Mobile Suit Gundam 00 - Reviews

Story

More often than not, a series begins really well only to come to a spluttering, dry-coughing halt so revolting that you wish you had never witnessed its demise. Every once in a while, however, there comes an anime which has the opposite effect; it starts off with all the energy of a stillborn only to come to life just when you least expect it. Gundam 00 is one such example. At first it looks like it won't have a patch on Gundam Seed; but not only does Gundam 00 end up being bigger and better than Seed, it also comes with a far more accomplished story.

My initial impression of Gundam 00 was that it was heading straight towards an Oscar nomination for ‘most pompous piece of crap ever'. The series wants to be a powerful, twisting tale about ending war forever; but even if you manage to set aside your cynicism and convince yourself that this goal is possible, the fact remains that Gundam 00 begins as a jumble of plot ideas strung together with no apparent direction in mind. This mishmash includes split personalities; genetically modified humans; some weakly developed politics; and, the worst element of all, an organisation trying to end war by attacking absolutely everyone.

However, after an age of seemingly random plotlines and a rather messy strategy to eliminate war, Gundam 00 pulls itself together and delivers a knockout ending the likes of which makes Seed look like a wannabe. The real turning point arrives when the governments decide to take action against Celestial Being; of course, the characters loyally keep up their mantras about eliminating war, but the plot gets on with the real job of cramming in as many epic battles and tense confrontations as possible.

The downside is that the developments come to depend on several shounen clichés, including typically evil antagonists and inexplicable mecha power ups. Luckily, this is precisely what Gundam 00 does best: while the airy fairy ‘let's fight war' approach of the first half was tediously unconvincing, the second half of unambiguous human conflicts kept me glued to the screen.

Animation

While Gundam 00 doesn't stand out stylistically, it cannot be faulted for its technical quality; the colour tones, shading and level of detail are designed to give the environments a more convincing twenty-first century flavour - an attribute which several of its predecessors lacked. Moreover, motion is well-animated and the action sequences are simply thrilling to watch.

Easily the best aspect of the animation has to be the concept for the Gundams; the mecha are designed to be as bulky as possible and have bits jutting from every corner of their alloyed being. In addition, just when you think mecha can't get any beefier or more accessorised, Gundam 00 gives us machines with sparkles coming off their backs! My guess is the more numerous the appendages the stronger and faster they will be in battle! Joking aside, they may be silly on one level, but they do look incredibly cool in action; the fact that they inflict unprecedented collateral damage with the subtlety and finesse of a bludgeon is half the fun.

Sound

Gundam 00 gets full points for the Japanese voice acting and a stunning second set of themes (‘Ash Like Snow' by The Brilliant Green is now one of my top favourite OPs); kudos also for the handful of fun metal instrumentals, which give the action sequences that extra sense of energy. Where it falls short is with an average first opening theme and a score that generally repeats one tune way too often.

Characters

Generally speaking, Gundam 00's characters are decent but hardly complex. For every character I empathise with, there are at least ten I couldn't give a toss about; Peries the super soldier, Wang Liu Mei, and virtually all of the antagonists fall into this category. I will make one concession, however: although the vast majority are nothing more than average, a handful of the central characters show great potential for depth in the final few episodes. Since Gundam 00 is one of at least two seasons, the hesitant score of 6.5 assumes there's much more character development to come.

Setsuna F. Seiei, the central protagonist, is a prime example of a character that improves over time. He initially stalks through his scenes with a flat voice and equally flat expression, generally doing his best to be robotic. Later on, although his personality never quite picks up, his purpose becomes much clearer; this revelation makes it easier to care about him in the long run, and I now look forward to more from him.

As for the other Gundam pilots, they will be remembered more for their quirks than their complexity. Lockon Stratos is not bad as far as normal, upbeat individuals are concerned, and Tieria Erde's feminine looks are at least more unique than his aloof attitude; still, I wouldn't go as far as to call either of them deep. The least believable pilot has to be Allelujah Haptism; as well as having the stupidest name ever, he suffers from a particularly cheesy case of multiple personality disorder.

Ironically, the characters with the most dramatic journey are a couple who remain superfluous to ninety percent of the plot: Saji and Louise. They spend most of their time having petty lovers' tiffs and shopping, which gets somewhat distracting when you're trying to watch Gundams blow shit up. Like Setsuna, however, their role seems to promise a lot more development in the future.

Overall

Gundam 00 starts off rather directionless, but it eventually pulls itself together and becomes the sleek, gut-level adventure it always wanted to be. Frankly, the best thing about Gundam 00 is that there's more to come; if this season's ending is anything to go by, it has the potential to be one of the best Gundam series yet and I await the next instalment with bated breath.

Notice: This review covers both seasons and movie finale of the anime.

On an aesthetic level, Gundam 00 reuses the best elements of previous series and creates an up-to-date version of them.
- People in the finale start to read other peoples’ minds and the dead begin to talk like in Universal Century.
- The Innovators are the Newtypes of UC or the Coordinators of Seed.
- The A-Laws are the Titans of Zeta.
- The Meisters have the same goals as the rebels in Wing.

Gundam 00 is also a failure. Financially, it didn’t make nearly as much money as the previous god awful Gundam Seed. In comparison to other iterations, it wasn’t as good of an alternative universe as Turn A. And as a standalone series, it stops making sense from the very first episode. What kind of a plan is to bring peace by stopping war with more war? Only five year old could buy this nonsense.

Not like many were questioning the ridiculous premise when it began airing, since the production values were impressive for their time, the character designs didn’t look like shit, and the soundtrack wasn’t pop garbage. As far as pretty colors and nice sounds go, even I was amazed, while the nonsensical plot could be excused as if everybody being insane and not knowing what the hell they are doing.

And that’s where the positives stop, since the writing is garbage. Starting with the characters who have tragic backdrops, like any decent war drama should have, but they otherwise look too sexy for this body. It’s like they belong in some otome game or a dating simulation; they have a subtle erotism about them which was taking me out of the experience. I mean, they are not terrible like in Seed, or cutsy like in Age, but they definitely feel out of place in a war drama we are supposed to take seriously and yet it’s full of girls with high-pitched voices and emo dudes repeating cheesy one-liners about paper-thin logic where you stop war with more war. Only the Universal Century has proper designs.

The same can be said about the mobile suits. They overdid with the rule of cool in a series we are supposed to take seriously. This is not G Gundam, or Gundam Wing, it’s not supposed to be mindless action. So what the hell do they have beam sabers at their feet, second heads popping out of their backs, going Super Saiyan in battles, and firing energy beams 100 times their size? It’s too sexy for this robot and once again proof of why the Universal Century did it right. How are you supposed to be invested in the drama when the mecha battles remind you of the Power Rangers?

There are not even some sort of tactics used in battles, despite wasting half an episode in explaining the plan in following wars, when in practice it is just firing a million lasers and blowing apart the enemy forces. The only thing that defines the victor is who is using the latest power up, so both parties are constantly one-uping each other with constant upgrades, new transformations, and even more broken Super Saiyan robots.

The story had the potential to be mature when it began with shady politics and grey political agendas of global superpowers, but fell apart after a dozen episodes, or more specifically when the Throne team was introduced. After that it became angsty teenagers kicking the crap out of armies of mook soldiers with their overpowered mecha. The mystery behind the founder of the Celestial Being, the hidden agendas of the Innovators, the ideal world of eternal peace, and the encounter with aliens, were all bullshit. They constantly throw in concepts like public indifference about wars, religious exploitation, political propaganda, and forget them completely after a couple of episodes.

In season one, an entire organization of inhuman experimentation is revealed to the public. In season two, a cover up for the murder of dozens of millions of people becomes public. Also several world powers reassemble in a unified super-power and many weaker countries are leveled by doomsday devises. Did any of those world-shaking events have any effect on the people of Earth? Not even for a second! Like nothing happened. Also, in the movie finale, aliens invade Earth and kill millions but as soon as truce is achieved, nobody cares in the least about that.

There are many side stories that are building up for dozens of episodes and are resolved in anticlimactic ways. And by resolved, I mean killing most of the characters, thus ending their plots in the laziest way possible during the final episodes. Such as a princess preparing a world-shaking event for 47 episodes, with an air of certainty written all over her face, and then some chick goes crazy and kills her in 5 seconds. Special mention to characters that survived a dozen exploding robots, just to be killed by an exploding robot and are never be mentioned again.

The writers really didn’t know what they were doing in the finale, as the scenes change frenetically, and long monologues try to explain with words everything they forgot to resolve for 50 episodes. Too lazy for this mecha. The movie sequel became notorious for its bad pacing, pointless action, boring characters, and the addition of aliens, that had no reason to exist in any Gundam, that had no characterization, and that were defeated with an asspull.

There is also some really bad writing when it comes to characters:
- Setsuna F. Seiei has such a memorable name because he repeats it every 5 minutes to the point it makes you wish he was mute.
- There is a pacifist princess AGAIN which is always out of place and why Universal Century is amazing for not having such bullshit.
- There is that Throne pink-haired girl siding with the guy who killed her brothers for no reason.
- There is the Innovator leader revealing to his allies that they are no longer useful to him; thus almost begging them to betray him.
- There is Saji and Louise, two civilians that are taking up way too much screen time without offering much to the plot. The idea behind them was to show the devastation of war through the eyes of civilians, but it was so cheesy and overblown to the point it was ruining the drama. Just how many times did the two of them accidentally meet the Gundam pilots, and why all the misfortunes in the world befell specifically on their families, in the exact same time?
- Some have split personality which makes them like good Jekyll and evil Hide. Others have convenient memory loses or are controlled like mindless puppets. Others pay no attention to vital events for a dozen episodes or are too stupid to see an obvious traitor right before their eyes. Some of them get killed and give you hopes the rest will need to adjust but nah, they are conveniently replaced by similar people in the sequel.

So yeah, Gundam 00 is full of insulting-to-your-intelligence convenient events and idiocy. Very pleasing as a dumb action mecha series and a complete failure as a war drama that keeps trying to take itself seriously. If there is something I understood from this show, it would be:
War is a bad thing… so I will enter my super-awesome-special robot that makes me look so cool and will start blowing shit in order to prove my thesis.
If it’s not Universal Century, it’s too bullshit for this Gundam.

Intense, adrenaline-pumping, action-pacted, tragic, head-spinning, five words that may truly describe this anime. I have to say that this one really impressed me. It was your typical Death Note, only they used machines in place of a notebook. Oh and not only do they have the some similar qualities but also the person who voices Light in Death Note, voices in Gundam 00. 

The story line couldn't be any better, and you can't really change the characters. They used people who truly wanted to change the world at the cost of their own lives. I must say that I did cry. It was a heart-breaking ending (the song Love Today, really added to the last episode). Each episode has a story line of its own, and different missions. They all tie together, so I wouldn't recommend that you skip much. You might find that you missed something. It takes a lot of courage to go after an impossible goal, and even though this is just an anime, it does still hold a lot of truth to it. Who is the real bad guy in this anime? Is it Ali AL-SAACHEZ? Or maybe its war itself... But over all this anime really does hold a high score from me. Not because I'm a real fan of violence, but more of because I would watch this anime again given a chance. When I watch it again it'll be in Japanese.  

I started this anime only because the name had caught my eye, on a day I was hunting for something to watch. After watching the first episode with me everyone spread out to do their own thing. I had gotten to episode 4 that night [funny thing, my sister did too]. I stopped watching it for a while after that because waiting for the episodes to load took up so much time! I had other things I had to do and lost interest. About 5 days ago or so, I picked it up again. And now I'm starting on season 2. But really the first few episodes, even the ending, can just blow you away...

As a big fan of “Gundam Wing” and “Gundam Seed”, I was eager to watch the newest epic Gundam series and it did not disappoint.

Consider this review for both seasons.

WHAT’S GOOD?

All the good stuff of the Gundam series is present.here.  Cool main characters, exciting one-on-one mecha battles, interesting military maneuvers and large-scale battles.  There’s some melodrama but not to the point of “Gundam Seed”. 

This is just an epic mecha series with characters who are not really kids, so that stands out from many other mecha series.  It feels grown-up.

I also like the ideology of the heroes’ organization.  They come to Earth to end all wars, no sides taken.  I had mused about such a concept at one point and I was pleased to see how well this series handles it.  Of course, there’s a myriad of complications and they even deal with the Middle East situation.

WHAT’S BAD?

Towards the end of the series there are several “deus-ex machina” moments.  Suddenly, the Gundams acquire abilities or power-ups that they hadn’t mentioned at any point before that.  It feels a little bit like “Dragonball Z” or “Naruto”. However, by that time you are so deep into the plot and the characters that it can be forgiven in lieu of the epic-ness it delivers.

There’s also a gallery of secondary characters to keep track of and I think I wasn’t able to remember who was whom, but that’s just a minor complaint.

There’s one big event that didn’t resonate with me as much as it did to the characters.  It is one of the biggest events that take place in the series and it was regarded as a huge tragedy, but both “Gundam Wing” and “Gundam Seed” had more memorable disasters.

Also, the guys in this series are not as fleshed out as the aforementioned Gundam series.  I mean, they are cool and all but I  think the “Gundam Wing” group was far more charismatic and a better collection of different personalities.

RECOMMEND?

Yes.  If you are a Gundam fan then double yes.

If you have never watched one of the more serious Gundam series and want to check why they are so popular, this is a great one to begin with because it has the newest and best animation between “Gundam Wing” and “Gundam Seed”.  If you like it, then feel free to check the previous two to replicate the epic experience you just underwent but with a different cast and different military situations.

Well, it’s a new Gundam series, and as a lot of you know, I am a hardcore Gundam fan. Was I excited for this? To be honest, after the bad taste SEED Destiny left in my mouth, I really had little to no expectations of this series. Even with Mizushima Seiji who directed the first FMA series directing this series. There have been more than 20 Gundam series now and what else can the franchise offer with a new series? I know it’s drastically demanding asking for originality, but I did come to terms with that as I got more into this series. Though it may not offer my unrealistic dreams of originality, I still feel it does have its own unique distinction in its own ways. 

To start off, I was very surprised that this series makes direct reference to current events that are even still going on during its broadcast and during the time of this review, such as the conflicts in Sri Lanka and Ireland. Usually, they use the fictional factions in other series to be a metaphor for other real life conflicts but this takes the cake. Take for example, the first Gundam series was a metaphor for World War II, and SEED and SEED Destiny were a metaphor of a post 9/11 world though those series’ don’t directly reference those events like 00 does. 

What also captivates me are the sub-plots that involve Princess Marina, and two civilians named Saji and Louise. Princess Marina shows the difficulties of a nation like hers in today’s political climate, and I like how Saji and Louise give a civilian point of view of the war. At first, I really didn’t care for them, but even though they weren’t directly part of the main plot, the series still effectively develops them in a manner in which it drives you to care for them and relate to them. But besides, this interesting external supporting cast, the main cast is all pretty much characters that have been done before in other Gundam series, but their individual backgrounds are unique and that was enough for me to find interest in them. Initially in these kinds of series, the individual personalities will conflict with one another, and is the series progresses they come to unite. The formula pretty much follows the standard of a Gundam series, but some of its elements are pretty interesting. 

My main gripe with the series in which people are going to equally agree and disagree with me on is that it’s a 25 episode series. And to be honest, I’m not fond of anime TV series that is 25 episodes or less. The fact that it’s 25 episodes really rushes the last third of the series, especially the ending, and things just come out of nowhere with little to no set up. And I feel with the series having the organization fight 3 super powers at once, it just doesn’t work in my opinion. I know this was made with the intention of a follow up, but I still feel that it’s no excuse to not develop and establish certain things here and there. Yes, there is a second season, but if you seen this series, you get some idea of what I’m talking about. Even with that intent, that’s no excuse to rush and force things when I think there was time to establish and develop those elements. Could that have been done better with 15-25 more episodes? Well, with other Gundam series without counting SEED Destiny, a 35-50 episode season could have really helped this series a lot with what needed to be established and developed with what was exclusive in this series, other wise, you could potentially end up with a cluster fuck like SEED Destiny. But with Mizushima, I think it would have been a series I could have scored a 10/10 for story and characters, but instead, I’m giving it in the 8 range. 

Well, the design and the gimmicks for the Gundams presented have already been done before, but there will be some goodies and surprises that will probably satisfy you. If you liked Gundam Wing and/or X, then I feel stylistically, you’re really going to enjoy it. Even though what is artistically presented has been seen for the most part, the coloring, rendering, and the angles are still something fresh. But I feel what makes up for this is the presentation of the action. Thankfully, the animation isn’t abusively recycled like in the cosmic era Gundam series which is a start. But what makes the animation so awesome, I just felt the angles and the smooth frame rate makes the action very intense, very easy to follow and watch which makes it so exciting, simple as that. 

The action from the Gundams can get over kill in which Gundam Wing paved way for, but eventually the action will develop that it will be more about piloting skills and strategy, as opposed to abusing the God like features. The enemy mech designs are pretty primitive looking, but have a different kind of realism to it not offered in other Gundam series. The advanced nations have agile looking mobile suits, and the poorer nations have mobile suits that are portrayed to feel like the Kitty Hawk in comparison. So I thought that was an interesting touch to show that gap in technology. 

The character design is at least more diverse, but the men still look like women. If it weren’t for the voices, I swear they would be women, especially Tieria who looks like Sailor Saturn with glasses. But being the first Gundam to be in HD, it truly delivers. The CG is awesome, and if you’re looking for action, I feel you’ve come to the right anime series. 

What I found surprising is that once again Miyano Mamoru and Brad Swale once again voice the same character. Previously they voiced Light Yagami in DeathNote, but this time, they both get to voice Setsuna, the main character of this series. And I’ll admit, I was more impressed with Brad Swale’s acting in comparison to Miyano Mamoru’s. Usually you hear Brad Swale with that distinctive high pitched voice, but hearing him with that lower pitch voice that is reminiscent of Mark Hildreth’s portrayal of Heero Yuy just took me by surprise by the balls. I felt this role gave Swale the opportunity to show how versatile he truly is. The rest of the voice cast in both English and Japanese is top notch and I really can’t complain. I’m not going to go into further detail due to time restraints but I do feel I need to point this out. In the English version, I felt I heard Scott McNeil’s voice like 8 times per episode with a random character, and in the Japanese version I felt I heard Ishizuka Unshou’s. I’m not sure if that’s me, but I felt I heard those voices a lot. 

The music is top notch and I have nothing but praise for it. Who could go wrong with L’arc~en~ciel doing the opening theme? That’s pretty epic. But asides from the fact that it’s l’arc, I felt the tone and the lyrics of the song truly reflected the dark but yet hopeful atmosphere of the series. As for the second opening theme, Ash Like Snow, how many of you know that the singer, Tomoko Kawase, also sang Lonley is Gorgeous the theme to Paradise Kiss? Interesting distinct styles there, huh? The general background music in itself just all fits together and reflects the mood and environment.

In the end, I felt that this is a good series, but could have been better if it weren’t for its limitations of being a 25 episode series. I feel with a Gundam TV series, even with an intended sequel, 25 episodes just doesn’t work, and the ending to this series is proof of that. Other than that, I recommend this to just about any fan whether noob or veteran to Gundam if interested. If you want to get into Gundam and would like this to be your introduction to the franchise, give it a shot at your own pleasure. I feel with the animation techniques offered, you’re going to enjoy the action and the music will keep you pumping.