Spoiler
Things that I liked:
-Typically a breakneck pace throughout the show. Even if the ending wasn't as satisfying as it could have been throughout the entire season I was always really excited for each episode and each episode flew by.
-The overall plot was strong throughout even if there was some weakness in characters at times.
-They were very ambitious with all the characters, factions and the story, which I appreciate. One of the more complicated Gundam shows, which was not a bad thing to me.
-The Innovators were fairly strong villains and as a big fan of Zeta I enjoyed the A-Laws, who were quite similar to them. Gotta say, I thought for the longest time that Regene and Revive were girls, reading the reviews here on MAHQ they are guys though? @_@
-Great animation, music and designs the whole way.
-The final battle being a downgrade of mobile suits, the Exia vs. the 0 Gundam (although where did the Exia come from?). A really unique twist to things.
Things that I didn't like:
-Multiple fake outs or repetition of things. As mentioned earlier, it was quite frustrating for them to spend an entire episode destroying the Memento Mori, then reveal a few episodes later that there was a second one (which was subsequently destroyed a lot easier). Also, having Nena kill off Wang and Hong, only to reveal a couple of episodes later that they survived, then immediately kill them off for real. What was the point of doing it that way? Both seasons feature Patrick Colasour 'dying' then showing up alive again although I don't mind that one as much since he's clearly there for the comedy relief.
-They raise the stakes so high around episodes 23 and 24, with all those Brings Stability (probably the most ridiculous Gundam name ever?) clones, who are using Trans-Am in their mobile suits, plus those murder rampage robots that A-Laws have going through the Ptolemeis and in the end neither does much damage or harm.
-I would agree that they underutilized Ali Al Sanchez, who was such a bad ass character in the first season. They used him a little bit in the middle and he came back at the end for Lyle to kill him, but he could have been used a lot more if they pruned some unnecessary stuff. Kinda the same for Graham, who was underutilized in both seasons! Maybe they should have combined the characters.
-Also woefully underdeveloped was the Sumeragi-Billy-Kati relationship/storyline and the return of Hallejulah which hardly factored into the plot. And Soma didn't get enough time or attention the latter 2/3's of the season.
-I hate the happy endings Louise and Andrei got. I thought it would have been so perfect if they ended things for Louise around episode 21. She finally gets her long awaited revenge, killing Nena, and essentially is losing her mind afterwards. End it right there. Show her in an institution in the final episode. It would have been perfect. I suppose I could be happy for Saji, but I don't think her recovering and being with him at the end was deserved. As for Andrei, as someone who loved the Sergei character I was so pissed at him for his entire attitude and killing him. I don't think there was anything I wanted more than than for Soma to kill him at the end of the show. Instead she forgives him, he realizes he was wrong and got a happy ending. That completely sucked. Part of me wishes late 70's through mid 90's Tomino directed this, he would have given them the endings they deserved ^_^
Overall I really enjoyed both seasons of this. This may be my favorite non-Tomino Gundam show, although I need to give it some time to think it over more. Onto the movie!
-Typically a breakneck pace throughout the show. Even if the ending wasn't as satisfying as it could have been throughout the entire season I was always really excited for each episode and each episode flew by.
-The overall plot was strong throughout even if there was some weakness in characters at times.
-They were very ambitious with all the characters, factions and the story, which I appreciate. One of the more complicated Gundam shows, which was not a bad thing to me.
-The Innovators were fairly strong villains and as a big fan of Zeta I enjoyed the A-Laws, who were quite similar to them. Gotta say, I thought for the longest time that Regene and Revive were girls, reading the reviews here on MAHQ they are guys though? @_@
-Great animation, music and designs the whole way.
-The final battle being a downgrade of mobile suits, the Exia vs. the 0 Gundam (although where did the Exia come from?). A really unique twist to things.
Things that I didn't like:
-Multiple fake outs or repetition of things. As mentioned earlier, it was quite frustrating for them to spend an entire episode destroying the Memento Mori, then reveal a few episodes later that there was a second one (which was subsequently destroyed a lot easier). Also, having Nena kill off Wang and Hong, only to reveal a couple of episodes later that they survived, then immediately kill them off for real. What was the point of doing it that way? Both seasons feature Patrick Colasour 'dying' then showing up alive again although I don't mind that one as much since he's clearly there for the comedy relief.
-They raise the stakes so high around episodes 23 and 24, with all those Brings Stability (probably the most ridiculous Gundam name ever?) clones, who are using Trans-Am in their mobile suits, plus those murder rampage robots that A-Laws have going through the Ptolemeis and in the end neither does much damage or harm.
-I would agree that they underutilized Ali Al Sanchez, who was such a bad ass character in the first season. They used him a little bit in the middle and he came back at the end for Lyle to kill him, but he could have been used a lot more if they pruned some unnecessary stuff. Kinda the same for Graham, who was underutilized in both seasons! Maybe they should have combined the characters.
-Also woefully underdeveloped was the Sumeragi-Billy-Kati relationship/storyline and the return of Hallejulah which hardly factored into the plot. And Soma didn't get enough time or attention the latter 2/3's of the season.
-I hate the happy endings Louise and Andrei got. I thought it would have been so perfect if they ended things for Louise around episode 21. She finally gets her long awaited revenge, killing Nena, and essentially is losing her mind afterwards. End it right there. Show her in an institution in the final episode. It would have been perfect. I suppose I could be happy for Saji, but I don't think her recovering and being with him at the end was deserved. As for Andrei, as someone who loved the Sergei character I was so pissed at him for his entire attitude and killing him. I don't think there was anything I wanted more than than for Soma to kill him at the end of the show. Instead she forgives him, he realizes he was wrong and got a happy ending. That completely sucked. Part of me wishes late 70's through mid 90's Tomino directed this, he would have given them the endings they deserved ^_^
Overall I really enjoyed both seasons of this. This may be my favorite non-Tomino Gundam show, although I need to give it some time to think it over more. Onto the movie!