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TLDR: Zeta Gundam is good not great. It has its highlights but is plagued by an inconsistent main cast that confuses the viewer and themselves with how much they contradict their own motives. Despite this, Zeta introduces a lot of interesting plot threads in the post-Zeon landscape of the Universal Century, and with stellar animation and great mech design, is an enjoyable watch if you can bear with the characters.

Also, as a note, I'm currently working through the UC timeline completely blind, so this is written from the perspective of someone who has no idea where Gundam goes in the future or what it's ... up to now.

Zeta Gundam was certainly an experience. Getting the big positives out of the way first, the show definitely has a big jump in animation quality from the originals. Both OPs are works of art (and bangers to listen to), mech battles are flashy, the mechs themselves are incredibly designed. From a purely aesthetic perspective, Zeta Gundam is great to look at. The Titans are a fantastic villain faction, at least at the beginning (and the Gundam looks damn good in black, to the point I chose to build the Mk II kit in Titans colors over the traditional blue and white). Like MSG, the second half, especially towards the very end, of Zeta keeps you hooked and is a roller coaster to the finish line, and is a great watch if you can sit through the first half.

The problems come in the parts of the show that aren't giant robots and massive space battles - the characters. Kamille, the protagonist, starts off as a whiny, immature brat, and while he does ostensibly improve, he never really loses that personality. It's difficult to keep track of why many characters are doing things since they constantly act illogically and flip-flop on their beliefs, with the most egregious example being Reccoa Londe, who defects to the faction she's been fighting against for the last 30 episodes for reasons that are at best indecipherable and at worst kinda sexist. Zeta leaves a lot on the table in favor of melodrama and half-baked romance. The Titans are introduced as an an anti-Zeon inquisition force, an extremely compelling plot thread, but ultimately this doesn't really lead anywhere. Jaminov is unceremoniously killed at an opportune moment and Scirocco, a one-dimensional power-hungry maniac, takes over as the main villain. Jerid, Kamille's foil and counterpart on the Titans, goes through just as much loss and tragedy as Kamille, but Zeta doesn't really know how to address this before he is ultimately defeated. Kamille's love for Four/Fa/Rosamie? seems to be interchangeable depending on who he's talking to, but this is the focus of a good portion of the middle of the run.

All of this isn't to say that there aren't bright spots. The standout example I would give is Char (who the viewer has to pretend not to recognize for 20 episodes). His return post-Zeon and his role spearheading the AEUG to prevent Zeon-like factions, and later Zeon itself, from rising up is compelling and well done. What sets him apart in my opinion is simply the fact that he is *consistent* - he has beliefs that he doesn't give up at the drop of a hat, goals he is trying to reach, and a clear motivation that can be understood by the viewer. Other highlights include the return of Bright (the GOAT), the various crew members of the Argama and Radish, and the Titans. Really, anyone other than the main cast. Gundam, of course, is heavily anti-war, and there are a lot of compelling character threads that explore this - Side 2's struggle to choose between supporting justice and protecting its people, Char's struggle to prevent Zeon from returning and plunging back into war, the Titans' corruption from fighting against Zeon to becoming worse than Zeon. But this is usually drowned out by the main characters' almost naive complaint that war is bad because they kill people - a moral that thematically spits on all these other ideas that Zeta seems almost afraid to explore and stands in contrast with the dozens of grunt suits that they slaughter without a second thought. This isn't even mentioning that the same moral was already explored through Amuro in the original series, where it was handled much better - at least Amuro tried not to kill every pilot he faced off against and showed remorse for deaths that weren't just his friends.

Another point I want to pick at at the end here - Newtypes. Introduced right at the end of MSG and present throughout Zeta, but still not really explained. My feelings on the idea as a whole are a little complicated. I do feel that the whole concept does sometimes feel like a little bit of an ass pull - Kamille is backed into a corner, activates his Newtype powers, shouts something, and then demolishes his enemy in an instant. But the one constant thread that Newtypes do have is pretty compelling - Newtypes' powers stem from *emotion*. Something up there in space exposes the human psyche to the elements, and Newtypes are able to tap into that. But Zeta really only toys with this idea for most of its runtime, mostly by having characters shout into each others' consciousnesses when they're in danger. But, just like in MSG, Zeta does something pretty interesting with the idea right at the end, with Kamille channeling the emotions of his dead allies into a single attack and Scirocco, in return, channeling his dying mental strength into shattering Kamille's mind. (As an aside, it really does feel like something is missing with Scirocco. There's hints to him having some pretty powerful Newtype powers, but aside from this attack and maybe swaying Reccoa to his side, there isn't anything huge that he's doing, or at least not acknowledged by the show at any point. In my opinion, I felt that Scirocco was using his Newtype powers to induce the devotion his followers seem to have towards him, but Zeta doesn't explore this.) Hopefully the idea is fleshed out a little more in the following installments.

All in all, Zeta Gundam is a flawed but still enjoyable show. It suffers from a slow start but is compelling enough once it picks up, and has enough space battles and political drama to warrant sitting through the half-baked personal melodramas. If nothing else it sets up a number of interesting plot threads for its sequel, Double Zeta Gundam, to hopefully pick up on. Definitely worth a watch if you have the time and patience.

I hope the next protagonist isn't such a whiny bitch though.

Akudama Drive is fast paced cyberpunk thrill ride from start to finish. It's core idea, the "Akudama", had a lot of potential that was explored for much of the first half of the show. Watching a rag tag group of elite cyber criminals pull of the most daring of stunts while nearly killing themselves and each other in the process was a blast to watch, and I would have been perfectly happy with 12 episodes of just that. Towards the end, the narrative strays into a more typical dystopia story, about fighting against the power and exposing the big bad conspiracy oppressing the people and ... capping it all off with the climactic revolution scene. Combined with a frankly unneeded subplot about people being uploaded into a supercomputer that leaves more questions than answers (although apparently a manga adaptation is coming out that could answer those questions), the overarching story isn't the best all things considered. But the characters, their personal arcs, and their interactions with each other are where Akudama Drive shines. Like I said, Akudama Drive's strength lies in it's Akudama. Along with some fantastic action scenes and a beautifully futuristic setting, Akudama Drive is easily one of my personal favorite animes of the season and a high recommendation.