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

[TwinBahamut]

Episodes 5 and 6 were a distinct improvement over the previous few episodes. There were some intereting developments, and episode five's focus on Allelujah has turned him from the most forgettable of the Gundam Meisters into someone far more intriguing.

And did I see a new kind of "newtype flash" effect? That was unexpected and cool... Definite shades of Zeta Gundam with the pilot of the Zeta look-alike having some kind of psychic reaction to the supersoldier girl, though a nice twist that the reaction is of a very different sort.

I am very glad that they dispensed with the crude praise for Celestial Being in the opening narration (at least I think they did...) and have instead focused on the moral complexity of an organization that thinks using their incredible power to actually save lives is a punishable offense. The series is a lot more fun to watch this way.

I am really liking the mechanical design of this series. Gundam Exia, Gundam Dynames, and maybe even Gundam Kyrios might stand among my favorite Gundams. Exia's GN Sword seems to be ripping off Jehuty's blade, but if you are going to steal you may as well steal from the best. Dynames is just impressive and fairly unique amongst Gundams with its sniper schtick, and Haro is always fun (they got this from Victory Gundam, right?). Kyrios is a lot like a Zeta that has a much cleaner transformation sequence, and has a lot of interesting elements like the tail missile unit, as well as a Beam Submachine Gun (I have an odd fondness for those, which I blame on Hyperion Gundam from X Astray). This may surpass the original 5 GAT-X mechs from Gundam SEED as my favorite set of Gundams.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Agreed. The last two episodes were great, and i look forward to next week. Still can't like Celestial Being, and punishing him for saving lives IS stupid, but at least I can like the characters in the organization now and hope the thing falls apart.

I also liked Louise's reply to that guy's sister when she told him to not try and take advantage of going away somewhere with his girlfriend. Something like, "he wouldn't know how to anyway." Ouch!

The part where he fails to save her was cute, too.

 

[D.Shaffer]

And in this weeks two eps of Gundam 00...

You learn just WHY Setsuna is so messed up.
You experience just how MUCH of a jerk Tieria is.
And you wonder why they even bother trying to keep a cover going with Setsuna spouting off who he is to everyone he meets.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

And in this weeks two eps of Gundam 00...

You learn just WHY Setsuna is so messed up.
You experience just how MUCH of a jerk Tieria is.
And you wonder why they even bother trying to keep a cover going with Setsuna spouting off who he is to everyone he meets.

Basically. Also, apparently terrorists are pathetically easy to hunt down if only the major world governments were to cooperate and share their information. For all I know that's true and I sound foolish now, but the ease with which they resolved that seemed silly to me. Then again, they've dispatched foes in combat so easily I suppose it's not much different...

 

[TwinBahamut]

And in this weeks two eps of Gundam 00...

You learn just WHY Setsuna is so messed up.
You experience just how MUCH of a jerk Tieria is.
And you wonder why they even bother trying to keep a cover going with Setsuna spouting off who he is to everyone he meets.

That about sums it up.

It certainly is interesting the way Setsuna did that, even after it was made clear that his identity is considered to be one of the greatest secrets of Celestial Being, and that there are probably severe consequences to revealing such information. Him showing up with the Exia to prove his claim to the princess was a nice touch. It certainly reveals that there there is quite a bit of character complexity hidden beneath his quiet facade.

Also, Haro continues to be hilarious. Normally I find Haro to be strange or tolerable at best, but this one has me laughing like crazy. Is it just me, or did Haro try to flirt with the pink-haired girl?

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ok, first off, the episodes on tonigt were awesome and had many great parts. The best being when that cocky moron AEU pilot got punched in the face (twice!).

Did anyone keep the tv on sci-fi afterwards? I noticed they were showing macross plus, part of the macross anime series I'd heard so many great things about but never watched. It's similar to gundam in that they use jets that can change into humanoid fighting machines and it's set in the future, but is in no way a gundam clone, either. The plot, music (oh my god, what music!), and animation are all top notch. Which is even more incredible since it was apparently put out in 1994. Assuming they're airing the rest of it after G 00 for the next few weeks, check it out.

 

[D.Shaffer]

I'm not to fond of these two Gundam eps, to be honest.
Sure, Marina and her country needs a bit of expansion, but it doesnt really drive the story that much. All we really learn is 'Setsuna can add Stalking to his list of quirks'

Although Patrick getting cold cocked IS hilarious.

Macross Plus...why oh WHY did they have to show this after Gundam 00? I have problems with lack of sleep on Tuesday as is.

 

[Rackhir]

Did anyone keep the tv on sci-fi afterwards? I noticed they were showing macross plus, part of the macross anime series I'd heard so many great things about but never watched. It's similar to gundam in that they use jets that can change into humanoid fighting machines and it's set in the future, but is in no way a gundam clone, either. The plot, music (oh my god, what music!), and animation are all top notch. Which is even more incredible since it was apparently put out in 1994. Assuming they're airing the rest of it after G 00 for the next few weeks, check it out.

Macross Plus is one of the best pieces of Anime to come out ever. There's actually two versions BTW. There's the original 4 half hour OVAs (so it's most likely only this week and next) and the "Movie" version. They are 99% similar, but there are some crucial and very significant differences in that 1% difference. So if you enjoyed it, I do recommend tracking down both versions. There's at least 2 cds of the music that have been released over here and I do highly recommend them.

Since you are apparently unfamiliar with it, it is a follow on to Macross, which was brought over to the US as the first (and best) part of Robotech in the mid-eighties. Macross is one of the best of the anime series in it's own right as well. There was even a gorgeously animated movie released in '84 that condenses the plot into it's own story. Unfortunately due to numerous rights conflicts the movie is unlikely to show up in a decent version over here any time soon (there were some old dubs released over here, but they are ... not... good.... to put it mildly). Well at least Japan and the US are on the same region code for Blu Ray movies.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Nena and her brothers are here!
Go, Team Sociopath!