Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash

by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Haruhiko Mikimoto (illustrator)

written in JAPANESE

Paperback

Published February 1, 1989

About the author

富野 由悠季 in Japanese, best known for creating the "Gundam" franchise.

Reviews

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I have fully read from Yoshiyuki Tomino, and so I am introduced to his odd writing style, where the narrator seems to editorialise about their opinions on the characters, which is genuinely pretty funny most of the time. I read the english translation provided by Zeonic, so I don't feel comfortable commenting on the use of language etc. but I can say that many parts of the story were very interesting and well-written without needing to criticise word choice or anything like that.
The setting and surrounding universe of Gundam was well established, and I don't think that much prior knowledge is necessary. I appreciated that the story was centralised within Davao, as I think that a strong grasp of the backdrop of a scene is important for providing good imagery.
Characters stood out, and the main actors made themselves known quickly, and had drastically different personalities, that made conversations tense at times and always very interesting. A fun read and unique for its slower pace that no anime could get away with.

[rylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun distraction in the form of 'mecha with more on its mind'. It is very apparent that Tomino was given more freedom than he's allowed for the screen here, as the text deftly swims between politically-oriented dialogues, character-centric monologues, and the giant robot suit action we all come here for. These three elements all come together quite beautifully in a sprawling, pulpy tale of resistance against an increasingly corrupt Earth Federation.

I think my only major caveat about 'Hathaway's Flash' is that it is also very apparent that you're supposed to be reading all 3 books in one sitting. As things stand now, this first part ends quite abruptly (much like the film adaptation does), which can be frustrating. If they ever officially translate and distribute these books in the West, I hope they just collect the books into one big one.

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomino's sharp, mechanical and ever so political prose works so well with how briskly Tomino can move a plot across time. Time is never spent too long during some political assertation or Mecha description, but just enough is spent to really get the gist of Tomino's incredible world and his perspective on dense topics. Good shit.

[Seiji Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing start of the trilogy that makes me wonder why it took so long to get an adaptation when it's such an amazing story and especially a crucial point in Universal Century universe

[Eric "try to read more than two books this year" Unterkofler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomino cooks yet again