Sep 5, 2025
This is the second manga I read while binging Masato Natsumoto's works, an adaptation of the Gundam PS2 video game Lost War Chronicles. I played the predecessor Journey to Jaburo, so I more or less know the combat system and play for this game, so it would take about ten to fifteen hours to beat, depending on skill. However, I didn't expect this manga to basically devote a chapter per hour of gameplay. focuses on one of the minor characters from the original Gundam anime, a character who got a "day in the limelight" and then thirty years later got a small manga spin-off for
...
himself. The art is fine, but I can't help but feel that the slice of the One Year War depicted here is too small.
The story presumably follows the video game, with two protagonists: Feddie Lt. Matt Healy and Zeke Lt. Ken Bederstadt. Neither is exactly eager to prosecute the war, but they both take different approaches. As a Feddie, Healy is similar to Shiro Amada, who isn't eager to spill blood, and Healy does his best to avoid doing so. Meanwhile, Ken is a "Foreign Legion" Zeke, someone who isn't from Side 3 but fighting for the Zeon cause. Ken will kill as necessary, but won't do more. However, the problem is that the ten chapters of the manga are split evenly between the two, so they're not developed as deeply as I would prefer. If this had been longer, or perhaps if they had only focused on a single protagonist, they could have done more with it, but as it is, it's not really that satisfying.
No complaints about the art, Masato Natsumoto is extremely good at what he does. Shadow is used as effectively as detail, the battles are intense, which is what one would expect from two ace pilots. I particularly like a specific moment at the halfway point where the two protagonists confront each other for the first time.
Another short manga, though I personally think this is better for fans who have played the game than for the average mecha fan. UC fans who want to know about every piece of their preferred war should read it, but the split focus makes it a merely adequate read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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