Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt vol. 22

Last time I wrote about how this series, and “One-Punch Man,” were both hip-deep in the same kind of storytelling as they tried to build up their conflicts to a climax.  “One-Punch Man” was doing it a lot better than “Thunderbolt,” though there’s some good news to report for this series here.  While the Federation and the Nanyang Alliance are still locked in intractable conflict, there’s a major plot twist there that threatens to put them on much more even footing going forward.  I won’t say what it is, but mangaka Yasuo Ohtagaki tips his hand towards it early in the volume.  Better still is that this twist allows the Alliance’s leader, Sojo Levan Fu, to be called out for how he’s trying to create a peaceful universe through all-out warfare.  I don’t think it’ll get through to him, but it was still nice to see.

This volume also feels less chaotic than the previous one as it’s focused on furthering the conflicts that were established earlier.  It’s hard to say that any of them feel as compelling as the stuff involving the above-mentioned twist, which is a weird thing to say when a character is carrying around Checkov’s Nuke throughout the entire story here.  I’m also unsure of where Ohtagaki is going with these beings of light in the Newtype Room of Time with Darryl and Yith as I feel this conflict has enough going on without introducing a new party made up of unknown astral intelligences.  Hopefully he’ll keep that stuff in the background as “Thunderbolt’s” conflict has now morphed into something more interesting, with a couple of quality cliffhangers to stoke anticipation for vol. 23.