The Official Gundam 00 Anime Thread Mk 5.0

[Kavik Ryx]

In any Gundam, the supporting character are often more interesting. A good supporting cast that puts the core to shame is a Gundam tradition. The only two exceptions I can think of who were main character were Char and Bright, but then again, it's Char and Bright who are exempt from all the rules.

[azrael]

Judging by the damage to the Exia we see in the Preview (Exia's left arm gone) i'm hoping to see the Celestial Being's morale crushed. Hopefully the PMC or AEU is smart enough to grab the Exia's severed arm.

Someone on another forum noted that his forearm is still there. And I watched it again and can confirm it is still there. The angle at which it is animated is that the arm apparently goes to a vanishing point very poorly. Exia is holding the short blade and is making an under-arm slashing motion with the left arm just as the preview scene cuts out. You can see the shortblade reflecting light just as the scene cuts.

So no, Exia doesn't lose an forearm. Sorry.

[Ascension]

Man, if they come out of a 4 vs. 130 MS battle with absolutely no damage, I'm going to be upset. The "missing" forearm gave me hope, as did the Meisters' apparent anger at Setsuna towards the end of the preview...

I just don't know what to think about this series. They should've just made "The Graham and Sergei Show!" Give the people whose character development shows more promise the screentime and relegate the one-note Meisters to a more minor role.

[Direct X]

Man, if they come out of a 4 vs. 130 MS battle with absolutely no damage, I'm going to be upset. The "missing" forearm gave me hope, as did the Meisters' apparent anger at Setsuna towards the end of the preview...

I just don't know what to think about this series. They should've just made "The Graham and Sergei Show!" Give the people whose character development shows more promise the screentime and relegate the one-note Meisters to a more minor role.

I just found the last couple episodes, with an exception to 5, as filler ish.

Some major revelations are teased on, but quickly fleet away to another revelation.

I'm guessing this first half of the show will go this way until the last couple episodes before the break.

It's pretty nice to see the AEU make a move finally against the CB.

Patrick...you failed me again.

[Ryujin]

I haven't seen the Episode, but is it a safe assumption that this PMC Trust is a play off of Halliburton & Blackwater?

It would seem that way, although PMC appears to be a much bigger organization, to the point that it probably has a say in how Moralia is governed. Moralia also appears to be some sort of tax haven for mercenary organizations. Perhaps that's what 'PMC' stands for--Private Military Contractors. Nah, couldn't be that simple...

From Felt Grace's flowchart, it looks like PMC has a wide range of investments, with a marked emphasis on military-related industries & services, with everything from life insurance to commo networks to MS components. I'd speculate that, from Felt's description, it acts as an umbrella organization, the 00verse's version of a 'Mercenary's Guild.'

[Ascension]

Moralia's kinda like a merc-centric version of the legendary Liberatia, nation of pirates. It's a nation of mercs.

And I've been assuming this whole time that Trust was the actual name of the organization, and PMC was just a descriptor of what sort of business it was. I guess I was wrong. Naming a PMC "PMC" seems just a little too literal...

I was also a wee bit miffed by Ali referring to himself as a mercenary. From what I've read, real-life PMCs seem very reluctant to refer to themselves as mercs. The name "mercenary" has all sorts of negative connotations they don't want to be associated with. Ali just tosses it out there without a care.

[Ryujin]

Moralia's kinda like a merc-centric version of the legendary Liberatia, nation of pirates. It's a nation of mercs.

I was also a wee bit miffed by Ali referring to himself as a mercenary. From what I've read, real-life PMCs seem very reluctant to refer to themselves as mercs. The name "mercenary" has all sorts of negative connotations they don't want to be associated with. Ali just tosses it out there without a care.

Are you sure it's not Jean Lafitte's Kingdom of Barataria?

It's not beyond reason that, given 3 centuries and the evolving political situation, the public perception of mercenaries, such as it is at present, may have continued to change, much like how Italian Condotierri, German Landsknechte & Swiss Infantry were highly respected mercenary units during the Renaissance period.

Or maybe it's just Ali being one seriously bad hombre who doesn't give a damn what anyone else thinks, as long as he gets his paycheck.

[Recon 5]

PMC could be an embryonic Corsair State... (Mechatalk in- joke for those who don't read the RPG forums).

[Ascension]

You have a good point about the Renaissance mercenaries, Ryujin.

Moralia's kinda like a merc-centric version of the legendary Liberatia, nation of pirates. It's a nation of mercs.

Are you sure it's not Jean Lafitte's Kingdom of Barataria?

I accidentally missed a t, but this is the Libertatia I was referring to. The probably mythical pirate democracy supposedly founded in Madagascar in the late 1600s according to A General History of the Pyrates by "Captain Charles Johnson" (Daniel Defoe under a pseudonym).

On an entirely different note, I just realized something. We might actually get Setsuna's real name out of his encounter with Ali. At least we can hope. Maybe he'll say his real name with more emotion than when he says "Setsuna F. Seiei"...

[Strike Zero]

Episode 6 complete. All I can say is... meh. There were some good parts, but nothing too groundbreaking.

I halfway wish the creators of the show had just spent half the episode on their shopping trip and skipped the badly choreographed battle. Actually, come to think of it, I really wish half the episode was their shopping trip.

Amen to that. I do believe that that would have made this episode the best ever. Sadly, I also believe we're going to be getting very many episodes like that, as it seems to me the writers have a need to make at least one of the Gundams do something in each episode.

- On that note, Felt = KAWAII.

- Billy knows Sumeragi from college? And they had a relationship on top of that? That's certainly interesting, though I'm not quite certain how that will have an impact on future developments.

- The upgrade for the Dynames was pretty slick IMO. I don't know about you guys, but I actually laughed hard while Lockon was just standing there, firing his sniper rifle one handed with his pistol in the other hand, blowing everybody away.

- Patrick finally made his reappearance, but he was only on the screen long enough to blast off again. Too bad.

- Finally it looks like Gauro--I mean, Ali is going to give Sousk--I mean, Setsuna a run for his money this time. Hopefully, the fight doesn't last as long as most of his other duels have (meaning all of twenty seconds).

The next episode looks to be interesting. They managed to pique my curiosity with the line "the worth of the Gundams is called into question".

[Zero Revenge]

Judging by the damage to the Exia we see in the Preview (Exia's left arm gone) i'm hoping to see the Celestial Being's morale crushed. Hopefully the PMC or AEU is smart enough to grab the Exia's severed arm.

Someone on another forum noted that his forearm is still there. And I watched it again and can confirm it is still there. The angle at which it is animated is that the arm apparently goes to a vanishing point very poorly. Exia is holding the short blade and is making an under-arm slashing motion with the left arm just as the preview scene cuts out. You can see the shortblade reflecting light just as the scene cuts.

So no, Exia doesn't lose an forearm. Sorry.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9596 ... 001eg6.jpg

Totally looks like he lost an arm. And I watched the preview of Episode 7 as well, I think he does lose an arm.

Time will tell.

[cantfakethefunk]

(First post on the forum. Wheee.)

Episode 6 sort of let me down after the awesome Episode 5. The animation felt really half-assed especially with the humans, and I'm wondering where the budget from the first few episodes went.

The entire episode felt like a rehash of Ep2. Politics, Gundam Meisters get a mission, they meet up, they all do their own thing, Setsuna gets confronted by a new enemy ace in a cliffhanger ending. Aside from that, some of the tactics just seemed bizarre (way to waste all of your missiles on six or so enemies, Allie), and Virtue and Dynames seemed a bit too overpowered. Hoping that Ali really kicks Setsuna's ass or else I'll be damn disappointed.

I do agree that other than Lockon (who's awesome) and to a lesser extent Allelujah (who became a much more sympathetic/interesting character in Ep5) CB is really outshone by the antagonists. Graham is cool and I like the dynamic he has with Billy. Sergei kicks ass, Soma is oddly likable (and I'm really hoping that we see a foster father/daughter relationship between the two because I'm a sucker for that sort of thing) ... hell, even Ali is pretty charismatic and Patrick is amusing in his being a complete TEAM ROCKET.

Adorableness of the Bridge Bunnies aside, Sumeragi (who I really liked at first) is kind of bland now and I don't really like that she doesn't seem to show remorse at all for the atrocities they're committing. Setsuna has all the emotional range of a brick though I hope the whole Ali thing might give him some desperately-needed development. Vowels is a jackass and gives me the "will turn into a villain" vibe. And Liu Mei annoys the hell out of me.

All in all... the show seems really calculated/deliberate at this point, so I can't help wondering if they're humanizing the enemies like this on purpose.

I really am enjoying 00 so far, it has a lot of potential... but they really need to focus more on the characters instead of the POLITICS and mindless mecha battles. If it has more episodes like 5 I think it'll turn out great, but I can really do without episodes like the last one.

[CasvalRemDeikun]

Judging by the damage to the Exia we see in the Preview (Exia's left arm gone) i'm hoping to see the Celestial Being's morale crushed. Hopefully the PMC or AEU is smart enough to grab the Exia's severed arm.

Someone on another forum noted that his forearm is still there. And I watched it again and can confirm it is still there. The angle at which it is animated is that the arm apparently goes to a vanishing point very poorly. Exia is holding the short blade and is making an under-arm slashing motion with the left arm just as the preview scene cuts out. You can see the shortblade reflecting light just as the scene cuts.

So no, Exia doesn't lose an forearm. Sorry.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/9596 ... 001eg6.jpg

Totally looks like he lost an arm. And I watched the preview of Episode 7 as well, I think he does lose an arm.

Time will tell.

If you look at what appears to be the stub of the left arm, it has the port for the shield on it, which is located on the forearm. The part that looks like the stub is actually the forearm. I agree with Azrael, the Exia is just about to swing the left arm up with the GN Short Blade.

[ExhileVoid]

Somethings been bothering me in Setsuna's flashback:

http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 882up7.png

Is is just me or does Ali have half an right arm around 6 years ago in the past and we now see him with a complete right arm and able to pilot a mobile suit?

[Phantomexe87]

Somethings been bothering me in Setsuna's flashback:

http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 882up7.png

Is is just me or does Ali have half an right arm around 6 years ago in the past and we now see him with a complete right arm and able to pilot a mobile suit?

Looks to me like he's pointing with his right arm... Either way, I'm sure by the 24th century they will be able to regrow arms, or have advanced prosthetics.

[Dean_the_Young]

Somethings been bothering me in Setsuna's flashback:

http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... 882up7.png

Is is just me or does Ali have half an right arm around 6 years ago in the past and we now see him with a complete right arm and able to pilot a mobile suit?

Looks to me like he's pointing with his right arm... Either way, I'm sure by the 24th century they will be able to regrow arms, or have advanced prosthetics.

Not prosthetics. Unless they're a major theme (GITS) or done well, prosthetics have a tendency to become Super-limbs, stronger and harder and filled with all sorts of gadgets that make me wonder why they're so rare and not common in the military.

But it's a moot point; I'm 95% sure that he's pointing in a direction, and I think I see where his sleeve ends and the hand begins. Which brings a question; is he a past friend of Setsuna, or a past enigmatic foe?


Now things that interested me in this episode; Sumeragi used to be on the road of excellence in the Union, if her relation to Billy and the Professor are any clue. Even Graham's heard rumors of "the Incident."

PMC is intriguing; can't wait to hear more. And I hope Patrick won't humiliate himself more.

The bridge bunnies get to have some time; I was half expecting them to run into Saji, or Patrick (if they were near the AEU), or even Jerid. Keep those coincidences going, and all that.

But this episode's a set up for the next one, not much more.

[VentZX]

There seems to be quite a bit of hate, or should I say disdain, for this episode. I'm not really seeing where it's coming from. The way the episode unfolded was a bit formulaic, in the way that it followed past episodes in setting up a big fight at the end. But 6 did accomplish several things. For one thing, and I think people were too distracted by a certain outfit to realize this, but this was the first time that Wan Liu min actually met up with the CB crew (her two lines with Lockon and Setsuna don't count). The connection between Sumeragi and the Billy (and by extension the Union) is revealed, and Ali makes his grand appearance.

00-06 fell into the trap of including everyone and their mother in this episode, and some scenes we could have done without. Marina in particular having talks with the French leader was pretty much filler. We already know she is going around for help, we don't need to see it, especially when the plot doesn't really call for it.

Still, I am more than happy to see Felt and Christina (come on people, her name isn't that hard to remember!) get some much needed screen time. you know, for being such a serious show with a stone faced protagonist like Setsuna, the writers have managed to write in quite a bit of humor. Felt and Christina was great fun, but Patrick being the overconfident idiot that he is easily takes the cake. He can continue to be the joke character, I don't mind.

Clearly, this episode was a major set up for the next one, and hopefully we can just jump right into the action and stay there for a while. The animation quality did take a hit, mainly when characters were drawn from a zoomed out perspective, but that can be forgiven. I'd take weakly drawn scenes over stock footage and flashbacks any day. At least the closeups are still great.

Just as the title of the episode implied, the fight near the end really turned into a bit of a toy commercial, but it was pretty cool to look at. I don't care what anyone says, the Dynames's new armor is bad ass. If it can take the hits, who cares if it stands there.

As for Virtue, it may be a spammer, but that's kinda what the Gundam was designed to do. Get over it. If the spoilers from forever ago about the Virtue are true, then it may get some more interesting fight scenes, but until then, it is a spammer. At least we got a good laugh out of Patrick 'blasting off'. heh.

If anything, there seems to be some sort of fall out after the battle in the next episode which has me all the more interested to find out what comes of the battle. Not the best episode, but it certainly had plenty of eye candy and did a good job of setting up the next episode.

[Kavik Ryx]

I personally believe that this was the episode that opens the door to the rest of the series. The first five episodes were around to set up background and plot without delving too far into the story. After this episode, expect for the momentum to pick up.

[ShadowCell]

I wonder what qualifies one to be an ace in the AEU.

'cuz if Patrick is their ace, then hell, I could be their ace.

[Phantomexe87]

Well he's an ace only through simulation...