#allelujah haptism | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

billveusay · 1 month ago

Text

I watched Gundam 00 and...

It's a very mixed bag. So mixed in fact that I have trouble figuring out my feelings on it. I think of a good episode or character moment and my opinion goes up, then I remember some iffy writing and it goes down, then I think about those beautiful mobile suits and fight scenes and it's up again, and then the character design comes to mind and we're down the slope once more. But nonetheless, I'd still say that I enjoyed it. It throws a lot of good ideas with potential, and actually follows up on some of them in interesting ways, but also fumbles with others and suffers from overall very generic characters.

It does open on a positive note with a very powerful hook. See those guys? There's like 12 people in their organisation, they have four Gundams, and they're gonna declare war on the entire world. Now let's show you why they not only have a fighting chance, but they actually put the world on the back foot for the majority of the season. This show really gives the Gundams narrative weight, you can feel everyone going "oh shit" when Exia lands on a battlefield and Kenji Kawai's music starts playing.

However, I won't give it too much points for exposition because as usual, there are five hundred different characters and a complex geopolitical mess, which they drop you into head first before you can put your swimsuit on. But at least, they include a summary of the global situation after the opening, like the original MSG did. So when I had a rough idea of where everyone was standing, I was hooked. But in the first season, my thoughts at the end of each episode were mostly "man, I wonder where they're going with that". IE, the Schrodinger opinion, that hinges on the pay-offs fulfilling the promises of the set-ups. Especially the whole "solving war with an independent force of dissuasion". It's an interesting concept, but that's because its flaws are immediately apparent and deconstructing them raises interesting questions. And... they do pay it off somewhat. And make relevant points. Celestial Being succeeds in uniting the world, but because they did it by creating global chaos, the driving motivation behind this unity was fear and a desire for security. And these are the feelings that lead people to relinquish their rights and give way to totalitarianism. There are also other episodes that add nuance to the plot and their actions, with varying degrees of success.

And yet, I still found a lot of it dubious. I think that's mainly due to them biting more than they could chew, choosing to tackle such complex topics. And that's not even touching on them bringing real world conflicts into the mix. I'm not saying you can never do that, but the standards by which you're gonna be judged are gonna skyrocket. And I really doubt they lived up to them, because the few that are mentioned mostly serve as background for an episode or two. And while I'm no expert on these, that left a bad taste in my mouth. It's kinda weird that they didn't stick to fictional countries and conflicts.

But focusing on the more episodic side of the show, they overall managed to keep things entertaining. I like that they put a lot of emphasis on the tactical side of the battles, it gives them variety and leads to creative set pieces (like the Ptolemaios diving into the sea to generate a tidal wave and mess with the visibility and beam weapons of their opponents). I especially like the run for the orbital cannon.

Now, because this show is such a mess, I have trouble structuring this review. So let's just immediately move on to the characters and address what's relevant to each of them. Though before that, I must admit that this is one of the weaker Gundam shows character-wise. They do avoid some pitfalls though, like the main cast is pretty good at communicating and not getting caught up in easily avoidable conflicts.

Let's start with Setsuna. I don't... love him, but I'm surprised by how much I don't hate him, if that makes sense. Cause at first it really felt like I should have, with the edgy Sasuke vibes he gave off. I think they avoid it by letting him grow a bit as a character, which shows that we were not supposed to think the angsty shtick was cool. It's no Vinland Saga's Thorfinn, going from broody to blasé isn't a huge jump, but it's better than nothing. What also helped is that after a while I started finding him very funny. His gender-envy but for Gundams is a factor, but also his deadpan expression at everything that happens around him makes for some fun contrasts. One of my favourite moments is when Saji punches him, he falls flat on his face, and while Saji continues to yell at him he just... lays here, for 10 seconds. Like he's rebooting

As for the whole indoctrinated child soldier in a holy war thing... at least he's from a fictional country, but the imagery they used still made me uncomfortable. I won't go farther on that topic though because I am very much not qualified.

Then you have Lockon. And I mean... he's obviously made to be the audience favourite, but damn it, how can you not love an irish Han Solo with a pet Haro? On that note, this show has the best Haro content in the franchise. Not only are they consistently very funny, they pulled off a tear jerking pre-sacrifice goodbye scene with a god damn Haro.

As for Lyle... bringing back the identical twin brother of a dead character is a hell of a writing choice, and I'm not a fan of it overall, but at least they semi-introduced him in the first season (in a single shot that I would probably have missed if I hadn't been spoiled) and his relationship with Katharon gave him a subplot that was his own. But I'd still have preferred someone brand new, who could also have come from Katharon.

Next, Allelujah. By far the weakest of the quartet. When I watched it, I made myself laugh by thinking "Well to be fair, he probably needed that second personality because they forgot to write the first one". One that made me recall Beyblade Metal Masters (2010), sequel to Beyblade Metal Fusion (2008), spin-off of Beyblade (1999), for the first time in years. This is an achievement, but not a compliment.

Plus, every time the story focuses on him, it's very rushed and wonky.

"Oh god, they're still making super soldiers. I gotta do something about this... hey Sumeragi! They're making super soldiers, can I do something about this?!"

"A'ight"

"Ok, imma go do that then"

And then he does. He shoots at the building, and that's the end of that arc. We don't even see the children he's killed, but we know he feels very bad about it for the rest of the show.

Tieria starts out annoying, but that's on purpose and like Setsuna, they let him grow and become better so it works as intended. It was very fun and cathartic to see him berate everyone around him for not being worthy of Aeolia's plan, then having a nervous breakdown following the reveal of Nadheel and its luscious hairdo. Then you have the adorable moment where Setsuna goes out on his own to attack Trinity, and Tieria shows up with Virtue going "No I'm with you on that, fuck those guys". And eventually he comes around to his teammates and proves that he actually cares for them, and you end up with a perfectly decent character. Also if I had a nickel for every time a Gundam protagonist went undercover to a ball by crossdressing very convincingly, I'd have two etc, etc... And like with Loran, Tieria 100% had fun with it.

Next, Sumeragi. She's cool, and as I said, I like that she added a tactical element to the battles. However she made me understand the meaning of "knockers", because she could indeed knock someone out with those if she turned around too quickly in a crowded room. Made me realize that up to now, Gundam was pretty decent with that kind of fanservice (I know that Seed has a bad case of the boings but it'll be a while before I get to it) and this contributes to the more generic feel of this show. Not in the context of Gundam as a franchise like say, F91 is, but in anime tropes in general.

The rest of the Ptolemaios crew is alright. Mostly stock characters, but they do the job. And without much screen time, they at least manage to make the secondary cast identifiable enough so their death in the season 1 finale doesn't feel like killing off the red shirts.

One who does suffer from a lack of screen time is Wang Liu Mei. And her brother. It's telling that she has to summarize their backstory in like two sentences, five minutes before they both die. I frankly could have gone without them, they're neither interesting nor contributing much.

Marina is as generic as they come, and my feelings towards her are equally lukewarm. I don't mind her, she has a few somewhat heart-warming moments, but I wasn't cheering from the sidelines at every conversation between her and Setsuna.

But let's go from bland to god damn spicy. Graham Acker is relentlessly and delightfully intense, and definitely one of the highlights of the show. He, alongside Harry Ord, proves that if you are contractually obligated to feature a Char Clone, you might as well have fun with it. I love how you could easily tell the whole story of 00 without including him, and yet he vehemently refuses to be made irrelevant out of spite. It's great.

Also... "Mr Bushido". Sir. You're a captain of the pseudo-United States of America's military. You're probably from Kentucky. If people took you seriously, this would be offensive. What's especially funny is that he takes off the mask in A Wakening of the Trailblazer. So in Season 2 he's actually going through a phase.

And finally, I feel like I should mention that I pointed at him and Billy minute one of the first episode and said "you guys are the stars of so many fanfics and fanarts". Didn't even have to check.

As for Ali al-Saachez... eh. He's menacing enough as an antagonist, but again nothing new. And he's at the center of every middle-eastern conflicts subplots, I.E, the parts that I prefer not to touch on, so I'll also leave him aside. It's a bit weird than he gets killed by Lyle. I mean, he does avenge his brother, but he had much more history with Setsuna, he was basically his nemesi-

"EXCUSE YOU?!"

Fine Graham, he was his second nemesis.

Then there's Colonel Smirnov and Soma. Now this is where I'm really pissed off, because those were the characters I was the most invested in. A child made into a weapon who tries to be the perfect soldier for an officer that actually sees her as a child. They start off on completely different pages from completely different books, but they also immediately form a bond based on empathy for Smirnov and respect for Soma. Then they become closer, and Smirnov's efforts help Soma rediscover her humanity. Then in season 2 it's revealed that she went on to live with Smirnov during the timeskip, and she's visibly in a much better place, speaking more naturally and showing more emotions. And he tells her that if she wanted to, he would officially adopt her. And a few episodes later she accepts, and I cried a little bit, but she's torn because deep down she still sees herself as a weapon and it's poignant...

...And then they COMPLETELY fuck it up! Remember when I said that whenever the plot focuses on Allelujah, it gets worse? Well surprise, she also has a second personality, but hers was the original. We'll send a few flashbacks your way so you can catch up but trust us, she's as interesting as Soma, we promise. So we're gonna have her take over her body and leave Smirnov to go with Allelujah, but it's okay, Soma is still inside of her (probably screaming). And she has her memories so that's cool, never mind that functionally she's a completely new character with the personality of a ":)" emoji. And don't worry if you were invested in her relationship with Smirnov, because we're gonna bring her back. After Smirnov gets killed. Yes, of course he was throwing death flags this entire time, but they still botched their bond, and it was still Marie who witnessed her death and not Soma.

This makes me so angry. I'm gonna talk about Patrick Colasour to calm me down. He's too twinky and he doesn't drink enough respect-women-juice to qualify as a himbo, but he definitely has some himbo DNA. And I respect him for falling in love with the woman who punched him in the face the moment he walked into a room. They're adorable.

I'm mixed on Saji and Louise. They work on principle, it's a great idea to regularly cut to random guys living their normal life and see how the world-changing events are affecting them, first in small doses, then escalating with the death of Louise's family and Saji's sister. Their discussion in the hospital right after Louise lost her parents and her hand is truly harrowing. Then in season 2 they get drawn further into the war and it destroys their life. Plus, Saji has some genuinely interesting moments, berating Celestial Being because everything was going well until they showed up, before getting smacked down with "yeah, it was going well for you". He tries to disengage from the conflict since "it doesn't concerns him", and it backfires horribly. And later when he's on the Ptolemaios, he learns that Celestial Being is gonna go fight the A-Laws or something and he almost runs away, but in the cockpit he realises on his own "...oh my god, I was just about to do it again". It felt like a very human reaction, having a moment of weakness and panic, acting on instinct, and then suddenly becoming aware of what you're doing. There's good stuff there. But... well he's still a bespectacled pot plant. And Louise is not much better. Before getting unhanded, her personality is "girly girl of the girl variety". Pretty abrasive too, made me wonder what Saji saw in her. Following that, she switches to a different generic archetype, so not much is gained.

Then there's Trinity. Not only annoying, but also extremely tonally jarring. I just mentioned how good the hospital scene between Louise and Saji is, but it's all happening because of a girl going "Oooh, I'm cute, kooky and violent (≧ω≦) imma go kill some people, uwu so random". That's the problem with this show, even if there's a lot of good stuff, you often can't separate it from the bad stuff. Her brother (the one with the fangs) is also annoying, and I guess the elder appears tolerable by contrast. Their deaths were very cathartic though.

Oh god, there's so many characters. Ok, Alex... ander? Alejandro? Alejandro, right, what's the deal with that guy?

"Hmm yes, we will introduce this mysterious character with a mysterious agenda and an equally mysterious boyfriend who will regularly show up to comment on the situation, and we'll make it unclear on whose side he's on, he seems interested in Celestial Being but does he want to help them, or use them, or destroy the... wait, it's the season finale already?! Oh shit! Er... er... okay, let's shove him in a big golden mobile armour and throw him at the protagonists. He's gonna say some typical villain lines, then his armour is gonna turn into a mobile suit and he'll have a cool duel with Setsuna aaaand he's dead. Well I guess that wraps it u- OH SHIT HERE COMES GRAHAM WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!". The funniest thing is how he's apparently part of a shadowy cabal that only exists for the recap episode. Which, judging from the way they use art pieces as avatars, is basically Evangelion's SEELE but with old right-wing French dudes.

As for Ribbons, big meh. He reminds me of Paptimus, of whom I'm already not a fan, but without the charisma. It's kinda fun that he's voiced by Amuro but sadly I only discovered that after I finished watching the show. And at first I kind of liked that they seemed to subvert the Newtype concept by saying "hey, a superior race of advanced humans that are supposed to show up and lead us towards a better age is actually kind of fucked up, let's explore that", but then Setsuna's eyes started glowing orange and I ended up with a whole omelet on my face.

There's a bunch of characters left but this is really starting to drag on so, the other innovators... Smirnov's son... they exist. I will give them that. Let's move on to the movie.

Honestly? I wasn't expecting to like it that much, at least the first half. I knew beforehand that they brought aliens to the party, which didn't bode well for the whole tone issue since we started off with middle-eastern child soldiers indoctrinated into a holy war. But the way they leaned into the weird and incomprehensible side of these aliens took me by surprise. I was not expecting the Gundam show that reminded me of Beyblade Metal Masters to also remind me of the Blake and Mortimer comic issue "The Septimus Wave" (if anyone gets that, I'll be astounded). The first half has genuinely creepy and eerie moments, and that really cool action scene where Allelujah has to parkour to avoid possessed vehicles. It also features an adult woman and top-level scientist pouncing on Billy Katagiri the moment he walks into a room and shaking her butt like a cat, because this show won't let us have things that are just good and don't need big bold concrete asterisks. Second half is... okay? With literally trillions of aliens, of course it's gonna turn into white noise at some point. And 2001/interstellar style endings are hit or miss for me. There are a few that have hit me like a truck but most of them I'm just nodding through, and this one leans towards the latter.

Let's end on a more positive note with the visuals. Hot demn, those are some slick Mobile Suits. And not only are they gorgeous but the animation really does them justice. The other Gundams fight, but Exia dances. And even though it sometimes has the same issue as Unicorn, I.E towards the beginning, the fight scenes have the perfect balance of readability and energy, but as time goes on and they need to up the stakes, it leans harder into the visual noise, they manage to regularly feature great choreography up to the end. The final clash with Ribbons is a great 1v1 duel and not a splurge of yells and SFXs.

BUT, this is sadly counterbalanced by the bland and uninspired character design. They all have the same noodly body type and roughly the same face, so the only difference is often their hairdo. Which makes it extra frustrating when they decide to switch it up or wear helmets. Yes, I know this could be the only thing preventing your lungs from exploding out of your mouth if your cockpit was damaged, but now I can't tell any one of you a-holes apart!

Phew.

You know, I think I was excessively mean towards this one. I still liked it, and it remains in the top half of my overall ranking. But... writing over thirty paragraphs on a piece of media on which you mostly have lukewarm feelings is kinda exhausting, because you're not even fueled by enthusiasm or spite. It's still a recommendation despite its flaws. And hey, if most of its good ideas were squandered in the execution, that means you're free to take inspiration from them but do better!

Next is... MS IGLOO. And I have some fun opinions on this one.

Cheers!

My gundam reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative

#gundam #mobile suit gundam #gundam 00 #mobile suit gundam 00 #setsuna f. seiei #lockon stratos #allelujah haptism #tieria erde #review #gundam review

10 notes · View notes