gundam 00 17
Categories: anime, episodic review, gundam
Tagged: gundam 00
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“Who the hell made them Meisters?!”
(I’d say the same thing about you and your friends, Tieria…)
(Warning: No Ms. Wang! Oh noes!)
When I first started watching Gundam 00, like most people, I thought about Gundam Wing. (The old Gundam Wing Toonami promos still give me the chills.) But as Setsuna morphed into Kashim, I started thinking Full Metal Panic. Now with the Throne Meisters, the Setsuna / Nena / Michael thing sure reminds me a lot of Sunao / Mikan / Yasumi. And there’s even a Potemayo involved! Now I’m hoping that we get purple haired cosplaying twins who play basketball someone during the last few episodes of this season.
Seriously, the Throne Meisters just completely regressed the plot. I guess about a dozen episodes in, the Loveless team just had an “how the hell do we stretch the plot out?!?” epiphany, and thusly (coupled with a “sell more toys!” directive from Sunrise HQ), here we are. Instead of the ongoing Team Rocket-level circus that is the AEU / HRL / Union trying to capture Pikachu Gundams, we get some intrigued forced upon us by three characters who don’t say a lot but sure do like mucking around a lot.
Points of Interest
The highlight of this episode has to be the crazy new Throne Meisters. It’s like the original four Meisters were not defective enough so they amped up the craziness. Up first, Nena! Anyone who falls in love with Setsuna on first sight has to be mentally defective by a large degree. While I was delighted by Setsuna’s reaction (coldly pushes her away), I was thinking, “Damn, where’s Marina?! She could have been useful now instead of filling out an application for the Rukia All-Stars.” I can picture her angrily tossing a dictionary at Setsuna and getting angry at Rena… maybe not. But it’s more than made up for by Michael’s reaction…
… we get an imouto complex complete with a sharp object and an emo facial distortion! If the first ten minutes of this episode isn’t proof that we’re headed to a recession train wreck collision, I don’t know what is. Gundam 00, you’re quickly joining brethren Code Geass and Gundam Seed Destiny in the joke bin of Sunrise anime. I have three simple suggestions as to how to right the ship before it jumps the shark:
1. Go back focusing on the solar energy / political struggle. It’s not as exciting as Michael jealously guarding his sister, but at least I can take solar energy with a whee bit of seriousness. Maybe even introduce a plot point like the AEU / HRL / Union joining forces in peace, but with the Throne Gundams trying to stop them. So the Gundam Meisters will have to team up with Graham, Sergei, and Gauron to take down the Throne Meisters.
2. Hot tub scene and hot tub scene after hot tub scene. Instead of going the serious route, go the Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun route. I have no doubt that Sumeragi’s flotation devices can stop the ship from sinking (or jumping any sharks).
3. Have Tiera fulfill his manifest destiny by crossdressing. Have Lockon wander around the ship with this manly chest exposed while he daydreams about Felt. Have Christine in an amazing yellow string bikini. And, finally, have Setsuna intervene Marina’s bathroom to accidentally see her nakkid. I’m confident comedy can be involved without train wreck status.
Of course, the queen of wrathful tsundere lolis show up. Definitely giddy when Nena threatened Setsuna for not going on a tour date with her. Maybe having 00 jump the shark isn’t a bad thing.
(Though Setsuna should have gone with her to keep an eye on her. He should have realized this, and so should have Sumeragi. They left her alone, and she broke into Veda. And Veda does look like the Whispered room in the Tuatha de Danaan. And it brings up a bigger question… who is controlling Veda and Celestial Being? Do they even have a leader? Or are they just being led around by some silicon… I mean Veda’s not Sumeragi’s…)
Though… Christine… amazing yellow string bikini… Sunrise, I hate you either way.
So the Gundams are built from technology from Jupiter, and that Aeoria Schenberg’s goal isn’t to eradicate the world of conflict. The Throne Meisters know this, but not the Gundam Meisters. Beginning to seem like Martian Successor Nadesico‘s backstory with the Jovians.
Let’s see… three different hair colors and three different skin tones… yep… blood brothers. It’s the Gundam equivalent of Sister Princess.
Kinda sad that the plot was interrupted by some Haro nonsense… and that Haro probably knows more about what’s going on that anyone else, including the head scriptwriter of Sunrise. Very sad.
Michael definitely reminds me of the druggies from Gundam Seed Destiny.
It’s a shame, but pretty much every other mobile suit pilot is more qualified to be a Gundam or Throne Meister than the Gundam and Throne Meisters. Can you imagine the Gundams with a competent pilot, like any of the Flag Fighters? Or with Sergei? Celestial Being’s “let’s just find mentally troubled youths instead of military men” strategy is almost as bad as Mako-cakes “I’ll pretend to be girl to spend time with Haruka” plan.
Saji and Louise are filing a joint application for the Rukia All-Stars. Saji! Man up! Kiss your lady already. But, definitely, I can picture Saji and Louise in their typical harem spin-off series. Mmm… does Sunrise do harem anime? They should. I definitely want to see them remake Kanon just to see what kinds of awesomeness they can introduce into the proceedings.
And from last time…
Incarnadine: You know, I bet there would be no complaints at all if there was an entire episode recapping all of Sumeragi’s/Ms. Wang’s outfits.
Incarnadine, fantastic comment. +10 fanboy points. Sunrise desperately needs to recapture some mojo, and they need to do something like that Yoko gravure book and have Sumeragi in a tennis outfit, Ms. Wang as a nurse, et cetera.
Lana: Kamina would wipe out all the enemies with his manliness, Rock would handle all of the negotiations and Shana would sit atop his head eat melon bread and scream uruchai uruchai uruchai.
Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be occurring. Though if I had to pick three mobile suit pilots for an l33t team, I would pick Simon (unsurpassed leadership qualities), Sagara (in Bonta-kun, not Laevatein), and … mmm… maybe Mikuru since with Simon and Sagara, I don’t really need a third pilot. I do need moe and cowering and overwhelmedness. I think I will write dedicate a future post to this topic…
saleman: gundam 00 dvd vol. 1 first week sale on japan : 22,847 no good.
It’s the #1 anime dvd, beating out Lucky Star, Gurren Lagann, and Ookiku Furikabutte. That’s actually pretty damn good. I think Haruhi was one of the few non-Pokemon anime DVDs to surpass 100,000 in sales, so even 20k ain’t shabby.
alt: As far as throne being evil… Now that would actually be a good thing and would totally solve the “superman†issues that you point out the show as having. I think you may be on to something there. Or at least im wishing you are.
Throne is definitely evil. It’s the only way Sunrise can salvage the plot, and they are headed this way once Johan Santana, Nina Wang, and Michael Bolton attacked Union and killed Sumeragi’s old prof.
wp: It’s funny that Rie Kugimiya has had a ton of different roles, but she’s typecast into the wrathful loli.
It’s funny that Keanu Reeves has had a ton of difference roles, but he’s typecast as the guy who goes, “Whoa!”.
sanity: i really want to see two haro’s fight
a purple vs orange haro grudge match would be great.
You got your wish this episode! And the Haro fight sucked.
Maybe the next recap episode will explain the underlying reason for the incest-threesome-doujin-waiting-to-happen that is Saji, Louise, and Louise’s mom.
Yep… these are my readers.
24 Responses to “gundam 00 17”
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At 2ch, I saw a prediction of the next chapter saying that Louise would lose her left arm during the wedding ceremony of her brother. And later Saji’s sister would die in later chapter……
Well,well, then it may be true that somehow the damn Throne 3 will accelerate the process even though common persons are involved.
Ya, and also the picture.
In China, there is a pop saying that ” very sexy,very violent”
http://fm321.img.xiaonei.com/p.....982p56.jpg
enjoy~-v-
Something wrong with the image, this is the real version.
http://i70.photobucket.com/alb.....TJSMkj.jpg
>> …. as bad as Mako-cakes “I’ll pretend to be girl to spend time with Haruka†plan.
Bad for him, excellent for us!
From what they show in the OP, near the end, I’m starting to think we will get the situation where the two gundam teams will face off. Let’s just call it the reds vs the whites.
Now with the 7th picture there is a real BSoD which causes death in real life.
I wonder if the OS is from Microsoft?
>> …. as bad as Mako-cakes “I’ll pretend to be girl to spend time with Haruka†plan.
I would argue that his plan is working, and that he is being integrated into the Minami clan, today the community service, tomorrow a cosplay party!
I am surprised that Michael is not going to be a candidate for the pantheon, he’s not that incompetent he can actually kill things. Moreover he follows the the time honored Rommel Order: in the absence of any orders go find something and kill it. I humbly request his application be resubmitted for review. Besides since the killing off of the Professor has killed any hope of the Big Three getting some really pimped out mobile suits for the near future (possibly forever) the pseudo sis-con is going to make this train wreck much more satisfying. I just wished the boy had used his knife on someone. Clearly the Loveless team doesn’t know about Chekhov’s Gun.
So at what point do we declare that the Gundam 00 train de-railed? Two more episodes with no Ms. Wang, or if Setsuna and Tieria have another “opinion” match?
My only thought now is that the GN particles are kicking out some really bad radiation. 7 pilots now… all of them insane. Additional side effects, red particles make you hyper-aggressive, white GN particles could make quite possibly make you gay. However, all particles seem to make women’s boobs huge.
And seriously, I think we all knew that the real goal wouldn’t be to end war.. but what else could it possibly be?
It’s true. Celestial Being does not select candidates based on their combat proficiency. All pilots seem to be screened upon the factors of their angst emotive potential and…hair length(Setsuna’s relatively short hair may be the cause of his “un-meisterly” actions). While this may seem like a detriment for the seemingly salvageable trainwreck waiting to happen; Sunrise has a clever ruse planned for us. We must look towards Saji who currently meets one of the two gundam meister requirements being the hair length. From what I see Sunrise can easily kill off Louise to fuel any lacking emo properties in Saji leading to Saji ascending to gundam meister status a la Shinn Asuka style and we’d be down two Rukia All-stars applicants and HOPEFULLY up one sane gundam meister(assuming the emo-molding process doesn’t corrupt him).
Long shot? Yeah. I can hope though. If anything it’d rid me of Louise. Also, as far as selling more gunpla goes, these new mech designs for the gundam thrones are seriously abhorrible.
Without the prof (he could have appeared more often so we would have cared when he died), it is obvious that the next struggle would have to be “old” versus “new” Gundams. It would be a plot twist if it DIDN´T turn out like that.
I’ve a suspicion on what Schenberg’s goal is. The source material says he’s the one who developed the solar power system with the orbital ring and the 3 towers, but I think he realized that despite solar power being essentially free and available, this method encourages heavy centralization and government/military controls, much as oil and nuclear power-the sheer scale, expertise, materials and maintenance needed has that tendency. Therefore any energy or material source that is limited by geography will also cause trouble, as groups and nations fight wars to access or control it.
Prof. Aifman’s discovery about the topological discontinuity to make GN Drives on Jupiter confirms this, and I think Schenberg realized that if humanity hadn’t stopped warfare before they expanded further into space. Then the current political situation would be escalated even farther as each nation would fighter over the materials to create solar furnaces. Or it could end up like the original series/UC political situation where the colonies would find this energy source first and use it to declare independence, leading to warfare and possible Colony Drops, etc. on Earth.
Trouble is, that by creating the Gundams using this location, he’s proven to the world that an inexhaustible power source exists, and so the first reaction of anyone ambitious is not ‘we must stop conflict’, but ‘how can i get my share?’. If his goal was truly to end warfare, he should’ve helped with social issues and the use of more efficient solar power for ground-level usage, something that would aid decentralization of energy.
I just can’t get over hearing Rie Kugimiya and seeing melonpan. I think the largest chest I’ve seen on any of her characters before this was on Alphonse Elric…
However odd it is, I still approve of additional melonpan.
Maybe we are just seeing the genetic material that will eventually spawn the Seed cast.
They had a plot? I thought it was “blah blah blah *sparkly boom boom* New costume vs. ever increasing cleavage”
Has Fllay been reincarnated as an even more psychotic hottie?
FYI: Melonpan will intervene Super Bowl XLII. Count on it.
Michael’s comment to Tieria further funds my theory that Tieria is the only flat-chested woman in the entire cast besides Soma. When this is inevitably revealed(probably much like Virtue suddenly shed a few dozen tons), I suspect Setsuna won’t be the only one with a mentally unstable Trinity stalker.
Thus, Tieria and Setsuna’s rumored “team up” will be a double date wherein they attempt to ditch the Trinities in order to get back to Marina and Veda, respectively. Of course, poor Tieria doesn’t know that Veda’s already cheating on her. Poor girl.
-OM
I would, without a doubt, pee in Nenas butt.
I’m still waiting for Graham Acre to kick some real ass instead of seeing his minions kill themselves…
BTW the druggies were from the original SEED. It was the enhanced humans who were in Destiny. But yes Michel is basically a druggie reborn.
You forgot Kamyuu, the winged white-haired girl from Utawarerumono.
Soma is 18. Nena is 17. Felt is 14.
…I have come to the conclusion that women’s breast shrink through puberty in 00. In a year or two, Nena might just become the DFC that everybody expects her to be.
>>bitlwick.
I agree with your theory about Schenberg’s real goal. It took almost 40 years (from what they said on this episode) into the development for the five GN cores (and then four more for the Throne Gundams). The real question here is; who is controlling them, why even Sumeragi (because Vedas has to be a fake) knew about them. I asked one of my friends when was the last time one side had so many Gundams (7 units) and his answers were none. Just Wing almost reach that number, but you know well what happened there; and obviously we won’t get new Gundams on this series (not like Seed and Destiny, were they easily built Freedom and Justice as fast as they could, and then Providence and Destiny). Their fights will be more psychological here, especially Setsuna; therefore Marina will play an important role on Setsuna’s future decisions, even if there’s just advice from her. That’s for now with GUNDAM 00’s attempt of a plot.
Yeah, a Rie Kugimiya non DFC character felt weird. I remember her role as Kamyuu, but I guess it was the only one aside. Now what are the odds for her character to last until the end of Mobile Suit Gundam 00? I bet she will die on Exia’s hands. Time will tell if I’m wrong.
I for one welcome this new development. The old meisters were just uninteresting kids stomping on ants. The rest of the show was just a CNN broadcast on how the world could defeat the laws of thermodynamics. Plausibility doesn’t make for a good show, and sadly only a train wreck can salvage this boring train ride.