Anime Overview: Mobile Suit Gundam 00

It's time for yet another Gundam Anime Overview! Yup.

This is one of the latest Gundam series I've watched. (Yes, I haven't watched Gundam Unicorn yet because I want to watch the English dub version and it's still not available here. For some reason, I don't like watching Gundam dubbed in Japanese... It just looks weird to me. Hmmm.. But I know that's just me.) Anyway, I've decided to do this one first because I can still remember this one pretty well. I don't want to write an article about an Anime that I've already forgotten. Initially, I was planning on writing an article about Gundam SEED. Unfortunately, last time I've watched that was, I dunno, 5-8 years ago? Anyway, I think I need to re-watch that again.. My memory of Gundam SEED is already a little hazy.

...Hmm? Oh, right. We're not here to talk about Gundam SEED.
Right now, we're going to take a look at "Mobile Suit Gundam 00"!

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and its logo (pictured above) are all trademarks and owned by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency & other associated parties.

Let me be frank. I didn't like this Anime... at first. Because of Setsuna F. Seiei's artwork, it reminded me of Syaoran from Chronicle of the Wings and Card Captor Sakura.. I don't know, I just don't like Syaoran and Sakura.. Or their Anime in general.. I don't hate it, I just don't like it. I guess I'm not into Shoujo Anime. But because my first impression of Gundam 00 was that its art style looks a lot like Shoujo artwork, I skipped on watching this Anime for a LONG TIME. This Anime was first aired in 2008, and I've only watched this last year. Wow. And if it wasn't recommended to me by my bestfriend, I still might not have watched this Anime up until today.

The world is currently divided into three multi-national power blocks.

...and with fossil fuels completely depleted, Earth now runs on solar power as its main energy source.

Since we're already talking about the artwork, let's get it out of the way. Upon closer inspection, I soon realized that the artwork was superb! Just after watching the first episode, I was already hooked! And there I was, thinking to myself "why haven't I watched this Anime before?!".

Mesmerized by the light of the Gundam... The exact reaction I had when I first watched Gundam 00's first episode.

From my reaction, you can already tell that I really liked the Anime. And if you're a "Winglet" (if I'm not mistaken, this is what they call a Gundam Wing fan vs. a "Seedling" which is a Gundam SEED fan), you'll most likely find this Gundam series awesome as well. Why? Because both Gundam series have a lot in common.

The main protagonists, one of the "Gundam Meisters", Setsuna F. Seiei. He has a slightly wider variety of emotions than Heero Yuy. Hmmm..

Setsuna F. Seiei's Mobile Suit: GN-001 Gundam Exia. It seems to be in its original rollout colors in this flashback picture.

The story of Gundam 00 focuses on 4 Gundam Pilots. Yes, there are only 4 main Mobile Suits/Gundams instead of the traditional 5 set by G Gundam and Gundam Wing for Gundam spin-off series. Oh, by the way, in this series we call Gundam pilots as "Gundam Meisters" instead since the creators think it sounds cooler. I think. They're probably right, though, because I do think it sounds cooler. Anyway, these Gundam Meisters are part of a private armed organization known as the "Celestial Being". This organization's objective is the eradication of war around the world and taking action in the form of missions called "interventions", where they would stop conflicts using armed force.

This is how a usual "intervention" scenario looks like. Pure chaos.

The first episode reminded me of the Gundam Wing series almost immediately. Although Gundams in any series are portrayed as over-powered prototype Mobile Suits, Gundam Wing was arguably portrayed as a God in its Anime. Or, at least, I think they were. Enemies tremble in fear when a Gundam appears and enemy bases panic whenever a base went down, afraid that they might be the next target. In a way, I felt the same way when I first saw Gundam 00. Of course, Gundam 00 wasn't as exaggerated when compared to Mobile Suits in Gundam Wing, where the protagonists were almost invinsible. But with their interventions and missions, it felt kind of the same.. In a good way. The Mobile Suits would suddenly pop out of nowhere, stop the conflict by overwhelming the enemy with their high-end Mobile Suits, then disappear.

Gundam Exia's first "intervention". Epic pose.

Another similarity between the two series is their main protagonist, Setsuna F. Seiei and... Heero Yuy. I'm sure some of you who've already watched the Anime have noticed this as well. I usually don't like "copycat" characters, but Setsuna F. Seiei is an OK character. He can show a wider variety of emotions than Heero Yuy,  but Heero's still my favorite. Hehe.

The soundtrack of Gundam 00 was something to remember, as well. I liked the soundtrack so much that I searched the web for their BGM titles. The ones that really got stuck in my head are "Unknown" and "Intervention". Somehow, it reminded me of Death Note, which was another Anime that I really love (and I know a lot of you do as well). I'm not saying that this Anime is for Death Note fans, though.

Finally, let's talk about the Gundams. At first, I really didn't like the Gundams' designs. But, then again, this is how I felt with every other new Gundam series that I've seen after the Gundam X series. To me, it seems that they're deviating more and more from the traditional Gundam look. I felt the same when I first saw Gundam SEED, but after watching it, I liked it. The same goes for Gundam 00. At first, they looked silly to me, but now, Gundam Exia is one of my favorite Gundams!

GN-002 Gundam Dynames
Pilot: Lockon Stratos

GN-003 Gundam Kyrios
Pilot: Allelujah Haptism

GN-005 Gundam Virtue
Pilot: Tieria Erde

CBS-70 Ptolemaios and the Celestial Being crew.

More Gundams will eventually appear as the story progresses. You have to watch Gundam 00 if you want to see them all.

So, overall, the Anime was great. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 consists of 2 seasons, with each having 25 episodes. ...so basically, it's just like every other Gundam series spin-offs in terms of number of episodes. The artwork and mecha designs are great, the music was awesome (with L'Arc~en~Ciel for the opening theme, you can't go wrong!), and the story was alright. Later parts of the Anime was a little bit disappointing, but the ending is well done.

"Gundam Exia!!!" (Setsuna gets very emotional, sometimes... Fine, all the time.)

So, if you haven't watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00 yet, I suggest that you do so right now! Yes, right now!

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00)
No. of Seasons: 2
No. of Episodes: 25 per season (50 in total)

Opening Theme:
"DAYBREAK'S BELL" by L'Arc~en~Ciel
"Ash Like Snow" by the brilliant green
"Hakanaku Mo Towa No Kanashi" (儚くも永久のカナシ) by UVERworld
"Namida No Mukou" (泪のムコウ) by STEREOPONY (ステレオポニー)

Ending Theme:
"Wana" (罠) by THE BACK HORN
"FRIENDS" (フレンズ) by Stephanie (ステファニー)
"Prototype" by Chiaki Ishikawa (石川 智晶)
"trust you" by Yuna Ito (伊藤 由奈)

Oh, by the way. Just in case you don't know (because I pronounced it wrong at first, too), it's pronounced as "Double O". ...oh, and I'll see you on the next post!