[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Gundam 00 2 and 3
I watched The Empire Strikes Back this evening. That old clichéd scrolling text drifting into the distance that happens at the beginning made me chuckle but as amusing as it looks now, it jogged my memory about an aspect of Gundam 00 that was niggling at me. We were treated to an entire episode without a word of explanation behind the worldview initially, but at the beginning of ep #2 the whole reasoning behind the orbital elevators and the outline of the politics involved was finally spelled out before launching back into the story proper. Personally I think that the background was pretty important and needed to be explained earlier - had they decided to do that I might have appreciated what was going on in episode #1 much more. On the plus side, the talking heads and newsflashes offer some promise of a decent storyline but still…the tactic that anime series take in making opening episodes that are intentionally confusing and often not representative of the show as a whole still annoys me a bit.
Girls of Celestial Being don’t like getting their feet wet. That’s what bishies are for
Anyway, Gundam 00 seems to be getting into its stride and getting on with the business of the main plotline. The real motives behind Celestial Being are questioned on several occasions and by a number of people who form a cross-section of society, which was nice. Seeing high-ranking parliament members from the three factions right down to students in cafes talking about the ruckus that Celestial Being is causing gave a number of angles to things and added a nice epic feel that’s expected of a product from the Gundam stable. The long segments of dialogue between the men and women in suits was a bit heavy-going in places but at least it’s not proving to be a wall-to-wall action fest: the series certainly has potential in weaving a political subplot not unlike Gasaraki or similar. Besides, the idea that certain conflicts are going on three centuries down the line panders to my cynical nature.
Still lookin’ good, folks
Aside from this and the mecha battles (which look great, by the way…see above), there seems to be plenty of emphasis placed on the characters; specifically the Gundam pilots themselves and those who are assigned to oppose them. I’m often hopeless with names and have to consult ANN before posting a review, but even with characters who are called Saji Crossroad and Felt Grace (no, really) none of the Gundam 00 characters are shaping up to be truly memorable. This is a shame really because I was looking forward to getting really attached to them and enjoying following their exploits. If this was a fifty episode effort like Seed I woudn’t be as worried but so far only Setsuna has really intrigued me. The part towards the end of ep #2 where he goes ape during a mission hints at emotional baggage (PTSD, in all probability) which makes his character much more interesting and his behaviour justified; I really hope his comrades are treated to similar amounts of background or this aspect of the show will be a bit of a wasted opportunity in my eyes.
Weapons, check. Fuel, check. Psychological issues, check
It certainly doesn’t bode well when, on my first experience with Gundam, it’s already looking a bit generic. It looks polished enough, there’s plenty of shiny mecha but the special something that would make it stand out has yet to materialise. It’s early days still I suppose, but this series hasn’t made a thorough job of grabbing my attention just yet - want to like it, I really do. It has a good premise, if not a groundbreaking one, and the production values give no cause for concern. Nevertheless I’m still racking my brains and asking myself “so then, what is missing?”
Posted on November 5th, 2007 @ 8:46 am
I must admit to enjoying 00 more than I thought I would. It doesn’t seem to have many competitors within its genre among the oher shows currently running. And it’s pretty as hell. Probably deeply flawed, but I’m a sucker for pretty fighting.
Posted on November 5th, 2007 @ 11:35 am
The first thing (well one of the first) that went through my mind as I sat me down to watch 00 was the similarity (superficial?) to Gundam Wing; Setsuna “psychological issues” Seiei especially totally reminded me of Heero Yuy. I’m hoping that this won’t be the case throughout the series and latch on to his “don’t touch me” as being indicative of having his own persona. I agree that Sunrise will have to work a little bit more at developing the other characters. Fangirling the seiyuu, no matter how rabid, won’t be enough to carry the interest, especially if the series runs to about fifty.
Funny you also mentioned Gasaraki. The use of news clips to advance the plot and provide added exposition also brought that masterpiece also to mind ^^
Posted on November 5th, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
It’s not emotionally involving is what. The thing with a show on such a grand scale as the Gundamn universes is that, I presume, it’s got to lay down the premise proper and setup every bit of the world before they can go onto heavier stuff? Just my guess. Episode 5, at least judging from the preview, seems like a likely thing.
Posted on November 5th, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
The thought came to me later today that I actually quite enjoyed being thrust without explanation into a jungle of geopolitics and having to figure out what’s going on (and what is supposed to have happened in the time between now and then). But maybe that just means I’m a very forgiving viewer - something of a Sunrise fanboy despite myself.
Posted on November 5th, 2007 @ 11:21 pm
@IKnight: One of the reasons why I’m following this show is indeed because it’s the only show of its type that’s on the ‘new season’ listings (we’re still waiting anxiously for Macross Frontier…well, I am at least). In terms of the intro, it’s good not to be spoon-fed the facts right from the get-go but when the series does an episode of pretty visuals and throws in the background in the second episode, I get the feeling that it’s priorities overall lean towards looking cool rather than offering a complex story. I hope to be proved wrong though - it might just be an effort to get viewers’ attention before launching into something more complicated. I’ll stick with the show for now to see if that happens!
@huamulan03: I wish I could be better informed here but this is my first Gundam series! I enjoyed reading your post (cheers for the linkage!) since it helped me understand things a bit more. If it runs to fifty episodes, I can understand why they’re taking their time in introducing the characters though (as the writers of Eureka Seven did…and that’s turning out to be awesome!).
@Owen S: If I take Macross Plus as a comparison (in my view it’s the mecha thriller against which all similar shows are judged), I think the emotional involvement in the characters is of paramount importance, and is the main ingredient that G 00 is missing so far. As much as M+’s Isamu and Guld behaved like idiots, the story was about them, not their mecha. Getting back to E7 again, Renton’s growth as a person is what holds everything together; I hope the same can be said of Setsuna and the rest of Celestial Being as time goes on.
Thanks for the comments so far guys.