For me, Gundam 00 quickly became my all-time favorite Gundam series of all time. There was just so much to like about it. So when it was announced as soon as the second season ended that the series would be concluded with a movie, I was very excited. This was to be the first movie since Gundam F91, so it was big news. But I don’t think any of us fans knew just how truly big this movie would be for Gundam, as it would change the way we think of the iconic mecha series forever.
From the beginning of the movie, one can tell things are going to be very different. As the opening song plays, various shots of alien landscapes and worlds are shown. Yes, this is the big thing; aliens. For the first time in Gundam history, non-human extraterrestrials are the primary antagonists. Gundam has always been about wars between humans, so to introduced a truly alien enemy was defenitly a bold move, but in the end I think its one that truly works, but I’ll get to that later.
The primary plot of the movie starts when a long-dormant exploration vessel from Jupiter mysteriously starts to hurtle towards Earth. A task-force, led by Earth Federation Innovator Descartes Shaman, intercepts the ship and destroys it, though all is not well. IN the resulting explosion, pieces of metal begin to rain towards Earth. These are not shards of debris, but ELS fragments. Soon enough, strange things begin happening worldwide. Cars and other vehicles with no one operating them begin running amok, and a young girl is even attacked at her home by a mysterious figure. This figure is none other than a seemingly revived Ribbons Almark, the main antagonist of the TV series. This Ribbons then goes after Saji and Louise at the hospital, but is later destroyed by Setsuna, with the revelation that its not in fact Ribbons, but something else; an ELS copy. At nearly the same time, Allelujah and Marie/Soma are on a bit of a personal journey of their own when the come across a facility seemingly abandoned. Upon further inspection, all of the plants personnel have been crystallized. They are then attacked by a group of unmanned vehicles, which possess the ability to regenerate any damage inflicted upon them. They are only saved by the timely intervention of Lockon Stratos in a rebuilt Gundam Dynames. It is after this we have the reunion of the Meisters, who then go into their first battle against the ELS. However, Setsuna finds himself unable to attack the ELS, likely due to his new-found quantum brainwave capabilities. We later find out that the ELS are drawn by these brainwaves, and Innovators especially are negatively effected by the ELS presence. Thankfully, in this first battle, Tieria arrived to save the day, but in the second engagement, Setsuna attempts to perform a Trans-Am Burst in an attempt to communicate with the ELS. The massive amount of information received through the burst is too much for Setsuna to handle, and it leaves him comatose, and the 00 Raiser destroyed. The ELS then make their way to Earth and engage the human forces in a desperate battle, and only when Setsuna awakens and deploys in the new 00 Quan[T] do things begin to shift in humanities favor. Setsuna makes his way into the ELS planetoid and activated a new system, the Quantum Burst, which coupled with a new VEDA Terminal, allows him to process the information and successively communicate with the ELS. Both races are able to come to an understanding because of this communication (The ELS were never hostile to begin with, but I’ll get to that later as well) and Setsuna uses his Gundam’s quantization to teleport to the ELS home-world and begin a new dialogue with them. Now, this is just a very basic summary of the movie. There’s a lot going on, and since this is a review and not a summary, I’m not going into too much depth here. This is a movie that needs to be seen, and not read about, really.
One of the high points of this movie is the climactic final battle between the Humans and ELS. Gundam 00 has always focused on much smaller engagements compared to other Gundam series, but the movies epic final battle blows any other major battle from any other Gundam series out of the water. It is absolutely chaotic, with weapons firing in every direction and no place on screen is without some sort of goings-on. It truly feels like a last-ditch battle for survival, as at no point do you feel that the humans have a chance in hell of wining. My favorite portion of this fight is near the middle, as it becomes clear this is a losing fight for humanity. In a move that I feel really hits home this point, the insert song Mou Nanimo Kowakunai, Kowaku wa Nai by Chiaki Ishikawa, starts playing. It really sets the mood for this particular part of the battle; its the breaking point, and humanity is on the verge of defeat. Andrei Smirnov, Sergei’s Smirnov’s son from the 2nd season actually manages to redeem himself for selfishly killing his father by overloading his suits Trans-Am and destroying a large ELS probe heading for Earth in this scene. In all fairness, its really hard to describe this portion of the movie in words, and it really is worth watching for yourself. Its perhaps one of the most powerfully emotional moments in any Gundam work I have seen to date.
The ELS themselves are truly what makes this movie so damn interesting. I for one am glad they did not go with the stereotypical humanoid aliens normally seen in science fiction, and instead went with something truly alien. For those interested, the ELS are a sort of Hive-mind race that consist of metallic-based lifeforms capable of assuming the forms of anything they have assimilated into their collective. This is also how they learn and understand other beings, which of course sets off the conflict with humanity. The ELS are unaware that assimilation is harmful to the humans, and so in the end the entire conflict is truly one large misunderstanding. The ELS themselves fled from their original home-world, a planet much like Jupiter, when their sun went supernova.
Character wise, everyone was fantastic. The only new characters introduced in the movie are Billy’s assistant and love interest Meena (who is essentially a “decent human being” version of Nena Trinity from the Tv series, and the Federation Innovator Descartes Shaman. Shaman is defenitly the most interesting of the two, as he’s clearly been forced into his position against his will (being an Innovator, who the Federation seem quite interested in as tools of war) and his seething hatred is sort of what escalates the conflict against the ELS, as they take his anger as aggression and attack Earth in full force. The other character that really drew me in was Feldt, who clear now has feelings for Setsuna, but does not get those feelings returned. Setsuna has become very much about the missions of CB, and clearly has no interested in a relationship, and though this defenitly seems hard for Feldt, she is able to move on from Setsuna and become a much stronger person because of it.
The ELS are also an interesting choice for primary antagonist as they come in a number of forms. There are two small “probe” forms, which take the shape of a spear-like shape and another which resembles conjoined rectangular prisms. There are larger ship sized ones, which are able to open up like claws and grasp enemy targets. There is also of course the ELS Planetoid ship, which acts as the brain of sorts for the swarm. The ELS other nifty feature is the ability to assume the form of any thing they assimilate. The first examples of this we see is near the beginning when we see them take the forms of vehicles and other equipment, and even a cop-Ribbons (though, those familiar with the 00 Manga side-stories will realize that this is not in fact Ribbons, but another Innovade who shares Ribbons form who was on the Jupiter ship on its original mission). Of course, the deadliest use of this ability comes later on when multiple probes are able to fuse together to take the form of GN-XIV’s. The awesome thing about this is that they are able to use any weapon the GN-XIV’s were using by simple shape-shifting their arms into those weapons. Its a very awesome concept for Gundam, and its cool to see it in action in the movie. The manga side-stories also show us ELS versions of Descartes Mobile Armor Gadelazza, Arios Ascalon and even the 00 Raiser.
The Mobile Suits of this movie are another high point. All of the designs are spectacular. The Gundams in particular are especially awesome, as they combine the best of the Gundams from both Season 1 and 2, and this is best seen in Setsuna’s Gundam, the 00 Quan[T]. IT clear melds the best of both the Exia and the 00 Gundam, while adding in some new cool features. Its interesting to note that nearly every new suit/mecha in this movie has some form of remote weaponry. The Quan[T] has its sword bits, Zabanya has rifle bits, Harute has scissor bits, and the Raphael has 2 large remote controlled claw cannons. However, the new Mobile Armor, the Gadelaza takes the cake though. It has 14 large GN Fangs (00’s version of Funnels/Remote weapons) with each of those containing 140 small fangs. Seeing this in action in the movie was just mind-blowing, and really puts the beam spamming mecha of Gundam Seed/Destiny to shame. Heck, every MS in this movie puts those MS to shame when it comes to sheer firepower. But the battles against the ELS call for it. As I said earlier, the final battle is pretty much one massive clusterfuck, so the ability to attack in nearly every direction is necessary to survival. The other most notable MS in this movie are the new Union Flag-inspired Braves. They clearly meld the best of the Flag/Enacts and Grahams two previous MS, the Masurao and Susanawo. The first time we see them in battle is quite a visual treat as well, as not only are they quite well armed, but their pilots (commanded by Graham) are clearly some of the best examples of ace pilots in Gundam. They use all sorts of fantastic maneuvers and a good dose of teamwork to make short work of an ELS swarm in the middle of the movie.
Of course, one cannot talk about this movie without discussing the prevalent theme; peace can only be achieved through understanding. Its a concept brought up numerous times throughout the film, and it is what brings an end to the battle. During on the early scenes, Princess Marina is on a visit to a colony under construction, and the workers are citizens of her own country. The Corporation in charge tries to back-stab her by killing her, but she is saved by Setsuna and Lockon. Its during this time that Marina brings up the point of trying to understand each other if peace is to be obtained. Understanding is also brought up later on by Soma, when she says they should try and communicate/understand the ELS before rushing headlong into battle with them. Thankfully, both humanity and ELS reach an understanding, and a new age of peace is ushered in.
There are some interesting things I noticed when watching this movie. One of these things that struck me as really cool was the use of the A-LAWS automatons as robotic helpers. When we see the people on earth taking shelter from the ELS, you can see numerous automatons milling about helping civilians. Its a nice concept, that technology is only evil or hurtful when we use it with those intentions in mind. Also, there are quite a few interesting sound effects used in the movie. The ELS have a very distinct humming noise associated with them. Whenever something ELS-related is around, you can clearly hear the sound, and at the beginning of the movie, it actually has an eerie effect to it. The Braves also have a strange sound effect to them in regards to their weapons. When the Braves fire their main rifle, it has a very hard twang-like sound to it. Its very distinct when compared to the weapon sound-effects of other mobile suits.
The soundtrack is also a great part about this movie. A lot of the early tunes used in the movie have a dark mysterious sound to them, which fits with the fact that at the beginning we don’t exactly know whats happening or whats causing it. The later songs have a real epic feel to them, as the battle with the ELS heats up. A lot of the tunes are remixed or extended versions of songs from the TV series, so if you liked those soundtracks, you’ll defenitly like this one.
I don’t really have any criticisms for this movie, but there are a few things I didn’t care for. One is sort of selfish, but I wish we would have seen more of the 00 Quan[T] in action. Now, it makes perfect sense as to why we didn’t see too much of it till the end, as it is more of a tool for peace, not war. However, its such a cool machine its a shame we didn’t see more of it. The other would have to be that we didn’t get to see what happened to a large portion of the cast after the battle. It would have been nice to know what happened to the cast of characters we’ve following for 2 TV seasons and a movie. However, the ending still works well with me.
All in all, this is a stunning piece of work, and likely the best anime movie I have seen. Its clearly one of the most thought-provoking, and brave additions to the Gundam universe, and I personally think it has raised the bar for future Gundam projects to come. I am sad to see the Gundam 00 Universe come to an end, but at least it went out with a hell of a bang.
Category Archives: Gundam 00
Perfect Grade 00 Raiser – Work in Progress Part 1
So I managed to get a good start on my PG 00 Raiser, and boy, so far its one hell of a kit. Right now, I have the entire 0 Raiser unit completed, though I need to wait for some panel lining markers to arrive before I can officially say its “done”. The interesting thing about this kit is that it is my first 1/60 scale kit, and boy, are they huge. I actually have a 1/144 and 1/100 0 Raisers, and the PG one is a monster compared to them. Heck, its practically bigger than most of my 1/100 Gundam 00 kits. If the 0 Raiser is this huge, I can’t even begin to imagine how big the 00 Gundam itself will be.
As you can see, the PG level of detail is outstanding, and it looks great even with nothing extra done to it. Its gonna look sweet once I’m done all the panel-lining.
The GN-Sword III is one of my favorite part of the kit so far. Its just so damn huge, and attaching the Raiser Sword beam attachment makes it even bigger. Heck, you could put an eye out with the damn thing 🙂 As you can see, the sword itself is quite large, and the interesting thing is that it can be attached to the underside of the 0-Raiser.
And just for comparison, here’s a shot of the PG 0 Raiser next to its 1/144 counterpart. Quite the difference eh?
Gundam 00 S2 Episodes 21, 22, 23.
Episode 21
In regards to deaths, this episode was full of them, Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long both meet their ends at the hands of Nena, though Nena meets her end thanks to Louise. I personally thought it was about time Nena suffered for what she did to Louise. And really, Nena deserved to die. There were no redeeming qualities about her, as she was just an evil person. However, Louise has finally realized that killing the person who murdered her parents isn’t going to magically bring them back, and its hit her quite hard. Saji is going to have his work cut out for him if he’s going to try and bring Louise back. This episode also starts another exciting battle between Graham and Setsuna. I say Graham because he’s seemingly returned to being Graham. Its also nice to see the Susanoo (formerly the Masurao) looking more like an Overflag. However, the most interesting part about this episode is the revelation that Setsuna is becoming the first natural Innovator. You can almost draw a parallel between him and Louise, who is essentially an artificial Innovator. Because of that, she’s messed up quite a bit, yet Setsuna is perfectly normal. It will be interesting to see what happens in regards to this in the coming episodes.
Episode 22
A truly epic episode. This episodes contained one of OO’s best battles to date, with A-LAWS using an anti-beam field to severly restrict CB’s fighting potential. However, in the end they are saved by the combined might of Kataron, who really shine, and the Federation coup forces under the leadership of Kati. Because of this, A-LAWS is dealt a fatal blow, and is essentially all but defeated by the end. The only thing I didn’t care for was how quickly the battle between Setsuna and Graham was. Graham has been defeated, but I think he’s been shown the light, if you will. I defenitly think we’ll see him again as a changed man before the end. I did think it was fitting how the Susanoo was truly an Overflag, seeing as its head was simply an Overflag head with a mask over it (somewhat befitting Graham. He’s somewhat been unmasked by the end here, and the same happened to his MS) Of course, the bit shocker at the end is Ribbons being killed by Regine (who seems to truly have plans of his own), but we’ll have to wait and see.
Episode 23
As I expected, Ribbons was not truly dead. The Ribbons Regine shot was simply a clone or something, and now Regine is dead, thanks to Ali Al Sachez. The battle also continues as A-LAWS is essentially finished and the fight for VEDA has begun. Ribbons unveils his ship, the Celestial Being, and his army of clones and attacks the CB/Kataron/Coup forces relentlessly. The Gundams have also truly lost any advantage they had previously, as all of Ribbons forces have Trans-Am at their disposal. The final battle is going to be like nothing CB has ever experienced. Some interesting matchups begin here. Ali and Lockon have engaged in battle, and really I think its fitting. Though Setsuna has his quams with Ali, he did kill Lyle’s brother, so Lyle has every reason to want him dead. Also, Setsuna/Saji countinue to fight against Louise and her seemingly unstoppable Regnant, while Tieria goes after Ribbons himself. The endgame has officially begun, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Gundam 00 S2 Episodes 19 and 20
Sorry, only reviews and screencaps again. Might have to do this for the next couple of weeks, seeing as University is keeping me quite busy.
Episode 19
This was a highly exciting episode. It had some great action, yet the most interesting parts came around the end. Anew has been activated as an innovator, and has essentially betrayed the crew. The way it cut out as she shot at Lasse was one hell of a cliffhangar, and it really makes you feel for Lasse. The poor guy never catches a break. The other big thing is that Nena finally betrays Wang Liu Mei. I was also happy to see the Gundam Throne Drei return. I always did figure there was more to Nena’s little shuttle, and it wouldn’t have made sense if she just ditched it, seeing as it was in near perfect condition at the end of the first series (I believe it was only missing an arm from the battle between it and Throne Zwei) It was also nice to see Louise and Saji finally talk to each other, though again Andrei ruins it. Seriously, someone needs to kill that guy already.
Episode 20
This was perhaps the best episode to date. It had everything. Intense action, great character interactions, romance, and great drama. Suprisingly, Lasse survives, but is wounded quite badly. The battle this episode was one of the best we’ve had in awhile. Anew pilots a new GNZ unit, this one based around GN Fangs. It was very cool to see it go against Cherudim, seeing as both use remote weaponry. It was also quite sad when Anew died. Throughout the entire episode, you could see that perhaps some part of her regretted what she was doing, and Lyle did manage to get through to her near the end, only to have Ribbons screw it up and make her continue fighting, forcing Setsuna to kill her to save Lyle. Setsuna defenitly did the right thing, though Lyle doesn’t seem to agree.
This episode is also the debut of Louise’s new Mobile Armor, the Regnant, and it is a beast. It managed to totally negate Seravee’s Hyper Burst attack, and has a beam cannon which fires a beam that can be bent to change direction. Pretty awesome if you ask me. Louise is defenitly going to be a major threat for the Meisters in the future. Its funny, I would never have thought that during the first season.
Gundam 00 S2 Episode 17 and Episode 18
Been kinda busy this week, what with school and many new Gundam kits to build, so I’m just gonna do some quick reviews for both episode 17 and 18 (no summaries, sorry) along with some screencaps. I’ll be back with full posts for next weeks episode though.
Episode 17:
Talk about an epic, yet devastating episode. One of the Orbital Elevators is brought crashing down to Earth, and the various factions band together to try and save the day. I thought it was awesome how even A-LAWS joined in on destroying the debris, and the scenes of the various forces working together were really fun to watch. However, this episode is not without tragedy, as Sergei and Hercule are killed by Andrei at the very end. It was kind of bittersweet, as it seemed like everything was going well, then Andrei comes out and kills both of them, thinking that Sergei was with the coup forces. It was really sad to watch him go, as he was one of my favorite characters out of them all, and was an all around nice guy. I can only hope Andrei gets whats coming to him.
Episode 18:
Another fantastic episode. Though things are nearly not as hectic as last week, they still are exciting. Seems like Anew and Lyle are a couple now, and we now have confirmation on Anew being an innovator, though its still unknown whether she knows and is a spy or was planted in CB and is unaware. Either way, the Innovators are using her to know the location of the Ptolemaios. It also seems Setsuna was infected with fake GN particles when he was shot by Ali a few episodes ago, and it also is apparent that the same has happened to Lasse.
Next week should be interesting, as we’ll find out whether Marina was shot or not, and we’ll hopefully get to see Mr. Bushido and the Masurao in action.
Gundam 00 S2 Episode 16
In the command center of the former AEU Orbital Elevator, Pang Hercule speaks to the people still stuck in the elevator at the time of the coup. He announces that he plans to reveal the brutality of A-LAWS and that he plans to wright the wrongs the Federation and the A-LAWS have committed. The Federation refuses to back down to the demands of Hercule and his coup forces, who they say want the Federation to disolve and that anti-government protestors be released from imprisonment. Sergei is watching things unfold, and he knows that what the Federation is saying are lies. Sergei thinks back to his younger years with Pang and his now dead wife Holly. He remembers that Hercule had always believed in people, and truly believed that the Orbital Elevators would be the path to a new and bright future. He had also believed the world would indeed someday unite. Sergei then gets a call from his commanding officer about a secret mission.
At the A-LAWS headquarters, Homer Katagiri worries that the coup will influence other soldiers and spread. At this time, Arthur Goodman tells him that work going on at the Orbital ring is almost done, and he leaves to take command of something there. Wang and Nena are watching this, and Wang comments that this is the beginning of the end. Back at the Ptolemaios, the crew soon learn that it is because of the coup that the A-LAWS forces withdrew from their attack on the ship. However, Sumeragi is hesitant to help the coup forces, as she wonders why the Innovators didn’t see it coming, as they do control Veda. Sumeragi decides to head towards the elevator, as she figures it will be the likely place to find out whats going on, and she figures Setsuna will be heading there as well. At this time, A-LAWS automatons are deployed into the station. Though the interior defences and the coup soldiers are able to hold them back, a number of people are killed by the robots, and one manages to access the surveilannce systems. At this time, a number of Kataron forces join the coup troops, and Hercule is alerted to a single blue Tieren being escorted up the elevator. Hercule realizes its Sergei.
Back at seas, Kati is angry that her forces haven’t bee deployed yet. Andrei and Louise discuss the coup, and Andrei remembers Hercule as a good man. Louise, however, thinks this doesn’t matter, and she thinks the only thing that matters at the moment is that they defeat the coup forces. Andrei remembers back to when he first entered the military. It was Hercule who helped him out at the time, since Andrei still blamed his father for his mothers death. Andrei also blamed Hercule as well.
When Sergei is brought to Hercule, Sergei tells him that the Federation refuses to meet his demands. Hercule wants Sergei to return to the Federation to relay to his commanders that they are not leaving the elevator, but Sergei refuses and decides to stay. They are interrupted by a news broadcast showing civilians being killed in the elevator. However, it is not the Automotons that are doing the killing. They realize the video has been altered to show coup soldiers doing the killings. Hercule doesn’t let this bother him, as most of the civilians are already prepared to leave the elevator, and Hercule says that these people know the truth, so they will expose A-LAWS for what they are.
At the base of the elevator, Mr. Bushido engages Setsuna with the Masurao, now in Trans-Am mode. Mr. Bushido has the advantage and proceeds to wail on the OO-Raiser, until Setsuna activates Trans-Am mode himself. The other Gundams quickly show up though, and are able to force Mr. Bushido into retreat.
Setsuna is now back aboard the Ptolemaios, and it is then that Sumeragi notices something odd about the formation of the Federation troops surrounding the Elevator. She has Felt check wind readings, and realizes that the forces are deployed in a way that they would avoid the debris from the elevator should it come down. She also realizes that A-LAWS must have another orbital weapon. And she is indeed right. In space, Arthur Goodman now commands the second Memento Mori.
I guess alot of people were expecting the Masurao/OO Raiser fight to continue right as the episode started, but it didn’t show up till around the end of the episode. Nevertheless, I thouroughly enjoyed this episode. It was nice to see Sergei in the spotlight, and all the action inside the elevator was really interesting. The way the video was edited to make it seem as if the coup force were killing innocents was diabolical on the part of A-LAWS, but if those people make it out of the elevator, they are screwed, since those people know the truth. However, it looks like one of the elevators may come tumbling down next week, seeing as how A-LAWS is aiming the 2nd Memento Mori at it. I do have a feeling that Sergei will meet his end next week, but I really hope he doesn’t. He’s such an awesome character, and I hope he sticks around till at least the very end. And I did enjoy the Masurao/ OO Raiser fight. This is the first time we have had 2 Trans-Am MS go at it, while in Trans-Am, and it was….wow. Even if it was short, it was godly awesome.
Gundam 00 S2 Episode 15
As the Innovators reel and try to understand Brings death and why Tieria could possibly kill one of his own, Setsuna makes his way to the nearby Kataron base, seeing as he is still wounded from his encounter with Ali and Ribbons. When he reaches the hangar of the base, he makes it out of the OO’s cockpit, before collapsing as Marina rushes over to him. At this time, the Ptolemaios still doesn’t know Setsuna’s location, but they are currently headed to rendevouz with a Kataron supply convoy.
Back at the Federation Base, Sergei thinks about his conversation with Pang Hercule. Pang told him that he plans to take the Orbital Elevator as A-LAWS has no jurisdiction there. Pang tells Sergei that he didn’t come to convince him to join him in the coup, but that he wanted Sergei to simply not try and stop him, as he wouldn’t want to fight against a friend.
Klaus and Shirin are also meeting with someone involved with the coup, and he tells them that they want Kataron to simply stay to the sidelines and watch the coup happen, but he wants them to decide on whether to cooperate with them or not afterward.
On the A-LAWS carrier, Andrei once again screws up a chance with Louise when he mentions Saji in front of her, who she again claims she has forgotten about. Patrick notices this and offers to give Andrei some love advice. Divine and Healing are watching from afar, and Healing says that being human is not convenient as they can’t communicate the same way innovators can. At this time, Kati arrives on the other ship and is greeted by Billy. Both vow to destroy Celestial Being.
Back at the Kataron base, Setsuna is recovering from his injuries. He dreams he is back in the middle east, and see’s his younger self on his way to kill his family, as he was forced to do by Ali. Setsuna manages to stop his younger self and take his gun, but as he leaves the house, he see’s Neil standing there. Neil tells him that the only things that can be changed by the past are Setsuna’s feelings, and nothing else. It is then that gunshots are heard from the house, and the young Setsuna comes out, with the gun Setsuna took in hand. Neil tells Setsuna to change in place of himself who was not able to change, and Setsuna then wakes up. Both Marina and Setsuna soon open up to each other, but are interrupted by news that the Ptolemaios resupplied at the Kataron supply convoy.
As the Ptolemaios reaches the coast, they come under attack by A-LAWS. The two Gadessa’s and the Emprus manage to keep the Gundams busy while the rest of the Mobile Suits head for the Ptolemaios. The only thing left to defend the Ptolemaios is the GN Archer, and Marie asks to take it out into battle.
At this time, Setsuna decides to leave with the OO despite his injuries. Meanwhile, A-LAWS if quickly forced to retreat, as news that Pang has successfully taken control of the Orbital Elevator. Setsuna learns of this, and figures that the Ptolemaios will head for the elevator, so he heads in that direction. However, when he reaches the elevator, Mr. Bushido is waiting there. Mr. Bushido quickly strikes against Setsuna. Setsuna says doesn’t want to fight at the moment, but Mr. Bushido ignores this and does something that shocks Setsuna, he activates the Masurao’s Trans-Am.
So this was a pretty good episode. Its really setting us up for big things to come, primarily Pang’s seizure of the Orbital Elevator. It will be interesting to see what happens next, but I’m betting all these events are leading up to a possible collapse of the elevator. Of course, the biggest suprise of this episode is the fact that the Masurao has its own Trans-Am ability. I guess this was the secret Pr. Eifman discovered, and it sure is a useful one. I also quite liked the scene between Marina and Setsuna, though I don’t see them as a traditional Gundam couple. I still think the main couple of this series will be Louise and Saji.
New Gundam 00 Mecha pics
Some new scans showing off the latest Gundam OO mecha:
GN-009 Seraphim Gundam
AEU-09RG AEU Enact Suille Palace Guard Type
MSJ-06III-A Tieren All Region Type
Masurao
Empruss
And this month’s OOV:
GNX-704T/FS Ahead Forcing Scout Type
From the first scan, I’m more interested in the Tieren All Region Type. Obviously, this is probably some sort of mass-production version of the original Taozi. Whats most interesting is that apparently Sergei will be using this particular unit. I’m taking this as an indication he will leave the ESF and perhaps join Pang’s insurrection.
The Masurao is looking as fantastic as ever. This scan really allows you to see just how much of the Masurao is from the Union Flag. Heck, the arms and hands are practically the same as the original Flag. I’m glad they decided to go back to the Flag design for the Masurao, as the Flag was truly a brilliant MS design.
I have to say though, the spelling of the Empruss’ name is quite odd. I was sure it was Empress.
And this month’s OOV is truly unique. From what I’ve read, all the added equipment allows the Ahead to operate for a week nonstop, allowing to perform long scouting operations. Its also got 2 large GN Beam Cannon’s for good measure as well.
Gundam 00 S2 Episode 14
As Memento Mori explodes, the Ptolemaios 2 speeds off, escaping the ensuing destruction. After the destruction has settled, Setsuna and the OO Raiser come to a large debris field cause by the explosion, and Setsuna notices that a large portion of the debris consists of scraps of metal from the Ptolemaios 2, which worries Setsuna greatly. However, he is soon alerted to a small craft combing the debris field; Nena’s Riaan. Setsuna is somewhat shocked to see Nena, and Nena tells him that the Ptolemaios has been forced to Earth, but before their conversation can go on any longer, Setsuna speeds off in the direction of Earth to find the Ptolemaios 2.
As a Federation spokesperson declares the destruction of Memento Mori as a act of terrorism, it is also declared that A-LAWS has been given complete control of the Federation military. Meanwhile, Hercule and Sergei are talking, and Hercule tells Sergei of a planned coup of the Federation, as it is believed among him and others that the Federation has simply become the puppet of A-LAWS. Back at the Ptolemaios, Ian finally awakens from the Medical ward. As he leaved the room, he sees a majestic landscape, and quickly realizes that he’s looking through a gaping hole in the side of the ship. The Ptolemaios has crash-landed on Earth. The others explain that they were forced down by the Innovators and their Mobile suits, and one mobile armor. As the others take some time to rest and help with repairs to the ship, Setsuna continues his search for the Ptolemaios. However, he soon comes across a gaping crater; an everlasting scar courtesy of Memento Mori. He is then alerted to the presence of an enemy mobile suit in the area; Ali’s Arche Gundam. Setsuna decides to pursue.
Ali leads Setsuna to the ruins of the Krugis Republic. Both Setsuna and Ali land their Gundams and come out, when from behind Ali, Ribbons reveals himself. He tells Setsuna that he knows all about him and his past, including his real name, Soran Ibrahim. He then goes on to reveal something shocking; He was the pilot of the O Gundam, the very Gundam that saved Setsuna 11 years ago. He informs Setsuna that he was their on a test run, and was supposed to eliminate everyone in the vicinity to maintain the secrecy of Celestial Being. However, he spared Setsuna’s life, and he was the one who recommended him to Veda to be a Gundam Mesister. Ribbon’s goes on to tel Setsuna that he wants him to hand over the OO Gundam, as Ribbons feels he should be its pilot, not Setsuna. Setsuna is clearly shocked by these revalations, and attempts to shoot Ribbons, but is shot in the shoulder by Ali. Setsuna quickly boards the OO Gundam, and he and Ali soon face off.
Back at the Ptolemaios, the crew soon learn that the Gadessa and Garazzo are closing in on them. Tieria and Allelujah head out in their Gundams to engage. Al heads to take on the Garazzo, while Tieria takes on the Garazzo. Things do not start off well for Tieria, and its apparent that Bring and his Garazzo have the upper hand. However, Tieria soon gains the upper hand himself. he uses the hands in Seravee’s 4 cannons to grapple the Garazzo, and then engages Trans-Am. In a move that shocks Bring, the backpack of Seravee breaks off and transforms into a Gundam; The Seraphim Gundam. Tieria manages to pierce the Garazzo’s GN field with the Seraphim’s arms. Bring asks Tieria if he can do this to one of his own, to which Tieria responds that he is not like them, he is human. The Seraphim’s arms then switch back to cannon mode, and destroy the Garazzo.
Meanwhile, Setsuna, despite his injury, has Ali on the ropes. Ali then notices a shuttle approaching. Its a Kataron shuttle, carrying Shirin and Klaus. Ali heads in its direction to take it hostage. However, he is denied this by the OO Raiser, now in Trans-Am mode. Setsuna proceeds to destroy the Arche’s fangs in a single huge blast, then to slice the Arche apart. However, before he can finish it off, he begins to hear Marina and the Kataron children sing. This stops him long enough for Ali to fly off in the Arche’s escape unit.
In space, Louise is meeting with the Innovator who pilots the new Mobile Armor, the Empress. The Innovator tells Louise that the Empress is a prototype of a unit she will soon recieve from Ribbons. Back at Billy’s lab on Earth, Billy shows Mr. Bushido his new MS, the Masurao. Bily mentioned he incorporated Professor Eifmans work on the GN Drives into this new suit. As Billy walks away, he tears up a picture from his school days of him and Sumeragi, saying goodbye as he does it.
This episode was just awesome. The biggest thing for me was the revelation that Ribbons piloted the O Gundam. This is sure to stir up some interesting development in Setsuna. The O Gundam was the one that saved him all those years ago, and he viewed it as a savior of sorts. Now he finds out that his savior was controlled by the very person who Setsuna is trying to destroy. If that doesn’t upset him, then I don’t know what will. Its also interesting that Ribbons feels a sort of entitlement to the OO Gundam. Its obvious why though, seeing as it uses O Gundam’s GN Drive, and is its successor in a way.
We also finally get to see Seravee’s secret, and it couldn’t be any cooler. I’m interested to see if both Seravee and Seraphim can operate at the same time. And of course, we are introduced to Mr. Bushido’s new MS, the GN Flag-esque Masurao. Its nice that they went back to the flag-style design for Graham’s new MS, as that’s the MS that really defines him. It will be interesting to see what new technology has been incorporated into it. When we find out, we’ll finally know what Professor Eifman discovered before the Thrones killed him.
Gundam 00 Season 2 Second Opening – Namida no Mukou by Stereopony
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So this weeks episode of Gundam 00 was also the air date of its second opening, which is the song Namida no Mukou by the group Stereopony. Now, when the song was heard prior to today, it was not recieved well. I heard alot of complaining that it was too similiar to songs you see on more girl-oriented anime, and that it didn’t belong ina Gundam series. But, really, I don’t see where the hate comes from. I for one love the song. It may not be someting of the caliber of season 2’s first opening song, but I think its great anyway. I feel it has a darker tone to it, which fits perfectly with the tone the series has taken over the first half of the season.Either way, its a great opening.
The visuals of the opening sequence are none to disapoint either. Their just as flashy and great to watch as usual, and we are presented with some interesting new things, such as Louise’s O-Raiser-esque Mobile Armor, and of course Grahams’s new Samurai GN Flag (Which, IMO is epic awesomeness already)
Aigons' Domain Ver.2.0 