gundam 00 1
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Tagged: gundam 00
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Like a moth to a flame.
Ohaurhi-sama!?! What hath we wrought?!? Religious overtones in my Gundam!?! We might as well call Gundam 00 “Allah Gundam.” Joking aside, I do have high hopes for this series. There’s a competent script writer and director for once. It’s drawn in HD, and all the mecha look fantastic (which they should, since this is an infomercial for toys). While still bordering ridiculous, the plot so far at least seems more feasible than Destiny. Fighting in the Middle East in the 24th century?!? Believable. I’m also encouraged that the characters themselves think the “waging war to stop war” concept is ridiculous, but so is pairing Eddy Curry and Zack Randolph in anything other than a police lineup. But, also, let’s not kid ourselves. Gundam does two things and does them well: selling toys and ridiculousness. And, with that, I can’t wait to see how this all plays out.
I always have preferred to marathon Gundam series, i.e. them in batches of 5 or more episodes than to watch them piecemeal weekly. Twenty-four minutes is just not enough to contain or even explain the plot awesomeness that is Gundam. With Gundam 00, I feel no different. Every Gundam eventually boils down to emo teen genius pilot, romantic awkwardness (with 00‘s cast, switching of mobile suits, I’m sensing the Wing kind rather than the Seed kind), hogwash wars, peace, and modern themes.
Points of Interest
For 00, we have Kashim… err… Setsuna, the Kurd. I’m glad Sunrise can draw inspiration from a $200 billion a year American sinkhole. There’s no doubt in my mind that while he seems like a military playboy now, he’s going to turn emo and angsty before episode 25. Possible because…
… awkward romantic interest that makes him rethink his views on the world and war. I just hope it’s one of the girls from the series and not one of the other pilots. This is the type of thing I worry about when the character designer’s previous major work was Loveless. It’s also about this time that he gets…
… a brand spankin’ new mobile suit to replace the one he trashed. Don’t worry Exia fans! It’ll be back and given to some secondary character who kicked ass with a crappy mobile suit earlier. Of course, during all of this commotion of Setsuna’s sexual orientation and switching of mobile suits, let’s not forget some epic war waging in the background…
… of course, this war probably makes less sense than the one that occurs in Seed Destiny…
… and it’ll probably work in some modern themes like religion and ethnic cleansing, only it’s Gundam, so it’ll mangle these topics. Yes, Allelujah screaming Hallelujah is apparently as serious of a religious discussion we’re going to get in Gundam.
The names are great, if not slightly blasphemousness. Let’s begin with Allelujah Haptism piloting Gundam Kyrios. (Oddly enough, they brought this topic up in an educational episode of Zombie Loan.) Allelujah Haptism is by no small feat a disguise of two very Christian terms. Only Kyrios is a more Jewish concept as it refers strictly to the “God of Israel” and has more meaning for Judaism than for Christianity. Only Sunrise could create a Christian pilot for a mecha named through Judaisim.
The other Gundam names aren’t as fun, but they do have religious overtones. Virtue? Grace? Am I stuck on a Puritan ship heading to Plymouth Rock? Have I mentioned that I love the names in this series? Patrick “Ano Baka” Corlaseroijekfn. Fantastic. Do you know who the fuck I am?
(I also like the “Gundam Meister” terminology. Anything that evokes Mai Hime/Otome is a good thing for potential unintentional comedy. Let’s see how far we can get before I break out the first tired Mr Wong joke.)
Whenever Kashim… err… Setsuna says, “Kami-sama,” shouldn’t this be translated as “Allah” rather than “God?” That seems to fit the mood better. Though “Oyashiro-sama” would be the pinnacle of intentional comedy.
Gundam 00 apparently takes place in a world similar to ours only 300 or so years in the future (AUE = EU; HRA = China; UN = Japan + US? I mean… their Zaku’s name is the “Union Flag”) where all fossil fuels have been exhausted, so all the mobile suits run on solar power and whatnot. How green of Sunrise! Will this be the first Gundam series to start giving carbon footprint specs for all the mobile suits? I hope so. Never too early to start educating kids on environmental protection while selling them toys made in China with lead paint.
The Gundams seem a bit cookie cutter… oh look! A heavy weapons class! A highly mobile class! A melee class! This group reminds me a lot of the New York Knicks. They have the anchor, the bruiser in Eddy Curry/Virtue. They have the plucky fast one in Nate Robinson/Kyrios. They have the long range gunner in Jamal Crawford/Dynames. And, of course, the low post worker/pugilist in Zach Randolph/Exia. And Sumeragi pilots their ship drunk much like how Isiah coaches. It’s probably not a good thing that we can derive an analogy to the New York Knicks. (Wonglong, of course, could represent the intern who had backseat sex with Marbury. We got all the basis covered.)
I was half expecting to see a “Made in China” underneath the Gundam logo. Wait, there’s manufacturing in a future world done outside of China?!? Now that’s sci-fi.
38 Responses to “gundam 00 1”
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After gurren lagann, no mecha series can impress me anymore.
I’m not going to knock this if it turns into a trainwreck as, seeing as it’s a Sunrise production.
So, with that out, let’s hear it from the Gundam Defense Force!
Also, those kids need a tan — extra paint can’t be that expensive, right? Or are Sunrise too afraid of pissing off the otaku market with characters they can’t “identify” with?
Seed = 0079 remake
00 = Wing Remake
emo main character = check
sentai team = check
pacifist romantic interest = check
stop war with war = check
While the suits look pretty enough, I don’t think Setsuna is going to replace Sagara as Greatest Middle-Eastern-Origin Anime Action Hero anytime soon.
Is not ‘Kyrios’ (‘Lord’) a Greek word? Hence the vocative ‘kyrie’, as in ‘kyrie eleison’.
If these things are solar powered, do they have a wind-up backup function?
The entire time I was watching that show I kept thinking back on the conversation between Konata and her dad: even if the franchise pumps out something like Great Detective Gundam or Gundam Murder Mysteries… fans will still watch it out of obligation…
I did find it amusing that the show’s attempting to prove that it’s not a gay show (even though the artist did Loveless) by giving all female characters huge busts.
The only thing I liekd was Light-o sama as Setsuna. he deserved a cgaracter like him after Tokimeki Memorial OL and El Cazador. Seriously, Aoba-kun and L. A. were LOL, just didn’t fit his Death Note yagami Light-o role.
Kyrios is the Greek word for “Lord”. It’s the standard term used to refer to Christ throughout the New Testament, as well as being the word used to translate the Tetragrammaton in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). It is Greek, not Hebrew.
“Kyrie Eleison” is a Greek loan=phrase, meaning “Lord have mercy.”
“Kyrios” would be meaningless for Judaism, because Judaism doesn’t rely on Greek texts. (Adonai is the Hebrew equivalent, also meaning “Lord”.)
I would watch “Gundam Murder Mysteries.”
[quote comment=”153684″]After gurren lagann, no mecha series can impress me anymore.[/quote]
I’m watching “Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid” for the first time (yes, I’m really late to the party), after watching Gurren Lagann, and I’m quite impressed with Sousuke and company, even if the Chinese assassin sisters scare the hell out of me. I’m beginning to see why people are complaining about Kyoto Animation doing too many dating-sim adaptations.
I hope the Chinese chick is bi-Kyrios…
[quote comment=”153691″]Kyrios is the Greek word for “Lord”.”[/quote]
Depends on how you look at it. I got my info straight from the International Standard Bible. The original Greek meaning for “Kyrios” came from “kyrie,” and is a form of lordship– originally not a completely religious term. The original usage was for the Greeks to refer to “The God of Israel” without using it name (as discouraged). Later on, there’s various explanations for how “Kyrios” is used for ascended Jesus entered Christian literature, but the original usage was Judaic in nature. Much like how “melonpan” once meant a sweet pastry.
[quote post=”1171″]How green of Sunrise! Will this be the first Gundam series to start giving carbon footprint specs for all the mobile suits? I hope so. Never too early to start educating kids on environmental protection while selling them toys made in China with lead paint.[/quote]
Ahh, this is why I read this blog.
All joking aside, I’m slightly skeptical of the designs of the mobile suits, as the head of one of the units reminds me a bit of the Guyver headpiece. After that, the designs just don’t feel too… Gundam-ish, if that’s the correct phrasing. They seem pretty bulky, but I’ll need to actually watch the episode before making my final judgements.
How come no one else is making a ruckus about the HUGE gun in that one screenshot?
[quote post=”1171″]even if the Chinese assassin sisters scare the hell out of me.[/quote]
What do you mean? Those incestuous sisters were the best part.
[quote post=”1171″]Much like how “melonpan†once meant a sweet pastry.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s why I read this blog.
Okay, the quoting thing isn’t quite working correctly. Sorry about that.
If this series turns out for the best (bwahahaha), then they’re going to show how the Bush’s Regime, I mean, Celestial Being is NOT right in their methods.
Gundam Wing called and said they want their plot back. Seriously though, excellent animation quality, we’ll see how well that’ll keep up – at least this won’t be a 52-episode marathon. The stereotypical setting and secondary cast, not to mention Gundam pilots cast that looks like Backstreet Boys, leaves me wondering however. I can already see that the Gundams are of the usual beam-spamming variety that can lay waste to entire armies, and it is rather transparent that the Celestial Being has some sinister motive kept hidden from the pilots, revealed later through a plot twist. Looking back at previous Gundams that Sunrise delivered, I’m expecting this to be some mindless, harmless entertainment I’ll soon forget after it is over.
[quote comment=”153694″][quote comment=”153691″]Kyrios is the Greek word for “Lord”.”[/quote]
Depends on how you look at it. I got my info straight from the International Standard Bible. The original Greek meaning for “Kyrios” came from “kyrie,” and is a form of lordship– originally not a completely religious term. The original usage was for the Greeks to refer to “The God of Israel” without using it name (as discouraged). Later on, there’s various explanations for how “Kyrios” is used for ascended Jesus entered Christian literature, but the original usage was Judaic in nature. Much like how “melonpan” once meant a sweet pastry.[/quote]
Kyrios is simply a way for Greek-speakers to refer to the Hebrew god. It was was coined as a direct translation of the Hebrew adonai, which means Lord. You can’t really say that a change of usage occured, since all the time Kyrios has always refered to the Hebrew (and Christian, and Islamic) god. That, and a guy who works at the money-changing tables.
I, myself, would never count my chickens before they hatch.
Ever since the Destiny fallout; the last thing I wanted to do was hop on $unrise’s narcissistic bandwagon. So I knew there’s gonna be problems when they brung out the “promoto-van.”
I saw the episode, though. And while it screams “Shock Trooper Syndrome,” maybe it’s a better idea for those circus clowns to rip off Wing. Atleast, when it’s gonna be a trainwreck, they’ll do it with style.
the big gun reminded me of ZZ Gundam head…
Meh, now the holy war is waged more on Gundam hentai then anything else. If we must remember, SEED brought an era of prosperity for hentai, 00 you must not fail us in the grand crusade for hentai.
Well, it looks like the series will borrow from quite a few recent non-Gundam related series, like everyone mentions. I saw a little glimpse of a Code Geass type setting for Setsuna. Just a hint, but it could just be me thinking too much. Also, if you check the official website, they list 4 Gundams with non-consecutive serial numbers. So, it’s anyone’s guess where GN-004 is. But then, that’s more a thetorical question.
[quote comment=””]Well, it looks like the series will borrow from quite a few recent non-Gundam related series, like everyone mentions. I saw a little glimpse of a Code Geass type setting for Setsuna. Just a hint, but it could just be me thinking too much. Also, if you check the official website, they list 4 Gundams with non-consecutive serial numbers. So, it’s anyone’s guess where GN-004 is. But then, that’s more a thetorical question.[/quote]
I’m watching “Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid” for the first time (yes, I’m really late to the party), after watching Gurren Lagann, and I’m quite impressed with Sousuke and company, even if the Chinese assassin sisters scare the hell out of me. I’m beginning to see why people are complaining about Kyoto Animation doing too many dating-sim adaptations.[/quote]
I’ve grown to love FMPverse because of I am weak for alternate history settings. I do feel more involved in an universe when I can recognize things from the earth as I know it, like Soviet Russia or war-torn Germany of the 16th century, than any fictional republic in the far or near future that tries to mimic past empires or kingdoms. Exception being Dune.
I’m quite amused by all the discussion on the origins of “Kyrios”, and the fact that this stemmed from a show for gundam fanboys wanting to see giant mecha beating the crap out of each other.
But damn, do they beat the crap out of each other with style.
I don’t mind the plot ripping off actually. I’d rather have a ripped-off plot then a trainwrecked plot. Course it’s still only episode one, so we’ll still have to see…
[quote post=”1171″]I’d rather have a ripped-off plot then a trainwrecked plot.[/quote]
Well yes, there is something to be said for reusing a plot which has proven to be reliable in the past, kinda like the way nepotism’s benefit is that you’re employing someone who’s a known quantity.
The only true lord is the AK-47 for it’s children’s children will still be around shooting at the infidels’ mecha packing beam cannons in the year twenty-three-07. I wonder if the toys will also be labeled Made in ???? as in the picture instead of the usual Made in Human Reform League. Would they be produced in energy efficient solar-power plants as the new gundams are? Would they come with their own little solar pack for the Hallelujah battle shout sound effects or would two AA batteries suffice? Is our hero gonna be promoted to bodyguard for the pacifist beauty and blow up the school because the shoe box was tampered? Given that it gives off that HiME/Otome vibes, would they venture into Natsuki-Shizuru territory albeit with 2 emo bishonens? Do the Gundam00 OPEC countries sell barrels of sunshine now that the oil is gone? Many questions indeed need to be answered?
And it’s great to see that many familiar things remain. Latin-America is still at the mercy of the US, Australia is being Australia, and Africa remains as an undevelop 3rd world and a total 0 unworthy of mention in all anime political futures.
Solar-powered hummer is hilariously ironic. What’s the mileage in that thing? Stop buying SUVs. They are the new sun-guzzlers. Save the sun.
So instead of ‘Truck Party’ we get ‘Gundam Party’? Still it will be hard to top the unintentional comedy machine that is the New York Knicks.
I was happy to see a harro in the episode!!! now wheres some good ol lacus J-pop?????
Same old typical conversation as usual on this site. Blah Blah Blah, Trainwreck this, blah blah blah, Sunrise sucks that. Jesus Christ! People need to stop with this hackery already and just watch the god damn show. Seriously, some of you people seem to like bitching for the sake of bitching just because it’s Sunrise and not, oh say Kyoto Animation doing the series. At least then people might actually give the show a far chance instead of trying to find fault, as nobody ever does that with them. Then again, I want my show to be focused on plot, and not Moe antics, so I guess that wouldn’t be a good thing afterall.
Well, now that I’ve vented, I Personally see this episode as being practical and to the point with the way the Celestial Beings have organized their entry onto the world stage, which is currently dominated by 3 Super Nations, and I felt this was a great exposition of the Gundam 00 Universe. I don’t personally know what it is people want other than an excuse to go off on the usual Sunrise Trainwreck tangent, but I have no major complaints about this episode at all.
tl;dr
Hey he’s back!
Hellow peepz.. I’m quite new here. Kudos and good job on Jason for making this blog enjoyable and funny to read…^_^
Hmm..I think this new gundam series is a disaster in the making (like Seed Destiny). They still have the angsty pilot with an overly compensating mecha to boot with a more overly large buster cannon/rifle to support it, a buddy of another 5 mecha to back him up, another angsty princess/savior-type character (like Relena/Lacus) and in the future eps, another overly compensating upgrade of a mecha (after he wrecks the gundam definitely). This is straight out of a Gundam Wing-plot like. Wow. Things never did change so much even if they get “raving” reviews over Seed Destiny. I hope Sunrise can one day produce a mecha series on par with Gurren Lagann (they did a remarkable job with Escaflowne) or a Suzumiya Haruhi level plot (small chance) but I would’nt get my hopes up…^_^
And finally, it’s the year 2307 AD and mankind hasn’t properly mastered harnessing nuclear energy, haven’t discovered the cure for AIDS, Cancer and other diseases, haven’t colonized Mars yet and is still using an AK-47 (or a variation of it) to duke things out. And fighting out over solar energy (it will be more enjoyable if they just animate Terminator-future wise). So sad…^_^
And they are making religious overtones in here. Old man Bin Laden would be giddy to know that 300 years from now, his own ragtag outfit is still very much alive and still giving headaches to the government. Allah ackbar and all that. Shockingly awful…^_^
Oh well, another Sunrise shox in the making. I am waiting for the future episodes for one of the characters comment on the price of Crude Oil in that era instead of angst and overly emotional and philosophical shox that lead to nowhere. That would be hilarious and very un-Gundam like so I guess I’ll just hibernate until the second coming of Suzumiya Haruhi…^_^
Ciao…^_^
Africa remains as an undevelop 3rd world and a total 0 unworthy of mention in all anime political futures.
Well to be fair, the SEED DESTINY Astrays did mention Africa. A small part of it tried to assert as much freedom as they could from the Earth Alliance, with Ed the Ripper (who might be african) in Sword Calamity helping out. Must’ve been really minor compared to the series to not even get a passing mention though.
I’m still convinced they’ll pull a Code Geass and subvert the “Pacifism through Beamspam” cliche and show how ridiculous it is, sort of like how they deconstructed the “infallible mecha hero of justice” stereotype through Suzaku.
Gundam Wing: The Second Raid
I now hold my breath for when Kashi.. *cough* Setsuna receives the new and improved Gundam Jesus to destroy war once and for all with superior firepower and a prototype Lambda Dri.. *cough* Fairy-dust Sprinkly System ™.
@Laizane: Wait…..you want Gundam to actually DOWNGRADE it’s plot to Suzumiya Haruhi’s level for a future series. You’re right that’s never going to happen because it will get cancelled. And for gods sakes people watch something other than FMP and Kyoani animated series, the Gundam in the beginning is an obvious Homage to the Moonlight Butterfly and Turn A.
@ Getta Wing
Zoinks. I can’t believe that there’s somebody else out there who’s seen Turn A Gundam.
I guess I don’t feel quite as lonely anymore.
I like that Lin Min Mei girl…! So kawaii!!! ^_^.
I’m only now watching this (yeah, yeah.) But am I the ONLY one that thought of Turn A when we see the beginning sequence for this?
actually Stag.S, Ed the Ripper was South American because he was a citizen of the United States of South America before it was annexed by the Atlantic Federation.