Kidou Senshi Gundam 00

The only Gundam series that i've seen before Gundam 00 were Wing and Gundam G way back in the 90's. I am writing this review with the sole purpose of reviewing this anime itself, I won't compare it to any anime or any other Gundam titles because I believe that comparing an anime to any other title will ruin the purpose of reviewing only the anime wholeheartedly. Story - Gundam 00's story focuses on the paramilitary group "Celestial Being" with the vast dream-like mission of eradicating wars by means of military force using the mobile suits called Gundams. Gundam 00 holds a story filled with wars, comradery and betrayal delivered in a chronological manner. There are many flashbacks in this anime and so as the plot twists. Overall the story is somewhat decent and is tiring at the first but will leave an impression to you when you reach halfway of the show. Animation -The animation is unflawed. Everything seems so perfect, from the mecha, character designs, 3D animation, background and special effects. Everything is perfect, although there are some times that the character design on some episodes is somewhat different from the original design, but it is nothing to fret about because these errors are miniscule. Sound -Kenji Kawai is the one whos responsible for the sound and as expected from him, the BGM's were great. The effects (explosions etc) were impressive as well. The OP and ED themes of this anime stands out for they were performed by artists with big names like L'Arc~en~Ciel and the brilliant green. Character -The character development is remarkably slow and leaves you open for the next season. There are a lot of characters that you will like, and inevitably there are also some characters that you will also hate the most. Maybe everything in the second season will lighten things up in this category. Enjoyment -I enjoyed this anime and loved it for the animation is top class. The battles were amazing. There are also some unlikeable deaths but is delivered exquisitely, probably some of the best deaths ever XD. If you're a mecha fan, you'll definitely love this anime, and if you're not a fan of mecha, maybe this is the right time for you to start watching mecha and lucky you, you'll get to start with a good one like Gundam 00. Overall 8.5 The main factor why I liked Gundam 00 is the animation. Even though the plot is somewhat generic, the plot twists are there to compensate for it. Overall, this anime is decent and the animation is worth looking for. I don't know about you but I can't wait for October to come.

5/10 ~ Not the worst Gundam but far from the best I cannot look at 00 by itself at this point as ive seen nearly every Gundam show. On a Scale of All Anime ever 00 ranks pretty middling for me at a very average show as a 5/10, however as far as Gundam series go that I have watched with F91 being the worst rated at a 4/10 and Origins (0068) being the highest at a 8.5/10, 00 actually ranks towards the bottom of the pack right next to Wing, which is pretty Ironic as from what I can tell 00 was their attempt at more or less re-booting Wing (similar to how Seed is a re-boot of the original series of 0079) 00 Does some right, but for everything it does well it gets as much wrong if not more. This show is plagued with so many problems throughout. Pros: - The best thing See does well is the actual animation of the mechs - I personally enjoyed most of the mech designs as I saw there influence, --The thic Gundam is heavily inspired by 0083 Stardust Memory --Exia is like someone watched the 1st episode of Seed and went... imagine the Schneider but thats its whole kit lol --Cherudim takes heavy inspiration from the sniper GMs --Love seeing the inspiration for Laplace (Unicorn) with Aeolia Schenberg - Pacing for a Gundam Show was actually fine, (Most Gundam shows really drag the Ep 4-18 period) - The English Dub for 2007 was actually decent - some of the plot elements of organizations inside each other was done in an enjoyable way - most of the politics for Gundam shows in general were actually really easy to follow Cons: - The little romance/ love interests... all were terrible except for the few milf jokes were humorous enough - Lewd parts were so unnecessary, to the point of this is why its hard to get people to watch anime lol - The PTSD that they love trying to make parallels to was poorly done - too many side stories, no one cares --too many loose ends - the entire main cast were pretty unlikable... --Wing was Carried by Zechs and Duo IMO, and no one in this show even came close to that --There were not too many memorable charecters except for mr "I AM GUNDAM" which... is dumb, really dumb --Villains were all comically evil which is usually uninteresting --Dialog was pretty meh across the board --Character backstories and motivations seemed all so over used at this point for Gundam if we count everything prior to 2007 - Even tho the Animation was top tier some of the fights were actually pretty week --Most of the enemy mech designs all looked too similar --Similar to the "enhanced humans" that were there parallel to what Im assuming will be cyber nu types seemed pointless - Music was pretty meh - tho the dub was decent for 2007, it was mad confusing that they reused alot of voice actors from previous entries. The one that always got me was Felt's Eng VA is the same as Lacus Clyne from seed. - its really annoying that I felt board with most of the run time but the last 2 episodes it really picks up and made me realize how invested I am, and that I should watch season2, the reason why this is a negative is... but what about the other 23 previous episodes lol... Unfortunately despite not watching the 2nd season yet, I am very familiar through spoilers how it/ the movie ends and... well Im really not looking forward to getting to the end and that is a shame to be honest. I understand that alot of people are going to be confused by my review because they (1) dont understand how I rate things as 5/10 is average, and not to be mistaken with BAD, and (2) I watched Every Gundam so far in the last year for the first time so I am not blinded by nostalgia like most of the Gundam crowd seems to be. I understand that G fighter, Wing, Seed and 00 were most peoples Gundam's, these shows are far more excisable then the main time line of 0079 through the current Hathaway movies, but The original series, Zeta, ZZ, Origins, and most of the middling Timeline movies are the best of what Gundam has to offer in my humble opinion, with Thunderbolt Movie 1 and Iron Blooded Orphans being my 2nd and 3rd favorite ways to watch Gundam. After writing this review I realized that I just most like Political thrillers with Real-robots/Giant mechs, because if I didnt then This would probably rate closer to a 3/10 lol Its hard to recommend 00 when there are so many better Political, Scifi, Mech, and Gundam shows out there, it is not 2007 anymore. Anime is so much more accessible then its ever been and you shouldn't waste your time with this unless you LOVE Gundam, and its not even the Best place to start. If you need a Gundam to start with, I would recommend 0079 to get into the main time line, or watch any of these technically standalone titles: Thunderbolt December Sky, Iron Blood Orphans, Witch From Mercury, War in the pocket 0080 Happy watching! Edit: (Season 1: 5/10) (Season 2: 6.5/10) (Movie: 4.5/10) [Overall Rating: 5.75/10]

If I were to rate this like a hollywood film, I'd say it's a popcorn action movie. It stands as an interesting followup to the Gundam Seed premise (the plots are in no way or form linked) and as a solid stand-alone work. It explores more fully the ideas expressed in the last two Gundam series, the idea of fighting to end war. Story: Doesn't really add many twists to say the least. A little background on the world in this series. It's the first Gundam series that takes place in the AD time continuum, the beginning of the 24th century. The majority of the world is grouped into 3 factions, all of which hog a share of the only remaining energy resource which is solar energy being "farmed" from massive sollar arrays ringing around the planet. Despite free and renewable energy, wars continue based on who has the energy, and more traditional reasons like religion. The story starts out and the organization Celestial Being, with it's 4 pilots called "Gundam Meisters", begin operations to end war. They do this by sending the ridiculously overpowered Gundams to destroy any forces involved in conflict. They enjoy enormous success at first despite the four Meisters all possessing massive character flaws and/or traumatic pasts. In typical Gundam story-telling the team of heroes is betrayed and they lose their technological edge. There are a lot of small plot twists and many of the seemingly stray plotlines converge in the second series. The whole Saji/Louise subplot finds resolution in the 2nd series so don't be confused by it's rambling nature. I found the initial reactions of the nations to be logical, but they increasingly become less so and the seemingly jaded opinion of the writers that the public would so quickly reject a vigilante military organization is a touch out there. I could explain it further, but I'll leave that to the people who choose to view this show. I thought it worked but had some logic gaps, as most Gundam series do since they are typically aimed at the teenage male bracket. Art: The different designs were very well done and a pleasant change from the generic designs of SEED. Nothing wowed me, but you can tell the characters apart and they do wear more than one outfit (a sign of poor art standards if they only wear one; see April O'Neil in TMNT and think body odor). Sound: The soundtrack always fit the mood, the openings are great. I'd add either of the openings to my MP3. list, though the endings were pretty bland. Character: Setsuna is the most boring main character ever. His motivations are clear, his "monk in a monastery" attitude towards female interaction are severe even by the celibate Shonen anime standards. He appears to be in his mid-teens, acts much older of course in that he never seems to let loose or even smile. His tortured past in being manipulated by radical muslim extremists is interesting, but barely seems to add or subtract to his personality. It is interesting that he's probably the first Kurdish hero of any anime. Lockon Stratos is the likeable, older brother of the group. Of Irish descent, his family (except his twin brother) were killed by the same extremists that Setsuna once belonged to. He's the most relatable of the 4 meisters. Allejuah Haptism is a young man (turns 21 at the beginning) with his normal personality and then his psychotic alter ego Hallejuah. He was formerly "Super Soldier" test subject who managed to escape the program. He has a strange mental link with the other Super Soldier, Soma Pieres, who is involved in the HRL (one of the nations) efforts to capture a Gundam. Last of the Meisters is Tierria Erde. His background is not explained much in the first series, but he is able to link directly with the group's super computer "Veda". He's not entirely human and doesn't want the others to know this. He's also the "jerk" of the group until he confronts his own shortcomings and is not rejected by the others. There are many other characters, most of whom are interesting in their own ways. The one other character who's (in my opinion) worth noting in this review is the tactician or "tactical forcaster" for Celestial Being, Sumeragi Noriega. She is very reminscient of Misato from Evangelion. She drinks frequently and wears skimpy clothes on occasion, but is all business during combat operations. She's haunted by a terrible accident early in her military career that resulted in a massively fatal friendly fire incident. Enjoyment: It's perhaps the thin plot and simplistic characters that make this show such a fun watch. Especially at the beginning, anyone watching could seem themselves wanting to join Celestial Being. Fighting to end the countless "brushfire" wars across the globe with weapons and machinery that far outpaces anything in use at the time. That quickly ends, as some of the hallmarks of any Gundam series are warmongers, conspiracies, and the fact that the Gundams are always fallible in some way. You are always rooting for Celestial Being, though for some reason everyone in the anime seems to hate them for their "hypocrisy" (still think it's flimsy". The other constant in the series that whenever it seems that the Gundams are finished, they always get a new ability or specialty that tips the odds. Overall: I like this series, plain and simple. I watched the first season(shown on Sci Fi channel in the US) and wait eagerly to watch the new episodes (second season) online each Sunday (currently waiting for the dubbing of the final episode). It doesn't have great characters like Code Geass, Naruto, or Rurouni Kenshin; but each are interesting and memorable in their own ways. The plot is annoyingly simple, but you still are on the edge of your seat. The one thing that I can say that REALLY puts this anime far apart from most others is that the action keeps going. Rather than have all the character development happen in between the fighting, most of it occurs mid combat and I don't think there is a single episode where at least some sort of skirmish is going on. So I recommend this movie to anyone who wants an engrossing anime, with loads of actions, and doesn't want their morals or beliefs challenged. If you are looking for a character driven anime (see Death Note), a mecha as metaphorical experience (Evangelion), or light-hearted adventure (Naruto) then I wouldn't recommend it.

My first Gundam series was SEED, and then Destiny. Compared to both of these, Gundam 00 (pron: Double O, as in Double-O Seven), is exquisite, and a very welcome addition to the franchise. Of course, like all the Gundam series, and mecha anime in general, there are a few pitfalls like repetitive stories and whiny characters. This anime also follows the "gundam vs. the rest" recipe but I got hooked on to the series early on because the plot seemed to rely more on suspense and political intrigue, a sort of Death Note mecha anime, if you will. However, like it's predecessors, the deus ex machina element soon became overbearingly strong. The script-writers did very well to balance the equation towards the end and set the scenario for the second season. I think the promise of a second made the production house slack off a bit... The animation is exquisite. The Gundam designs are simply sublime, there's a sense of clarity in the artwork and the results are a visual treat. I think the Gundam designs in this anime is the best in the franchise. Sound, especially, electronic jam pieces played during battle sequences has always been a trademark of the Gundam franchise and 00 does not disappoint on that front. Although the music is not memorable, it works well with the animation and the story. The overall effect is rather good. The pitfall of mecha animes ~ whiny pilots. Like the other products in the Gundam franchise (barring Gundam Wing), 00 also suffers from a cast comprising morally dysfunctional and confused pubescents. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to listen to the pilots' rambling bitching about not understanding what the f*** is going on and questioning the meaning of life, universe, and everything else. It's 42 damn it! Barring the pilots, the supporting characters are great... at times. Then there are people, simply there to bring a personal aspect to the pain war and violence causes. Perhaps the second season will expound on some of the characters as there are several unanswered questions. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The "game of chess" approach to the plot, the brilliant battle sequences, the sort of real world setting, and the quick pace of the series made it very worthwhile and I happily await a second season... although I am a little unsure if a second season was necessary. You will understand what I mean if you watch it. Let me know if you agree or disagree.

This series has many fantastic aspects, however it also has many terrible aspects. I do not even know where to start. I might as well start from the beginning. One of the best episodes of the series is definitely the first, in which the Gundams come out of now where and kick some ass. From the beginning, however, we see was ultimately brings this series down: the gimmicks. The GM drives are just a gimmicky plot device, the solar energy system (even though it is pretty cool) seems very silly, and there are other things that leak through. There seems to be to much that the characters have to just accept - the series becomes busy. It is very much like Gundam Wing and lacks the "real robot" aspect that is the original Gundam. Most Gundam series that fall out of the Universal Century cannot measure up. Once you have watched the Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, other series do not quit measure up. Gundam 00 is no exception. The interesting things about this series is the politics. I liked how very real this series was in terms out how the nations operated and the political decisions involved in dealing with the Gundams. Unfortunately, this gets drowned out by the "Gundam Meisters." They are called MEISTERS which is just extremely pretentious and lame. This exemplifies the snotty philosophy and ideas that go through out the series. It attempts to be deep but fails. The most interesting characters are the minor ones and are ignored. The main characters have interesting aspects to them, but they tend to be pushed aside. The mechanical designs are very creative. Yet, lack any practicality and can be ridiculous at times. I do enjoy the Union Flags. The character designs are okay. I love Tieria, however I feel that they could have become more Military-esque. The fight scenes are well done and advanced. The entire story is run by a "plan" which, in my opinion, is completely far fetched. It relies on too many things, and is just unrealistic. There are 3 things which I give this series a pat on the back for: Alejandro Corner, Saji and Louise, and Ribbons at the end of the series. The first season is much better than the second, which I will also write one, which my full criticism will be.

Quick/Dirty Review filled with Run-on sentences. May contain spoilers. The story is quite a standard of the Gundam franchise. It begins with the world/world leaders being total dickheads which really need to change. Enter the Gundams, the super weapon which will eradicate all war. That sounds very much like a contradiction, and it is. Unions unite, get taken over, the Gundams get in a pinch...if you've watch Gundam Wing before, then you'll see a lot of the elements here. Yes, the storyline is not original (because you know, this is GUNDAM), but this Gundam is tailored to comment on the problems of society today through the characters, through the Gundam pilots (Meisters), their dubious and powerful supporters (Celestial Being, Trinity) and the who oppose them (Union, HRL, AEU). But what had been a very good move for this series is putting a chunky sub-plot with civilian characters who eventually get caught up in the conflict one way or the other: Saji, Kinue and Louise. However, there are several characters that this series could have made without. Some of the Ptolemy crew seem to have been made for only two purposes: Fanservice and Drama. Several characters are too underdeveloped, such as Wang Liu Mei, Christina and Lichtendal. Wang Liu Mei's supporting role is flimsy at best; she spends most of her screentime stating observations, asking questions and pasting a flowchart while the audience has been on it. It's great if this is your first Gundam series, but when you have experienced the other Gundam stuff, it becomes frustrating. Christina and Lichtendal have no character momentum, but ended up as drama scapegoats. Some characters are just so unnecessary. The biggest flop doesn't come from these less used characters, but from Marina Ismail. Her character should have been extremely vital and catalytic, as women of her position ought to be, but she ends up helpless, useless, witless...you know the drill. Marina SHOULD have been the moral compass of the story or the foil to the Meisters with her balancing act, but she is totally impotent that she becomes annoyingly insignificant despite the screentime. The animation was very satisfactory. There's a new level of mobile suit and weapons design. It's not much, but it's better. The art direction was fantastic. Gundams may be block and big, but thanks to wonderful CG, excellent camera work, satisfactory animation, they are so fun to watch. Despite being badly written half the time, Gundam 00 is highly enjoyable. The production know how to alchemize something. The characters are lovable and intriguing, the plot is predictable but not very obvious, the details (graphics and plot-related) are liberal and the animation is very easy on the eyes. Gundam 00 is equal parts cheesy, dramatic, somewhat bloody (+expect mobile suit mutilation) and introspective (sometimes it's a no-brainer, but wattheheck). This is WAR PPL! There's a lot of low points in the first twelve episodes, but half of it pans out in the end. Half of it. That's because there's a season 2 that still features the ridiculously entertaining GN drives and GN particles. We never knew what exactly happened to the Gundams, the pilots and the rest of the Ptolemy. We'll know more about the escalating world conflict (it never ends, ppl), and the necessity of the Gundams (again) in the new era. If you've watched a Gundam series before, this series will not surprise you or totally impress you. If you've watched Gundam Wing, this series may disappoint you or not (they are many similar elements). If you're a Gundam virgin, it's a good introduction to the Gundam Franchise. Conclusion: Not bad. //Off to watch the second season

When you think gundam, you think of people piloting cool mechs and blowing things up right? I'm not going to lie to you, that aspect is alive and well, but Gundam 00 is so much more than that. The series starts out with gundams being gundams and sliding around tearing the world a new one. While you're paying attention to the action though, the characters are developed into real people with a legitimate reason to pilot a gundam and try to put an end to all the coflict in the world. surprisingly my favorite parts of the anime were the parts that dealt the least with the gundams. I liked the civilian characters the most because they brought the effects of war into the light and you could relate to the way they felt. There were relateable thoughts like "the war doesn't effect me" or something like "why is this happening to me? I have nothing to do with these battles!" At the end, when everything is approaching the climax and everything is laid on the line, you can feel the fervent emotions of the gundam pilots. As the characters approach their limits mentally, physically and emotionally you feel their efforts pull at your heartstrings. I'm not ashamed to admit that i cried at the end. Of course, you may be wondering why i gave the character an 6 if i loved the anime so much. Well, the thing is, throughout the anime there are 3 world powers and there are the soldiers and mobile suits of each side joining in the battle. So at first i was COMPLETELY at a loss to which world power the one character was assigned to or which world power used which type of mobile suit. In the end all of that confusion is overrided because he characters that really matter are the gundam pilots and they are undoubtedly part of celestial being. This anime is accessable to all groups because it has cool mechs blowing each other up for the guys and teary moments for that girls. I hope you enjoy this anime as much as I did.

You'd think Sunrise would be busy creating their much acclaimed Code Geass series, but considering that they've managed to make another Gundam series in between the two, they're probably not Nevertheless, this hasn't retracted much from Gundam 00 in any way at all. Whether you're a die hard fan or a newcomer to the most famous mecha series of all time, you won't be disappointed. Story Set in a much more believable future than its predecessors, Gundam 00 builds upon a plot many Full Metal Panic fans are familiar with. An organization that attempts to enforce peace by intervening in all military conflicts. Right, 'nuff said. Since FMP already capitalized on this years ago. Gundam 00 loses points on originality. However, that's no reason to be deterred, because the series still manages to tell an impressively organized story. Much of the plot jumps around, because of the wealth of characters involved, but all the individual stories of the various factions managed to weave around each other seamlessly. The downside to this is that sometimes, you may feel that particular episodes focus too much on characters you don't really want to see. (It does happen). Art Oh wow, new technology has been kind to Sunrise studios. Many think that once you've seen one Gundam, you've seen them all. Well, think again. The mechas in Gundam 00 look much more flashier and cleaner than ever before. Kudos to Sunrise for the animation as well. It's hard to tell if a sequence is being repeated, and everything comes together smoothly. Sound Voice acting, special effects, and BGMs. All perfectly done. Or at least as close to perfect as possible. On the subject of the themes, I don't know about anyone else, but I've added every single opening/closing from Gundam 00 to my music library. The songs fit the series perfectly with their uplifting and vibrant beats that also hint at certain dark elements in the plot. Just to put this into perspective, this is coming from a guy who's gotten a C or worse in every music class he's ever been in... just so you know. Character The most interesting part of Gundam 00 has to be it's character lineup. Like most military anime, the cast can be divided up by the factions they belong to. Using this principle, you get 4 main groups. The members of Celestial Being (of which the Gundam "Meisters" are most identifiable), the AEU (the egotistical ace, Patrick Colasour), the Union (Captain Graham Acre and his flag pilots), and the Human Reformation League (Colonel Sergei Smirnov and his team). Of these 4 groups, Celestial Being is best represented, and the viewers gain insight into their pasts, their personalities, and their secrets. However, the presentation of the three other global military powers leaves something to be desired. Granted, they are supporting/extra characters, but the main thing that irritated me was that I knew nothing about Captain Acre, who probably appears the most out of all the other military supporting characters. Of course, I'm missing two other parties, namely the engineering student Saji Crossroad and the Princess of Azadistan, Marina Ismail. These are the civilian characters who are more affected by the war instead of taking part. And this, is the genius of Gundam 00. In addition to watching the progression of the war, the audience is shown the effects. This provides a sense of reality and offers a darker side to the show. There are those that will criticize, saying that the civilians weaken the focus on the Gundams, but I personally think they're a fresh breath of air... when Saji's not being generally annoying. But why? Why did it get a 6? Because of the presentation. The producers must have been at a loss as to how they'd introduce all of their characters at the same time. What followed was a pitiful attempt, where nearly all characters were unveiled on the very first episode with little to no preamble. This created much unwanted confusion as to who was who and what their purpose was. Plus, because there are so many characters, not enough of them get enough screen-time (my previous grievance with Acre). There are so many characters I would love to know more about, but with too little time, it becomes impossible. Overall Gundam 00 is still amazing. It's fresh, it's new, and the battle scenes are out-of-this-world. You'll love the plot, and the vibrant characters that come with it. Plus, you don't have to feel guilty while watching cus no one's doing any mind-controlling. Yet. I apologize for any lapses in grammar, spelling, or sanity I may have had while writing this review.

Note: This review is for the first 25 episodes ONLY (season 1). Gundam 00 one of the many non-Universal Century story series in the Gundam franchise and one that stands out primarily for its initial plot, that being an almost exact copy of the 90s series Gundam Wing: a team of young men are sent to earth in super overpowered mech suits called Gundams with the sole task of bringing peace to the world by whatever means needed. What separates 00 from the campy, cheesy melodrama of Wing though is 00 takes this premise both realistically and seriously and even tries to spin the concept on its head, calling into question the morality of the actions of the main characters and their hypocritically violent approach to stopping violence. The key word, however, is "tries". It does not entirely succeed in the end, for a number of reasons. First and foremost are the main characters themselves: the "Gundam Meisters", as they are called. While certainly more in depth than Wing's pretty boy heroes, the Meisters are still unfortunately very static characters with predictable, stock personalities for most of the season, and fairly unlikable ones at that. You can tell that the story has SOMETHING in plan for them to deveolop them, humanize them, and make them realize the mistakes of their ways... but it takes entirely too long to get there, and when you do it feels less like natural development and more like a personality shift. Conflating this issue is honestly ALL the other characters from the various Earth factions are just FAR more interesting, be it the American pilot aces looking to avenge their fallen allies, the Russian military commander who constantly devises new plans to stop the Gundams and basically always succeeding until a plot convenience undoes it, the comic relief fake ace European Union who somehow always manages to survive death by sheer luck, or the Middle Eastern mercenaries who just need an excuse of a war to keep fighting. These characters suffer, struggle, and overall are generally just LIKABLE and thus more interesting to follow, but are doomed to play second fiddle to the pretty boys in super robots. Besides all this, in the final third of the season, the show introduces three more Gundam pilots with even MORE powerful machines and genuinely unhinged, intolerable personalities. They exist only to commit atrocities that shock even the most jaded of the Meisters, but the issue here is they only serve to be a scapegoat for them: rather than have the Meisters realize their OWN actions are causing more harm than good, they simply have to only observe their darker others do it for them. Its lazy and uninspired, and the fact these three extra Gundam pilots are intolerable hateful characters that are just not fun or interesting to watch they ultimately get killed off without much fanfare and are trivial in the overall scheme of things. This all ultimately leads up to a big unified attack against the Gundams by all the Earth nations at once using their own diet-Gundam machines and a lot of minor characters die, but only the ones on the Meister's side are given much emotional weight despite them being the least interesting of the sides. It just ends on a wet fart. As for the plot itself, its... ok. Gundam 00 is heavily dedicated to its setting and world building, an Earth 200 years into the future where solar energy delivered from orbital elevators resolves the energy crisis... but also causes civil wars in formerly wealthy oil rich countries. The exposition scenes are HEAVY here and there are a LOT of names of places and characters to keep up with, and some of the political machinations can come off as overblown and up its own ass, but I enjoyed it for the most part. What is truly good about Gundam 00's narrative is how it plays with its tropes, particularly the struggle of helpless earth weapons against the Gundams. The more the Meisters attack the nations to stop their warring, the more the nations develop better technology for defeating the gundams, including reverse engineering their beam weapons and eventually making Gundam-esque mechs of their own. Seeing actions having these big world consequences is a strong point in Gundam 00's favor, and is a rare sight in most any mecha series. Lastly, to end on a positive note, Gundam 00 has some gorgeous art for a full blown series, and the music is top notch as well, which really draws you into the drama... if you cared for it to begin with. Overall though Gundam 00 is a lackluster experience that plays with some interesting ideas old and new, but is held back by cliche protagonist writing, dense and non-intuitive infodumping, and just some bad storyline choices in the third act.

Gundam 00 Season 1 Review This is a review of the English dubbed version “On paper, this anime probably sounded amazing; the execution, however, not so much.” (Conclusion) Overall, Season One of Gundam 00 is mediocre. I really wanted to like this anime because it sounds badass when I think about it. However, the script, voice acting, and characters drag everything down. A great setting was there, if only it developed a more interesting cast earlier, and the characters figured out how to speak naturally. (End of Conclusion) Gundam 00 is, of course, set in the future where the world has access to advance technology, specifically mobile suits. The earth is in a scarce resource scenario, and the nations pool their resources together to create a giant solar panel. Of course, the countries of the world begin fighting each other over control of the energy. This is where the renowned genius, Aeolia Schenberg, comes in. He disappeared a long time ago and formed a plan to rid the earth of war. Thus, the anime begins. Schenberg is long dead before his plan is carried out. He creates the Gundams, advanced mobile suits that severely out-tech the standard Flag mobile suits, and forms a group known as Celestial Being. Celestial Being’s role is to intervene wherever there is war. They destroy anybody involved in the battle, and their advanced technology makes them juggernauts against the earth’s forces. By limiting the earth’s ability to go to war with each other, the anime creates an interesting scenario. This is where everything goes all wrong. The anime paints a very interesting setting, and possibly interesting characters. Unfortunately the delivery of it is damaged by almost everything else. The characters in the first season are generally bad. I’ll sum of the protagonist in one sentence. “I have no emotion and only know how to fight.” In all seriousness though, he is a war orphan from the Middle East, and has an interesting background. He would have been a good main character, but does not make a good protagonist. Moving on, the rest of the Gundam pilots are somewhat interesting, however, not everything is revealed until the very end of season one and into season two. This really makes watching the first season a struggle. The dialogue and voice acting in the English dub is generally bad. I almost want to go back and count how many times a character will repeat what another says in a “METAL GEAR?!?” form. It isn’t the most atrocious thing I’ve ever heard (*cough* Pilot Candidate *cough*), but there really isn’t a memorable delivery on anyone’s part. It almost seems downright silly in one episode when the protagonist says “GUNDAM!” about ten times as he fights for his life. Big events that are supposed to evoke a lot of emotion are usually ruined by one horribly delivered line. Combine this with a cast nobody cares about yet and you get quite difficult anime to watch. The action is well animated and generally good. Unfortunately, it has a lot to make up for. If you’re looking for action and that’s it, you’ll probably be disappointed. It isn’t bad or anything, but there are not any memorable “Goke vs. Vegeta” fights. The best fights are at the very end (if you can make it that far), and in season two. The art style of this anime is probably what I enjoyed the most. All the Gundams look badass, and the main cast of characters have a nice style to their design as well. Everything is well animated, and there really isn’t much to complain about here. Overall, Season One of Gundam 00 is mediocre. I really wanted to like this anime because it sounds badass when I think about it. However, the script, voice acting, and characters drag everything down. A great setting was there, if only it developed a more interesting cast earlier, and the characters figured out how to speak naturally.

Do you know this feeling when you're about to get something new? You become hyped, anxious, sometimes a bit nervous. I personally love this feeling. But the worst part comes when you finally get what you wanted - the hype, the anxiety, nervousness, everything disappears. Sometimes, you're even disappointed... I felt very similar to this when I first watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00. I was expecting something huge, flourishing, spectacular and unforgettable. What I got instead hardly reached my expectations and left me with this slight feeling of unfulfilled dream of a 10-year-old boy. No matter that I'm 23. The thing about G00 is... that everything seems fine. We have a understandable and catchy story to tell, with memorable characters, some tough decisions and political aspect in the background. We also have some really great dialogues (although second season seems to really suffer from lack of those) and a message to pass on. The art is nice, smooth and up-to-date. The music is fitting, well, maybe not epic, but still does it's job splendid, the seiyuu work is also worth mentioning. So all in all, you get a decent piece of Gundam anime. Errr, no. If it was a series existing on its own (i.e. no Gundam series in the past) then I would be staggered by all those things mentioned. But unfortunately, it is not. There has been tens of other Gundam shows past these 30 years and I dare to say that most of them did their job much better than 00 does. I will not compare the series to any of its predecessors, I will not spoil anything here. It's not my job. My job, is to tell all of you Gundam fans that this is not what you had in mind and had expected when you first saw a pic of Exia and Setsuna. First and foremost - we have seen it all somewhere else, the characters, the mecha design, the motifs, heck even the music is a re-do of some epic volumes I had heard some years ago. Plus, the story, although well thought of gets cliche in the second season which wastes tremendous potential it had during the first instalment. You'll enjoy it, that's for sure. But you won't remember the lines from it. Likewise with Gundam SEED - which is a mediocre G series, but has this something that makes me remember Lacus saying 'What're you fighting for, your father's orders? Or maybe the medals you receive?' or Athrun saying to Shinn 'Try and remember Shinn! What was it that you really wanted? This kind of world? This war?'. And let me tell you this, SEED has more of it. 00 doesn't. And that's basically it. 00 is a good series, a well descendant of it's well-know predecessors, but for a fan - it has almost nothing. A person who's new in the franchise will love it. I.... liked it? Kinda...?

Readers please keep in mind that I'm writing this strictly on the anime itself. I tend to stay well away from mecha anime, but this has been a sort of introduction into the series for me. So, I think this review would suit people best if this is the first Gundam show they are going to watch. Summary: Gundam 00 takes place some centuries into the future on the A.D. calender. It takes place within our solar system, but mainly on Earth until the latter episodes of the series kicks in which are all set in space. The world has split into three main powers: the Union (consisting of North and South American countries), the AEU (consisting of Europe, the Middle East, I think Africa is part of it too) and HRL (consisting of Asia and Russia). The world exists in a delicate balance as these powers play a zero-sum game where all of their armaments must to limited to ensure that they have no advantage over the other two powers. However, as mentioned before, this is a very delicate balance and if it was broken in anyway, it would cause the entire world to go into a state of chaos (well, eventually anyway). A mysterious group called Celestial Being step in and make a stand by saying that they will intervene in conflict situations and resolve them through violent means to ensure that they don't drag out for long periods of time (since prolonged periods of conflict end up causing more casualties and loss of resources). They use a type of advanced weapon by the name of GUNDAM, which are large humanoid robots that are equipped with various types of armaments and generally cause way more destruction than those of the world currently has. The question is, how will the world react to this? Is it a miracle from the heavens? Or is it a threat to the peace and stability mankind has accomplished so far? Now for the review, Story (8/10): I thought the story had its fair points. Many of the conflict situations are similar to the ones in the world today showing that these things will take time to resolve or get worse if we just leave it as it is. The question that the story first poses is, How should peace be approached? Diplomatically (a slow and generally unsuccessful process that is deemed right in this world) or through 3rd party intervention (fast, generally destructive, but in the long term it saves a good deal of casualties and resources? The story took many different viewpoints to convey the tale. It generally took the view of the protagonists, the Gundam Meisters, but occasionally it took the view of the antagonists, the soldiers from the different powers and even of how it affected the civilians. The story, however, suffered from unrealistic aspects such as recurring villains, weird foreign policies from some of the nations, and lack of emphasis on certain groups or characters (yeah, I understand this is war with thousands of people, but there were too many characters). Art (9/10): This, I believe, was the first High Definition Video Gundam show produced and I believe that this is one of the best animation and art I've ever seen. Fight scenes are fast, but often done in meticulous detail. There isn't much cutting or skipping involved. You can see Exia's blade grinding through the mobile suits as though it is receiving some realistic resistance, while in most anime it would be depicted as cutting straight through with the slash appearing before the blade. The character design wasn't excellent, but it didn't affect the viewing drastically. Emotions were extremely well portrayed during battles. Facial features contorting in rage was a pretty common one and a well done one too. There were only minor problems with the animation, such as the beams from the false solar furnaces, which looked like they were one ugly solid color, but in general it was excellent. Sound (8/10): I don't really give too much stock to voice acting, but in general it wasn't bad. The opening and ending songs chosen for this show were very good, especially the second opening and ending. The soundtrack was mainly varied, having a good combination of energetic, battle music to the quiet themes of the certain characters. Sound effects weren't too shabby either. Explosions and metal clashes sounded almost frighteningly realistic. Character (7/10): Possibly the weakest aspect of the show, I'll start with the bad parts of this aspect. To begin with, there were too many characters and only 26 episodes to do the job. Yeah, I understand there is a second season, but at least some part of the personality and development should go into this. The ending (a bit of a spoiler here) involved a good deal of minor characters for potentially dramatic scenes, however we could not sympathize for their statement or actions all that much because a very meager about of development had occurred. And finally, a lot of personalities were too similar or just too predictable, but that could be excused since this is anime, after all. The good side was that the emphasis was wrought down almost entirely upon the four main characters. They form a sort of dysfunctional family and each of them goes through phases of doubt and distrust before usually emerging becoming closer to each other. They all have their rights and beliefs and no, they aren't pure, altruistic heroes. They are human, even the annoying bishonen dude with purple hair. Our main characters develops immensely and most importantly, asks questions and make statements that are kind of true, despite how much we wish to deny it. This is what makes this anime sort of different from the usual action anime we see. And yeah, someone pulls off a Shinji Ikari style depression before the end, but it isn't as significant as in Evangelion or Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Enjoyment factor (10/10): I'll say this, you won't be bored. The action, the occasional drama and even the politics will help you enjoy this anime a lot. However, a few of my friends commented upon the fact that this show recycles a lot of elements from previous Gundam shows and in the end, there isn't a terrible lot of concepts or ideas that are new, so it kind of ruins a surprise element for the veteran Gundam viewer. Phew, that's about it for now. I'm looking forward to next season, but that's only if Code Geass won't capture my heart once again. Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer: I watched the English dub version of this season. I have never watched a Gundam series or film before this one. I generally enjoy sci-fi, space, war/military, combat/fighting, and mecha themes in fiction. Going into this, I expected it to be fairly solid. Even though I have never watched a Gundam series before, I've certainly been aware of the property. It's been around forever, and it's widely known and very popular. It also tends to get rated well. But after watching season 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, I find myself with no desire to watch season 2, and very little curiosity about any other Gundam series if this is representative of what they have to offer. I'm struggling to think about any general category this show did well. Art, character, story, dialogue, combat, sound... nothing stood out as exceptional or praiseworthy. In fact, I'd say very few things about this show even managed to be average. Admittedly, I thought the start of the season wasn't too shabby. It had me interested in seeing where they were going with the story they had laid out, and how it would unfold and be revealed. But that didn't last long. The more they extended the story through the episodes, the more convoluted, confusing, and seemingly random it became. By the end, if it weren't for characters literally and incessantly reciting a brief, paraphrased version of a synopsis for no apparent reason other than shouty exposition, one might have actually forgotten what the story was supposed to be. That being said, the story did have a beginning, middle, and end, but it wasn't particularly satisfying, and it was filled with so many subplots, unexplained story elements, and plot twists that it eventually became a real chore just to get to the final episode, if for no other reason than completionism. By the end, there are so many elements of the story that are never adequately explained or properly defined that it makes what little story there has been seem all the more confusing, despite how basic and straightforward the core of the story is. At some point toward the middle and into the end of the season, things just seemingly start randomly happening because they need to to get to where the story wants to go, but the show doesn't adequately explain how or why these things happen. I don't have much to say about the art or animation. It wasn't terrible, but it's nothing special. I was expecting eye candy, but this show didn't deliver. It was all very basic looking. There's nothing technically wrong with any of it, but I just found it all fairly meh-worthy. I was similarly quite underwhelmed with the battle scenes, which never managed to bring me anywhere near the edge of my seat or invoke much tension or excitement at all. There was a distinct lack of awe that should follow from watching what are supposed to technologically incredible mechs firing laser beams and swinging swords around in space. I think the sound contributed to how underwhelming the battle scenes were, too. Nothing sounded immersive. It was just generic pew-pew effects you've heard a million times before. The music wasn't anything noteworthy. And the dialogue, at least in the dub, was often mind-numbingly annoying. I know it's sort of a common trope in anime to have characters evoke a sense of meaning or emotion by randomly stating proper nouns, or by book-ending scenes with stating proper nouns, but it seems like nearly half of one of the MC's dialogue here is nothing but this, as if the guy physically can't formulate complete sentences, and it's just so overused here it becomes grating. I suppose it would help if the character had anything of value to actually say, but he's so 2-dimensional, monotonous, and bland that I guess he has the depth of a inflatable pool. There's not a lot of character depth in general with any of the other characters either. There's clearly and attempt here and there, and even some successful moments where depth and growth are delivered to some extent, but they are few and far between. There's too many characters getting focus (many of which are entirely unnecessary), and not enough depth to flesh any of them out very well, including the main cast. Of the main protagonist cast, everyone who has any semblance of a backstory has some kind of tragic past which is varying degrees of nebulous, often delivered by exposition or replaying the same few-second flashback clips over and over, and they all have their own personalities. I will give them that--that their personalities are at least fairly distinct from one another. But a good sense of their motivations or the reason they're doing the things they're doing is all rather phoned in and never really explored or defined with much substance. As for the villains, they're nothing short of comical. That's hardly something that's unique to this show, but it doesn't make it any better. One of the two primary villains is "I want to destroy and remake the world in my image for reasons" and the other is "I like war for reasons." That's it. That's basically all there is to them. With the former, almost nothing about how he becomes involved in or achieves anything is explained--he's just kind there, and his achievements just kinda happen off screen. The latter just seems like your generic sadistic villain, who delights in causing suffering just because that's the way he is, or at least, that's what we're left to assume since we're given no explanation for why he might be the way he is. There's a few other relatively minor antagonists, protagonists, and side characters, some of whom inexplicably get a lot of screen time that comes off as nothing but unnecessary and often pointless filler, and the rest of whom appear to be nothing beyond plot devices who are disposed with as quickly as they came into the story. Anyway, overall I rate this a 3.

If someone says 'mecha', the first thing that pops into many people's mind is Mobile Suit Gundam. Its a series that has a revolving cast of characters, alternate realities and a conflict of ideals. Gundam 00 holds true to the formula, but still doesn't quite meet the standards of its predecessors. The story of the series can be summarized in the synopsis above, so I'll just dive right into it. The world of 00 is quite well developed, with technological advances in this series seeming to be actually possible in our own world. The world is powered basically by three solar elevators and the Gundams are also powered by solar reactors. Not a bad concept and very environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, the nations of the world have joined into three distinct blocs, creating a Cold War-esque feeling of tension. In a nutshell, the setting is a great. However, when the organization of the Gundams, Celestial Being, enters the scene, things start to get really interesting...at least at first. The organization was created to stop conflict through fighting (sound familiar?) and is, of course, universally hated by the very people they are trying to protect. As cliche as the premise is, some twists in the story keep it interesting. However, as it goes on, it feels as though Celestial Being's purpose becomes lost in the fray of gunfire and the sounds of 'I am GUNDAM' coming from the protagonist's mouth. The series seems to overstay its welcome a bit, but thankfully the ending is probably one of the most powerful I've ever seen in an anime. ' (7) The art is done by the same guys who have done Gundam in the past, so expect great mech design. The character's designs match their personalities but quite a few characters are bland, so their designs reflect that. (8) 00 has great openings and endings. So much so that it's worth downloading for later enjoyment (the band's name is L'Arc Ciel, I think). The voice acting (I watched the dub) was solid, with the exception of Setsuna, the protagonist. His voice acting isn't bad per se, but since all he seems to say is 'Gundam this' and 'Exia that' and 'Celestial being to you!', he just sounds redundant. The other tracks of the series don't do anything special either. (8) The main cast takes a queue from MSG Wing, making the Gundam pilots handsome(?) young men who at first just seem like eye candy. However, the viewers quickly discover that it is actually true for most of the cast. I couldn't really feel for anyone of the CB team and if it weren't for the final episodes, I wouldn't remember any of their names. The villians of the series are much more memorable, with Ali-al-Sachez (a Gauron copy) taking first prize for being an absolute monster. However, I digress. Back to the rest of the faulty characters. People like Saji Crossroad and his sister seemed to be shoe-horned into the series to almost give it a Slice of Life feel. I see they were trying to show the impact of CB on everyday life, but Saji was not a good choice since he never makes any of his scenes enjoyable to watch. As for that one princess from some middle eastern country, she seems like a love interest for Setsuna in the opening, but in reality, she's used simply as a CB poster girl. Its quite sad really and because of that, I don't even remember her name. Now, as much as I dislike the plainness of most of the characters, there is one man that actually made sense. One man who actually had a great backstory and turned into being one of the most bad@ssed characters in the entire Gundam universe: Lockon Stratos. Unlike his other companions, Lockon has a great origin story, clear and well developed motivations and an a charismatic personality. It's litter wonder Yuri manga are made of him. He basically carried this series on its back for me, as I was commonly thinking 'How's Lockon going to deal with this conflict' or 'why is Lockon doing this'? While he is commonly overshadowed by his other companions, Lockon gets a beautiful, yet sad conclusion at the end of the anime, cementing a permanent place in my heart (no homo). (7) Since I watched it on Youtube with dubs, I could watch it anywhere. However, since the show seemed to drag, I would watch bursts of episodes then wait for a few weeks, then watch some more. It hits the basics...kinda...It wasn't a waste of time, but a good beginning and great end can't carry a series this long. (6) Overall, it has a great world but cliche premise echoing past G-series, especially MSG Wing, its art is solid, its sound is both great yet a tad redundant, the main cast with the exception of Lockon as well as the rest of CB are one-trick ponies and it drags but has nice accessibility. I don't regret watching this series, but its a bit overrated. If they had better characters, I would forgive many of its other faults, but since only a few stand out, I give this series a 6/10.

Another Gundam series which turned out to be quite interesting and entertaining. STORY 8/10 The story is set in the years 2307-2308 AD of the Gregorian calendar. The series opens with an exhibition of the military showing off their newest model to prospective buyers. Their display is interrupted by the arrival of a Gundam who completely destroys the model and in the process, makes the world aware of their organisation known as Celestial Being. This opening sequence gripped me from inception so I was hooked. The action sequences and the dramatic elements were combined efficiently to make the series a successful one. ART 8/10 The gundams were quite detailed and reflected the meister’s personality. The general scenery was reminiscent of a futuristic setting which illustrated how advanced the times were and how even further advanced Celestial Being was. SOUND 8/10 The music in this series was awesome, the opening songs were absolutely fantastic, both of them. I did not pay much attention to the ending songs but they were pretty good too from what I did listen. Even the music in the anime was tasteful. CHARACTER 9/10 One of the main protagonists, Setsuna F. Seiei, is the youngest of the Meisters in Celestial Being. His entire existence is devoted to his Gundam and to making a difference in the world with his Gundam. The other Meisters are Lockon Stratos, who is the sensitive guy, Allelujah Haptism who had some personal issues which he was trying to deal with, and Tieria Erde, who appeared to be devoid of any type of human emotion.Then there was princess of Kazakhistan, Marina Ismael did not serve much of a purpose in the series. She was really just a nuisance, not doing anything proactive to progress her country. Then there was Saji and Louise who had their own side story plus all the other characters that made the series quite a success. ENJOYMENT 9/10 This series was action from episode one (1) and continued on as it progressed. Each episode added on to the story and each of the characters developed with each episode. The action sequences were fantastic and you can identify with each of the characters and what they had to deal with. OVERALL 9/10 This first season of Gundamm 00 was excellent, great story, vibrant characters, superb blend of drama and action sequences. I highly recommend this series.

Kidou Senshi Gundam 00 is a must-watch as they have created it to suit the most futuristic by telling people to save fossil fuels not using harmful substances which could harm the world and environment...So ,love it totally since its about war, love and betrayal of different forces.

Hello there stranger! I just watched the first Season of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and I enjoyed it very much. Thus, I decided to write a review to help you out. I did watch Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny too and I am going to include some comparisons to these older show in this review. I have to admit, I wasn't a big fan of the Gundam franchise until now, but after watching Gundam 00 I was carried away by enthusiasm. Like the other Gundam shows that I watched, the main theme of Gundam, which is the anti-war theme makes a return. It has always been the center of all the shows of the franchise that I personally watched. So lets hit it off with the review shall we? STORY: If you like political plots with multiple factions you might be in for a treat. The world is split up in 3 factions which cover the whole planet earth. Of course there are conflicts in this world which are resolved by military actions. Every faction fights for its own good, as in past entries of the franchise. This is where the paramilitary organization called CELESTIAL BEING (CB) comes into play. It is the mission of CB to rid the earth of all war itself and to achieve this goal they use the secretly developed Gundam Mobile Suits. You can probably tell, getting rid of war by using force sounds silly but the members of CB are all handpicked specialists who accepted CB's vision and want to make it come true. The show starts out slow to introduce the Maincast, CB and the history of the world but eventually picks up the pace. Now, the story itself is rather simple but because of the multitude of factions and characters it might be hard to follow it in the beginning. Among the continental factions and CB there are also civilians who take the spotlight. For example the journalist Kinue Crossroad who is trying to uncover the origin of CB. There is also her little brother Saji and his lover Louise who are presenting the civilian perspective of the conflicts to the viewer. I was a little confused at first because they dont necessarily contribute to the main plot but they are a sweet couple that will bring some lighthearted moments and comic relief to the otherwise serious story. Due to the events of the story, the role of comic relief gets passed on to another couple later on. CHARACTERS: Now this might be a critical part for some of you. There are over 30 characters featured in this show, thats more characters than episodes. Which is kind of problematic because there is not enough time and exposure to get to know all of them. With each episode running for around 17-18minutes there is simply not enough space to give all of them sufficient screen time. That is also the reason why the show can be confusing at times, because it switches back and forth between the different characters and their associates. When I was halfway through the first season I still didn't remember all the names. I can only assume this stems from the fact that Gundam 00 was laid out to be a 2-season show from the very beginning and the writers decided to introduce some of the characters earlier so the viewer can relate to them in a more natural way when the 2nd season starts. When I look back at the transition from Gundam Seed to Gundam Seed Destiny and compare it to 00, I think they did the right thing because in Seed the new characters from the second season felt kind of forced into the cast. There are only 3 characters whose background and motives are sufficiently explored in the first season, and those are: The main character with the most exposure, Setsuna F. Seiei, heavily reminded me of Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing. Like Heero he is very young and was trained to handle a gun in his childhood. But Setsuna is very insecure about his doing and develops a relationship with Marina Ismail who very much resembles a different incarnation of Relena Peacecraft from Gundam Wing. Second to Setsuna in terms of screen time is another main character Allelujah Haptism, a genetic manipulated super-soldier who developed a split personality as a result of the experiments with his body. He is a very nice and calm person, but in moments of extreme stress on the battlefield when his life is in danger, his other persona can take over and create an unexpected outcome for the enemy. He reminded me a little of Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing whose personality is similar to Allelujah, except for the alter ego. The third character is the sniper of the team, Lockon Stratos. He is the cool guy with the easy-going attitude. He is trying his best to resolve conflicts between the team members and supports them. He's got everyones back. (which kind of comes naturally as a sniper) There are many other characters whose backgrounds are partly explored or at least hinted at. One can hope that the viewer will receive more information about them in the 2nd season. I was still able to relate to them and feel for them because they are all believable characters and nobody is overacting his or her part. Also, the main villain Alejandro Corner strongly reminded me of Gundam Wings Treize Khushrenada. Both live for war and conflict but Corners motives are much less idealistic than Treize's who believes that that a good duel can bring out the best in a human being where as Alejandro is just craving for power. ANIMATION: This is probably the best part of the 00 show. Even though Gundam always stood for good animation, the action scenes from Wing and Seed just didn't click with me because they used a lot of scenes multiple times and the battles sometimes felt kinda stale. Its different with 00, the action scenes are superb and on a whole new level. Even now, around 9 years later the animation is very good. The only thing from that time that comes close in terms of animation quality is probably Macross Frontier. (which aired the same year and you should totally watch that too if you are into mecha, romance and music!) The new Gundams are also very flashy and have a distinct new look to them that makes them standout in comparion to earlier entries in the franchise. The characters are all good looking and cover a variety of different types. There is the boyish Setsuna, the hot and grown up Sumeragi, the cool sunnyboy Lockon, the nice guy Allelujah, the silent and sweet girl Feldt and so on. Whatever you are looking for in character design/type, its probably in the mix too! SOUND: This might be the worst part of the show. It is not bad by any means but for me it was nothing special either. There are some extremely tearjerking moments underlaid with music that empowers them, which is pretty much the only thing I remember in terms of music. You definitely can't compare the music to, let's say, the space opera that is Macross. Apart from that, the voice acting is very good and the sound in action scenes is always up to par. ENJOYMENT & OVERALL For now, this is by far the Gundam show that I enjoyed most in my life. If you haven't been able to get into the Gundam universe just yet, this is the show for you. I wasn't sold on the Gundam franchise until now, but that changed drastically. You might be overwhelmed by the multitude of characters and it might be hard to develop feelings for them, given the little time some of them are exposed to the viewer but the overall presentation is great. There are some theatric moments in the show which are the result of either war, romance or drama. But if you are an Anime or Asian TV/Movie connoisseur, chances are you already know that or you are even expecting it. Before I wrote this review, I was asked who my favourite character is and I am still a little unsure. For me there are only two candidates to pick from. Its either Lockon or Allelujah because Setsuna is too much of a wandering stereotype to me. And the winner is...*drums rolling* Lockon! But I hope the female cast gets some more screen time too. >_> I am looking at you Sumeragi and Feldt! Enjoy the show!

(Check out my profile for a link to my site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!) Well it only took 138 days since starting the first season (eerily enough this was the exact number I had in my head when I was planning this sentence), but Gundam 00 has finally been finished. When watching it and immediately glimpsing its very high production values, it's hard to imagine that the Gundam franchise was actually in a pretty dire place before Gundam 00. The Seed Destiny series came out almost exactly three years ago, but it feels like a generation behind on production levels. Not to mention Seed Destiny is an extremely common pick among those who've seen it for the worst “main” Gundam series ever made. Seed, though wildly successful, was also met with some controversy but not even close to the same amount. Between this a series of short, niche, but warmly received OVAs were produced. Even among these Gundam MS IGLOO was criticized for its heavy use of CG animation and when added to the fact it doesn't focus on Gundams themselves it's another series many people didn't even bother reaching out to. This was one of the low points. But Gundam 00 wasn't designed as any sort of savior, it just happened to be the next obligatory Gundam series and it just happened to be one of the best ones. The series begins in 2307 AD (props for not making it two decades away like most sci-fi), and the world is covered by geopolitical animosity and border skirmishes that are certainly informed by real worldwide tensions in response to various Eastern terrorism and nationalism. Center character is Setsuna F. Seiei, a child soldier encouraged to fight for religious causes in the war-torn nation of Krugis, one of Gundam 00's many fictional counterparts to real world locations, in this obvious case the “middle east”. Flash forward to modern day and Setsuna is a “Gundam Meister”, one of four people piloting a unique new mobile suit type. His organization Celestial Being aims to stop armed conflicts from around the world through violent deterrence: wherever there is a war, Celestial Being will appear and overpower both sides with the superior force of the Gundams. Of course, the world's various armies threatened by Celestial Being won't just take this vigilantism. Disparate worldwide government factions have little choice but to try and band together against their common enemy, and with Celestial Being isolated from all sides you have a tense set up for one of the most innately gripping Gundam premises. Indeed, the simplest way to describe Gundam 00 would be that it's Gundam as in the thriller genre rather than a space drama with concentrated action segments. This makes it most similar to the well-known Gundam Wing series, with a focus on action, a fast-paced and frequently changing narrative, and less of a focus on character relationships or melodrama. Unlike Gundam Wing, however, Gundam 00 is considerably more clever and a significant upgrade in all aspects. The four Gundam Meisters and the rest of the small group of Celestial Being may have advanced technology, but they're still in trouble up against the combined strength of the world's militaries and their always improving technology. The series initially indulges in its vigilante fantasy of preventing war through force, as many people have wondered about before, but gets away from that before it gets old. The entire series is utterly fantastic when it comes to creating hot suspenseful action setpieces and scenarios. About each episode follows the construction of plot and character focus in the beginning and then beginning the mission of the day, which is just challenging enough or intriguing in concept that the progression is entertaining on its own for wondering how Celestial Being will overcome the odds or respond. The cast of characters in Gundam 00 are generally likable, but there's so many more than what's necessary for the plot that even the main characters can get caught under the weight of the story's fast paced momentum. No one gets enough attention dedicated to them to become any measure of a complex character because with such a large cast scenes have to be routinely swapped in to show where they're acting in the story without much downtime room for them to develop their personality. Changes in characters are linear and obvious, and internal conflict is dealt with quickly in specific scenes and then not carried with that character. In other words, it's all very simple and straightforward characterization. Whether this light approach is preferable to the convoluted existential angst of other series such as Zeta Gundam is up to the viewer. Gundam 00 also does a great job of keeping the pacing strong by avoiding dialogue exposition and dropping the viewer right into the series's environment where they'll infer a lot of what they need to know about the world and its technology through context. An immediate example is the crew of Celestial Being constantly referring to the name “Veda” with no one around to just explain who that is. Because why would they? They already know and also know everyone else does. The viewer has appropriate time to figure this out themselves through context because it seems like whoever this Veda is they're not on-screen yet. Then as you keep watching you eventually realize everyone's referring to some computer master system, and then the only remaining question is if Veda has some sort of AI, and it doesn't take much longer to realize that's not a part of it. It's great to see any anime that doesn't rely on redundant, ill-fitting dialogue to explain things that can be inferred logically by the audience. This removes the need for slowing down the plot's pacing to accommodate the often unnecessary explanation. Along with Setsuna, the Gundam Meisters are made up of other codenamed pilots. Lockon Statos, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde join him in battle, and they're call commanded by Celestial Being captain Sumeragi Lee Noriega. Lockon is an instantly understandable type, the least eccentric guy and a cool-headed confident sniper who's understanding of everybody else's emotional problems and reaches out to them. He's practically the role model of the whole series, although he doesn't get that level of credit. Easily the most agreeable person in Gundam 00. Allelujuah is also relatively normal but more reserved, but he has a split psychotic personality. The split personality concept is a fine unique trait, but his alter-ego's insane behavior is typically over-the-top to the point of being downright lame, and they never really resolve the fact that each personality as practically portrayed as its own consciousness, so this split personality gimmick just kind of tapers off. Tieria Erde is the most mysterious member of Celestial Being for several of his unique abilities, and his archetype is that of the cold and logical type who's frustrated by the emotional decisions of the rest of the team. Sumeragi is one of the franchise's best captains in terms of ability, constantly seen giving new commands to the team through the entirety of every mission and almost always being the one behind every winning strategy. Going back to Setsuna, he's one of the most wooden Gundam protagonists ever. He speaks in short repetitive idiosyncratic phrases a lot of the time and has little personal motivation to fight beyond his own philosophy. There's more than one occasion in the show where the crew will be talking in complete sentences about complex situations and subjects, and then Setsuna will interject with his always deadpan monotone delivery with a line like “...This world... is twisted.” or “...I... am a Gundam...” and instead of everyone looking at him like he has some kind of social disorder for butting into a conversation talking about things that only mean something to him, they give an impression like he just said something profound. His character development is obscured through these od…

I should have known better than to watch this one, which is interesting when it's not random shots of suits fighting each other. Unfortunately, most of the series is random shots of suits fighting each other. The four main pilots, especially Setsuna F. Seiei and Allelujah Haptism, are cool, but I didn't buy that we were supposed to empathize with these guys who are essentially terrorists. However, this anime does get major points for showing the emotional effects of a lost limb in one of its most moving story arcs.

What makes a Gundam so darn fascinating? Maybe because instead of shooting each other with a rifle or machine gun, we literally extend our body into a mechanized suit that does the shooting for us. On an unprecedented scale. I was introduced to Gundam when I was much younger, and the appeal never went away. That sharp nagging of "man, wouldn't it be just dandy to control one of those?" as powerful as ever. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 far exceeds entertainment value as well as drama, music, and other outstanding characteristics. Story: 9/10 Set in the (almost) near-future, humanity has formed into three relatively accurate blocs: The Union (North/South America), the AEU of Europe, and the Human Reform League that covers most of Asia and Russia. To destroy their reliance on fossil fuel, humanity finally did the sensible thing and created three huge solar power arrays, thereby weaning themselves off of fossil fuels and other rare Earth commodities. This created a Solar Power Wars they frequently mention, but never fully explain. These three blocs, after the Solar Power Wars, currently fight, bicker, and arms-race each other constantly. Suddenly, an organization called Celestial Being randomly announces itself, declaring its message of eradicating war by using force. That extension of that force would be the Gundam Mobile Suit, far more advanced than any other military in the world. This, of course, leads to conflict. The whole world simply won't bow down to new masters and obey; human nature isn't naturally submissive. Therefore, the world fights back. Hard. Setsuna, the main protagonist, has a watery past that slowly resolves itself into focus as he pilots his Gundam, Exia. I won't go into much detail, but let's just say the story has enough plot-twists to keep you constantly on your feet and enough mind-numbing action to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Love, love LOVE. And all throughout there is a deeper plot, a more ominous undertone that frequents itself more and more towards the end. It keeps you guessing; there are bigger powers at play here than readily apparent. Art: 9/10 Holy. Shoot. These Gundams were drawn and executed to minute detail; battle scars, battle wounds, flashing lights, explosions, ship carriers, even the environment; it was like an eye-orgasm for a solid 25 minutes. If things weren't exploding in your face, the environment was rapidly changing. There were so many story-plots, it almost became convoluted; however, the art flawlessly transitions to each story, and I loved the emotions in the character's stance. The way the characters were drawn remind me vaguely of Code Geass; tall and lanky, yet these characters were built more stocky and round. I love me some good artwork, though; it didn't matter if the setting was in space or Earth or somewhere else - it was a living, walking, breathing colorful monster of artwork. Sound: 9/10 Eye-gasms aren't the only thing keeping you to the screen. Multiple times my ears overflowed with the dulcet melody of my favorite part of anime: the voice acting. I can't watch English dubs simply because they do not convey the emotional feeling or raw power these characters exhibit by simply being themselves. And Gundam does not disappoint; each character has their own personalities and characteristics, plainly obvious in the voices. The explosions and sound effects shouldn't be ignored either, simply because it was music to my action-prone ears. Beautiful, beautiful sound. Character: 10/10 Why is character development a perfect score? Because it fulfilled my expectations, perhaps exceeding it in some cases. When a main character's arc throughout the story is filled with letdowns, emotional highs, and a roller-coaster of feelings, you're left breathless because you BECOME that character. You feel what he or she feels, you sympathise and pity their impossible predicaments. And when you become this attached, each victory or defeat is either a stab of euphoria or a lance of pain. This also means something crucial: you related to this character, and that's what makes it special. Setsuna is just that sort of person you get attached with. You hate him at first, but then he kind of grows on you. If he's not your type, ladies, there's always the other three male Gundam Meisters and a few other "hotties" from other militaries, of course. But I'm off on tangents; main point: the character development was flawless. Every main character had their moment and more, which made for a sound anime. Overall, this was a thing of beauty. There were almost no shortcomings, besides that it should be longer (thank GOODNESS they made a season 2). I know I'm watching this late, but hey, everyone has to start from somewhere. All in all, though, the story was riveting, the artwork dazzling, the sound loud and forceful, the characters beautifully presented. I was not in the least disappointed, and I recommend to all of any age because it was just so darn good. I was left with a glowing feeling of warm satisfaction. And finally: the world is always changing. Will you be the one to change it?