Gundam 00 Monday night (11/24) at 11 pm on SF Channel

[Hopping Vampire]

first off, its double-o, like Bond. (ive seen all of season 1 and all of season 2 to date) YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED.

 

[Rackhir]

first off, its double-o

That's how it's pronounced, not how it's spelled. Pronunciations aren't very useful for google searches on a topic.

 

[DonTadow]

I've never been a gundam fan, but my fear for getting hooked on a show on scifi with their animonday is that they don't seem to buy all of a series. It's like they broadcast a show for a few episodes then it disappears.

 

[Rackhir]

I've never been a gundam fan, but my fear for getting hooked on a show on scifi with their animonday is that they don't seem to buy all of a series. It's like they broadcast a show for a few episodes then it disappears.

I've heard nothing about them having bought less than the full run of Season 1.

Now Season 2 (which is airing currently in Japan) I've heard nothing about and I strongly suspect it depends on the ratings that Gundam 00 draws. Bandai isn't known for letting gundam stuff go for cheap.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Probably should have posted this earlier, but...

As a longtime fan of the Gundam series (as much as anyone who started with the Toonami broadcast of Gundam Wing could be a longtime fan, I suppose), I have really been looking forward to this. Code Geass has reaffirmed my faith in Sunrise after their mistakes that slowly turned Gundam SEED from something incredibly good in the first 20 or so episodes into a flawed mess in Destiny, so I have been more excited about Gundam recently than I have been for a while.

Still, Gundam 00 is in the unenviable position of taking Gurren Lagaan's former timeslot and being compared to the incredible Code Geass that is being aired on Adult Swim, which other than a too-late timeslot (I use my VCR to record it) is presented remarkably well. I am worried that the Sci-Fi channel's habit of trimming episodes to make room for commercials and its large banners of the bottom of the screen will muddle things up a bit too much...

The first two episodes seemed good to me. The pacing is a bit slow so far, even compared to Gundam Wing's opening few episodes, but it looks great and I am really liking the mechanical designs and new take on the entire Gundam premise. I just wish that I could tell the characters apart better... It may just take some getting used to, but the characters' designs and voices don't distinguish them from each other as much as I prefer. Also, it is going to be a bit odd hearing the save voices for Murrue Ramius, Lacus, and Flay from SEED all together on the new ship...

 

[TwinBahamut]

Well, after watching episodes 3 and 4, I can only say that the writing has been pretty lackluster so far. Extremely dull setting exposition and redundant narration has been completely drowning out important things like character development or any sense of an interesting story picking up. Overall, it feels pretty dry and mechanical so far. At least the fighting is pretty good, though the fact that the outcome has been completely obvious in every fight so far hinders even that...

That fact that this series begs the comparison to Gundam Wing and Code Geass doesn't help it very much at all.

I guess I just need to hold out hope that it will improve once it gets out of the exposition phase and some plot complications show up.

 

[D.Shaffer]

I know a LOT of people say this about many other series, but it actually does apply in this case. It get a lot better down the road...once they finally finish setting everything and everybody up. They're STILL introducing characters as late as ep 4.

And while the beginning does have a lot of similarities to Wing, those are only token similarities once things start going down the line.

 

[Rackhir]

At least the fighting is pretty good, though the fact that the outcome has been completely obvious in every fight so far hinders even that...

So you find the outcome to not-be obvious in CG when it's Lelouch vs non-named characters or likewise for Suzaku? Or the Gundam pilots vs grunts in Wing? I mean when exactly do grunts ever stand a chance vs the heroes? People still make jokes about the ineffectiveness of the Leos in Gundam Wing.

That fact that this series begs the comparison to Gundam Wing and Code Geass doesn't help it very much at all.

Considering how much of Gundam Wing was a retread of the UC saga, I find this somewhat ironic. Code Geas is fairly original, but it's more for what a ruthless bastard Lelouch can be, as Mecha/School comedy shows have been around for a long time as well.

If you watch a genre long enough, everything starts looking like something else you've seen. I could never get into "Ah, My Goddess" or "Tenichi Muyo" because they both reminded me too much of Urusei Yatsura. So a lot of it comes down to what you saw first.

I guess I just need to hold out hope that it will improve once it gets out of the exposition phase and some plot complications show up.

That's what I've been told at least.

 

[Arnwyn]

As a longtime fan of the Gundam series (as much as anyone who started with the Toonami broadcast of Gundam Wing could be a longtime fan, I suppose),

... which is to say, not a longtime fan at all.

If you're not a One-Year-War man, you're a n00b!

 

[TwinBahamut]

... which is to say, not a longtime fan at all.

If you're not a One-Year-War man, you're a n00b!

Hey, I may not be a longtime fan, but you are talking to a guy who pre-ordered the Zeta Gundam special edition DVD boxset and cursed Cartoon Network when they prematurely ended the TV run of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

So you find the outcome to not-be obvious in CG when it's Lelouch vs non-named characters or likewise for Suzaku? Or the Gundam pilots vs grunts in Wing? I mean when exactly do grunts ever stand a chance vs the heroes? People still make jokes about the ineffectiveness of the Leos in Gundam Wing.

Are you kidding? Lelouch is a terrible Knightmare Frame pilot... Besides, that series focuses much more on large-scale strategic battles, won just as much by strategy as anything else, and tends to feature a lot of dramatic shifts in the tide of battle. The entire second episode is an example of a battle swinging wildly between an inevitable Britannian victory, a miraculous regrouping and near victory by the rebels, the unexpected turn against the rebels when Suzaku shows up, and the unpredictable finale. Just because grunts can't beat Suzaku doesn't mean battles are predictable and boring. Besides, that series has plenty of good evenly matched fights anyways, even if it takes a while to get to that point.

As for Gundam Wing... A Leo takes out Wing Gundam in the first episode. Hardly the same thing as Gundam 00.

If you want to talk about sucky mobile suits, it is the Zeta Gundam Barzam that takes the prize. It is a cool-looking, high spec mobile suit that is only ever seen being blown up in massive numbers. The high point of that suit's career is when one draws a beam saber, right before being blown up. They don't even ever take shots at anything.

Considering how much of Gundam Wing was a retread of the UC saga, I find this somewhat ironic.

Gundam Wing is hardly even comparable to UC Gundam... Certainly, there are a few similar elements (like comparing Releena and Zechs to Sayla and Char), but almost everything about the setting and story being told is fundamentally different.

Code Geas is fairly original, but it's more for what a ruthless bastard Lelouch can be, as Mecha/School comedy shows have been around for a long time as well.

The very role of Lelouch is what makes it original. Other than that, it does borrow a lot of elements from shows like Full Metal Panic, Death Note, and Gundam SEED, and its real success is its raw quality of execution, rather than pure originality. Quality and originality are not the same thing at all, after all.

If you watch a genre long enough, everything starts looking like something else you've seen. I could never get into "Ah, My Goddess" or "Tenichi Muyo" because they both reminded me too much of Urusei Yatsura. So a lot of it comes down to what you saw first.

I don't really think this is related to what I am talking about. There is a raw quality difference, and I can point out specific lines, characterizations, and scene structures where Gundam 00 is simply bad, regardless of what I have seen before. I am not saying that I don't like it because it is similar to stuff I have seen before. Actually, I like what I see and have hope for the series because it is handling stuff I have seen before in new and potentially interesting ways. However, it just has been wasting that potential so far.

To make an analogy... I don't dislike Gundam SEED Destiny because it is a blatant retread of many elements of Zeta Gundam's plot, I dislike it because, unlike Zeta Gundam, they failed to keep the focus on the new hero (Camille/Shin) and instead broke the narrative apart by trying to keep three different characters in the limelight at the same time. Well, there were other problems too, but that is the biggest. It is not like Zeta Gundam escapes criticism because I saw it first and it was original at the time (the Rosamie subplot was terrible, and the Jerid subplot was not resolved properly).

That's what I've been told at least.

That is good to hear.