Saw this YT video calling war in the pocket "the most anti-war Gundam" and it got me thinking about this thread again

Now that you mention it, war in the pocket isn't so much the "most anti-war" as it is the "most anti-gundam" gundam https://twitter.com/MatteoWatz/status/1333702457541742592

The show starts with a triple subversion of the franchises signature "adolescent boy piloting the gundam" plot

The first protagonist we meet is a prepubescent boy

The actual gundam pilot of the show is in fact a woman

The older male protagonist is a zeon grunt

*spoiler warning for gundam 0080 war in the pocket ahead*

The supposed ultra powerful prototype mobile suit, the Gundam NT-1 never fulfills its purpose as a super weapon that will change the course of the war, and instead is destroyed in a minor skirmish at the hands of a zaku

Its no secret that Al's childlike fascination with war is supposed to represent the Gundam fanbase, but man is it even darker than I first thought

Al unwittingly involves himself in what he has always dreamed of, but all that awaits is the suffering of everyone involved.

All the emotional suffering of the brought by the conclusion is a direct result of Al's actions.

And while tragic endings for characters is common for any Gundam series, the ending of war in the pocket just carries a distinct air of hopelessness that isn't found in other gundams