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Gundam 00 season 1 was for me an instant classic. It combined a great story with excellent action scenes. Also all the characters were realistic. They had a past, motives, weaknesses etc. Needless to say I was looking forward to the second season. After watching 23 episodes I decided to write this review, because I think season 2 is a letdown.

The re-introduction of the 4 meisters is wonderfully done. After that the story just won’t startup. Half of the season is dedicated to explain in depth why some characters are fighting. Because of this, the main story progresses really slow. The action scenes are not ... as good as the previous season. In season 1 it was 50% teamwork and 50% strategic planning. I was always wondering if the mission would be a success. Now it’s 70% gundam 00 and 30% rest. So when 00 arrives you know they’ll win. They have put too much emphasis on gundam. The other gundams and characters don’t get the time to fully expand them self.

The story itself takes a new path. The new theme is “innovation”. I think it’s a bit confusing, because it is combined in the plan of Aolia. At this moment I am still not sure what the plan of Aolia is, or if it is still his plan. Also the reason why they are fighting in this season is different. I feel that they are not fighting for world peace through armed intervention anymore. Let that be a reason why I liked the show. They were willing to sacrifices themselves for a better world. Now it feels that they are fighting the new main antagonist and not for a better world.

This season focuses more on Setsuna and gundam 00 than any of the other characters. Too bad that he is boring. The only thing on his mind is gundam. In one episode he says: “Ore wa gundam”. That sums up Setsuna a soulless machine. I think he is the wrong character to put so much emphasis on. It wouldn’t hurt to give Setsuna some romance, to give him some emotions. Tieria is one of the characters that remains interesting. The new lockon feels like a cheap replacement, because he walks, talks and acts the same as the original lockon. If they had the balls for it they would have introduced a new meister. The good thing about the new lockon is that he feels different than the old one. Allelujah was one of my favorite characters of the first season. It was refreshing to see a mentally ill main character. In the first season he was a psycho unpredictable crazy fighter, now he is a boring you-wont-even-miss-him whiner. Without the aggressive hallelujah he is boring and I have lost all interest in this character.

With the introduction of a new antagonist he also brings with him around 8-10 high level enemy opponents. With “high level” I mean that they have a better gundam and don’t die within 1 blast/fight. All these opponents are arrogant, dull and boring. Not once did they reach the level of season 1 opponents, for example Graham Acker, Ali El-Saachez, Andrei Smirnov. These characters were interesting and they all had their own reason to fight. The new opponents are boring and uninteresting.

Some important characters from the first show return, but I think they should’ve stayed dead. They play some role (most an annoying part) in the first half of the show, only to disappear for 8 episodes. And then reappear again at the end. During their disappearance you have not missed them once. These roles could have easily been filled by the new enemies of this season. I am wondering why they even made these characters return.

Conclusion
I liked the first show because of the realism. The gundams were not that overpowered, the action scenes were exciting, the story was an original and interesting set of protagonist and antagonists. In general, every episode made you want more. After a couple of episode my excitement about season 2 was over, it no longer made me want more after every episode. Mostly because the characters are not interesting anymore. The new enemies are boring. The story progresses slow and I still have no idea where the show is heading. I am not saying this is a bad show, just that it is not a worthy successor of gundam 00 season 1.

I give it a 75 out of 100.