is an anime movie set in the primary Universal Century timeline of Gundam, taking place in UC 0093.

Making its theatrical debut on March 12, 1988, Char's Counterattack is the final culmination of the original saga begun in Mobile Suit Gundam and continued through Zeta Gundam and Double Zeta Gundam, marking the final conflict of the fourteen-year rivalry between Char Aznable and Amuro Ray, and the end of the EF/Zeon conflicts. The movie is based on the novel by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

In addition to being the first original Gundam theatrical release, Char's Counterattack was also the first Gundam production to make use of computer graphics during a five-second shot of a colony rotating serenely in space. Char's Counterattack made its American debut on January 4, 2003 at 11 p.m. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.

Story

The year is Universal Century 0093. Five years have passed since the First Neo-Zeon War. The Federation has recovered from its defeat and has created a new anti-colonial special forces unit to deal with rebel forces: Londo Bell. Elsewhere in space Char Aznable re-appears out of self imposed hiding with a declaration that he now commands his own Neo-Zeon movement. Unlike movements of the past, Char intends to force the emigration of Earth's inhabitants to space by bringing about an ice age. Faced with a renewed space war the Earth Federation tasks Londo Bell to suppress Char’s uprising before it can gain momentum. When Neo Zeon forces agree to surrender in exchange for the abandoned mining colony Axis the Federation believes that the crisis has been averted; however Londo Bell forces think otherwise, and when the asteroid unexpectedly begins moving toward earth Londo Bell’s worst fears are realised. With Neo Zeon forces poised to win, and the Federation unable to reinforce Londo Bell the fate of Earth once more rests with Amuro Ray and his RX-93 Nu Gundam.

Initially, because of the ambiguous ending, it was debatable as to whether Char and Amuro actually died at the end. As there wasn't a concrete evidence to their conclusion and fate, common fan wisdom in such cases is the assumption that the characters could somehow return if the actors playing them were interested enough, and one factor which supports this notion is the fact that Tohru Furuya, Amuro's japanese voice artist, confessed, during his Anime Expo 2006 guest panel, that he still believes Amuro survived the film's events. Both First Gundam and Zeta Gundam ended with Char unaccounted for and with a visual teaser indicating that he may have survived the final battles of those series. There was such a case at the end of the movie as well for CCA. It can be noted that Tomino in his novelization of Char's Counterattack, (not Beltochika's Children) has clearly indicated that Char and Amuro were indeed killed in action. However, like Tomino's previous novelization of First Gundam, the Char's Counterattack novelization substantially changes many aspects of the story and thus its ending does not necessarily reflect that of the movie.

Characters

Earth Federation

• Adenaur Paraya

Londo Bell

• Bright Noa
• Amuro Ray
• Chan Agi
• Astonaige Medoz
• Kayra Su
• Meran

Neo-Zeon

• Char Aznable
• Gyunei Guss
• Nanai Miguel
• Rezin Schnyder
• Horst Harness
• Lyle

Civilians

• Mirai Yashima
• Hathaway Noa
• Cheimin Noa
• Quess Paraya
• Cameron Bloom
• Katherine
• October Saran

Other

• Lalah Sune (Shown in flashbacks and dreams)

Weapons and Support Units

Earth Federation Forces

Mobile Weapons

• RGM-86R GM III
• RGM-89 Jegan

Support Units

• Clop class
• FF-X7-Bst Core Booster
• Salamis Kai class

Londo Bell

Mobile Weapons

• Med
• RGM-89 Jegan
• RGZ-91 Re-GZ
• RX-93 ν Gundam
• Zuck

Support Units

• Base Jabber Mobile Suit Sled
• Clop class
• Ra Cailum-class (Ra Cailum)
• Note: clicking the first link will take you to the class page, clicking the second link will take you to the Ra Cailum separate page.

Neo-Zeon

• AMS-119 Geara Doga
• MSN-03 Jagd Doga
• MSN-04 Sazabi
• NZ-333 α Azieru
• RMS-116H Hobby Hizack

Support Units

• Musaka-class
• Rewloola-class
• Shackles Mobile Suit Sled

Cast

Character	Japanese Actor	English Actor
Amuro Ray	Tōru Furuya	Brad Swaile
Char Aznable	Shūichi Ikeda	Michael Kopsa
Bright Noah	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Chris Kalhoon
Quess Paraya	Maria Kawamura	Jocelyne Loewen
Hathaway Noah	Nozomu Sasaki	Bill Switzer
Gyunei Guss	Kōichi Yamadera	Kirby Morrow
Nanai Miguel	Yoshiko Sakakibara	Jenn Forgie
Chan Agi	Mitsuki Yayoi	Nicole Leroux
Astonaige Medoz	Shingo Hiromori	Ty Olsson
Cameron Bloom	Kaneto Shiozawa	David Mackay
Mirai Noah	Fuyumi Shiraishi	Cathy Weseluck
Cheimin Noah	Mayumi Shou	Alaina Burnett
Kayra Su	Shinobu Adachi	Angela Hendricks
Adenaur Paraya	Shunsuke Shima	Trevor Devall
Lalah Sune	Keiko Han	Willow Johnson

Staff

• Director/Screenplay: Yoshiyuki Tomino
• Character Designer: Hiroyuki Kitazume
• Mobile Suit Designer: Yutaka Izubuchi
• Mecha Designs: Gainax, Yoshinori Sayama
• Art Director: Shigemi Ikeda
• In Between Animation: Ai Works, Artland, Aubec, Kino Production, Random, Studio AP, Studio Boomerang, Studio DEEN, Studio Gain, Studio Hibari, Studio Mu, Studio Mumin, Studio Musashi, Studio Takuranko, Studio Wombat, Sunshine Corporation, Tiger Production, Workshop
• Key Animators: Studio Dove, Studio Mark

Production

Yoshiyuki Tomino adapted Char's Counterattack from the novel Beltorchika's Children, although most think it vice versa. Tomino had planned previously to feature Char's return in Gundam ZZ, however when he got the green light to do Char's Counterattack, he dropped the planned appearance. Tomino does not recall his plans to bring back Char in ZZ.

Three of the four mecha designers credited on Char's Counterattack went on to direct their own anime series: Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Yutaka Izubuchi (RahXephon) and Koichi Ohata (Burst Angel). Yoshinori Sayama continued designing on shows such as Patlabor, Cowboy Bebop and Izubuchi's RahXephon.

Theme songs

Ending:

Performed by TM Network (Tetsuya Komuro, Takashi Utsunomiya and Naoto Kine)

Music and arrangement by Tetsuya Komuro

Lyrics by Mitsuko Komuro

External links