Back to my previous post on why Gundam 00 sucks, this time I’ll give 10 7 5 a few reasons why you should watch it.

Celestial Beings are over-powered

With the exception of the 3 ship alliance in Gundam Seed Destiny (and they can hardly be called new and inexperienced in mobile suit wars), Celestial Beings are to my knowledge the first ever organization with Gundams that pwned everyone from the very beginning.

The Gundams are simply in a different league mainly due to the mobile suit itself as shown by the battles between Setsuna against either Graham Acre or Ali Al-Serges. It gives you a sense of excitement to see just how powerful a Gundam is even when compared to the latest prototype any of the other factions could throw at it with highly skilled and experienced pilots.

Unlike previous Gundam series as well, Celestial Beings roam around rather freely and instead of running away from certain authorities, they go to them whenever challenged and make ’em piss in their pants with the entire world watching.

This style reminds me of the Saiyuki series, with 4 rather eccentric bastards party members who could easily pwn most enemies right from the start. Its a formula that worked really well with Saiyuki, and seems to be doing OK for g00ey.

Impressive Side Characters

Graham Acre, Ali al-Serges, Sergei Smirnov and Wang Liu Mei (just for being pretty 😛 ).

Graham Acre is the elite of the elite in my opinion. Not only is he a superb pilot, he’s just brimming with confidence and a little bit gung-ho. His only drawback is his obsession with Gundam thats a little too much over the top.

Ali al-Serges is even more crazier than Graham Acre, and also more mysterious. From what I can make out so far, he seemed to be behind the war which we saw Setsuna fighting as a child at the opening of the series. He also apparently influenced many children to murder their family and join his cause to fight for their God. He’s charismatic in a sense, but Ali al-Serges is holding back a lot more than what we or Setsuna knows.

My first impression of Sergei Smirnov was that he’s your usual heartless, hardheaded military top official who follows orders without questioning them. But I was wrong, he seemed to be the most compassionate of the entire Gundam 00 cast. If only he had a cooler suit than that poor excuse of scrap metal.

Wang Liu Mei caught my attention from the very first episode. She had that deep mysterious aura that pulls you in, although so far other than sitting there and looking pretty, she had contributed pretty much nothing for the plot. But hey, she’s great at sitting (or standing) around looking good 😀

Are the Gundam and Veda Alive?

Another reason that compelled me to watch the episodes one after another right now is to find out the secret behind the Gundam and the GN Particles. The Meisters often calls out to their Gundam as if talking to them and telling them what to do or what they are going to do. I’ve never seen any pilot “talking” to their MS and I’m really curious about the reason behind it.

This is especially so with Veda, which appears to be Sumeragi’s computer. Looks to me as if all those “Sumeragi’s predictions” are really Veda’s predictions. Just what the heck is Veda? Allelujah also mentioned that the Meisters were chosen by none other than Veda.

While it is possible that the Meisters are just relaying information back to Sumeragi by announcing their unit and action, somehow it just feels a bit stupid to be announcing your every action when Sumeragi can see everything anyway.

Gundam 00 Sucks. Go Watch It!

Gundam 00 sucks, but in a way that would make you want to watch it, for better or worse. Am I glad I decided to watch g00? Yes, definitely. It’s actually rather fun, in a weird kind of way, at least that’s how I feel. How about you?

Haro’s #1 Reason to Watch Gundam 00 – “Haro, Haro, I’m in it! Watch out for me!”

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Gundam 00 (or g00 as I affectionally call it) is already in its 6th episode. It’s definitely not Seed or Wing and it’s without a doubt serious business.

“We’re very serious. You should be, too.”

Gundam 00 has mysteriously got me hooked, having me wait anxiously every week for the latest episode. It has become one of my most anticipated weekly doses of fresh anime.

However, ask me why it’s good and you would see me pausing and hesitating for a while trying to think of an answer. Ask me what’s wrong, and be prepared to sit down with a cup of coffee or tea. It’s gonna be quite a lengthy ride.

Prominent Characters

Side characters have more depth compared to our “heroes”…

Gundam 00 has some prominent characters. Unfortunately, none of them are part of the Gundam Meisters. Sure the Meisters gets the most screen time and action. But other than Allelujah’s sudden madman outburst in episode 5 and Lockon’s conversation with his best robo-buddy Haro, there just isn’t any attraction to the Meister’s characters.

On the other hand, side characters are leaving a deeper impression. Graham Acre is possibly the most well built character so far and is much cooler than any of the Meisters. What’s even more worrying is that a new character that has just been introduced and has about 5 minutes of screen time is already becoming THE coolest cast of all – Ali Al-Serges.

In his on-screen debut mobile suit battle, he’s already pwning the great Exia who had just been upgraded with new equipments. If Setsuna can defeat an entire army on his own, and he’s getting his ass whipped by Ali, think of what Ali could do! Then again, it could just mean that Exia is an awesome suit and Setsuna just plain sucks. Either way works for Ali and against the Meister’s reputation.

Let’s not forget Sergei as well. He appears to be the most reasonable person in the entire Gundam 00 cast. If only he didn’t have to pilot that ugly mobile suit. It makes Zaku looks like a beauty contest winner.

Awesome Naming Sense

Read: Sarcasm…

Setsuna F. Seiei. First time I’ve heard a Japanese with a middle name and actually introduces himself as such. Okay, so that could happen. But it still feels weird. And let’s not even get into Saji and Kinue Crossroads (unless their father is a western).

Allelujah Haptism. Haptism? Baptism? I wonder if Sunrise took the idea from the PC game, Worms. If you’ve played the game you will definitely know of the Holy Grenade. You know, the one that goes “allelujah~” before it decimates your opponents (or yourself, as the case may be). Seeing how Allelujah did explode and went mad in episode 5, that might really be the case. Seriously… Allelujah?

Lockon Stratos. A sniper. “Locked-on stratosphere”? When Setsuna shouted for Lockon to fire in the first episode, I didnt’ even realize he was calling his name. I wonder if Celestial Being gave him the sniper Gundam, Dynames, because of his name. It’s just too twisted.

Tieria Erde. Sounds like a female name. Tieria looks like a female. Until he opens his mouth and reveals the shocking truth. “She” is a “he”. Up until the final moment in the final moment in the first episode, I’ve thought Tieria was a girl (even though I should have known when Virtue made its debut, but still the realization never hit me until Tieria was out of the suit).

Return of the NewTypes

And I thought they threw it out together with the Zaku’s…

Allelujah and Soma obviously shares some kind of connection resembling the NewType ability to sense each other’s presence. But that’s not where it ends, the ability gets an upgrade now that both people could enter each other’s mind and communicate directly via telepathy.

Graham Acre is Gay

Especially when he steps into his Flag…

He’s so passionately obsessed with Exia that the only explanation I can think of is that he’s gaying with the Gundam. He might have a thing for younger guys too, since he could so easily “sense” that Exia’s pilot is young. It just feels gay. But Graham is still cool.

Emo Pilots

Picture worth a thousand words?

Have you ever seen a grouchier bunch of Gundam pilots? Okay, to be fair, Lockon isn’t that emo. He’s quite lively actually compared to the rest.

Gundam 00 Sucks?

I find Gundam 00 sucks, yes. However, I’m definitely growing to like it as well. As I did this rant I came to realize some of the reasons why Gundam 00 has increasingly grab my interest with each passing episode. But that is a story for another day…

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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.

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.

2. 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…

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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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The official list of characters, support characters and mobile suits is now available. Currently there are 4 known Gundam and 3 known mobile suits –

• Gundam Exia
• Gundam Dynames
• Gundam Kyrios
• Gundam Virtue
• Union Flag (MS)
• Tieren (MS)
• AEU Enact (MS)

Gundam Kyrios can also morph into an aircraft (similar to Wing) in its Flying Mode. Kyrios is the tallest unit and seems to be the coolest Gundam so far in Gundam 00, but we’ll have to see its performance later on. Gundam Virtue kind of reminds me of a sumo wrestler with its bulky design.

Union Flag and AEU Enact are quite similar to each other, and resembles something that came out of Zone of Enders.

The 4 main characters are –

• Setsuna F Seiei (16)
• Lockon Stratos (24)
• Allelujah Haptism (19)
• Tieria Erde (unknown)

There are also a whole bunch of supporting cast, which by far looks more interesting compared to the main characters.

You can check out the official Gundam 00 site for images and more information if you can read Japanese –

• Mobile Suits
• Main Characters
• Supporting Cast

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Just 2 more months to go before Gundam 00 goes on air and it has already been announced that L’Arc~en~Ciel will be performing the first opening theme for the new Gundam series. The song is titled “Daybreak’s Bell“ and its single will be released on October 10, around the same time as Gundam 00.

This is not the first time L’Arc~en~Ciel’s songs had been selected for an anime theme. They’ve also performed for Rurouni Kenshin’s 4th ending theme“The Fourth Avenue Cafe”, Full Metal Alchemist’s 2nd opening theme “Ready Steady Go”, the ending theme for Full Metal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa “Lost Heaven” and the opening for Blood+ “Season’s Call” was by HYDE, their lead singer (thanks to anemone for correcting me). The group also did the closing theme, “Spirits dreams inside”, for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Grab Gundam 00 Opening Theme Single

Thanks to Kensaku for bringing this to my attention. I had not found out about this when he told me. It’s good to have a friend from Japan

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