Io Fleming and Daryl Lorenz become rivals stemming from hatred after they take out each other’s forces. After Io takes out a Zeon sniper, he blasts jazz over the radio and tells Daryl, “When you hear jazz, it means I’m coming.” This sets Daryl over the edge and vows to get revenge. After they meet in the battlefield again, Daryl is so determined to take down Io that their fight causes him to lose all his limbs. This fuels his anger even more and allows him to pilot the “Psycho Zaku” - an extremely high powered, experimental mobile suit operated by communicating to the pilot’s limbs.

Io’s overconfidence in himself and his own skills versus Daryl’s unsatiated thirst for revenge made their rivalry exemplified throughout the series.

This thrill of battle for these two pilots are complemented by their love interests who are both distraught by the war needlessly taking lives of their troops - whether it was being sent out to battle or using them for experiments to win the war. Both Claudia and Karla could not stand those around them simply used as fodder without care if they would survive or not.

Atlas Gundam, Full Armor Gundam, and Psycho Zaku’s designs are absolutely phenomenal. These three mobile suits stand out from the rest and are easily recognizable to be from the Gundam Thunderbolt side story.

Atlas Gundam is the poster suit of Gundam Thunderbolt and is known by its white, navy, and yellow tones along with its Globe Joints that let it move and engage in combat underwater.

Full Armor Gundam was the first Gundam Io Fleming piloted. It is heavily armored and can wield up to four shields to increase its defense. It's equipped with much more weapons than an average mobile suit and is armed with a twin beam rifle, five rocket launchers, a large beam cannon, and numerous missiles stored in the different parts of the body armor. To make up for the additional weight, it has multiple thrusters to allow it to be a high-mobile suit.

Psycho Zaku is definitely not like the others. It is more armored than a normal Zaku and can mount a large arsenal of handheld weapons on its boosters’ weapon racks. It also has a Rocket Booster attached to increase its thruster output and comes equipped with a variety of Bazookas. Psycho Zaku is painted red which may give it reason to why it is incredibly fast.

Whether you’re a fan of smooth jazz like Io or chill out to blues and country like Daryl, the music alongside the battles between those two characters are phenomenal. Io is a man of his word and, when you hear jazz playing in the background, it is his time to shine! More likely than not, he’s probably listening to “Groovy Duel” with Bianca. You may have even jammed out with them a few times throughout the series.

Daryl’s tastes in music are showcased whenever he’s in the spotlight or daydreaming about being on the beach. The songs that play for him are often nostalgic and the lyrics tend to reveal his circumstances. The blues, country, and pop music Daryl listens to allows him to relax and focus during missions and perhaps may have done the same as you watch his missions unfold.

The music Io and Daryl listen to are on the other ends of the spectrum for each other and play interchangeably whenever one of them is on screen. These songs are absolute BANGERS and can be on replay over and over again.

Hands down the music is straight up fire and all the characters’ motivations, emotions, and mental states are all laid bare. Gundam Thunderbolt tells a side story unheard of during the One Year War of U.C. 0079 and adds more depth to that part of U.C. history. This side story is only about 3 hours long if you watch the movies and is great to sit through if you have time in your day.