Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (2022)

"White Base" pilot "Amuro" is injured after a conflict on the "Island of No Return". He awakens to discover that he is being cared for by a group of youngsters led by "Doan" and after he helps them fix their water supply, is more warmly welcomed into this slightly sceptical group. Soon, though, aircraft arrive carrying "Zeon" robots and it's only then that we realise that "Doan" has a past - and together with the young "Amuro" they must arm themselves and strive to defeat their attackers. I did quite enjoy this but the story (based on characters from the 1979 television series) takes far too long to get going, it relies heavily on us already understanding the battle context of the characterisations, and I found the standard of animation here a bit limited. The ending hasn't really the least jeopardy to it, and the presence of the youngsters on their island dragged what pace there was down quite effectively. That said, it does move along well enough offering us messages about the value of teamwork, loyalty etc. but I just felt it was all just too lacking of any substantial - and interesting - narrative.