7 Reasons Why I Liked Gundam Seed Destiny

Posted by Neko Kyou in Gundam, Thoughts on August 22nd, 2007

I wrote the 7 Reasons why Gundam Seed Destiny Sucked about a month ago and thought maybe I should also give 7 reasons why I liked Gundam Seed Destiny. A warning though, many would argue that some (or maybe even all) the reasons I list here as their reason for disliking the series.

Gundam Seed Destiny

  1. Kira rocked.And because Shinn sucked so bad, Kira rocked even more. He has become more than just the Ultimate Coordinator. He is the God of War. There was even an episode dedicated to show just that – episode 39: Kira of the Heavens. Now if that isn’t the declaration that Kira is indeed the ultimate fighting machine in C.E., I don’t know what is. While Kira had to struggle against many opponents in Seed, he pretty much takes on everyone and their cousins with relatively ease, making Destiny and Destroy look like nothing but child’s play.
  1. Infinite Justice kicks ass. If Kira is the God of War, then Athrun with his Infinite Justice is, without a doubt, the Melee God. The original Justice wasn’t shown as prominently, and definitely takes far less notice compared to Freedom. But Infinite Justice kicks ass here. Infinite Justice went up against Destiny not once, but twice, allowing Strike Freedom to take on Legend. And every time Athrun decides to get serious, Shinn gets trashed like no tomorrow, making Infinite Justice the hero for many anti-Shinn/Destiny fans. Fukuda was probably taking this chance to make up for Athrun’s uselessness during most of the season. Too bad I can’t say the same for Cagalli…
  1. Shinn got owned. Pretty much every scene where Shinn got owned became some of my favourite parts of the series. I hate Shinn ever since he first started to blame Cagalli for his loss. Keeping in mind that I watched this part first before watching Seed, I can safely say that I didn’t start hating Shinn because I supported the old cast. I didn’t even know who were the old cast and who are the new ones. So Shinn getting pwned is fun to watch for me.
  1. Return of Fllaga. I’ll admit the idea of Phantom Mask is really Fllaga never occured to me until the episode where he repeated a phrase from Seed about chasing the “cute kittens”. It was a pleasant surprise that Fllaga somehow miraculously survived the Lohengrin blast from Dominion and that he would eventually rejoin the Archangel, piloting the Hyaku-Shiki Akatsuki.
  1. Archangel upgraded. Not only can the legendary Archangel dive underwater now, they even built a hot springs bath in the damn warship! It’s no longer just a first-class warship, it also has first-class comfort facilities! The Archangel itself isn’t the only one with upgrades, the crew themselves seemed to be much more skillful and calm than they were during the previous war. Barrel-roll maneuver? Nothing to it. Facing an incoming positron cannon beam? Been there, done that. Twice.
  1. Great OST. Even though overall I feel that Seed had nicer songs, I think that Destiny had more songs that are good. I can pick out more songs I liked in Destiny compared to Seed. And of course, T.M. Revolution :)
  1. Better animation. Quality wise it’s definitely an improvement over Seed. The quality of designs and animation are important in any anime, and Destiny definitely performed well here. Too bad I can’t say the same for overall plot.

At the end of Destiny (based on Final Plus) Shinn finally made peace with Kira. That would suggest that if there are to be anymore sequels, the 3 Ship Alliance would actually have Shinn on their side as well. I may hate Shinn, but it would be cool to have him fight alongside Kira and Athrun.

The invincible duo (Kira and Athrun) in Seed became the invincible trio (Kira, Athrun and Fllaga) in Destiny. Would we see the invincible quartet in the next installation of Gundam Seed and the C.E. Universe with Shinn in the mix? Only time would tell but it would be fun to watch that’s for sure 😀

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Top 7 Favourite Anime OST

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on July 25th, 2007

Anime have great soundtracks, as I’ve mentioned before here. More than half of my music collection are anime soundtracks, with the rest a mixture of game OST, English songs, Chinese songs, etc.

Most anime soundtracks are pretty good, but there are a few which are outstanding for me. These are the songs that I can play over and over again, day after day, month after month and even year after year. I can listen to them almost anytime and anywhere without that nagging “ughh… not this song again…” feeling.

Tsubasa Chronicle

There are 4 volumes of Tsubasa Chronicle OST to date and they are all composed by Yuki Kajiura. I was first exposed to his style in .hack//SIGN and could instantly recognize his style through the first piece played during the starting of Tsubasa Chronicle’s first episode. He did an excellent job of composing the rest of the series soundtracks and they are currently my favourite. “A Song of Storm and Fire” and its few different versions are tops.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

Gundam Seed & Gundam Seed Destiny

I didn’t know at first, but Yuki Kajiura was involved in composing the soundtrack for both Gundam Seed series, including the songs by T.M. Revolution. The soundtracks were great and most of the songs were awesome too. My favourite tracks here would be “Invoke”, “Ignited”, “Meteor”, “Vestige” and “Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru”. Yes, I realize most of them are by T.M. Revolution 😀

.hack

As I’ve mentioned before, Yuki Kajiura had his hands on the .hack//SIGN series, and the OST was great. The other 2 anime series, .hack//DUSK and .hack//Roots were not done by him, but I liked them both as well, although I did find the soundtrack for DUSK to be annoying after a while…

Black Cat

Really a lot of great soundtracks here, especially liked the opening song and “Kuroki Neko”.

Eureka 7

I didn’t really liked the entire soundtrack for Eureka 7, but I loved the opening songs and a few other soundtracks from the anime. Shounen Heart definitely my favourite here.

Ranma 1/2

One of my all-time favourite anime and plenty of great songs and humorous tracks, featuring characters from the anime singing along to their own songs. I just love the DoCo (Female Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, Nabiki and Kasumi) group and their songs. All the other whacky songs never failed to put a smile on my face either 😀

Ranma 1/2

Cardcaptor Sakura

Another one of my all-time favourite anime, this is the real reason why I liked CLAMP in the first place. The soundtracks are mostly fun to listen to and I can never get sick of the 3rd opening, Platinum.

If you’re interested in grabbing yourself a copy of any of the OST above, you can do so from Play-Asia.com. Their prices are good and have low worldwide shipping rates. 😀

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10 Most Popular Game-Based Anime

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on July 19th, 2007

Many anime’s have been turned into games, some successful, others don’t. Naruto and Dragon Ball are prime examples of anime-based games. Game-based anime, on the other hand, are fewer in number. Let’s take a look at 10 of the most popular game-based anime that was released:

Note: These are not ranked in order. They are just listed here because I believe they are 10 of the most popular game-based anime around. I may come up with a ranked list in the future, but for now it is unranked.

Pikachu1. Pokemon. Love it or hate it (I, for one, love it), Pokemon is one of the most successful and popular game-based anime ever. It’s been going on for more than 10 years and both game and anime is still going strong despite many people putting it down. This is my favourite among game-based anime, having watched it since 10 years ago and being a fan of the game as well.

2. Digimon. Yet another -mon, Digimon started off as a simple yet highly addictive digital pet game and has grown into a huge franchise ever since. Also a personal favourite of mine, especially Adventure 01, 02 and Savers.

3. .hack series. Okay, this isn’t exactly a game-based anime, but you can’t talk about .hack without mentioning both game and anime. Unlike most other anime, the .hack series is 90% conversation and 10% action. Initial feedback of the .hack anime series showed that it wasn’t doing well in Japan, but receives strong positive feedback outside the country. Very compelling storyline, but definitely not for everyone.

4. Fate/Stay Night. Also adapted from a popular game (originally also a H-game) in Japan, the anime series is just every bit as good as the game. The game has many varied plots and storyline, and the anime is said to be following mainly the Fate scenario, with some parts from Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feel game route. Very interesting to watch, especially when you try to make out which legendary heroes each of the servants really are.

Eruru Utawarerumono and Saber Fate/Stay Night

5. Utawarerumono. A H-game converted to anime, it is quite different from your typical high school boy harem scenario of H-games. Set in a fantasy backdrop, Utawarerumono has one of the most intriguing storyline I’ve ever seen from a H-game based anime. I love how the story progresses, pulling you in as the plot grows beyond the tiny little village and spreading across the entire world. Oh yes, plenty of sacrifices, can be pretty bloody at times.

6. Kanon. Although not exactly a H-game, it was rated for 18 and above and contained one sex scene in the game. This game had been brought to life through anime not once, but twice. It was considered the best bishoujo game when it was first released in 1999, and while I find its first anime adaptation to be so-so, the 2nd adaption (2006) did a far better job of it.

7. Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien. Yet another H-game based anime. Many has hailed this as the best soap drama anime and so far I agree with them. The plot is actually very realistic and I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that actually happened in real life. Maybe that’s what makes it appealing as well, especially to more mature audience.

Tifa Final Fantasy VII Advent Children8. Final Fantasy VII. Based off the ever popular Final Fantasy VII game, a full CG movie was made along with a special episode of anime that features an important scene from the game. Even with only one episode, the anime still managed to impress many. Square-Enix really should consider creating more of FF7 anime, it is way better than their previous 2 attempts at it with the Crystal Chronicle and Final Fantasy: Unlimited.

9. Shuffle. Oh yes, another H-game turned anime. Not only does the lucky boy have normal girls after him, he also has the princess of the God world and the princess of the Demon world at his tail. Started off with many laughter, but took a sharp 180 degrees turn in the middle of the story and went the other way with its serious notes. There was also a second adaption, Shuffle! Memories, basically a recap.

10. Clannad. I’ve personally never watched this (…yet) but I’ve seen many great reviews and feedback on Clannad and I just had to include it among the 10 most popular game-based anime. The 6th H-game turned anime in this list, I’m beginning to wonder why are these genre so popular myself. They do have great storyline and beautiful character designs, that’s fore sure and Clannad looks like a win to me as well :)

Other mentions: There’s the anime based on Street Fighter, Tsukihime, To Hearts and the latest game-based anime Devil May Cry, which really lacks a proper plot other than tearing up every other demons around.

**Updated 21st July**

There’s also Ragnarok Online’s anime. I can’t believe I missed this one. It was supposed to be part of other mentions, but it somehow slipped at the end.

RO is one of my favourite MMORPG and when the original teaser was released for an RO anime we were very excited. However, the original project seemed to have been scrapped off and was replaced by another, with Roan as the main character.

Not a bad anime, but not exactly very good either. Only a few parts of the anime were memorable, such as the hunt for the Golden Thief Bug, the Clock Tower (ahh… Al De Baran was our guild’s officialy HQ) and the final showdown in Glast Heim. I still think I would have preferred the original animation where the first teaser was from :)

**Updated 4th May 2009**

I totally forgot that I had written this post. This really should be updated along with my Top 10 Funniest Anime post since there have been a few new game-based anime that deserves to be listed here. Also, I’ve completed Clannad (I had not watched it when I first wrote this post) and it’s definitely one of the best anime series around.

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7 Reasons Why Gundam Seed Destiny Sucked

Posted by Neko Kyou in Gundam, Thoughts on July 17th, 2007

Before I get flamed, I need to state that I am a fan of Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny. I actually started watching a few episodes of Destiny first before I went and watch Seed. However, after completing both Seed and Destiny, there are just some parts where I wished Fukuda had done more work with in Destiny. With this in mind, let’s begin:

Gundam Seed Destiny - Kira vs Shinn

  1. Shinn sucked. Even before I watched Seed, I already liked Athrun better than Shinn. Maybe it’s just his childish and arrogant attitude towards Athrun and Cagalli at the start, but I never really did like him. Granted, he has his good points and is an excellent pilot, but he just doesn’t have that likable personality to me. Him jumping onto Lunamaria the moment he gets the chance after the death of Stellar kinda pissed me off. Maybe he just wanted someone to treasure and support, but the way he did it came across me as a “it doesn’t have to be Luna, just anyone would do really…” thought. I must admit though, I thought he was kinda cool during the first couple of episodes, even if he didn’t do such a great job.
  1. Not drastic enough. Seriously, with a few exceptions, most of the time all the forces have it easy. There isn’t really that much sense of urgency compared to Seed. I can only remember 2 instances at the top of my head right now: the fall of Junius 7 and Kira’s race to Eternal. There’s probably a few more, but it just doesn’t feel as desperate, and desperation is always a good way to get characters moving.
  1. Little character development. Shinn had been a brat from the beginning until the very end. Lunamaria never does anything important correctly. Rey is always the same. Dullindal almost always wears the same expression. Athrun and Cagalli had been “rendered useless” for most parts of Destiny. Kira pwns all the way, save that one battle against Impulse. Mia had pretty decent development though :) Rey also had the potential to develop into a very interesting character with his past relation to Kruuze/Rau Le Creuset.
  1. Too predictable. Tell me you’ve watched Seed and didn’t see Neo/Fllaga doing his “Strike” thing with Akatsuki in the final battle and I’ll bang my head on the wall. While that is the most obvious, there are also many other instances of being able to predict plots fairly easily.
  1. Too rushed. This is especially noticeable towards the ending. The last episode had the 3 ship alliance totally owning ZAFT forces. Luckily, Final Plus rectified this… slightly. Still, it’s much better than the original last episode that was aired :)
  1. Yzak and Dearka. Their role could have, and should have been much bigger other than the few random appearances and in the final battle. It would also be nice if they were piloting mobile suits that were closer to their old units; Duel and Buster. Both suits were still functional at the end of the first war, and although Goufs had better functionality, ZAFT could have easily upgraded the 2 units as well.
  1. 3 Ship Alliance. Other than Archangel and Eternal, there were very little about the alliance. Even the Kusanagi was pretty much forgotten although it is one of the main ships of the alliance. Pretty disappointed that Kusanagi’s role was smaller in the final battle of Destiny.

Gundam Seed Destiny - Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice

Despite my rambling above, I truly did enjoy Gundam Seed Destiny and hopes that the C.E. storyline would continue. I’m putting high hopes in the C.E. based movie and even more possible continuations after that. Just hope Fukuda doesn’t screw it up.

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10 Reasons Why People Like and Watch Anime

Posted by Neko Kyou in Thoughts on July 9th, 2007

  1. Unlike normal cartoons, anime’s are also targeted towards older teens and young adults
  2. No matter how serious an anime is, there will always be random laughter
  3. Anime babes are H-O-T… well, most of the time :) The same is true for anime guys, especially those geared towards the female audience
  4. Anime fights are intense and just plain amazing
  5. Anime have cool mechas 😀 Gundam wins over Transformers any day!
  6. Anime villains are cool, sometimes even more than the hero
  7. ANYTHING can happen – literally! The sky’s the limit :)
  8. There can be an anime about pretty much anything and everything, there’s always something for everyone 😀
  9. Anime soundtracks are cool 😉
  10. Anime comes from Japan 😛
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