Best show for 2008 in my opinion but I suppose I'm a bit biased. I've always been a Gundam fan and I did not watch Code Geass or Macross Frontier, both probably just as good. Unfortunately, I could not get into Code Geass. I tried. I really did but I just couldn't take it seriously. I haven't given a chance to Macross yet and I want to watch it some day. Its ironic how my friend introduced me to Geass and also watches Macross but not Gundam. I watch Gundam but not Geass or Macross. Heh.Gundam 00 dub currently airs on the Sci-Fi channel but I don't recommend it because the commercials are as annoying as they are long and frequent and they cut out some small but important scenes. I'm just watching it to refresh my memory and for laughs.
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CrunchyRoll Summary:
It is the year A.D. 2307. Fossil fuels on Earth have been depleted entirely, with mankind turning to the next available power source: solar energy. During this time, 3 orbital elevators with solar power generation systems are built, each under control by the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (formerly United States of America), the Human Reform League (Russia, China and India) and the Advanced European Union. However, not all countries are able to enjoy the benefits of this system, leading to widespread resentment and war. Arising out of the conflict, a mysterious military organization known as Celestial Being appears, dedicated to end all warfare using Mobile Suits called Gundam. This begins the stories of Gundam Meisters (pilots) Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism and Tiera Erde as they are thrown into conflict between the 3 superpowers and the other various factions.
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Now when it all comes down to it, every Gundam series is just a really really intricate and beautiful advertisement to get you to buy their figures. It works though because everytime I watch it it makes me want to own those figures. But they make a nice war story to go along with it.
After watching SEED and the screw up that was Destiny, I was ready for a new Gundam series. It was automatically more awesome for me when the characters were designed by Kouga Yun. The mangaka of the ever so popular Loveless. (Or at least popular in America I think.. I don't know, I don't read Loveless anymore)But I'm in love with her artwork and I just knew that her characters are going to appease many fangirls. Also, the show in in magnificent HD. Its pretty awesome. Especially the first episode and last episode and the fight scenes in general. UNFORTUNATELY, every anime will have their low budget moments and Gundam doesn't escape from sheer QUALITY. The HD format just makes the badly animated parts all the more noticeable.
So..season one Gundam 00 turned out pretty different compared to other Gundam series. Its actually not taken place in a made up time era, there are real countries involved and there is a lot more political talk going on. To be real honest, it was utterly boring. The characters had wacky names and I couldn't tell who was male or female until I heard their voices. There was a lot of talk (plot) going on and it was pretty confusing. Celestial Being carried out their missions and they showed off how awesome the Gundams were and they were always successful. But then 2008 came and around halfway through the season, things started to pick up. The build up was still pretty slow but stuff started happening and things started to blow up. After episode 20 did things really start happening. It was pretty amazing. Usually, in a action series, you expect the good guys to win but this time, there is a thin line between the good guys and bad guys and Celestial Being just gets crushed. Utterly deafeated by the end of the season with half the cast dead. And it ends just like that. Sort of on a cliffhanger where everyone appears to be dead. And then comes the epilogue where its a timeskip to 4 years later. It was all very frustrating having to wait for 6 months for the second season just when things started to get good. 'Oh hey that totally random side character turns out to be the main villian? What?!' Darn those marketing ploys. It felt rushed but still felt like it was planned that way. They did probably ruin Graham's character since they realized they had no 'blonde-haired-guy-with-mask' Gundam trope and put a mask on him right in the epilogue. It probably didn't matter to most people because Code Geass R2 aired next but I don't watch Code Geass so I had wait agonizingly for 6 months.
Gundam always has a huge cast of characters so its hard to get some balanced character development but I think Gundam 00 does a very nice job of character development however odd the pacing might be. Its a nice break from SEED where EVERY pilot was like a 16 year old but there are more adult pilots in 00.
Short summary of the main pilots:
-Setsuna F. Seiei: Pilots Gundam Exia.
He's from the Middle East! That makes him automatically cool. He's quiet, morbid, lacks social skills, stoic, was raised as a terrorist, wants to be Gundam. Probably the most boring main character ever. (But I like him)
-Lockon Stratos: Pilots Gundam Dynames.
The big brother figure, watches over the other 3, snarky, nice, but also full of spite and revengeful thoughts and a lot of hate.
-Allelujah Haptism: Pilots Gundam Kyrios.
Multiple personality disorder. Hallelujah is his alter ego and is a psychotic murderer. Allelujah is shy, nice, and cannot read the atmosphere. He also needs more interaction with the other 3 in my opinion.
-Tieria Erde: Pilots Gundam Virtue/Nadleeh
The pretty one. A total ice queen. Not human. Does not care about humans nor understands them. Arrogant, cocky, totally-strict-by-the-rules guy. In love with a computer.
And since we have a war story, there has got to be romance as well but they're not terribly important. SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
There isn't much romance in the first season really.
-The main guy and girl do not get together. She is older and looks like pedo-ing anyway.
-We have a main couple. Saji and Louise who are the regular civilians of the story.
-Then there is Feldt, who develops a teenage crush on Lockon even though he's 10 years older than her.
-Patrick, the comic relief guy, entertains us with his antics in trying to win the heart of his commander! Such as bringing her flowers and taking her out to dinner.
-We have some small subplot with a Union guy, Billy, who is still in love with Sumeragi but she is in Celestial Being. (Adult drama is great)
The rest of the romance happened right at the end so it was kind of weird pacing.
-Christina was into hunky guys but completely ignores Lichty, the poor boy who is trying to win her. They don't end up together until they both die in eachother's arms. It was pretty strange but sad nevertheless.
-And right at the end do we finally see Allelujah recognizing the enemy soldier as his childhood girlfriend.
-Tieria. Oh man Tieria. His personality almost does a 360 after he gets Lockon injured. To me, the two of them was like a crack pairing but Sunrise can really get you to ship something FAST. I could have sworn they didn't like eachother since Lockon probably wanted to punch his face in that one episode but after just like.. 5 minutes in the events of 1 episode, he suddenly develops strong feelings towards Lockon. (But he did get dumped by the computer so...) I hate Sunrise for always being able to make the most heartwrenching relationship stories in any of their shows.
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After all that, season one just felt like one giant prequel. It really didn't have many of the traditional Gundam themes or even much fanservice. It just felt like a giant prequel to something bigger. Marketing ploys again!!
My rating: 4.5 out of 5
(I don't really know about this because I would rather reserve judgment after the second season is finished so I could compare them.)
Tear rating: 4.2 out of 5
(Still crying over episode 23+)
I. Tao
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