Kidou Senshi Gundam 00

In the distant future, mankind's dependence on fossil fuels will lead to their complete depletion, an energy crisis unlike anything the world witnessed. Out of retaliation and fear, humanity began focusing at an alternative source of energy: solar power. Different nations have united together to form three major factions—the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations, the Advanced European Union, and the Human Reform League. Each of these sectors has access to a solar power generator, which gives them limitless energy.

As a result, countries that were once dependent on the sale of fossil fuels are now plunged in poverty, leading to years of warfare and internal strife over the control of solar energy. Amid this chaos, an unknown paramilitary organization appeared identifying themselves as "Celestial Being," aspire to end all warfare through armed intervention by using mysterious and technologically advanced Mobile Suits known as Gundams.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows the story of Celestial Being's Gundam Meisters Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde. These four dive into the devastating battle between the three superpowers to accomplish their goal of changing the world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Seiei, Setsuna F. Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Stratos, Lockon Main

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Erde, Tieria Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Haptism, Allelujah Main

Yoshino, Hiroyuki Japanese

Haro Supporting

Ogasawara, Arisa Japanese

Aker, Graham Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Grace, Feldt Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Lee Noriega, Sumeragi Supporting

Honna, Youko Japanese

Al-Saachez, Ali Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Peries, Soma Supporting

Ogasawara, Arisa Japanese

Yatate, Hajime Producer, Original Creator

Maruyama, Hiroo Producer

Mizushima, Seiji Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Reviews

Aug 10, 2009

staticphrase

Recommended

I don't remember what it was at first that drew me to Gundam 00, because I ended up in love with it all too fast, which is why I'll try my hardest to toss aside any bias.

I haven't seen any of the previous Gundams, I knew about them of course, but never actually sat down and watched them. Partly because 00 had a more sleek art style and partly because the instant contradictions within the plot and characters intrigued me.

This review may contain hints of spoilers, but nothing explicit and flat out.

STORY- The story is political, to say the least. Because this ... is the first season, there's a lot of focus on why things are the way they are, the factions and their goals, observing them discuss, ect. I admit it's a little hard to keep up with sometimes once you feel it start to drone on. Thankfully, it's not that long, and just long enough to get the point across. What interested me the most was a point that was shown through the relationship between Setsuna and Marina. Celestial Being is trying to eradicate war, as they say, but they are fighting to do that. That itself is a huge contradiction, one that isn't ignored by the characters themselves. Setsuna in particular I remember musing over it. Marina on the other hand seeks peace, creating a good-hearted light of hope in all of the violence. The whole thing is very realistic and that was a drawing point. This isn't an alternate universe, this is a version of an imagined future.

ART- Again I'll say it, the sleek art is what drew me the most to 00. I'd seen the previous gundams, but never watched them because the designs nor the style caught me. The character designs themselves are very nice. A crazy crayola crayon box, but nice. Mobile animations and designs were done very fluidly and detailed. If anything, it's not an ugly show to watch at all. It's not full of big eyed girls with moe attitudes, there's a varied female design throughout. Same could be said for the males. While the girl designs feel more futuristic, the boys somehow feel more earthy to me. Still- that's just me.

SOUND- No one's tracked how many times I've raved about 00's OP and EDs. They are the absolute best I've ever seen. The lyrics, the accompanying animation and the whole exhibition of it is produced beautifully. I'm one of those people who normally skip over OPs after so long and never really watch EDs, but every single time I watched both in 00. The soundtrack in itself isn't very noticeable nor memorable, though that didn't bother me much. I was too preoccupied with the OPs and EDs still, because I can't imagine such a string of beauty throughout a whole anime season for anything other than 00.

CHARACTER- This is the point I have to strongly fight that bias. The hugest thing that kept me watching the series was the characters, who I found a relief from all the others that seem to be popping up. The relationships between them, the backgrounds... learning about the characters was a bit slow paced, but rewarding all the same. None of the meisters have had easy pasts. Allelujah finds himself fighting with a split personality from experimentation. Setsuna gained his cold and unaffectionate demeanor from his life as a child soldier. Tieria, an exceptionally mysterious character, isn't what you'd call fully human. Then even the guy who would light up the room with his smile, Lockon, carried a hatred for terrorists within his heart that clouded his judgement.

All of them bond. All of them grow closer without saying anything. Lockon in particular is to thank for these growths, because he is truly the shining light of the show. The one who unites all the others, smiling to help them grow. It's hard not to become attached to his magnetic personality, like him or hate him. Then there are the more minor parts of CB, including a socially awkward young girl who doesn't know how to express herself to people and finds solace in robotics, an alcoholic strategic who never misses a chance to have a drink, a friendly young adult woman who, despite the dreariness she's surrounded with, manages to keep an upbeat and sociable attitude.

And of course there are the antagonists, as well as everyone else. It's quite a cast. The Trinity siblings I felt, didn't get nearly enough screen time, being introduced more than ten episodes into the series, but they were dynamic. They shook up things wherever they went, and were nothing but a joy to see. Never dull. Nena Trinity, the youngest, does an excessively violent act late in the season that truly exhibits the sibling's ruthlessness. The antagonists were intriguing, but they too, I wished had more screen time to really let the viewers get a better feel. All the relationships were so complicated- it made the two civilians, Saji and Louise, stand out like a sore thumb in the cast. Very fun comic relief and a chance to see what's happening through a civilian's point of view. Ultimately, while the two may not seem important, gradually they gain almost the most character development throughout the cast, surprisingly enough.

ENJOYMENT AND OVERALL- If you can sit through some politics, enjoy having your morals questioned and are willing to keep an open mind, it's a fantastic series and I recommend it. As many have said- it's an excellent gundam series to start off with.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 22, 2022

kiriska

Mixed Feelings

Sunrise seems to have a habit of producing series that simultaneously contain things I really like and things I really hate. In the end, the question always becomes which there's more of.

STORY - Sometimes, it's easy to become jaded with the Gundam franchise; it's always another war and another group of over-powered mechs piloted by super-capable teenagers. Each series seems to have its own unique set of deviations though, and that's undoubtedly why the franchise has survived for as long as it has. In 00's case, it's interesting to note that there's no clear-cut war between two factions. The world's existing conflicts are a mix ... of terrorism, civil war, and totalitarian oppression. Though morals are still cited a lot, there's no clear-cut definition of "good" or "evil," and our protagonists admit up front that they aren't necessarily "good." Some of the politics are eerily similar to some real life current events, but it wasn't clear enough to me whether they were actually trying to make a statement about something or whether it was mostly coincidence. There are also some religious and environmental messages tossed into the mix, but again, not sure if any of it was supposed to be legitimate commentary. If anything though, Sunrise plays good politics.

Our protagonists, the paramilitary organization Celestial Being, declares its purpose to be the eradication of all war, and it aims to do so by intervening with all armed conflicts with their over-powered Gundams... and that's where the ground starts getting shaky. I never really thought the "war to end all wars" thing had much logic to it, but I can still enjoy a show with that sentiment at its core if the storytelling is all right and if events still seem to unfold logically. But Celestial Being was founded two hundred years prior to the events of the series, and all of their technology was developed then. And yet somehow, they are still mad over-powering against armies built on recent technology? Seriously? Realism does not compute. It's frustrating that not a lot is ever said/explained/discovered about the organization's origins throughout the course of the series, and I really don't understand the need for 00 to be split into two seasons. I don't buy that it's just the four year timeskip because Gurren Lagann proved that you could have a hugely significant timeskip mid-series no problem.

For the record, I hated the ending of this first season. It goes along fine for a while, but then we get this supremely rushed-feeling, arbitrary, and cobbled-together series of events that seemed to serve little purpose beyond hitting some sort of end-point for the season. And the thing I hate the most about Sunrise? Faked character deaths. Zombie characters. They're notorious for it, yes. No body means no death in Sunrise, but knowing this doesn't make it any less infuriating every time they do it. The Zombie problem alone made me disinclined to care about the second season, especially since I felt like they could have legitimately ended the series at 25 episodes if they had cut out a thus far pointless subplot and replaced it with relevant information about Celestial Being. Oh, Sunrise...

CHARACTER - Ensemble casts always wrestle with the problem of underdeveloped characters, and this is especially problematic in 00. It took me a really long time (probably at least ten episodes, which is way too long) to get into the characters and to care about them, and even then, my interest was limited. Of the four pilots, Setsuna's past is expanded upon the most, and I found it interesting the way the viewers' perception of him changed the more we learned even though Setsuna himself doesn't start to grow/change much until the near-end of the season. Allelujah's character and past isn't terribly inspired, but I think the acting really helped to garner audience sympathy to his case, and I liked the way his split personality was portrayed through reflections.

Lockon probably has the most terrible name pun ever (though H/Allelujah is pretty bad too), but I can live knowing that it's only a code name. That aside, he was probably the most generic of the pilots. Easy-going, friendly, righteous, and all that. Nothing special...except that his Haro is probably the most ridiculously adorable incarnation of a Haro ever. I also really appreciated the fact that there was some age disparity between the pilots. Setsuna is sixteen. Lockon is twenty-four. Everyone isn't a fifteen year-old kid! Oh, and Tieria? We never learn anything about Tieria, so I didn't really care about him at all. Sure, there's a whole 'nother season to explain things in, but I shouldn't need to wait that long to care. It's always a problem if I don't care about the characters.

The other characters... ugh, there are just too many of them, and I didn't care about any of them. There were too many characters trying to play puppetmaster and making brief, unexplained appearances every few episodes, and none of them seem to have an interesting motivation or ambition. I am tired of characters trying to take over the world, and I'm sure you are too. Even Celestial Being's founder felt like he was trying to force the world into something... Marina Ismail? She was generic to the point that I had no sympathy for her for that reason alone. Graham Akre? I don't care about your vengeance-driving bullshit. Ali Al-Saachez? Don't care. Super Soldier #1? Whatever. The worst of it was the gigantic subplot involving the civilian characters. Their scenes were awkwardly woven into the politics, morals, and action, and I was thoroughly annoyed with all of it. Most likely, this subplot will lead up to something that (might hopefully kind of) be relevant in the second season, but that's too long of a build-up for me.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - The animation in 00 is pretty top notch. The mecha battles are slick, clean, and super entertaining to watch. The Gundam designs are fun and unique, and I'm especially fond of Exia (come on, anything with seven blades has to be badass). The other mech designs, as well as the battleship designs, are also pretty neat.

Unfortunately, I found the character designs to be a bit lacking. Aside from Tieria's overt androgyny, I appreciated that they didn't have crazy wild appearances, and it is neat that many of the characters are supposed to be of different nationalities, but in the end, it's just supposing. If they never mentioned that Lockon is Irish, that Setsuna is Kurdish, that Saji is Japanese, you'd never know. Especially among the female characters, I felt like I'd seen them all before. Generic political figures, generic princesses, generic prettyboys. It didn't help that I had a hard time distinguishing some characters from others for a good five or six episodes; blame it on my own crappy memory and incompetence, but even so.

MUSIC - Well, I'm pretty biased towards both opening themes for 00. As a L'Arc~en~Ciel fan, I loved "Daybreak's Bell" long before I ever saw this series, and as I'm currently on a Tomoko Kawase kick thanks to Soul Eater's second opening, I've come to really love "Ash Like Snow" as well. They're both great songs though, and I always love when the lyrics feel relevant to the actual series. The end themes didn't feel as exciting in contrast, but once again, it could just be my bias towards the two bands doing the openings. (Actually, I found the first end theme, "Wana," to be pretty annoying...)

The background music for the series pales in contrast to its theme songs, as well as previous Gundam series like SEED, and other Sunrise mecha series like Code Geass. Very few tracks stood out to me during the series; the few that did were generally battle themes, but even those were pretty subpar. It wasn't terrible music, so it didn't really take away from the experience, but I'm sure a lot of scenes would have been better had there been a more emotional or meaningful soundtrack.

VOICE ACTING - Pretty average for the most part. Allelujah has a very unique-sounding and emotional voice; I think that's one of the reasons I warmed up to his character, and Setsuna was interesting in that he's one of the first monotone-voiced characters that didn't seriously annoy me. I appreciate the versatility of Miyano's voice -- it's very easy to distinguish his many roles. Beyond that, none of the other characters really stood out to me. Nothing amazing, but each character had a voice that suited them perfectly well.

Edit; I saw one episode of the English dub (episode #11). Overall, it was pretty lulz-worthy. Tieria and Lockon both sound better than I expected, but they still feel awkward and unnatural, particularly Tieria, though I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that many of his lines are kind of corny. Setsuna didn't have a very big role in the episode, but the few lines he did have also impressed me. Swalie's voice is much more versatile than I thought. Cox on the other hand... Allelujah sounds terrible. The voice doesn't suit him at all and really made him seem like an entirely different character. Hallelujah is passable, but Allelujah fails utterly. Much of the secondary cast feels just as awkward, sadly: both Graham Akre and Billy Katagiri are very lulzy; Feldt and Marina are super generic, as are Col. Smirnoff and Soma; Sumeragi is actually pretty okay, but it can't be hard to sound "okay" when everyone else is just so... wtf. I don't think I'll be watching any more of the dub. The "sound" score component is not affected by the dub.

OVERALL - I think this review might have turned out a bit more negative than I intended just because I'm still annoyed with the season's ending. You might wonder what I actually liked about 00. Well, I enjoyed the story and main conflict for the most part. It's always good to see a blurring of good and evil, especially when characters try so hard to convince themselves that they're doing the right thing. If I could score this series somewhere between a 7 and an 8, I would. 7 feels a bit harsh, but 8 feels too generous. I think 00's main problem is just that there are too many little details to the plot and few of them are explained properly; similarly, there are too many characters, and none of them get the attention they deserve. The intense build-up for the second season leaves this first season pretty void of substance, which is really disappointing. If you're going to divide up your forces, divide them evenly, huh?

I'll see how this second season goes though, but Zombie characters isn't a really great place to start if you ask me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 4, 2008

honsou

Not Recommended

So for a little background i am a old school Gundam fan, I love all the UC series and tend to hate the newer series. Now i was planning on never seeing this series, but after talking with people who know a lot about mecha i decided to give it a shot, and wow was I very disappointed. The gundam pilots or as they are called in this show "meisters" have no depth to them at all. They have the personality of a paper plate and even after seeing their background nothing is really added to those characters. The gundam's themselves are over the top ... and so ridiculous at some points i couldn't help but laugh. The one saving grace of this show are the enemies. Characters from the other 3 countries are pretty well developed, and pretty damn likable. The mecha designs are nice and realistic. For most of the show i found my self cheering for them hoping beyond hope that they would be able to beat the odds and defeat the gundam's. So overall its 3, its really just Gundam Wing with very likable bad guys.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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