Mobile Suit Gundam 00
| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 | |
|---|---|
| Original Manga | |
| Director/Artist | Seiji Mizushima |
| Format | Anime (TV) |
| Made By | Sunrise |
| Episode Length | 25 min |
| # of Eps/Volumes | |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
Gundam Wing and Gundam SEED are retarded, and this show illustrates that.
Main Description
Time: the year 2307 AD. Place: Earth. Fossil fuels have pretty much been depleted and mankind has turned to the sun for much of its power, constructing a huge ring of solar panels around the earth and connecting them to the ground via three orbital elevators. Each of these is controlled to a superpower: the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (used to be the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan), the Human Reform League (an amalgamation of Russia, China, and India), and the Advanced European Union (Europe mostly, some of Africa might be in there too), and they in turn are in charge of rationing the power. Of course with haves, you also have have-nots, and many of the existing smaller nations want a greater say in who controls the elevators, and others want to seek alternative sources of energy. Hence, war, death and pain. BUT WAIT! A new organization has risen, named Celestial Being, with four unknown and extremely powerful giant robots, telling all the nations of the world to lay down their arms and give peace a chance... or else.
Major Characters
Celestial Being
The mysterious group that recently appeared and declared enforced peace to the world, and rains down destruction upon all who don't play ball, using never-before-seen giant robots, and then disappear just as quicky. They operate from a starship known as the Ptolemios, and plan their missions using a whiz-bang supercomputer called VEDA. This technology, as well as the plan they follow, is the brainchild of Aeolia Schenberg, a genius who lived some 200 years before with big plans for the world. The hypocrisy of waging war for peace has not escaped them, it's just that they do not especially care, for Schenberg has a plan.
Setsuna F. Seiei
The "main" character of the series. A Kurdish boy who grew up in the Middle East, which predictably went even more to shit when the oil dried up. Enlisted in a holy war at an extremely young age, he's been fighting for most of his life, and at 16, has grown to resent both God and war in general. His life was saved by a Gundam when he was younger, and so he's kind of got a... thing for them. Pilots the Gundam Exia.
Lockon Stratos
The sniper of the team, as the name would indicate. An Irishman whose family was killed in a terrorist act, and joins Celestial Being to get people to stop doing that, and maybe fin the guy who did it along the way. Is the most humane of the Gundam pilots (by virtue of having actually known a family in his life), and acts as big brother to the team. Pilots the Gundam Dynames.
(H)Alleluja Haptism
The third Gundam pilot (or should I say pilots). The product (and only survivor) of a failed Super Soldier program, he has developed a split personality, Halleluja, who is... rather antisocial, to say the least. Joined Celestial Being to stop such a program from happening again, and to give Halleluja an outlet for his more homicidal urges. Pilots the Gundam Kyrios.
Tieria Erde
Pilot of the fourth Gundam. He (yes, he)was part of the organization since birth, and he has a direct connection with VEDA. He's also pretty much a consequentialist jerk who only cares about THE PLAN, and would happily abandon anyone who stepped away from it. He pilots the Gundam Virtue.
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Personal Opinions
AzraelNewtype
Note: This review is primarily about the second season, though it informs my opinion of the work as a whole. If my posting history and username didn't tip you off already, I'm a huge Gundam fan. I loved the hell out of the first season, which spent its time shitting on the stupidity of SEED (preaching pacifism at gundampoint) and Wing, and was fascinated by the fact that the protagonists were essentially the villains. Gundam hadn't really done that since 0080, and those guys were far enough removed from Space Hitler that the moral gray of the Universal Century covered the antagonists well enough that they were fine as villains. Well then the second season started with a bang and I was extremely excited. Unfortunately, that was basically the last bang of the series, which introduced new characters and brought back old ones and immediately proceeded to accomplish nothing with most of them. The show wasn't bad per se, and there was definitely plenty of decent if unfulfilling action throughout, but it was essentially a waste of time. I mean, it's an enjoyable enough waste of time, but I was expecting more, especially given its pedigree. It's still pretty damn far from the worst part of the franchise, regardless of what some people were saying. 3/5
Indiana_Krom
I'm thinking sometime after a few months have passed I'll probably re-watch the entire series, I saved up then watched 21 through 25 all in one day. Overall I was very satisfied with both seasons. A must see Gundam series to cleanse ones mind of Gundam SEED/Destiny. Out of giant robot shows, it earns a 5/5.
TannhauserGate
It seems like there's two groups of thought on 00. One is that the whole series is a meh show with outstanding robots and effects, the other is that Season 1 was quite good while Season 2 was trash. I'm in the latter camp. Season 1 tries to do a lot of cool things, like realistic portrayals of (distinctly post 9/11) terrorism. The robots are awesome, with some of my all-time favorite designs, and there's a lot of setup that that seems like it's going somewhere. There's even a pretty decent twist where the retarded love interest teenagers get real for a moment. Season 2, however, throws all of the setup of Season 1 out the window and it's pretty clear the writers had no idea where they were going. Season 2 wraps up with a teaser for a 00 movie, but by then you really don't care. Recommended for Gundam completionists, but everyone else can just see Season 1 and pretend Season 2 never happened.
