all sides. The Earth Federation is corrupt and oppressive. Zeon repeatedly embraces authoritarianism and extremism. Neither side truly represents an ideal future.

Even alternate interpretations of the timeline, such as last year’s GQuuuuuuX, highlight this complexity. They invite viewers to ask uncomfortable questions: Would history have been better if Zeon had won? Or would humanity simply have traded one flawed system for another?

The more UC Gundam stories I watch or read, the less convinced I become that there are any easy answers.

Perhaps that is why Hathaway continues to resonate more than three decades after its original publication. Beneath the mobile suits and political intrigue lies a question that remains relevant today: what happens when institutions become so entrenched that even well-intentioned people lose faith in their ability to change them?

It is a question that Amuro, Char, and now Hathaway all answer differently, and that may be what makes Universal Century Gundam such an enduring work of science fiction.