Anime Gundam 00

[Dagger]

[url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=8190][u]The latest Gundam TV series[/u][/url]. Direction by Seiji Mizushima (FMA); series composition by Yousuke Kuroda (Gungrave); character designs by Yun Kouga (Loveless); music by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell); opening theme by L'Arc-en-Ciel; main character voiced by Mamoru Miyano (Light in Death Note).

Even if this show were totally awful in every other regard, I'd watch it just to see Kouga's artwork. I'm weak like that. But the staff (both animation and vocal) is awesome, and 00 shows a lot of promise. The first episode doesn't do much besides show off super-shiny mecha battles, so I'm looking forward to finding out what comes next.

~Dagger~

[Doublehex]

I actually found this episode to be quite dull. Its not because there was mostly talk - the first episode of Evangelion was just like that, but I always found it to be one of the better opening episodes of any anime. It actually got so bad at times that I would be looking down at the timer to see how much longer it would be. I was expecting better from Gundam, especially since alot of people are comparing 00 to Gundam Wing,which I consider to be [I]the[/I] pinnacle of the entire franchise. But, I shall remain hopeful. After all, the music was very nice, with the Latin-esque vocals in the background of some of the songs.

And I guess the character designs were okay.

[Dagger]

Ohoho. Surprisingly enough, the world-situation explanation in episode 2 was easy to follow. That's a good sign. Also, I don't have anything against Setsuna, but I [I]really[/I] want to see Graham kick his *** in episode 3.

~Dagger~

[Sangome]

The art certianly looks shiny enough [for lack of a better word], but I dunno if I'll look too much into it. I suppose with enough nagging, I will. I'm rather partial to Yun Kouga's work [believe it or nein], so maybe I'll start out gawking at the art before making any decisions to waste time with it or not.

[Hittokiri Zero]

I've liked Gundam 00 so far. It seems like it's going to go a very similar path as Wing did and because of that appears as if it's going to be easier to follow, lighter on the drama, and full of more action...

This is like my first post here in over a year... Wow I'm surprised I remembered my password... :rolleyes:

[Dagger]

I liked the conversations between the pilots in episode 3. I feel like they're going to reveal their personalities little by little, instead of immediately spewing their personal angst all over the place, which is fine by me. There's an interesting group dynamic at work here, especially with the others' attitudes towards Setsuna.

My gut reaction to the IRA thing was pretty squicky. When I thought about it some more, though, there are probably some parallels between that situation and the conflict in Sri Lanka. It would be hypocritical to say that only one of them is inappropriate, so I'm not going to complain about either. So far, Gundam 00 has been handling the real-world political connections tastefully.

~Dagger~

[Andy]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]Yeah, so far I've seen the first 3 episode's, and I really think I'm starting to get into it. Especially the character's, I think each character has a great, unique personality that result's in a good mixture between them. I think my favorite so far is Setsuna, he really seem's to have a lot of past behind him. He just seem's to be real anti-social and quiet, which I guess is kinda cool, lol. Oh, and speaking of Setsuna, does anybody else think that he might have been sexually abused during his early childhood? The reason why I say that is because he seem's to be extremely sensitive about being "touched". Any thoughts on that?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Dagger]

That's a possibility, but I think the whole child-soldier thing would have been more than enough trauma for anyone. There's also the fact that (as Lockon mentions in episode 6), the Exia is basically Setsuna's entire life; anyone touching it ends up being a personal affront to him. Ep. 6 ended on quite the cliffhanger, at any rate... really looking forward to seeing more of [spoiler]Ali, plus Setsuna's past.[/spoiler]

I don't have a favorite character yet, although out of the girls, I like Sumeragi and Felt best (Soma also shows promise), and out of the guys, it'd probably be Lockon or Allelujah. What can I say... in the latter case, I'm a sucker for [spoiler]split personalities,[/spoiler] and Lockon radiates awesome no matter what he's doing. I like the fact the main character isn't necessarily the group leader. If anything, Setsuna is the weakest link, being the youngest and most frequently targeted.

Tiera remains an enigma. I'm pleased as punch that they've made the most feminine-looking pilot the most vicious & judgmental.

~Dagger~

[Andy]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]Episode 7 was great, to say the least. I was really happy to see more about Setsuna's past, as well as showing us more about who Ali is. And I was able to see why Sestuna is so sensitive about his Gundam, which was actually kind of depressing. I mean, him having to [spoiler]kill his mother(I assume)[/spoiler] just to be able to fight with Ali was a pretty big sacrifice. So yeah, I would probably be as over protective of my Gundam too if I had had to go through that just to get it.

And we were also able to see more of the ever-growing conflict between the Gundam meister's as well. Actually, I think that whole conflict is mainly Tieria's fault because he act's like such a prick about everything, but, that's just my opinion. Anyway's, I'm more interested in finding out who is behind the terrorist attacks, and just what exactly Celestial Being plan's to do about them. And speaking of terrorist's, I keep getting the feeling that Tieria may have been a terrorist/mercenary when he was recruited to Celestial Being. Considering the fact that he seemed to have a bit of a terrorist like attitude toward's the well-being of people in general.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Dagger]

I'm becoming convinced that Tieria is going to turn out to be an android or something. That would go a long way toward explaining his attitude.

Setsuna is so broken. While watching the last episode or two, I totally forgot that he's played by Light's seiyuu (which is a compliment, as that's something that's pretty hard to put out of your mind). I'm very curious about how [spoiler]the pilot's personalities[/spoiler] affected their being chosen as Meisters.

~Dagger~

[Nikorasu]

Just finished episode 7. I'm liking this series so far, much more that SEED. Nice to see a Gundam series that's not so much of a copy and paste of previous Gundam series.

Setsuna seems kind of overly non emotional, like they're trying too hard to make him seem traumatised, but it may be warrented when they reveal even more of his back story and why he's a Meister.

So far, Lockon is my favorite pilot, but he is seems so much like that cool older brother character that I worry that they may kill him off. Who would take care of Haro though?

Tieria is probably my least favorite in terms of likability, but I think he's very well connected to the darker side of Celestial Being, which would prove to be an important plot point later on.

I'm really eager to see the Meisters' back stories and more interaction with the several other side characters in this series.

The Gundams themselves are pretty decent. Dynames got even better with its add ons in episode 6. Exia is also pretty good in this. Even Kyrios, despite basically being a new Zeta, is being handled pretty well. I like how each Gundam is really well suited for specific purposes instead of being different just for the sake of being different.

[Dagger]

Episode 9: Lockon/Felt!? :love:

So Lockon's real name is [spoiler]Neil... and he has a twin brother. Not that it matters, but I think that Lockon was the one behind the tree in the opening scene, not the one laying down the second bouquet. Gotta wonder whether his brother knows about CB.[/spoiler]

Christina's reaction to the attack made a pretty big impression on me, even though it was unprofessional of her. I guess I was startled to see such a realistic response--I mean, so many have anime have cute young women (and men) with little or no combat experience handling battle situations like hardened professionals. This broke the mold a little.

Psyched for more psycho Allelujah in episode 10. Not to mention Virtue's special power or whatever it's supposed to be.

~Dagger~

[Nikorasu]

I think you're right about Lockon as well. I am scared that [spoiler]he'll get killed, since he does seem to be somewhat of the cool older brother character[/spoiler].

I do like how Gundam occasionally has those young characters with no combat experience actually be affected by it. I just get reminded of Amuro alone in his room in the White Base, with his eyes all white and him kind of in a state of shock. A lot of the older ones show the main characters actually figuring out how to cope with war and making decisions and mistakes that they wouldn't have made later on in the series because they have grown up. I'm not really liking Setsuna because he's not really coping or doing anything. His personality seems almost robotic at times. Hopefully as he has to confront that one guy and more of his past, he'll open up a bit more to the audience.

I am eager to watch episode 10 and see how the fight goes.

[Dagger]

[SIZE="1"]Oh man. Episode 10 was well worth the wait. The thing I'm most curious about is Tieria's true nature, but it looks like episode 11 will be about Allelujah (given that it's named after him and all). That's good too, though.

"Ore wa..."
"Boku wa..."
"Watashi wa..."

What could it signify in concrete terms? Naming [spoiler]Gundam 004[/spoiler] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadleeh][u]Nadleeh[/u][/url] is either Sunrise dropping a huge clue, throwing fangirls some bait, or two birds with one stone.

Anyway, some great action & excitement in this one.
[/SIZE]
------------------------------

Currently scrambling to keep up (in the middle of episode 19, and hoping to catch 20 shortly thereafter). Ever since the Thrones appeared, this show has been overflowing with all kinds of awesome.

As in: [I]OhgodGrahamisGAR[/I]. And Setsuna [spoiler]charging the Thrones all by himself to keep them from continuing to defile the name of Gundam[/spoiler] showed him to be pretty damn GAR in his own right. At the least, he's got a lot of promise, and he and the other original Meisters are soooo much more sympathetic and compelling than they were earlier in the show, even though it's the situation (and not necessarily them) that's changed.

[spoiler]Tieria and Setsuna[/spoiler] working in tandem got me totally fired up with hot-blooded mecha passion, especially when [spoiler]Tieria Nadleeh'd the Thrones.[/spoiler] The Louise/Saji storyline finally paid off with [spoiler]the tragedy in Spain.[/spoiler] I'm desperately curious about how Lockon will deal with the fact that [spoiler]Setsuna was a member of the org that killed his family.[/spoiler]

Most of all, though, I want Tieria to magically turn into a girl, jump into the world of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and have tons of deliciously bitchy, Kamiya Hiroshi-voiced babies with Itoshiki-sensei.

~Dagger~

[Doublehex]

It is interesting what 6 months and 15 episodes can do to change one's mind. I am enjoying this anime a great deal now, whereas before I really didn't care for it. Its weird - maybe it was me watching Battlestar Galactica, but I am really, [I]really[/I] liking what Sunrise is doing with this show. Sure, at first it seemed like a modern reimagining of Gundam Wing, but it quickly follows its own path.

I am somewhat dissed at how we will have to wait until the fall for Season 2 to begin, and I am much more preferable to have had it just continue immediately. But maybe the long span will give us time to ponder whatever cliffhanger episode 25 has in store?

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Thread revivial anyone ?

Honestly I knew nothing about Gundam 00 before I started watching it basically as a substitute to Code Geass after the latter's ending a few weeks ago.

I've enjoyed the series so far, particularly the darker real-world elements of the story and none of the characters can be described as unbearable, though Saji draws closer with every episode, having replaced Teiria as my least favourite. I figure that Saji will [spoiler]end up a Gundam pilot or a member of Celestial Being by choice before too long, I suppose Episode 6 will confirm that one way or another.[/spoiler]

...OK yes I do like the fact that there's not one but two Irish characters in the series. Neil was simply awesome during the first season and Lyle [spoiler]despite his little hiccup with Feldt is slowly growing to be an acceptable successor, though he can never replace the original Lockon. Lord knows why there was even debate over whether or not Neil's death would qualify as Gar.[/spoiler]

I'm still not really sure what to make of Graham Acre's [spoiler]transformation into Mr. Bushido[/spoiler], probably needs more development to make sense. [/SIZE]

[Ikillion]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="1"]For anyone who has the slightest bit of interest, Gundam 00 S1 has taken over Gurren Lagann's spot on sci fi, aka its on now.
[COLOR=#ededed]HOWARD MASOOOOOOON[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Shinmaru]

I like the show just fine so far. After hearing that the first few episodes were slow compared to the later parts of the series, I was satisfied with the amount of action and story in the first couple of episodes. The surface political situation is at least easy to understand and get into for now, although obviously there's going to be a much deeper conflict than that.

No real strong opinions on the characters at the moment, although I did enjoy Lockon's cockiness in the first episode, haha.

EDIT: I also really like the OP, ED and background music. Very nice.

[Nony]

Yes, I agree, Shin. The opening is really cool, and I'm attracted to Lockon so far. ;)

When I heard there was some political stuff in the first few episodes, I thought, "Oh crap!" But, it was surprisingly easy to follow.
Heck, Gundam 00 is already much better than SEED.

I thought it was interesting how one of the Celestial Being members said something like, [spoiler]"We will unify the world by making them have a common enemy: us."[/spoiler] I don't know that I've seen that take too often in anime (maybe I just haven't gotten around enough yet).

Very much looking forward to next week, where apparently Soma comes in. I want to see if I'll like her character as much as I do her character design.

[Magus]

I checked out the first 2 episodes of [b]Gundam 00[/b] on the Sci-Fi channel. Given the fact that I'm fairly new to the gundam universe (I've only seen G Gundam and a few episodes of Gundam Seed Destiny) I can say that I'm not really feeling this one. The whole [spoiler]"holy war"[/spoiler] don't click well with me, or rather, I'm really tired of stories dealing with some type of [spoiler]holy war[/spoiler].

The animation is decent but (nitpick-ish, sort of) I can't say I like the character models. Something about the way these characters look just make things feel "meh".

I suppose I'll check out the next 2 episodes, but that's highly doubtful... (class starts that monday... And I'm night school.)

[Shinmaru]

More fun political shenanigans. Now that Celestial Being has put a stop to things in Ireland, will it go after the Middle East next?! lolz

Graham has become cooler in these two episodes -- he's my 1b to Lockon's 1a so far. I think watching the sub at the same time as the dub has helped with that. Yuichi Nakamura has such a cool voice. Actually, for the most part I prefer the Japanese cast to the American cast, although they're not light years ahead or anything (except in the case of Graham). The only major exception so far is Tieria; I think his attitude comes across better so far in English. Samuel Vincent was cast very well.

Only other thing I have to say is Setsuna is kind of a douche. I vaguely understand [i]why[/i] he's a douche (guy obviously didn't grow up in the best of circumstances), but a douche is a douche. Both Mamoru Miyano and Brad Swalie have fun douchey voices, though, since both have had practice at it (lol [b]Death Note[/b] lol).

[Dagger]

[quote name='Shinmaru']Only other thing I have to say is Setsuna is kind of a douche. I vaguely understand [i]why[/i] he's a douche (guy obviously didn't grow up in the best of circumstances), but a douche is a douche. Both Mamoru Miyano and Brad Swalie have fun douchey voices, though, since both have had practice at it (lol [b]Death Note[/b] lol).[/QUOTE]
Really?? I guess I was always so blinded by Tieria's sublime levels of douchery that I didn't pay much attention to Setsuna's attitude. Or maybe it's just that I found myself secretly (or not-so-secretly) cheering him on every time he blew off certain characters. :animeswea

~Dagger~

[Sangome]

[SIZE="1"]Subliminal douchebaggery > blatant douchebaggery.

*totally not biased*

[b]Edit:[/b] I found out yesterday that Tieria's Japanese VA is also [u][URL="http://myanimelist.net/anime/2605/Sayonara_Zetsubou_Sensei"]Nozomu Itoshiki's[/URL][/u] VA. MIND = BLOWN

...Seriously. I need to pay more attention to Japanese VAs from now on...[/size]

[Dagger]

Are you talking about Tieria? Because he's totally the most blatant of them all! That's, like, his salient character trait! :animesmil

Yeah, Kamiyan is love. [strike]Especially in BL drama CDs.[/strike]

On a related note, Allelujah's VA is also Takumi from Chaos;Head. Quite a few amusing videos at Nico Nico where they use the C;H voice acting to make Allelujah a hopeless otaku hikikomori...

~Dagger~

[Shinmaru]

lol, Tieria's douchery is more amusing than annoying to me. He's so weird. I guess Setsuna's douchery is on a more normal level where you're put off by him and think, "Man, that guy's a prick," whereas Tieria makes you think, "Man, wtf is [i]up[/i] with that guy??"

Then again, my opinion of the guy(s) could always change -- I am only four episodes in, after all. Upon rewatch, the two students whom Setsuna snubbed annoyed me a lot more than they did when I first watched the episodes, haha.