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Kido Senshi Gundam 00
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Animation - 8.8 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 7.3 |
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Character - 6.9 |
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Value - 7.6 |
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Enjoyment - 7.8 |
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Average - 7.8 |
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| *This review is done before watching the second season.*
When 00 was I announced I was pretty excited thinking that this would be THE "reboot" the Gundam franchise of the 21st century would need. But unfortunately this did not turn out the way I expected it to be.
Let's get the misc. review out of the way first before to the important part.
The animation is fantastic, and it is exactly what I've hoped for when SEED was showing. Gundam doesn't need the fancy 3D polygons, it'll just detract from the whole atmosphere. By going back to 2D animation with good effects, 00 really has elevated what a mech anime should be like. While the mech design has a weird taste because one can see the resemblance to Full Metal Panic, it is nonetheless a refreshing sight to see Gundams finally going back to form over function instead of flashy armors.
The sound as always is excellent, while it might be inevitable to use pop songs for its theme songs in these days, they are still good choices that fits the series very well. The seiyuu Sunrise chose all have very good potential considering most of them are newcomers to this industry. But there were times when one would think they need more experience to convey their feelings in some sticky situations.
Now I'll talk about the things I don't really enjoy in 00.
First of all, the premise of the story bothers me a lot. While I have no problem with using a contemporary issue as the basis of its storyline, I do have a big problem with the writers trying to simplifying a complicated problem into one that seemingly has an easy and obvious solution, especially when the solution that the writers have chosen is probably one of the worst ones.
Similar to Wing, 00 tries to achieve peace by eliminating war, but also like Wing, the writers do not realize that peace cannot be achieved by stopping war or removing arms alone. Even in 00, there's already the problem of two ethnic tribes fighting each other in the middle east, isn't it obvious then that merely stopping the fighting does not achieve peace unless we go into the root of the problem?
Of course this would lead to something that would be out of the scope of being a Gundam anime, but the idealogy of this whole series is nonetheless flawed and poorly executed.
Secondly, I do not like the portrayal of the Gundams in this series at all. Gundams have always been the symbol of righteousness (even if there are evil Gundams), yet here they have totally become the antagonist. In no part of the 25 episodes I ever like the Gundams at all. You might argue that the Gundams do turn to become "good" at the end of it. But this is not the case as the Gundams are merely trying to solve the whole mess that they alone have created! In fact, I sympathize more with the Earth governments even till the end than any of the Gundams here.
Then there's the characters, though there's nothing wrong with any of the Gundam pilots, most have a good backstory and somewhat interesting, it is hard for me to be associated with them. In the Gundam franchise, we like every Gundam pilot simply because we can understand their problem and associate with them, they have been put into a hard place and need to survive. Yet it is hard for us here to like them simply because this time they are the ones that started the war, they are the one that chose to be a "terrorist", something that is hard for us to accept in real life.
Then there are the 2 side characters. While I understand the need to have Seiji Crossroad to set up the second season, it feels forced. Seiji for me, is similar to to Alfred in Gundam 0080, an "innocent bystander" who got caught in the war and we get to see from the POV of a common layman. The problem is his existance in the first season really detracts from the flow of the story, and tragic end feels more like a forced drama than anything.
Then there's Marina, the queen of a smalle middle east country. This is probably the worst character in 00. How can a queen/ruler of a middle east country full of conflict be this naive? Her creation really does not fit the story besides giving us the feeling of the "devastation" of war. She would not exist in real life because she would be assasinated in a coup d'etat the first 5 min she became the head of a country.
Overall I appluad for the intention of Sunrise to create 00, but the whole premise and execution is mediocre. If you are going to use such a complicated political premise, do not give us such a simple and inane "solution". I'll admit the ending was good because it shows us how a common Earth Federation was created, but the whole process seems more like a farce than anything.
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| A politically inspired, action-packed story that is centered around the recently created orbital elevator system which sustains and provides power for the Earth superpowers. The protagonists, a group of ever-changing characters whose purpose is to prevent war by piloting specialized mobile suits called Gundams.
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Considering the complex, realistic political backdrop of this series, the story should have been much more than it was.
The main problem, as I see it, was that the characters' goals were actually quite simple. The main organization that the story follows--Celestial Being--was created before the story began, for the purpose of intervening in all armed conflicts and putting an end to war. However, all the characters we become acquainted with are just following orders. The first half of the series is particularly bad about this: random armed conflicts spring up in the world, and the gundams overwhelm the participants and stop the conflict. Later in the series, Celestial Being encounters some more difficult problems, but all of the main characters maintain their original, straightforward motivations. All of the plot twists come from the invention of new characters/organizations with their own clear objectives, or from upgrades that make the mobile suits more powerful, which seem arbitrary and random. Essentially, the "twists" never really surprised me--I just felt like "oh...here's the next thing that they're going to fight against". It would have been much better if they had taken more time to develop the character...create some mysteries...foreshadow some of the conflicts...do *something* to make viewers more curious about what's going to happen, and more committed to the characters when stuff actually does happen.
The one good point about this anime, though, is its occasional nods to more philosophic ideas--for example, is stopping armed conflict using force really the best for the world? What is the purpose of war in the first place? It's especially interesting because many of the conflicts in the series parallel conflicts happening in the world today. It really got me thinking on occasion.
The animation was very...professional. It's everything one would expect from Sunrise. However, the animation was essentially just displayed the story--I never felt like the camera angles or the artwork really showed anything that couldn't have been written down in ordinary text. The sound was similar; the OP/ED's, music, sound effects, and voice acting were what they should have been for the story, but I never found myself thinking "wow--that sound really added something."
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| Average |
7.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Continuing my review of Gundam is the latest addition, Gundam 00. 00 brings a breath of fresh air for the aging franchise. Why's that? Read on and see.
Gundam 00 is set in the Anno Domini timeline (for the uninitiated, the real world.) in an alternate future. Rivalry between three superpowers, the UNION, Advanced European Union and the Human Reform League has been on the rise and war seems all, but inevitable. A secret organization, however, plans to intervene and end all conflicts once and for all. That organization is Celestial Being. In order to meet its goal, Celestial Being uses the powerful "Gundams", equipped with Solar Furnaces. The story begins when Celestial Being reveals itself to the world...
Coming from Sunrise, it should be of no surprise that with their vast resources, we'd expect quality presentation from their production and 00 does not disappoint. The environment is vibrant with rich colors and effect that supplement the action in 00 and being noted as the first Gundam series to be seen in High Definition (High Vision in Japan) is a total plus in my book. People with HD-TV's should not pass the opportunity to watch it in this setting. It absolutely surpasses the standard definition version. Mech design is a mixed bag, especially for old-school mech lovers. Most of the mobile suits look more "feminine" compared to its predecessors with their lanky body proportions. For me, being someone who prefers stockier built mechs, it took some getting used to and again, it's not everyone's cup of tea. Then again, if you watch 00 solely for its mechanical design, you will be missing a whole lot more. Character designs were alright, but like the mechs, almost all of them look so clean and effeminate. Now, I don't have a problem with this since "bishounen" is definitely a staple in anime, but c'mon, a little more change of appearances rather than just head swaps would be nice. Other than that, no qualms in presentation. Kudos to 00's animators.
Sound did not fare as well as its animation. It felt like the staff just slapped on some music for the heck of it so it kind of feels tacked on. The two OP's, Daybreak's Bell and Ash Like Snow by L'Arc en Ciel and The Brilliant Green respectively, (In my opinion, they could've picked better bands.) were alright, but eventually you'll grow to skip it. The first ending, Wana by the Back Horn, was awesome though I might just be a little biased here since I like their music. The second ending, Friends by Stephanie, just made me want to puke everytime I listen to it for its sheer corniness and out of place. I thought I was watching a yaoi whenever I hear it. Don't get me started with the insert song, Love Today by Taja. That was just plain awful. However, 00's BGM is its saving grace. The Celestial Being theme is energetic and keeps the viewer totally in the mood whenever the Gundams kick butt. The Union theme is noteworthy as well for its militaristic feel with the use of percussion (snare drum, I think? correct me if I'm wrong). All in all, the whole musical package is bittersweet.
Gundam 00 distinguishes itself from the other Gundam series is that it relates to our own world mostly with real life conflicts still happening today like the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka and the IRA terrorist group of Ireland. The story is basically a political and social commentary. Anime fans may or may not prefer history or political sciences with their anime, but I feel it shows more credibility and a sense of awareness of the real world compared to purely fictional elements such as Newtypes of the old series. The pacing of the story is a little speedy, especially towards the end (most likely because of episode number). Sporadic viewers may have trouble with what has happened so far since everything goes by quickly. The ending, itself, was a bit disappointing, but it's a sure sign that there will be a second season coming.I recommend watching this in a steady pace so as to avoid confusion in this slightly convoluted storyline.
The characters in 00 are aplently, but sadly not all of them gets the same amount of screentime because of series length issues. I felt that a few of the characters deserved a bit more character background than just a few indirect characterizations in the series. Even the main characters are starving for background info. This might just be nitpicking for my part, but I need to totally know a substantial amount of history for the characters to feel for them. Nevertheless, their lack of character background is compensated for present events in the story so it did leave an effect on me.
As a whole, Gundam 00 deserves a viewing. It's a pretty good series with some flaws that keep it from being perfect. Fans of the franchise might want to preview this since it strays from a typical Gundam series in many elements. Mecha enthusiasts as well for its unorthodox design. Other anime fans should check this out as well.
I myself, felt really satisfied with 00 in general. It is better than SEED where its constant flashbacks killed the potentially good storyline and Wing with its abundance of babbletalk. The show leaves an impression other than "BUY THE KITS!!" It forces the viewer to think about how everything today is full of war and suffering.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
6.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
4 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
| From the outset, the story behind this anime has numerous similarities to Gundam Wing. So ofcourse there are afew deja vu feelings, but ultimately the story does enough to stay unique... barely.
On the plus side, the action sequences are alot tighten then those in Gundam Seed / Destiny, and thankfully there is limited use of stock footage.
On the downside, the story is really pretentious. The plot drags especially in the earlier episodes. You never really connect with the characters, because quite frankly most of them don't get developed properly and remain cookie cutter. Even the 'surprise plot twists' are over the top and don't manage to drag you into the story.
Ultimately the anime will appeal to Gundam fans, but not really to anyone else.
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1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Yenno |
(2008-11-12 00:49:51) 2008-02-27 04:06:33 |
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| Average |
8.6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Gundam 00 is essentially, a remake of Gundam Wing. There are some notable similarities between the two, which often leads to fans concluding right away that this series would be good/bad (depending on your impression on Gundam Wing). The truth is, this series is quite different. It deals with political issues which are not foreign to us right now, meaning little chilldren may have some trouble understanding all of the themes discussed.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Hurray, a new Gundam series has arrived! This time with action right from the start, and our pilot starts off IN the Gundam! This Gundam series is VERY similar to Full Metal Panic! though.
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0 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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No
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| So far its worth to watch if you like Sci-fi, dont dislike mechas and like stories with political background
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0 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Zaku88 |
(2008-05-28 20:59:18) 2008-01-19 01:30:23 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Gundam 00 is a mech series about a group called Celestial Being and their goal of eradicating all wars on Earth with force.
The story is both similar and dissimilar to previous Gundam titles.
It is similar to old titles in that the series involves a lot of politics and deals with the theme of war in many ways. The overall mood of the anime is less than optimistic, and often downright serious.
It is different in that it is set in the in the future around 2300 in THIS universe, not some alternate universe century time. The world has broken into three rival factions and fossil fuels have been exhausted. World power is in the hands of those who control large towers that gather solar energy to supply power. Suddenly, a group emerges called Celestial Being which possesses the Gundams which have a special form of power which grants the suit essentially infinite power in addition to other powerful advantages over conventional suits.
The story is VERY slow at first but it picks up very quickly after episode 15 or so and develops into a very intense and suspenseful story.
The series is quite different from Gundam SEED in that character development is put on the backburner and the main focus is on the storyline.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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