Kidou Senshi Gundam 00

Quick Note: This review will occasionally mention references to other entries in the Gundam franchise for comparison's sake as well as quality of execution compared to other entries, while also making this review as friendly as possible to people who have no experience with the franchise. Please note that this review ONLY includes the first season. I am also more than willing to answer any questions if any part of this review is not instantly understood by the readers. Anyway, onto the review. The Gundam meta-series is a colossal franchise in Japan, not unlike the Star Wars or Star Trek franchises in the West. The franchise spawnsanime series, OVAs, movies, novels, manga adaptations and had received previously unrivaled popularity in Japan thanks to its compelling story-lines, simplistic but well-thought out dialogue, like-able and most importantly well-developed characters. The franchise hasn't, unfortunately, been as successful with the Western audience and thrown aside due to unpopular stereotypes people who dislike certain entries in the franchise keep ranting about, ranging from how the characters never die apparently, to how the mechs have plot armor when the pilots are inside them, to how naive and idealistic the main characters are to how forced the element of understanding is. While these stereotypes do apply to certain entries, they do not apply to all of them and are overly exaggerated by the inexperienced viewers of the franchise. How well does the first season of Gundam 00 do then? Is it a return to the glory days of the Universal Century timeline (for those who don't know, the first Gundam timeline) or is it yet another pointless cash grab after the atrocity that was SEED Destiny and just another stain in the franchise's name? To begin with, Gundam 00 has a very unique and interesting, if a bit idealistic at first, premise. An organization led by a man who died over 200 years ago has come with four overpowered machines to bring peace to the world and fight, as the series puts it, a "war to end all wars" and obliterate conflict. Aside from the obvious reference to World War I, the first season is extremely morally gray and it becomes clear quickly that there are good people fighting on almost all sides. The show is obviously centered around the four Gundam pilots, but it is a genuinely pleasant surprise to see that the series focuses on letting us know how people from around the world feel about this conflict. All sorts of opinions about how people perceive the coming of the Gundam pilots and the advantages and disadvantages that such an organization brings with it helps make the viewer feel that they are part of the world these characters are living in. The other parties involved in this conflict and the soldiers who fight for them against the threat that was Celestial Being are also ambiguous, which helps us understand and sympathize with these characters rather than merely see them as one note villains (if they are villains at all in the eyes of the viewer). Another aspect that is extremely well-done in 00 aside from how well the setting and viewpoints are fleshed out are the extreme resemblance certain events in the show have with actual political events (9/11 in particular, not unlike Gundam SEED), and this is made especially obvious with the Middle Eastern crisis where the power blocs in the show decide to toy around with that region of the world, to the point where the region is so divided that the power blocs continue exploiting it through both direct and indirect means. The aspect that deserves special praise is how it portrays religious extremism in an effective manner without making all people who believe in religion retards, but instead showing that there are good people (I'm emphasizing this a lot, I know) on every side fighting for what they believe in. The plot is not perfect however, and Celestial Being have too much plot armor at the most convenient moments. The battles are still intense for most of the show and they are paced well enough within the main story without detracting from the value of the battles or the plot, but the flaw still stands and the season goes on for too long without answering important plot related questions where I felt it could have answered everything and ended here. Nevertheless, the show still gets a high score because at the end of the day, a flawed plot with well-explored themes sounds much better than a plot with no loopholes but hardly any substance or value. Studio Sunrise have thankfully improved greatly in this aspect from their dismal performance in Gundam SEED Destiny. The animation is amazingly fluid with very few repeated frames during the battles and series in general, and special mention goes to the opening scene for looking absolutely gorgeous. The coloring fits the mood of the show while at the same time looking colorful and vibrant rather than dull and lifeless, which is an enhanced advantage that carries over from Gundam SEED (which, with all its flaws was still a very colorful show). The same cannot be said for the artwork, which while well above-average feels out of place for a show like this. Every girl has massive breasts (because lord forbid that women don't have giant breasts) and every man in the show looks... well, questionable? Tieria gets special mention here, considering I haven't seen a single person who I've introduced this show to mention him as a guy. As well as having purple hair. But anyway, the artwork is a far cry from bad, and the characters have very distinct facial expressions and features, which is better than them having the same face with different eye colors and hair colors like most anime series, so this show still looks great despite the fact that I personally feel that a more seinen like art-style would work better with it. The soundtrack isn't particularly memorable (save for perhaps the battle music) though it does fit the mood of the show and I do not think that I can remember any moments where the sound effects felt wrongly placed or the wrong piece of music played at the wrong time. The voice acting was well-done and all the voices fit the characters (special mention here goes to Setsuna's Mamoru Miyano and Smirnov's Unsho Ishizuka). The opening and ending songs are AMAZING, special mention goes to the second opening, Ash Like Snow and second ending, Friends. The English voice acting is decent and lacks the questionable Engrish of the sub, but I found the subbed version easier to emotionally invest in. The dub is still passable if you only watch dubs, but I personally recommend the subs more. The dub deserves a special mention for the AMAZING performance of Setsuna's Brad Swaile, who perfectly captures Setsuna's cold, distant yet tragic character. Gundam 00 has a variety of interesting characters, which are all interesting in their own right.The Gundam pilots are the stars of this show and their interactions with each other and other characters as well as their backgrounds are the most interesting part of the show. There's the soldiers fighting on the other sides as well, most notable of which are Graham Aker who is Setsuna's main rival as well as Smirnov and Marie, who provide a more mature perspective to the show. The other characters are unfortunately not as interesting and tend to be used as plot points to drive the themes of the show forward, which while leads to some interesting character development for some of them (Saji and Louise deserve mention here) still feels forced and not as compelling as it should have. The best character of this show is undeniably Setsuna, who a lot of people would consider a mash up of Sousuke from Full Metal Panic and Heero from Gundam Wing. I consider these comparisons superficial at best, since Setsuna feels more compelling due to his past and beliefs than either of them (though Sousuke is funnier and Heero has nostalgia behind him). Speaking about any character in this show would contain spoilers, unfortunately, so I'll merely state that all four Gundam pilots are compelling due to his past and beliefs than either of them (though Sousuke is funnier and Heero has nostalgia behind him). Speaking about any character in this show would contain spoilers, unfortunately, so I'll merely state that all four Gundam pilots are compelling characters which stand on their own from their respective archetypes despite having unnerving similarities to the characters from Wing (Setsuna being similar to Heero, Lockon to Duo, Allelujah to Trowa and Tieria to Wufei). As a Middle Easterner, this show was a breath of fresh air in the sea of a lot of shows that attempt to be morally gray about religious conflicts but failed. The series is extremely entertaining and offers something for the viewer that wants something intelligent as well. There are flaws, but they are not enough for me to say that they stood in the way of me enjoying this show; I highly recommend this show and wholeheartedly recommend the franchise as a whole, as there is very little to regret and a lot to love. Thank you very much for reading this review!

I don't remember what it was at first that drew me to Gundam 00, because I ended up in love with it all too fast, which is why I'll try my hardest to toss aside any bias. I haven't seen any of the previous Gundams, I knew about them of course, but never actually sat down and watched them. Partly because 00 had a more sleek art style and partly because the instant contradictions within the plot and characters intrigued me. This review may contain hints of spoilers, but nothing explicit and flat out. STORY- The story is political, to say the least. Because thisis the first season, there's a lot of focus on why things are the way they are, the factions and their goals, observing them discuss, ect. I admit it's a little hard to keep up with sometimes once you feel it start to drone on. Thankfully, it's not that long, and just long enough to get the point across. What interested me the most was a point that was shown through the relationship between Setsuna and Marina. Celestial Being is trying to eradicate war, as they say, but they are fighting to do that. That itself is a huge contradiction, one that isn't ignored by the characters themselves. Setsuna in particular I remember musing over it. Marina on the other hand seeks peace, creating a good-hearted light of hope in all of the violence. The whole thing is very realistic and that was a drawing point. This isn't an alternate universe, this is a version of an imagined future. ART- Again I'll say it, the sleek art is what drew me the most to 00. I'd seen the previous gundams, but never watched them because the designs nor the style caught me. The character designs themselves are very nice. A crazy crayola crayon box, but nice. Mobile animations and designs were done very fluidly and detailed. If anything, it's not an ugly show to watch at all. It's not full of big eyed girls with moe attitudes, there's a varied female design throughout. Same could be said for the males. While the girl designs feel more futuristic, the boys somehow feel more earthy to me. Still- that's just me. SOUND- No one's tracked how many times I've raved about 00's OP and EDs. They are the absolute best I've ever seen. The lyrics, the accompanying animation and the whole exhibition of it is produced beautifully. I'm one of those people who normally skip over OPs after so long and never really watch EDs, but every single time I watched both in 00. The soundtrack in itself isn't very noticeable nor memorable, though that didn't bother me much. I was too preoccupied with the OPs and EDs still, because I can't imagine such a string of beauty throughout a whole anime season for anything other than 00. CHARACTER- This is the point I have to strongly fight that bias. The hugest thing that kept me watching the series was the characters, who I found a relief from all the others that seem to be popping up. The relationships between them, the backgrounds... learning about the characters was a bit slow paced, but rewarding all the same. None of the meisters have had easy pasts. Allelujah finds himself fighting with a split personality from experimentation. Setsuna gained his cold and unaffectionate demeanor from his life as a child soldier. Tieria, an exceptionally mysterious character, isn't what you'd call fully human. Then even the guy who would light up the room with his smile, Lockon, carried a hatred for terrorists within his heart that clouded his judgement. All of them bond. All of them grow closer without saying anything. Lockon in particular is to thank for these growths, because he is truly the shining light of the show. The one who unites all the others, smiling to help them grow. It's hard not to become attached to his magnetic personality, like him or hate him. Then there are the more minor parts of CB, including a socially awkward young girl who doesn't know how to express herself to people and finds solace in robotics, an alcoholic strategic who never misses a chance to have a drink, a friendly young adult woman who, despite the dreariness she's surrounded with, manages to keep an upbeat and sociable attitude. And of course there are the antagonists, as well as everyone else. It's quite a cast. The Trinity siblings I felt, didn't get nearly enough screen time, being introduced more than ten episodes into the series, but they were dynamic. They shook up things wherever they went, and were nothing but a joy to see. Never dull. Nena Trinity, the youngest, does an excessively violent act late in the season that truly exhibits the sibling's ruthlessness. The antagonists were intriguing, but they too, I wished had more screen time to really let the viewers get a better feel. All the relationships were so complicated- it made the two civilians, Saji and Louise, stand out like a sore thumb in the cast. Very fun comic relief and a chance to see what's happening through a civilian's point of view. Ultimately, while the two may not seem important, gradually they gain almost the most character development throughout the cast, surprisingly enough. ENJOYMENT AND OVERALL- If you can sit through some politics, enjoy having your morals questioned and are willing to keep an open mind, it's a fantastic series and I recommend it. As many have said- it's an excellent gundam series to start off with.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is yet another addition to Sunrise's long running metaseries Mobile Suit Gundam, as well as the newest in the line of alternative universe Gundams. In a franchise as big as Gundam, it's very easy to get overshadowed by predecessors and living up to the namesake of Gundam is tough. After so many series, it's hard not to recycle the same material and Gundam 00 is no exception. But its unique execution and incorporation of realistic issues going on in this world makes this a series worth checking out by both long time fans and newcomers. Story The premise of Mobile Suit Gundam 00focuses on the paramilitary organization/force known as Celestial Being, and their idealistic goal towards eradicating war through violence itself. Much like fighting fire with fire, the controversial goal of Celestial Being is embodied through mobile suits known as "Gundams" and their armed interventions. Pitting a paramilitary force and its overpowered mobile suits against the world, you basically get a massive serving of shiny mech to mech action. Not exactly the most innovative. The story's essentially set up so the show can have as many mobile suit battles as possible; and frankly, that isn't a bad thing as long as it's toppled with good characters and drama. It's a decent story, but it's lacking some of the military aspects that Gundam is known for. Besides the main story, there's also a subplot involving two characters named Saji and Louise. Their purpose is to basically show the viewer the civilian standpoint of Celestial Being's fight against the world's three superpowers. Which is probably the show's only source of slight comic relief and lightheartedness. Art and Animation The character designs of the four main Meisters are all quite well done. Much like Gundam Wing, the main characters are all pretty boys. Besides the main characters, we also have our blonde antagonist Graham whose appearance all-around gives the vibe of an ace pilot. Female designs are also done very well, such as Marina, who, though young, gives off a very motherly appearance; a very important aspect regarding her role in the plot. The Mecha designs of Gundam 00 is very unique in that they're not rehashes of mobile suits from previous series. Gundam Exia (AKA the main main Gundam) offers a very simplistic and futuristic design; in fact, that goes to all the other mobile suit designs in this series. So unlike the Strike Freedom, the Gundams don't have a million things on their backs and enemies don't look overdone as if they were meant to sell model kits. The Mecha designs in 00 are, in my opinion, some of the best in the Gundam metaseries. The animation in this series is absolutely stunning. You wouldn't find a prettier anime on this planet. Gundam 00 contains some of the most fluid Mecha action I've ever seen. The likes only rivaled by another Sunrise mech, Code Geass R2. Everything in this series is animation gold, from the shading and facial expressions of characters to the GN drive emitting particles from the Gundams. It should be noted that there are some minor slip-ups, but they're passable and like mentioned, minor. Sound The sound (speaking of music, not sound effects) in 00 is probably the weakest part of the entire series. This is one of the few things that its predecessor, SEED, is by far superior in. The soundtrack isn't necessarily bad, it just doesn't bring out the mood as effectively as it should. Though there are some great background music such as Fight, Counterattack, and Union. The OP's and ED's on the otherhand are fantastic. Unlike SEED, new openings use different animation and things are actually MOVING and isn't a slideshow of pictures. Character The characters in Gundam 00 are.. interesting. Can't say the score eight is definite as the second season hasn't aired yet. But judging solely on the first season, the characters are all quite reserved if not emotionless. Setsuna, being the main character, has a very interesting if not bloody background to him. Tieria is mysterious and strict, Allelujah is a character struggling with his mind, and Lockon is easygoing and likable, though he harnesses a deep hatred towards terrorists. Other characters include the Char-like ace pilot Graham, war-loving Ali Al Saachez, and Human Reform League veteran soldier Sergei Smirnov. The cast in general is a good cast, the characters aren't anything we haven't seen in Gundam before, but maybe that's a good thing. Enjoyment It's an enjoyable series, especially towards the end. The Mecha action will glue you to the screen, the characters will make you empathize, and old time Gundam fans will have fun comparing it to Wing and/or finding the Char clone. The show also carries the 'Kill em all' kind of ending done by Director Yoshiyuki Tomino, something UC fans may fancy. Overall Gundam 00 is by no means a deep show, it's the Gundam you know and love, with the usual war themes and ideology; all wrapped up in HD goodness. For newcomers, Gundam 00 is a fantastic introduction to the franchise. All-around it's a solid show. Gundam 00 proves once again how sitting in a cockpit while shouting out morals and personal philosophies is a win-win formula even after almost thirty years since its debut. General impression, summary, and thoughts: Story: B+ : A storyline you would expect from a mecha geared towards the Shounen demographic. Art & Animation: A+ : Good interesting mecha and character designs, fluid mecha action. Sound: B : Weak, forgettable. Character: B+ : The characters are there, they get developed but overall it's more plot-driven. Overall: B+ : Another solid installment to the Gundam franchise, a promising ending setting up for the second season.

Sunrise seems to have a habit of producing series that simultaneously contain things I really like and things I really hate. In the end, the question always becomes which there's more of. STORY - Sometimes, it's easy to become jaded with the Gundam franchise; it's always another war and another group of over-powered mechs piloted by super-capable teenagers. Each series seems to have its own unique set of deviations though, and that's undoubtedly why the franchise has survived for as long as it has. In 00's case, it's interesting to note that there's no clear-cut war between two factions. The world's existing conflicts are a mixof terrorism, civil war, and totalitarian oppression. Though morals are still cited a lot, there's no clear-cut definition of "good" or "evil," and our protagonists admit up front that they aren't necessarily "good." Some of the politics are eerily similar to some real life current events, but it wasn't clear enough to me whether they were actually trying to make a statement about something or whether it was mostly coincidence. There are also some religious and environmental messages tossed into the mix, but again, not sure if any of it was supposed to be legitimate commentary. If anything though, Sunrise plays good politics. Our protagonists, the paramilitary organization Celestial Being, declares its purpose to be the eradication of all war, and it aims to do so by intervening with all armed conflicts with their over-powered Gundams... and that's where the ground starts getting shaky. I never really thought the "war to end all wars" thing had much logic to it, but I can still enjoy a show with that sentiment at its core if the storytelling is all right and if events still seem to unfold logically. But Celestial Being was founded two hundred years prior to the events of the series, and all of their technology was developed then. And yet somehow, they are still mad over-powering against armies built on recent technology? Seriously? Realism does not compute. It's frustrating that not a lot is ever said/explained/discovered about the organization's origins throughout the course of the series, and I really don't understand the need for 00 to be split into two seasons. I don't buy that it's just the four year timeskip because Gurren Lagann proved that you could have a hugely significant timeskip mid-series no problem. For the record, I hated the ending of this first season. It goes along fine for a while, but then we get this supremely rushed-feeling, arbitrary, and cobbled-together series of events that seemed to serve little purpose beyond hitting some sort of end-point for the season. And the thing I hate the most about Sunrise? Faked character deaths. Zombie characters. They're notorious for it, yes. No body means no death in Sunrise, but knowing this doesn't make it any less infuriating every time they do it. The Zombie problem alone made me disinclined to care about the second season, especially since I felt like they could have legitimately ended the series at 25 episodes if they had cut out a thus far pointless subplot and replaced it with relevant information about Celestial Being. Oh, Sunrise... CHARACTER - Ensemble casts always wrestle with the problem of underdeveloped characters, and this is especially problematic in 00. It took me a really long time (probably at least ten episodes, which is way too long) to get into the characters and to care about them, and even then, my interest was limited. Of the four pilots, Setsuna's past is expanded upon the most, and I found it interesting the way the viewers' perception of him changed the more we learned even though Setsuna himself doesn't start to grow/change much until the near-end of the season. Allelujah's character and past isn't terribly inspired, but I think the acting really helped to garner audience sympathy to his case, and I liked the way his split personality was portrayed through reflections. Lockon probably has the most terrible name pun ever (though H/Allelujah is pretty bad too), but I can live knowing that it's only a code name. That aside, he was probably the most generic of the pilots. Easy-going, friendly, righteous, and all that. Nothing special...except that his Haro is probably the most ridiculously adorable incarnation of a Haro ever. I also really appreciated the fact that there was some age disparity between the pilots. Setsuna is sixteen. Lockon is twenty-four. Everyone isn't a fifteen year-old kid! Oh, and Tieria? We never learn anything about Tieria, so I didn't really care about him at all. Sure, there's a whole 'nother season to explain things in, but I shouldn't need to wait that long to care. It's always a problem if I don't care about the characters. The other characters... ugh, there are just too many of them, and I didn't care about any of them. There were too many characters trying to play puppetmaster and making brief, unexplained appearances every few episodes, and none of them seem to have an interesting motivation or ambition. I am tired of characters trying to take over the world, and I'm sure you are too. Even Celestial Being's founder felt like he was trying to force the world into something... Marina Ismail? She was generic to the point that I had no sympathy for her for that reason alone. Graham Akre? I don't care about your vengeance-driving bullshit. Ali Al-Saachez? Don't care. Super Soldier #1? Whatever. The worst of it was the gigantic subplot involving the civilian characters. Their scenes were awkwardly woven into the politics, morals, and action, and I was thoroughly annoyed with all of it. Most likely, this subplot will lead up to something that (might hopefully kind of) be relevant in the second season, but that's too long of a build-up for me. ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - The animation in 00 is pretty top notch. The mecha battles are slick, clean, and super entertaining to watch. The Gundam designs are fun and unique, and I'm especially fond of Exia (come on, anything with seven blades has to be badass). The other mech designs, as well as the battleship designs, are also pretty neat. Unfortunately, I found the character designs to be a bit lacking. Aside from Tieria's overt androgyny, I appreciated that they didn't have crazy wild appearances, and it is neat that many of the characters are supposed to be of different nationalities, but in the end, it's just supposing. If they never mentioned that Lockon is Irish, that Setsuna is Kurdish, that Saji is Japanese, you'd never know. Especially among the female characters, I felt like I'd seen them all before. Generic political figures, generic princesses, generic prettyboys. It didn't help that I had a hard time distinguishing some characters from others for a good five or six episodes; blame it on my own crappy memory and incompetence, but even so. MUSIC - Well, I'm pretty biased towards both opening themes for 00. As a L'Arc~en~Ciel fan, I loved "Daybreak's Bell" long before I ever saw this series, and as I'm currently on a Tomoko Kawase kick thanks to Soul Eater's second opening, I've come to really love "Ash Like Snow" as well. They're both great songs though, and I always love when the lyrics feel relevant to the actual series. The end themes didn't feel as exciting in contrast, but once again, it could just be my bias towards the two bands doing the openings. (Actually, I found the first end theme, "Wana," to be pretty annoying...) The background music for the series pales in contrast to its theme songs, as well as previous Gundam series like SEED, and other Sunrise mecha series like Code Geass. Very few tracks stood out to me during the series; the few that did were generally battle themes, but even those were pretty subpar. It wasn't terrible music, so it didn't really take away from the experience, but I'm sure a lot of scenes would have been better had there been a more emotional or meaningful soundtrack. VOICE ACTING - Pretty average for the most part. Allelujah has a very unique-sounding and emotional voice; I think that's one of the reasons I warmed up to his character, and Setsuna was interesting in that he's one of the first monotone-voiced characters that didn't seriously annoy me. I appreciate the versatility of Miyano's voice -- it's very easy to distinguish his many roles. Beyond that, none of the other characters really stood out to me. Nothing amazing, but each character had a voice that suited them perfectly well. Edit; I saw one episode of the English dub (episode #11). Overall, it was pretty lulz-worthy. Tieria and Lockon both sound better than I expected, but they still feel awkward and unnatural, particularly Tieria, though I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that many of his lines are kind of corny. Setsuna didn't have a very big role in the episode, but the few lines he did have also impressed me. Swalie's voice is much more versatile than I thought. Cox on the other hand... Allelujah sounds terrible. The voice doesn't suit him at all and really made him seem like an entirely different character. Hallelujah is passable, but Allelujah fails utterly. Much of the secondary cast feels just as awkward, sadly: both Graham Akre and Billy Katagiri are very lulzy; Feldt and Marina are super generic, as are Col. Smirnoff and Soma; Sumeragi is actually pretty okay, but it can't be hard to sound "okay" when everyone else is just so... wtf. I don't think I'll be watching any more of the dub. The "sound" score component is not affected by the dub. OVERALL - I think this review might have turned out a bit more negative than I intended just because I'm still annoyed with the season's ending. You might wonder what I actually liked about 00. Well, I enjoyed the story and main conflict for the most part. It's always good to see a blurring of good and evil, especially when characters try so hard to convince themselves that they're doing the right thing. If I could score this series somewhere between a 7 and an 8, I would. 7 feels a bit harsh, but 8 feels too generous. I think 00's main problem is just that there are too many little details to the plot and few of them are explained properly; similarly, there are too many characters, and none of them get the attention they deserve. The intense build-up for the second season leaves this first season pretty void of substance, which is really disappointing. If you're going to divide up your forces, divide them evenly, huh? I'll see how this second season goes though, but Zombie characters isn't a really great place to start if you ask me.

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