[IkuzeMinna]

Originally Posted by Eeni

I don't understand why Sumizawa would make Hilde so violent. She didn't come off as such in the anime. [...] Now she's just that psycho girlfriend you don't want to be around...

Uh, Catherine Bloom anyone? She goes from a nice and protective girl, who once beat some sense into a guy because he tried to kill himself, to some savage shrew, who'll punch your face in for calling her old or not saying "Hi."

And do we ever get an explanation for either girls' "character development"? No siree! Sumizawa is too busy trolling us with flashbacks of people who aren't even in the present storyline.

So, seeing all this abuse and violent nature, I guess Duo isn't such a douche bag for all that crap he did to her, he just didn't want the spousal abuse! Poor Duo, she really is a bully! I mean, she even gave him a name without consulting him about it!

Can't say I wouldn't have done the same. The guy developed one seriously sh*tty attitude.

You know, I had to reread the part of why those two married, because it's just stupid beyond belief:

Really, I'd do whatever it took. I wasn't going to give up on the Ares Hornet ß III engine, no matter what. I wanted to ride across the endless Mars continent.

"Marry me, Hilde! I never noticed that I've loved you all along!!" If I just had a marriage license, then I could combine our assets. If I could just get my partner built, the bike was as good as mine. Frankly, I had a hunch I'd be rejected. But it looked like saying I'd cut my hair had worked."

Putting aside the incredible idiocy that are both their reasons, at first, I thought Duo was a gold digger. Then someone here pointed out that he'd saved money himself, but Hilde took it away from him as a "fee" for his freeloading... Well, turns out Duo is a gold digger and married his bully, so he would keep his money! At least, if the translation is 100% correct.

Really, instead of marrying her, he could've just told her mommy that Hilde was being mean. Would've saved him some trouble.

Originally Posted by wingzerosnuggles

Face it, when you have money and power, following your heart is usually the one luxury you can't afford and that seems to be the point being made with Sabrina.

Undoubtedly. I dug up Deacon's post that clearly states it's a marriage of convenience:

Spoiler for old post:

Originally Posted by Deacon Blues

- No suits to be shown this month also
- The title pic is Sabrina in a dress wearing a mask and Katerina wearing Zechs' mask
- A tribute to the actress who played Lady Une

- Katerina pilots the Wyvern dressed in military attire wearing the same mask as Zechs with the name "Cis Merquise" (Sis?)
- Zechs Merquise is later based on Katerine's

- Sabrina proposes to Eric personally for the country
- Pg.315 is a picture of the Sanc Kingdom's ruler Multics and Cis Merquise
- Pg.323 is a picture of the original Heero Yuy with Cinquante Khushrenana who resembles Treize

My point is, Sumizawa could have made that point just as easily with Sabrina being 18.

Originally Posted by FalsePrime

This honestly is another case of something about the novel that is being made into something way bigger then it should be. I have several issues with it like most people, but given how other Gundam novels go this one isn't striking me as anything more offensive then what we get out of stuff like Unicorn.

SkullFaerie, you took the words right out of my mouth. "16 year olds getting married to old guys and having their babies is what we're taking issue with." Just this specific case.
You don't even need to look at other series for unusual marriages; Wu Fei and Mei Lan were both underage when they married. Treize fathered Mariemaia when he was 17. And FT aside (I'm not taking that convoluted mess into consideration), King Peacecraft looked as though he was a man well past his prime and considering Zechs' age and everything, I always assumed there was a respectable age difference between him and his wife. You don't see me throwing a hissy fit about any of those though.

The problem with Eric and Sabrina is, that although she was the one to propose (which makes sense, since she's a queen), Eric didn't have to go and immediately bed a minor, even if she was his wife. Never mind getting her pregnant. Heck, where I live that's considered felony. Rightfully so.

By the way, no one here is blowing this subject out of proportions. There simply isn't anything else we can talk about that hasn't been discussed five billion times already. There are no Gundams and no story that actually qualifies as a sequel, just flashbacks, flashbacks and more flashbacks of people most of us STOPPED CARING ABOUT 10 CHAPTERS AGO.

Content aside, I don't know what Sumizawa is thinking, but this approach works neither in a monthly publishing nor in a complete book. You want to tell a story that took place in the past? Do it in one go, don't spring bits of that crap every two chapters at us. I know I'm not the only he aggravates with it. But saying that Sumizawa is a piss-poor writer in that regard is preaching to the choir. It has been done already.
So, Eric the sicko it is (no matter how much Sumizawa tries to justify it by making Sabrina fall in love with him).

Originally Posted by FalsePrime

Isn't of Age in Japan considered 15/16?

It's certainly a popular age to be handed giant machines of destruction to pilot. xD

But I'm fairly surprised to say that the marriageable age in Japan is actually 20. 18 for males and 16 for females if you have the parental consent. What's a lot funnier is that the age in Denmark (where we all know Cinq is supposed to be), is 18. But there's something called "Kongebrev," which translates as "letter from the king [granting an exemption]" that allows you to marry at age 15.

I guess that means Sabrina wrote such a letter for herself when she proposed to Eric.