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Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt #2
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, Vol. 2
An epic story of war and survival set in the legendary Gundam universe!
In the Universal Century year 0079, humanity is divided between Earth and huge space colonies known as Sides. The colony known as Side 3 proclaims independence as the Principality of Zeon, and declares war on the Earth Federation. As the conflict nears the one-year mark, the Earth Federation and the forces of Zeon are locked in a fierce battle for the Thunderbolt Sector, an area of space scarred by the wreckage of destroyed space colonies.
As the struggle for the Thunderbolt Sector heats up, the Federation mounts a surprise attack on Zeon. Attrition forces both sides to deploy Mobile Suits that are not quite battle ready—the Federation’s Full Armor Gundam and Zeon’s Reuse P. Device—the “Psycho Zaku.” Getting these machines into the fight means tough sacrifices for both sides, and for the ace Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz in particular. Meanwhile, the Federation must send barely trained recruits into combat. Battle is joined and Lorenz and his Federation nemesis Io Fleming cross swords once again in a bitter struggle for vengeance and survival.
In the Universal Century year 0079, humanity is divided between Earth and huge space colonies known as Sides. The colony known as Side 3 proclaims independence as the Principality of Zeon, and declares war on the Earth Federation. As the conflict nears the one-year mark, the Earth Federation and the forces of Zeon are locked in a fierce battle for the Thunderbolt Sector, an area of space scarred by the wreckage of destroyed space colonies.
As the struggle for the Thunderbolt Sector heats up, the Federation mounts a surprise attack on Zeon. Attrition forces both sides to deploy Mobile Suits that are not quite battle ready—the Federation’s Full Armor Gundam and Zeon’s Reuse P. Device—the “Psycho Zaku.” Getting these machines into the fight means tough sacrifices for both sides, and for the ace Zeon sniper Daryl Lorenz in particular. Meanwhile, the Federation must send barely trained recruits into combat. Battle is joined and Lorenz and his Federation nemesis Io Fleming cross swords once again in a bitter struggle for vengeance and survival.
248 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 23, 2025
I think what I'm finally grasping here...is that there are no real bad guys here...both sides have their nice relatable guys fighting for their futures.
The story is propelled along by great action sequences and character dialogue...so I just might have to take better note of what's happening....because I'm probably not going to get a recap.
The story is propelled along by great action sequences and character dialogue...so I just might have to take better note of what's happening....because I'm probably not going to get a recap.
June 6, 2020
ritmo velocissimo, tiene incollati! ottimo!
July 3, 2025
The Gundam Thunderbolt series is dark, insanely dark...
February 28, 2024
What an escalation, and this is only volume 2. Following introduction of Gundam from federation's side, Zeon is now deploying their advanced mobile suite, Psycho Zaku (sounds weird, I know, but believe me it is only these names that are awkward .... and slightly clumsy :)).
Book ends on such a bloody cliffhanger I wanted to scream :) After utter mutual destruction (I don't know how to call it differently) federation and Zeon forces are setting up for the last stand battle - there is so much death and destruction here that I am wondering what are the other volumes about, definitely not about Side 4 and Thunderbolt Zone combat. And those teen recruits ...... man, that was brutal.
Art as in volume 1 (I just figured I did not mentioned it at all in that review) is beautiful. Especially great are glossy black and white and color panels. Detail on mechas, space combat, characters ..... this is truly beautiful book.
Highly recommended to fans of military SF and especially giant mecha.
Book ends on such a bloody cliffhanger I wanted to scream :) After utter mutual destruction (I don't know how to call it differently) federation and Zeon forces are setting up for the last stand battle - there is so much death and destruction here that I am wondering what are the other volumes about, definitely not about Side 4 and Thunderbolt Zone combat. And those teen recruits ...... man, that was brutal.
Art as in volume 1 (I just figured I did not mentioned it at all in that review) is beautiful. Especially great are glossy black and white and color panels. Detail on mechas, space combat, characters ..... this is truly beautiful book.
Highly recommended to fans of military SF and especially giant mecha.
June 12, 2022
Author and Illustrator Yasuo Ohtagaki brings us the continuing story of Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt. In Vol. 2 we see the war from the Zeon forces point of view and as you can tell by the cover the launch of the Psycho Zaku. We also see the doctor who preformed the operation on now Ensign Lorenz is taking up a gunner's chair. She and the man responsible for the Psycho Zaku's development project know that Ensign Lorenz is it's last component, yes they change the face of the one year war but they also show how far they're willing to go to achieve that goal. As both the Thunderbolt Gundam and the Psycho Zaku launch they carry with them the hopes of their comrades in arms on both sides. And the resulting battle cripples them both. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume in this series and I highly recommend it to all Gundam fans.
October 6, 2022
3.5/5
Saw a bit more things to nitpick in this volume compared to Vol.1
The story does not shy away from killing off characters to show the effects of war and even politics. In this volume, we also get to see more Io's back story which makes him a little less annoying for me.
Also - SHINY NEW ZAKU!
They call it Psycho Zaku but
Saw a bit more things to nitpick in this volume compared to Vol.1
The story does not shy away from killing off characters to show the effects of war and even politics. In this volume, we also get to see more Io's back story which makes him a little less annoying for me.
Also - SHINY NEW ZAKU!
They call it Psycho Zaku but
September 8, 2017
The Moore Brotherhood of the Federation vs. the Living Dead Division of Zeon. This story seems to be developing into "how many of the horrors of war can we fit into one story?"
Gundam has always been, in part, about the dark side of war, but this series may be taking it too far. Amid the usual death and destruction we add in child soldiers and forced amputation. The former may not exactly be a new theme in Gundam, but unlike the young Newtypes of previous stories, these children are just poorly trained cannon fodder.
Gundam has always been, in part, about the dark side of war, but this series may be taking it too far. Amid the usual death and destruction we add in child soldiers and forced amputation. The former may not exactly be a new theme in Gundam, but unlike the young Newtypes of previous stories, these children are just poorly trained cannon fodder.
March 20, 2020
War is bad and it's bad to make young people fight in your war. Even if they fight in cool looking robot suits. I was a bit on the fence after reading the first volume and though this second book was well drawn and the story was well told it didn't resonate with me the way I'd hoped. I appreciate that this isn't a rah-rah glorious war story because I hate those but I think it's just not for me. Also each side having one super awesome nigh invincible robot suit that gets piloted by two guys who both like listening to the radio is a bit silly.
April 30, 2018
Seriously not a fan of this series and I'm afraid of forcing myself through this series... Hopefully it gets better in the next couple of volumes.
There's one character with prosthetics.
There's one character with prosthetics.
January 29, 2020
The art of war is a hard thing to capture but this does it perfectly. After initial contact with each other, Zeon and the Federation launch a full on assault. It’s a no holds bar as both sides annihilate everything in their way, it’s grisly, in the best possible way.
There isn’t much dialogue in this, instead it focuses more of the chaotic space battle, it really makes you appreciate the art. The dialogue is meaningful, instead of waffling like most manga in fight sequences.
There isn’t much dialogue in this, instead it focuses more of the chaotic space battle, it really makes you appreciate the art. The dialogue is meaningful, instead of waffling like most manga in fight sequences.
August 22, 2017
The story continues with the fight between Earth and Space people. The revolutionary Zeon ace must sacrifice more to pilot the new mechanPsycho Zaku.
December 1, 2017
Didn't enjoy this one as much as the first.
January 5, 2018
This entry has gorgeous artwork and an intense storyline. Brutal scenes interspersed with poignancy. Lots of soap opera-y behavior as well, but hey, that's part of the enjoyment too.
March 29, 2018
I like when stories are told from both the POV of soldiers from opposing sides of the war. Really brings a human element to both sides and makes them both understandable and morally gray.
Read
February 8, 2020Book 1: Pretty Cool Robot Battles
Book 2: War. War never changes.
Book 2: War. War never changes.
February 13, 2020
Heartbreakingly engaging
March 6, 2020
I enjoyed this volume. Ohtagaki's art is still gorgeous, and I loved the sub plot with the child soldiers. Something that's not new to Gundam, but it was emotional and well done.
March 14, 2020
Again sometimes confusing as I don’t quite understand why this war started.
February 24, 2021
More mecha military madness! Great artwork!
March 22, 2021
The debut of Daryl Lorenz’s psycho Zaku is intense, epic, and emotional. Can’t wait to read more
July 1, 2023
So much tension! It’s cool to be able to see perspectives on both sides 🤔
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2023
All Gundam series have heavy themes of anti-war. Not all of them get so heavy in the first couple of volumes.
June 20, 2025
this is coop as hell
September 18, 2025
It’s probably unhealthy how much I love this series
March 29, 2017
This was an action packed volume. Bodies dropped! Tons of excellent fights, really capitalizing on the character building from Volume 1.
April 4, 2017
A fantastic follow up to the first volume that adds some much needed depth the first volume lacked. There are scenes unique to the manga that are not shown in the anime that adds some unique traits to this volume. I am not only excited to see how the third volume develops the story, but to hopefully see more Gundam manga soon!
April 26, 2017
This is a huge step up from the first volume that fixes most every complaint I had. The author takes time to flesh out the support crew and other pilots instead of making everything about giant robot battles (though we still get plenty of those). Now when characters die, we actually care about them.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews