Gundam 00 — Episode 23
My exams are next week, so I don’t have time to say too much. Not that I have much to say anyway since episode 23 consists of twenty minutes of pretty explosions and ambiguous character deaths.
Pseudo Summary
Remember in the previous entry where I joked that Exia moves three times as fast with TRANS-AM because it turns red? Well, it turns out that it DOES move three times as fast. TRANS-AM boosts performance by releasing all GN particles stored on the Gundam at once, faster than the solar furnace can replenish them. Once TRANS-AM runs out of juice, the Gundam becomes underpowered until its GN drive can restore the particle count to normal level.
And GN-X has officially been downgraded to the cannon fodder units. They drop like flies in this episode.
Patrick’s cool streak is put to an end when he gets owned by a piece of flying space rock and spins off into the distance Team Rocket style. A few characters may or may not have died in this episode, but if they really do die, you can be sure that they will be resurrected in season two.
Also, lasers! Explosions! Green missile trails! Big guns! Non-stop action! And that’s about all I have to say about this episode.
Screencaps
Just so you know he’s dead
“I AM GUNDAM!”
Virginia class moving practice targets
“I will protect Lockon! *wub*”
Obsolete technology
Why does AEU let him keep the Gundam?
He received too much airtime for his own good
This formation is also called the cam whore formation
The director found a new plaything
Three times as fast!
The Gundam is sort of just standing there
It all returns to nothing / It just keeps tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down
This sequence seriously reminded me of Evangelion
She has nothing on Lafiel
“RAAAAWR!”
We can rebuild him. We have the technology
Déjà vu happens when they sudo gedit /usr/conf/matrix
Apparently that oversize futuristic Wiimote is detachable
Basically it’s a hollow tube with a piece of cellophane paper taped over the front lens
Right: a live alien speciment
Tieria mourns the loss of his seme
Geometric isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism caused by the restriction of rotation about a double bond or a cyclo-compound and the presence of different functional groups bonded to each of the two carbon atoms involved. I hate chemistry.
March 16th, 2008 at 12:50 am
“23 consists of twenty minutes of pretty explosions and ambiguous character deaths.”
Those GN-X’s got defeated by the element of surprise AGAIN and Daryl charges towards Lockon like a suicide bomber. O well, at least, I think the GN-X’s have been doing pretty well as grunts(way better than those seed grunts). Really, it’s gundam after all, it’s all about fights, explosions and deaths.
Farewell, Lockon =(
March 16th, 2008 at 1:13 am
NOOOOO, LOCKON~~~~~
Damn i hope Ali dies here, but chances are he will surivive for Setsuna to finish off at season 2…
March 16th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Nah, Lockon will be back. He had his hazard suit on, everything is fine. “No flame shall harm me! Or shower of shrapnel for that matter.” Really though, he’ll be “back”.
His twin brother will show up and Ptolemy’s crew will be all “Yay, where the fuck have you been?”. Then he’ll proceed to do all kinds of evil things (including raping Feldt, maybe even Tiera), thus stealing the title of “most wicked villain of Gundam 00″ from Ali.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:17 am
This blog and its commenters leave me in despair.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I’m still waiting for the torrents to come back up. I’m left in the dark since episode 19
March 16th, 2008 at 2:20 am
this episode was pretty good for an action episode but i dont even know if the evil red head is dead. it seems that they are just killing off characters.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:26 am
nice ass explosions and boom and it was cool, i think the next to die is tieria because he looks so heart stroken by lockon dying that he might sacrfice himself.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:41 am
And stereoisomerism is pretty much just that, well…some carbohydrates isomers are pretty annoying though, but save your hate for something better, like poly-variables differential equations or roommates that lock you out when you forget to bring your key when using the the toilet making you spend the weekend squatting at friend’s room because he bolted back to like Tampines…or poorly constructed sentences like this…
March 16th, 2008 at 2:47 am
@PS: What?
March 16th, 2008 at 3:06 am
“Patrick’s cool streak is put to an end when he gets owned by a piece of flying space rock and spins off into the distance Team Rocket style.”
i think it is not a space rock but a head part of a destroyed GN-X~
March 16th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Lockons suit had a hole in it. He should have died the moment he stepped into space. Nevermind that his helm was cracked, the question of how he aimed the big floating gun, or any of the dozen other problems with this ep.
Whatever. Im sure Kaio has a perfectly rational explanation for all of it.
March 16th, 2008 at 3:42 am
Apparently tiera gets mad at setsuna in the next episode, i can only deduct that he blames setsuna for lockons death.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:16 am
the lockon shit is like the deja vu of trowa barton. the characters thought he died then he came back with amnesia. im pretty sure the creators will do something like that. imagine butt pirates from space retrieving lockon and making him into their butt captain or slave for that matter.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Naw, its just a setup for his bro to take his place in the next season.
And yah, Setsuna is directly responsible for it. He has had plenty of chances to finish Ali.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:33 am
@Guner: Skip to 17:40, you can see a little patch on his right arm. I’m pretty sure that’s for the ripped portion. Only real problem I saw was why Dynames didn’t activate it’s Trans-Am system and how Ali managed to get hit with the GN Arms cannon when you can clearly see him dodging it at first :l
March 16th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Guner: That honestly sounds like a setup from Space Battleship Yamato, the ‘twin brother takes over’ thing…
March 16th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Was Throne Zwei destroyed? http://haro00.livejournal.com/1128.html
Unanswered questions… http://haro00.livejournal.com/910.html
March 16th, 2008 at 8:20 am
guner: yeah..i agree that it’s one of those ‘twin brother takes up the mantle’ plot devices…
btw…i don’t think that Ali got finished off that easily…maybe Lockon did hit him but only the lower part of the MS…missing the cockpit and so on…and since it doesn’t appear to be a direct hit, anyway…i guess it’s safe to bet that Ali would be back next season…
i found this episode disappointing…i mean…it had alot of plot holes and inconsistencies..anyway, i hope the season ender would put some sense to this..but based on the short ‘preview’ after the episode..i think it would only be 20 something minutes of mourning a lost comrad…
for all it’s worth… Lockon Stratos’ cool disposition would be missed…(the other three Gundam Meisters are totally boring without their mobile suits…)
March 16th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I loved it. Sure, they didn’t have to scream that loud considering that they didn’t get to bond together too much, but I loved this ep. The Cowboy Bebop reference make it even better, don’t know where you got the Eva one.
Also, nano > vi > emacs > gedit.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:34 am
shouldn’t it be “the Gundam becomes underpowered..” and not “the Gundam because underpowered”..
March 16th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Nuts I guess that Trans-Am does bring us back to square one again… grunts in Gundam never get a break and Patrick gets kicked around again. Kamen Lockon confirmed.
As for Lafiel, sorry Darkmirage but we both know that any one who stands on the other side of the “good” Gundams is bound to lose and fail no matter how smart or tactically adept they are. Leave Kaite alone you evil man, just because she’s only one of two non idiot women doesn’t mean she sucks just cause Abh aren’t around…
Gundams pwn all in the end not even Spoor could prevail against the Gundams since they always win in end. Heck even Treize could not beat the Gundams and Zeon often ended up on the losing side. In the event of a tie in Gundam power it is the side that comes up with the three-ship alliance that wins. Even then its a freaking armsitice hardly worth the paper it was written on. The best Char ever got was a tie too…though IIRC Char’s escape ball gets caught and it ends in a double suicide.
March 16th, 2008 at 8:41 am
lockon can us the trans-am system to why he diddnt i dont know i think they just like to kill people off which is great most other gundam series get more into drama then killing
March 16th, 2008 at 9:31 am
i forgot which episode that was. but man that twin looks evil. oh no waht if it was ali al sarshes doing creepy shit that day. im pretty sure he’s dead or will become a butt pirate. i am still uncertain about who that person. i have a strong feeling that he is not his twin, but ali. during the flashback in this episode they showed his sister not. not his brother. and he never mentioned that he has a brother. i am just speculating
March 16th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Shock!! Lockon die… Well, probably his twin brother is gonna pilot dynames in season 2.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am
A total of 12 GN-Xes were destroyed, mahing a total of 15.
this could still mean 5 left for each powers(4 left for union cause they modded the flag).
Also the hole in Lockon’s suit repaired itself later.
March 16th, 2008 at 11:03 am
In episode 21, why didn’t Lockon use the two beam sabers that were equipped with Dynames to block the attack from Patrick’s GN-X beam saber?
Why didn’t Setuna go all the way to get rid of Ali Al Sarshes once and for all when Exia’s Trans-Am system was activated at the end of the last episode?
Why was Ali Al Sarshes able to find some spare parts of the Zwei’s Fangs when he was onboard with Sergei in the UN transport ship?
Why were Setuna and Lasse so far behind to reach to Ptolemaios, whereas Ali Al Sarshes could get there to do the attack sooner? Wasn’t the GN Arms equipped with another “green” GN Drive which is “Trans-Am system capable”?
Why wasn’t Dynames’ Trans-Am system activated at all in this entire episode?
Why didn’t Lockon take the shot at Ali Al Sarshes when he could shoot him from behind?
March 16th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Great my computer keeps having pagefaults that I am so annoyed. Can’t even watch this episode in peace.
I think Lockon did really die. Otherwise why would Sunrise give him a twin?
March 16th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Wow…so many questions popping up in one episode…
but all I want to know is…WHEN IS DYNAMES’ GN-ARMS GOING TO COME OUT?!?
Seriously, only the model kits’ going to benefit from this episode.
March 16th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Not Explosions! In an Action Series?! The Horror, how unthinkable!
March 16th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Lockon dead, I never saw that one coming *not*. but will his twim become a Gundam Meister.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Lockon is dead but what about Ali? Also what is that huge thing tha Aleajandro is piloting? And if Ali is dead does that mean Saji becomes Setsunas rival in the 2nd part?
March 16th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I wouldn’t want to confirm that Lockon is dead. Remember Mwu from Gundam SEED, he protected Murrue from Dominion’s Lohengrin cannon and the whole Strike blasted into pieces. Well, he did make a come back in SEED Destiny though.
I’m not saying that the SEED errors will come back but there is a possibility that Lockon might survive since he wasn’t standing on the GN Arms when it exploded. So is Ali. I hate him a lot, but I won’t admit that he’s dead because the GN Arms only destroyed the lower body of the gundam, not where the pilot sits.
About Lockon’s twin… maybe he doesn’t even have one. When they showed his past, it looks like his family only consists of his mother, father, sister and himself. Maybe Veda created another clone of him. I was just guessing. Who knows? Even the vedabots like Tieria, Livonze and Gundam Meister 874 were all created by Veda.
I am curious to know where would Nena go after she flew off in her Drei.
March 16th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Kaioshin, your next comment will determine whether you get banned.
I didn’t say that I have anything against explosions. I said that that’s about all this episode has. Stop being so over-zealous. It’s only anime.
March 16th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
The GN arms/ container doesnt have its own GN drive, back in episode 22 feldt confirmed the attachment of Exias GN drive to the container so no trans-am for them. There are only 6 “real GN drives” in existence as told in episode 18 or 19. 4 are in the Gundams and two are attached to the butt of the ptolemaios. But maybe theres a trans-am for Ptolemaios… Wordd…
March 16th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I just watched Mai Hime/Otome and … OMG Soma looks EXACTLY like Natsuki!
Natsuki is cuter though.
March 16th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
“Geometric isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism caused by the restriction of rotation about a double bond or a cyclo-compound and the presence of different functional groups bonded to each of the two carbon atoms involved”
Sounds more like Biology
March 16th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
@Rayman:
The Ptolemy doesn’t have GN Drives, otherwise they wouldn’t have to use the Gundam to charge.
March 16th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
So did Ali go down with Lockon or not? Lol why did jokers like Patrick have to survive I wonder?
Yea physical chemistry is a pain. Organic’s more interesting. Thanks for the screenshots and good luck for your exam!
March 16th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
rayman, the CB ship does not have it’s own GN drive, it relies on the gundams to keep it charged, those two thrusters would be GN verniers more than anything
plus your forgetting about the second generation gundams which preceeded the main four, not too mention the gundam 0, so theres really 7-8 real GN drives thus far, but CB doesn’t want anyone else to know that
oh i do believe i’m repeating myself when i say please stop with the ‘lockons twin being a meister’ comments, thats crazy talk,
and i wouldn’t write him off as dead so hastily, the character appearing to die but not really yet has a bad case of amnesia is a theme that has been used before a couple of times in the gundam franchise
theres a motto in gundam (well i think it should be one) “no one is dead until you see and touch their corpse”
March 17th, 2008 at 1:07 am
@DM: Well it really wasn’t all the episode was, if people don’t mind spoilers I can talk about it more, but there were some pretty major character exits from the center stage, ones that have been with us for a while. There was also quite a bit of emotional outpouring over one of the deaths as friends and comrades had to say goodbye.
And if you take your blogging to heart then just say so and I won’t poke fun anymore.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I’m just irritated by how often and mysteriously fangs of Zwei gets replaced <.< with or without the technology. EP21 it was pretty clear the GN-X shot down most of the fangs and the trio escaped. Then when they were living on cans, obviously low on supplies, the GN-X attack again and once again there were fangs flying around. So if they replaced fangs why cant they recharge their suits? Now from the screenshot once again we see that Ali replaced fangs too. Weird, unless you’re telling me the fangs are biologically reproduced by the gundam itself
March 17th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Ok summary i guess, seemed to have missed what feel were some pretty powerful moments and what was going on.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:05 am
@DM: If you would take a little bit more time and effort into doing these blog entries like you did on the outset of this series, Kaioshin wouldn’t need to make snarky comments to tell you to try harder, and I wouldn’t despair over the really negative impression you’re giving. I once liked reading these entries, but they’ve since degenerated into more of the same bashing that you used to be above.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:41 am
Not trying to be evil but i hope ali lives and lockon dies, because the series will finally have a true rivaly just like amuro and char. because in the U.C. series character deaths and emotions made the story better. if they put a love story in gundam 00 and a rivaly ten the show will become much better than it is now. but now gundam 00 is missing something and it is charactization, it is so hard it is dificult to know if setsuna is the main character. nwell atleast this show is way better than gindam seed because of better animation and a fresh and brand new story.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:57 am
@random hero:
Actually, like the Surveyors said, there are only FIVE GN Drives operational. Even though the second generation Gundams are still running around, they all use the same GN Drive, which is swapped between each other whenever one of them needs to use it (from Gundam 00F). Thus:
4 Gn Drives (Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, Virtue)
And another for Fereshte.
Also, while that may be true for Gundam as a whole… remember that so far Gundam 00 has managed to avoid or modify most of the cliches that other Gundams have, and in the case of dead people everybody in 00 that are supposedly dead ARE dead. (like Kinue, whom many said might live because she wasn’t shown dead in 20… only for them to show the body an episode later).
March 17th, 2008 at 3:29 am
i think the Surveyors’ report that there are 5 active GN drives is accurate…because if a Gundam Meister gets into trouble,and the secret of the GN Drive is compromised…they would use a self-destruct mechanism…wouldn’t they? (ok…im just speculating…but when one thinks logically, then it isn’t far from being canon…) so the Gundam Meisters in the past probably self destructed their mobile suits…MAYBE…
OR Celestial Being only ‘recycles’ GN Drives…who knows? I’m more interested in knowing how people get in Celestial Being…and why they are so dedicated to the cause…i guess that’s what this anime lacks…it’s cool and fast paced…but the plot development is still a bit lacking (i hope we could get more about Celestial Being in the following seasons…)
March 17th, 2008 at 4:00 am
@PS… i have to agree a little, there isn’t much in the way or how or even why CB came into effect or how you go about joining them though its made clear a few times that many members are there because there family were there.
As for the deaths, i never believe anyone in these shows is dead until they actually show a dead body or you physically see the character in the throws of death itself. Gundam shows have the uncanny ability to bring back those characters we think are dead when we least expect it.
Few things i noticed about this episode… many deaths, many GN-X destroyed, lots of explosions! Its pretty much a mid show attention grabber as they build up to stopping for a while so we are left wondering what happened to the characters.
Few things i found odd in the preview, looks like there is at least another addition of a new mobile suit piloted by the guy who took over Veda. He appears to be in a cockpit with lashings of gold about the place… he has a serious fetish there! Not to mention the closing part of the preview which showed a Dynames type Gundam firing at a GN-X…. so i’m confused.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Well let’s see, who are the characters that we can kind of say have “come back to life” over the course of the franchise:
08th MS Team: (1)
Shiro Amada: Depends on whether you believe that it’s really him and not a ghost in Episode 13, or that he even should have died.
Zeta Gundam: (3)
Char Aznable: Twice, but both were planned all along. One was in MSG where only in Encounters in Space do we see him leaving for Axis and the other is at the end of Zeta where the Hyaku Shiki’s cockpit is seen empty after his loss to Haman.
Four Murusame: The last time we see her before the Kilimanjaro arc she’s in the Sudri which is sinking and exploding, bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to the chest and just not in very good shape. Then she runs into Kamille in the Kilimanjaro base looking perfectly fine and like nothing had ever happened. Very odd.
Jerid Mesa: He’s left in a derelict Gabthley in space with nobody around to rescue him and then shows up at Kilimanjaro too. Whether the base is in fact purgatory is up for debate.
Gundam ZZ (1):
Puru: Clones really…..
Char’s Counterattack (1):
Quess Paraya: Leaps from the cockpit of her Jagd Doga, WITHOUT ANY SORT OF SPACE HELMET OR SUIT, and somersaults into the cockpit of Char’s Sazabi without suffering any ill effect.
Gundam F91/Crossbone Gundam (10:
Kinkeido Nao: Falls to earth and then comes back with an upgraded Crossbone X1.
V Gundam (2):
Fuala Griffon: Ejected into space with a limited oxygen tank only to be saved by Tashiro later on and pops up again near the end with a new and deadly MS.
Katejina Loos: Looks dead in the destruction of the Angel Halo, but pops up again blinded (there’s symbolism in this, but you’d have to watch the series).
G Gundam (?):
Many: Devil Gundam cells, but it’s a deliberate part of the plot.
Gundam Wing (The series basically just doesn’t give a damn I found) (5):
Heero Yuy: Self destructs the Wing Gundam while standing on the edge of it’s cockpit door, is flung countless feet and spends 6 months or so in a coma
Trowa Barton: Vayeate blows up and he gets amnesia
Zechs Merquise: Looks like he dies at the end of Gundam Wing in the Libra only to come back in Gundam Wing Endless Waltz where nobody can comprehend how he’s still alive.
Mariemaia Khushrenada: Shot point blank, ends up in a wheelchair.
Lady Une: Shot in space point blank and comes back later on (Symbolic of her evil side dying, but come on!)
Gundam Seed (Gives even less of a damn then Wing) (7):
Kira (twice): Once when the Aegis blows up directly in front of him and the next time in Destiny when the Impulse does all but the same.
Andrew Bartfeld: LaGowe blows up, comes back
Rau Le Creuset: Just because he’s dead doesn’t mean he can’t be cloned.
Mu La Fraga: Probably the most infamous ressurection in anime history. Blocks a positron cannon from a ship point blank, utterly disentagrating the Strike Gundam and then he’s all but fine in Gundam Seed Destiny albeit with amnesia.
Athrun Zala: Saviour is disabled over the ocean and then he’s still fine somehow.
Sting Oakley: Chaos Gundam is obliterated by grunts and then comes back to life in a Destroy Gundam kind of looking like he’s braindead to get killed by Shinn (This I’m assuming because Fukuda/Morosawa couldn’t stand that had just done the unthinkable and actually allowed a Gundam to be taken down by anything other than another Gundam)
That’s about all I can recall. The thing I’ve noticed is that the more unusual the seeming death, the more the characters seem to make it out okay. For this reason I can entertain Lockon potentially being okay in the 2nd season, although highly doubtful, but not characters like Kinue, Lagna Michael, Darryl, Howard and Johan who all died in a very clear cut manner. Hell they even have a gravestone for Howard so he’s definitely gone.
March 17th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Go Fangs! I shall throw my babies at you!
March 17th, 2008 at 5:00 am
GUNDAM 00 EPISODE 25 SUMMARY
-Lockon and Ali Al Sarshes are confirmed dead.
-Saji hijacks exia and kills setsuna.
-CB ship is completly destroyed by Saji, killing all of cb members and remaining gundam meisters.
-But, Saji accidently activates the trans-am and dies because he coudn’t handle the g’s.
-Alajandro’s plan to bring kira yamato from the future works.
-Alajandro knows kira cannot be killed.
-So Kira uses strike-freedom invincible custom to destroy all the worlds millitary powers.
-Kira betrays and kills Alajandro and creates a machine that produces pink haired larged-jugged girls who crap gundams.
-Thus the cosmic era begins.
March 17th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Is it just me who found Haro extremely annoying near the ending when he kept on saying Lockon’s name?
Then again, I finally understand why people made Haro into an alarm clock in real life.
:x~
March 17th, 2008 at 10:04 am
@Chronolapse:
Ya I totally agree about the fangs thing man. Even without having to retreat or going back to their base or anything, they seemed to replenish right in front of our eyes when it’s destroyed too. I forgot which episode, but when Michael is using fangs against Setsuna (if i remembered correctly, might’ve been fighting others), all 6-8 fangs are clearly destroyed… and then after that, the spot where fangs flys out just suddenly has more fangs flying out again, again, again, and again. That f***ing bothers me also! They should just stop that already, or do the fangs really produce themselves biologically from the gundam. Just wanna block the holes where fang shoots out and let it deflect it back into the body and blow up the entire gundam.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am
RmX: From the outset I was only interested in the political aspect of G00, which since half a series ago has totally evaporated. I find it silly to blog a scene-by-scene replay of an episode everyone is going to watch anyway.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am
@Dragoon “Not to mention the closing part of the preview which showed a Dynames type Gundam firing at a GN-X…. so i’m confused.” If you look closer its most likely that Nadleeh is firing Dynames’ rifle. You can clearly see Nad’s “hair” lol. That and you see an enraged Tieria charging in the direction of the GN-Xs like 2 seconds later.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:17 am
yeah oo-great DarkMirage,i concure.the reason i watch gundam series is because of the clashes of political idealogy, which,at the end resulted is the display of military prowessness(apart of its an anime and not too complex to be elaborate).but since that element isnt showing up much lately, why not discussing whats everyone is watching…heck, no harm there.
i wonder how the destroyed GN arm syncronize with lockon weapon’s recticle.does it tilt or wave left and right?if not how could it shoot fast moving target like the throne?its like shooting 120mm smoothbore cannon but without a turret to steer around…hehe…plus where does the power comes from? auxiliary batt?shoot me..
March 17th, 2008 at 11:17 am
@DarkMirage: If it’s such a chore to do entries on something that fails to maintain your interest, why blog about it at all?
And if there is still a valid reason to continue these blog entries, then why not give us something more along the lines of an insightful commentary instead of resorting to these joke entries that probably only took five minutes to write?
If your real life activities don’t allow for weekly entries with meaningful content, then just don’t bother with it.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:28 am
LOL @ unknown’s comments…..”strike-freedom invincible custom” lol
March 17th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Predicted series end: Alejandro dies, and aside from that, hundreds of cliffhangers! It wouldn’t make much sense to have a completely different second season with no relation to the first, so they’ll probably have cliffhangers in a lot of places and then go a few years in the future perhaps?
March 17th, 2008 at 11:59 am
The ‘cheese’ factor of the Trans-Am system wasn’t so bad as I first throught it was. Indeed it makes them faster and more powerful, but it’s not a switch they can just turn on indefinitely.
I found out after watching that the Trans-Am system works only for a ridiculously short amount of time (seed break probably lasted tons longer). It was enough for Virtue to get out one huge blast (just one D:), Kyrios managed to shoot down a few units, heck Exia just used it to move faster and it ran out before he got to fight anything.
I think that even if it’s an advantage to CB it wasn’t as imbalancing as I first thought when it was shown in the previous episode. Also after it wears off the Gundam’s operational levels supposedly drop drastically for some time.
But yeah, lots of ‘deaths’ and cracked helmets, but no corpses so let’s see who really bit the dust and who didn’t in the upcoming episodes.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
DarkMirage, I could care less if you’re summaries are short (wrt exam crunch time, college sucks like that), but keep up the screen caps and funny excerpts; they get me through the work day (sad, I know).
March 17th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
@RmX,
Here’s the deal. It’s DM’s blog, he can do whatever the hell he wants here.
If it bothers you so much, don’t read.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I like your web, keeps me entertained.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
@Ascaloth: I agree completely that it’s all his decision in the end. I’m just making my comments is all.
By the way, post on the genderbending topic more! We need one such as yourself working on this madness!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Yeah….University is balls as I found out 4 years and 1 degree later. I just took my degree and ran away as fast as I could. Reading text is interesting, but not when you are forced to cram 300+ pages in a couple of days around exam time….per course. Anyway I knew your focus had been elsewhere for a while now. Mine is too come to think of it, which is why I’m like 5-6 days after the fact with each episode. Any plans to continue through to the next season though?
@RmX: I’ve got the large summaries/thoughts covered so don’t worry about it.
@ryvrdrgn14: I think people are too eager to call each new ability the CB Gundam’s display overpowered without considering the drawbacks. It probably comes from having watched too much Seed, where each new Gundam was like an epoch leap by U.C Standards. Pretty much every “upgrade” has had a drawback so far. Nadleeh loses most of it’s armor for enhanced speed and access to the Trial System, Allelujah trades for the more effective Hallelujah at the cost of discretion, Lockons large sniper rifle made him immobile, GN Arms is just a bigger gun, and now Trans-Am is like a Mist Quickening where you trade all your available energy for the chance to do some serious damage.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
@Kaioshin-dono: I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about here.
But I guess people are telling me I shouldn’t be interested in the blog’s contents at all, so I’ll just call it quits.
And that’s an interesting FFXII analogy. Wouldn’t have thought of that one.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Dark MIrage ROCKS! ur funny comments on screen shots will keep me laughing for years to come!
March 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
RmX: I do it because I think G00 deserves to be made fun of for pandering to yaoi fangirls and because (most) people enjoy reading these entries without taking them too seriously. I mean, if you think that G00, as it stands now 20 episodes later, still deserves serious episodic analysis, I’m sure you can get it elsewhere.
Anyway, I don’t see why I have to have a valid reason to blog, and in any case I would hardly call anime episode analysis a “valid reason”.
March 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
lols…tt part of chem is not tt bad wat…lol… quite slack…XD
March 17th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
@Firzen_net: ……Uh you know that tons of people do screenshot lampooning right?
@DM: Well most people don’t take my readings to seriously either, I’m just into giving a full analysis unless the episode of something is really brutally awful (it’s happened all of twice) in which case I cut it short and head to the thoughts. That hasn’t happened once with 00 though. The thing is we all poke fun at Tieria and his girlish looks, but we also measure the good parts of the series and in the end they far outweigh the aesthetic design of the characters being bishouneny. I myself make fun of the series all the time (Taking Gundam too seriously cannot work as a viewing method), but I make sure to get across that I am indeed enjoying it when I am.
Anyway like RmX it was a fun ride, but if that’s how you will continue with your blogging then I’m calling it quits too. It’s always fun commenting on blogs, but not when there’s less and less each week to comment about because the style has switched to making fun of the series rather then analysis. You stick to that and I’ll handle the episode analysis, which for me is a valid reason to blog. I mean we all have different reasons as you said (Sometimes you do music, sometimes I do as well, sometimes you do figurines, sometimes I do Trading Cards etc), none is right or wrong since such a thing doesn’t exist in this equation.
Anyway, good luck with your studies and as a bit of advice, it’s probably a good idea to finish the season and then take your leave of the series. Gundam as a franchise has predominantly been a character drama and politics only come up when they are relevant to the plot so this was never really what you were looking for if that’s your game (which it is for me too). For politics I would recommend something more like Legend of The Galactic Heroes.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Yes, I don’t take your blog entries seriously, I just read it coz it really makes me laugh. I’m a Gundam 00 fan and though your “reviews” are bashing the show, I know it’s just for humor’s sake.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
About the political issues tackled in Gundam 00, I was hoping that a “People Power” revolution in Southeast Asia will be featured in the show. Somewhat a farfetched hope.
March 18th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Meh, I was talking to my friend on msn about ep23. Joking around with him, by saying something like “Lockon will return with a mask!” “Dynames has super-secret-integrated-METEOR when he activates its Trans-Arm” but that fellow was overly serious and responded strongly to my comments… “NO! Lockon cant return! ..blah blah blah… I’m stating the facts!” Well obviously he’s way into the anime and is doing some seriously analysis shit. Oh I’m sure mobile suits are real, letting kids pilot a possibly muti-million equipment is what every nation will do oh yes so true.
Aside from those, gundam00 to me is more like using the “future” to explain, if not criticise present day happenings. Another thing which makes 00 special is that unlike more other series, there will always be generic grunt-units around (zakus, goufs I dont know) while 00 uses tierens and sorts(please shoot me if the next season has GN-drive Zakus). I like what DM’s doing, cause its humorous, light-hearted and provides a side-track from the relatively heavy storyline. Yes I know my life is sad but people who try to explain animes with logic just creep me out. Big time.
March 18th, 2008 at 2:55 am
wow… darkmirage… lo orang indo…?? wah hebat banget,,,!!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
lol…no local language here…i cant understand wat ure saying,udah udah…
March 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I wonder why, lockon didnt use his Trans am…
His clone brother may come back with a mask though LOL.
March 18th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Dark Mirage,
You really hate this series so much do you?
Thanks for the trouble for getting the screen-caps anyway!
March 18th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Great episode. But they better not bring back Lockon like the Fukuda and Morosawa did with Mu La Flaga in Destiny. The question is who will pilot the Dyanmes now? Lasse perhaps?
March 18th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
i love these blogs!
March 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I enjoy reading this stuff every week, I especially get a kick out of the captions. Anyways one thing that bothered me (besides stuff that everyone else has already mentioned) is that 300 years into the future, people are still wearing suits and ties. Something I’ve also noticed is that Aeolia looks A LOT like Lenin. He even gets his own icebox to boot, and like ol’ comrade is a revolutionary.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Actually I find your entries quite true to an extent. It is pretty much written in the same way a stand-up comedian lampooning on Bushisms.
And yeah, blogging is a waste of time for A level students!
March 19th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
at least we found out his (lockons) brothers name, i think…..
i don’t think zwei and by proxy ali was killed because, zwei didn’t go off like a little firework spreading GN particles all over the place, like eins did when it went boom (come to think of it, neither do the GN-X suits, which is odd cos in theory they should due to their drives being blown up in the process)
the question is, will lockons apparent death cause the CB team to eventually fall apart or will the opposite happen?
March 19th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I think since the particle beam hit the lower torso, Ali should have just lost his legs. Maybe we will see him flying a Zeong-like MS in the second season, or become anti-CB leader on a wheelchair.
Just a question, is his brother’s name Lyle/Ryle or Kyle?
March 19th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I believe that Ali really died with that shot. They just made the canon hit the lower part of Zwei just so it can fire back at Lockon right before it exploded. And possibly, the reason why they did that is maybe not to create an ambiguous death but to create a maybe-awesome draw scene between Lockon and Ali. The Zwie could have never fired back if they made the canon directly hit it, right???
March 20th, 2008 at 10:20 am
according to the sub it’s lyle
March 20th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Oddly, the thing that struck me the most here was the fact that Lockon left his cockpit to go into space WITH A CRACKED VISOR. You seriously have to be really stupid to do that.
Oh yea, and Lockon’s death (the only worthwhile character in the series, damn you Sunrise!) is entirely Setsuna’s fault. Because he let Ali go. And I hope he realizes that fact and then kills himself.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
^ Maybe Exia’s particle drop after the fight with Ali and unable to pursue him? As stated, after using TRANS-AM, the GN particles drop faster then the GN Drive can replenish.
I don’t Ali will be dead after that shot, and what happen to that nigger from Union??
March 21st, 2008 at 8:50 am
bleh…so many comments…read a few…same idea…either agrees w/ the comedian or tries to make him look shallow, or just talking about their own stuff….aren’t i the same though
too lazy to predict and analyze, i will put all the fate into the writer’s hand…it is in his hand anywyz….whatever happen happens…who cares if Lockon’s dead or not…in the end the series will end and after i m pretti sure that after 5 years, all of us is goin to forget about it anywyz..until another Gundam comes out and every starts comparing it to the previous series….
but i do take this series serious enough to at least post a comment to defend it …..i really think its quite a good series, and i thought this episode was good, shrugs, at least this series kills off people w/ no mercy…= = ..kind of ..although i m pretti sure they wont kill setsunna no matter wat…(or maybe they do ..then that would be real emo)…..i like the characters, and actually i dun feel how the character are drawn so badly….i really don’t care…..and yah i like the old man who really makes himself look like god …lol …i like how he sort of outsmarts that “weird random guy” with his green hair boy that jsut randomely pops out and say they want to take over the world…muahahahhaha.
bleh…its good, dun screw it up in the 2nd season….
March 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
lol wats with people trying to figure out if Ali died or not…who carez….we will see when the episodes come out..i dun even get how people can get so much from a 2 second scene of beams hitting the Throne..
faint`
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
that was awesome. rea