Gundam 00 S2 — Episode 10
Every middle-age man’s dream
Before I go into my usual hate-filled blasphemous rant, I have an announcement to make. Due to real-life circumstances unrelated to World of Warcraft, this will be my last G00 post. On a related note, I will be flying off to Japan tomorrow for about a month, so look forward to more Japan-related posts and of course some Comiket 75 coverage at the end of the month.
Now on to the hate.
Summary
She’s a jailbait
My characterization of the relationship between Billy, Sumeragi and Kati as a love triangle turned out to be wrong. It is more of a lesbian love-hate rivalry between Sumeragi and Kati, with Billy being the spectator.
His country is about to be destroyed and he is bored
The Federation is planning to make an example of the Kingdom of Suiru (Saudi Arabia?) in its bid to dominate the Middle East. Kataron offers to help but is probably useless.
Ali looks out of place in Ribbons’ bishounen zone
Ribbons must be well-read in history because he has very cunningly avoided falling into the age-old trap that has doomed so many ambitious conquerors in the past. As the famous saying goes, “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.”
Who didn’t see this coming?
Instead of launching a ground invasion, he has constructed a gigantic orbital particle cannon thing called the “Memento Mori”, which is latin for “remember that you are mortal”, an ironic bit of self advice perhaps.
It’s okay. GLA can rebuild through their tunnels
Unfortunately, his mastery of history appears to be confined to the classical to modern eras and he failed to account for the fact that every single super space cannon in Gundam history has resulted in the eventual downfall of its user after the first shot. Since the cannon is probably only good for one shot, he should have saved it for Celestial Being instead of wasting it on a generic Middle Eastern kingdom. Mere mortal indeed.
Does Hiroyuki Yoshino get paid twice?
And Hallelujah is back! Oh shazbot.
Thoughts
As much as I believe that nostalgia often distorts the true quality of past works and places them on unrealistically tall pedestals that future works can’t ever live up to, I have to say that I do miss one thing about Gundams in general: the human touch.
No, I’m not talking about the Gundam X ED theme by the late Warren Wiebe, although that was a nice song. I’m talking about the human condition, the morality of war, the heartfelt emotions injected by the writers and the general human-oriented nature of the original Gundam.
Who is that person and why do we care?
Although I thought Gundam 0079 was overrated and poorly put together, it did possess the human touch. One of the things that differentiated Gundam from the rest is its willingness to cast both sides of a conflict as complex individuals driven by very human goals. That is ultimately what separates Gundam from Dekarangers and made it great. War is never a battle between good and evil, it is the cumulation of our collective misunderstandings, greed, pride, fear and tragedies, an Gundam — born out of post-war Japan — understood this.
The same cannot be said about Gundam 00. The villains are overwhelmingly one-dimensional and the protagonists have tacked-on back stories that feel like one huge afterthought. Early attempts made to incorporate current affairs into the story so as to create authenticity and maturity were quickly abandoned in favour of a more simplistic geopolitical paradigm in the second season. The new sentai-style uniforms don’t help either.
Just misunderstood?
The bottom line of modern Gundam is not storytelling but rather model-selling. New mobile suits are introduced often for no particular reason. That by itself might not have been such a terrible thing, if not for the fact that the plot is routinely desecrated and defecated upon in an attempt to provide justification for more shingata.
The original Federation and Zeon had their share of heroes and villains. ZAFT and Earth Alliance both used weapons of mass destruction and eventually suffered the consequences. Celestial Being and Ribbons… Hmmm… I guess there is a remote possibility that Sumeragi is actually a scheming evil mastermind and Ribbons is just trying to save the world from global warming.
Just think about it.
Screencaps
Before she took up drinking
Emergency board meeting to discuss the economy meltdown
Amazing character detail for a guy we won’t ever see again
Most useless heroine of all time?
HG model kit out soon
So how old is the mother when she gave birth?
She’s a girl, right? I feel funny inside…
The goggles. They do nothing
All she does is cry and babysit
Awesome
“NO”
;_;
>:)
Redhead fight
How can he pilot the thing with that blinding light?
Well I guess that’s the end of my reign of terror. But before I sign off, here’s a parting gift for you to chew on. Flame away.
Includes only series I’ve watched
P.S. Vanessa Hudgens is cute.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
DM’s sense of humour this time around = nonexistent..
December 8th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Hmm I do believe I’ll be utilizing that chart for future Gundam series viewings.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Damn right 08th MS Team was the best Gundam series out of everything else.
And I agree, way too many mobile suits being introduced in G00. Most are ugly, too, imo.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
HOW DARE YOU RANK A MASTERPIECE LIKE GUNDAM SEED DESTINY BELOW TRASH LIKE 08TH MS TEAM AND WAR IN THE POCKET
WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE AMOUNT OF PURE FANBOY RAGE THAT BOILS WITHIN ME OH GOD
ALSO ALI’S PENIS WAS BURNT OFF SO HE TAKES IT FROM RIBBONS AND HIS ENTIRE HAREM EVERY NIGHT
December 8th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Really? the last G00 post here????
Wanna look forward to more G00 bashing next time..
December 8th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
NOOO!!!…plz be joking
u at least have to finish the series =.=
December 8th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Lol, the blue-coloured hair girl somewhat looks like Grace Feldt. That is my first impression of her.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I think it comes down to the fact that the main audience now a days doesn’t have the patience for a sophisticated and planned out story, hence the sense of humanity about the characters and the staff’s original intentions are lost. With the solution to this being fancy graphics, fanservice, and quickly resolved arcs that make no sense as a whole.
In short the story is lost once the fans become too much of an influence.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
i say destiny should get negative 10 and G would seem better if you had more patience.
“War is never a battle between good and evil, it is the cumulation of our collective misunderstandings…..”
not saying japan people is bad now.. but judging from what they have done to other asian countries in ww2, they seem pretty evil to me.
i kinda feel like they are using gundam as a cover up for their war crimes. its trying to tell people how there is no evil in war and stuff…so that nobody blames them for what they have done in the past
December 8th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
What? No Char’s Counterattack on your chart? I am guessing you must be a Gundam fan for about 15 years or less.
And how the HELL is Destiny better than 00?
God, Destiny has more flashbacks episodes than all the series you have seen…
They have those wannabe Zakus and Goufs that dies in like 3 seconds.
Oh, and they treat Kira Yamato like God also. You know, the enemy MS just stands there and let him slices it.
December 8th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I agree with Zerox, DM. How the hell IS Destiny better than 00? :/ Seeing your chart made me a bit depressed.
December 8th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Destiny should be -900 on the list because it faithfully fufills every sin of current gundam series-all the gundams and mobile suits look the same!
December 8th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
My idea is that he got promoted to the chief editor of Uncyklopedia or something along those lines. I mean, now that he’s shown the whole world his rather peculiar art of 360-degree bitching, noone’s ever going to expect (and approve of) any other form of contribution to the overall society welfare from him, no matter how desperately he may want to make himself useful by some other, more serious, means in the future. So why waste time on some blog that serves no other purpose than to induce random fits of nostalgia that distorts true quality of …
That or maybe he just got plain bored …
@Zerox:
Personally, I love the sequel concept where the new main character has a grudge and ends up going up against the previous hero, often due to misunderstanding. That’s why I was willing to watch GSD religiously and overlook everything else, be it the poor plot device, nested flashbacks, or those awkwardly forced retcons of Muu and Rey. The same would go for Tales of Symphonia 2 and the Emil/Lloyd interactions, even though the plot was, in fact, a far cry from the original piece.
December 8th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
the only thing that surprised me (not funny though) is how he managed to jam in HSM in there…
oh well, might as well take a break for a week or 2…
…who’s doing TL then?
December 8th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Hahaha…DM’s just being a trendwhore at this point and as I suspected can’t handle half of the criticism he dishes out and has decided to call it quits. Some observations:
08th is the consistently trumpeted sentimental favourite Gundam series of every blogger who wants to appear smart to their readers (because it’s oh so realistic compared to the others and all that jazz……not exactly), but unfortunately while it’s one of the better OVA’s the series also has many issues with it’s characterization starting around the last quarter. Examples include aspects such as Shiro’s sudden change of heart as a soldier, the cobbled together love story between him and Aina, and the infamous 13th episode that people are unwilling to recognize. Not to mention that Ginneas is as generic a villain as they come. So there’s part 1 of the trendwhore aspect, the part where he fails to present an argument and just goes along with the popular opinion at the moment.
Now, likewise he is still incapable of recognizing that Gundam 00’s supposed hero characters have had their bouts with darker tendencies(Lockon the first considering killing Setsuna in cold blooded revenge for the death of his family, Allelujah’s “mercy killing” of several thousand SS candidates, Tieria having no issues with judging his own teammates, Setsuna’s impulsiveness jeopardizing many live etc.) and is seemingly more concerned that it is the newest series and therefore can’t possibly have anything about it that could ever be considered superior or equal to those that came before it. Yes THAT is why he is claiming it’s weaker then Gundam Seed Destiny and it would be foolish to read anymore into it. That’s part 2 of the trendwhore aspect, following the assumption that newer entries in a franchise are always worse then those that come before them, claiming so, but failing to support it. Laziness.
Not to mention having to resort to pointing out trite matters in order to find fault with the show. Hooray, here we go again with the model selling argument garbage that’s been beaten to death forever. You know as if selling models for popular mobile suits to consumers willing to buy them is somehow a bad thing. No no no, it’s okay if you sell all the crummy merchandise and figma in the world, but once you start selling Gunpla, only then are you the devil.
Not a valid criticism I’m afraid and in the end, through all of his ramblings Darkmirage has really proved very little. That is part 3 of the trendwhore aspect (not to mention being a hypocrite as well), going along with the unsupportable notion that because the series has model kits based off of a certain aspect of it’s artistry that it somehow cheapens the viewing experience…..without attempting to explain why http://www.darkmirage.com/category/figures/ these are perfectly okay.
And what’s with the backtracking? This is the guy that has been claiming since well before the halfway point of season one that the geopolitical aspects were unacceptable by his standards and now suddenly he is claiming that everything was A okay until the second season as far as story, character and maturity goes? This is the first I’ve heard of this sudden admiration for the first season on DM’s part and I’m left to wonder where this came from. Actually I bet I know where and I’m half tempted to call out a part 4 on being a trendwhore for renegging on his earlier claims about the series just so he can reinstitute them as apparently fresh (instead of being worn as any observant reader can see) for the purposes of pulling the whole “the second season ruined the first” (TM) nonesense that always gets pulled nowdays. And still no examples, just empty words.
Shallow as always for one who protests to be so above the curve, and talk about keeping up appearances right to the bitter end. Sheesh…..it’s been a slice there DM.
December 8th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Seed was terrible.
December 8th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
That’s sad…now I need Random Curiosity…
ZZZ.
I need my Ramblings!
December 8th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
GUNDAM
There might have been evil people. Evil deeds were indeed committed. But to say that Japan as a whole was unambiguously evil during WWII is quite an overreaction.
Zerox
Destiny and G00 are about the same to me. I guess it depends on which part I selectively remember. It’s just flame-baiting.
As for Char’s Counterattack. The reason why I haven’t watched it is because I didn’t really enjoy Zeta.
Billybobbaxter
There is some truth in your first paragraph in the sense that people like you make me sick, i.e. you hate my blog and yet keep coming back for more, which is the very thing you accuse me of doing with G00. Since I actually enjoy watching G00, I can only conclude that you secretly love reading my blog(?)
That said, in reply to your accusation, the fact that I will be in Japan for the next month might have clued you in somewhat, or so I had hoped in vain. :(
The rest of your essay has nothing to do with me or what I said/did and it is up to you to find your own answers.
Just one example for your benefit: if you had taken a short break from your knee-jerking and thought through the matter in a calm and composed manner for just a bit, you could’ve answered your own question about figurines. The reason why they are more “acceptable” is because only the crappiest moe anime titles are founded on a premise of introducing as many characters as possible so as to sell figurines. The rest of the titles have plots that are not influenced by figurine marketing. If you feel okay with G00 being placed on the same level as these otaku baits, then I guess your comparison is valid. I don’t mind either way.
That is not so say there aren’t other market forces and fan pandering at work in anime of other genres, but the comparison of the role of gunpla in Gundam vs figurines in everything else is quite a stretch. Now you can go think through the rest of your essay.
All in all, I’ve been blogging the exact same things for Code Geass and G00, and I can conclusively say that Gundam fans take things more seriously and are more easily offended. For no good reason even, since the show isn’t that great.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
YES! Another person who thinks 0080 was awesome.
December 8th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Crud, I meant 8th MS team. that was the bomb.
too bad he ends up sort of crippled in the end… however if he didn’t it wouldn’t have been as touching ;_;
December 8th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
stop complaining fuckers, you guys should make your own chart. gawd he’s just making a review.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
One thing’s for sure, they’re really rushing lots of new suits for this season.
And they sure make innovators & a-lols like the pure bad guys.
unless the innovators were doing a ZERO of code geass.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
As Zerox pointed out earlier, it is rather strange that Gundam SEED Destiny is ranked higher than Gundam 00. Then again I also think it’s strange that Gundam SEED is ranked so high – I personally felt that once the “Three Ships Alliance” was formed, it degraded into “the good guys with overpowered Gundams” vs “the bad guys that want to blow up each other.”
My personal favorite of the Gundam series is 0080. I feel that particular series delivered the message of “war is truly evil no matter what” theme the best out of all the series, and it really showed that there was nothing beautiful and spectacular about fighting.
Also I’ve never seen Turn A before but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. I guess the unorthodox (in my opinion) art style and the rather peculiar mecha styles are kind of a turn off for me, but I might check it out since everyone seems to be so positive about it.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I cannot take that list seriously. Wing was a terrible anime
December 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I don’t particularly agree with all the ratings but seeing that someone else liked Turn A gundam is good enough to satisfy me.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Deathpink: Well we agree then. I am using Gamespot’s ranking methodology. 6 is terrible.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
enjoy your trip.
i do something of a gundam 00 “review” myself in case anyone here is having withdrawal symptoms from DM’s reviews.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
No more G00 reviews? Makes me sad, though I hope you enjoy your trip to Japan.
Ms. new girl who’s brilliant, smart, pretty and a talented pilot+cook I mean..come on, how is Tieria’s brain not screaming Innovator at him? The first half of the episode has him guessing that everything’s Ribbons’ fault then he meets a new super-human and he’s just “Oh, kay.” Not that I don’t enjoy the new eyecandy (I do), it’s just a bit bloody tedious that they switch character awareness from 10 to 1 in the space of ten minutes.
Ah, and what do you play on WoW DM?
I’m having withdrawals already!
December 8th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
I didn’t! I thought this is going to be different. (sigh…)
I have to agree with you on this. The first season was a political satire.
So DM, is this a confirmed spaceshipwreck?
December 9th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Does anyone agree? This was quoted from a blog about Gundam 00 at http://derailedbydarry.com/
I have only seen Wing, X, G, Seed and Gundam 00. I rank Seed as the top of them, X as the bottom. X has great mecha but the story and characters are just not interesting for me. Wing was the one that introduced me to Gundam. I haven’t watched any of the UC Gundam shows except short clips of them. I learned Turn A has good background story. I will watch the other Gundam shows someday.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:53 am
So you liked Seed more than Destiny? How does that work out??
And you liked Seed more than Wing? Again, how does that work out??
And no more G00 reviews?? NOOOOOO!! I loved the reviews, why must this happen!!!!!?????
December 9th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Seed was definitely better than Destiny. Destiny was a trainwreck that no one should suffer through.
But.. 3.4 for Gundam 00? Aren’t you being a bit too harsh? It’s definitely not the worst Gundam series ever…
December 9th, 2008 at 2:09 am
00 worse than Destiny? NO WAI!!!!!!*ahem* yea no way =D
December 9th, 2008 at 3:39 am
DM,you’re leaving..soon?How sad.Probably gonna miss you… :(
December 9th, 2008 at 3:54 am
SHAVE BALD. GLHF.
December 9th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Nice reference to Rainier Wolfcastle from The Simpsons.
Trackback from
meidocafe » Blog Archive » Das Animuwort zum MontagDecember 9th, 2008 at 5:18 am
[...] übel) auf seine Gundam 00 Hater- und Sowieso-Posts verzichten müssen, hat jetzt auch noch DarkMirage das Handtuch [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 5:19 am
@Darkmirage: …………..Okay, well I was hoping for a more definitive reply to all of my observations, but if you want to go on believing that the sole purpose of Gundam’s existence is to sell model kits and that most media aren’t driven by some degree (even your beloved Haruhi) towards allowing for a profitable merchandising line on the side then so be it. However, to assume that merchandising is the sole driving force behind a story and to pick and choose (based on what looks like nothing more than the common trends of the day) when this becomes the case for each individual series, then I think that’s a baseless “criticism” and not to mention highly amusing since I’m left to think that that’s it. That’s the sole reason you’ve come up with as to why Gundam 00 isn’t worth your time, as I understand is your alleged reason for quitting. An aspect of the show that is barely tangible within it’s confines until the day Setsuna starts looking at the camera and saying “Buy the 00 Gundam model kit”.
Nonetheless, assumptions such as the ones you’ve made about the purpose of the show (apparently there can be only one in your eyes) are in keeping with your usual style of thinking and observation from what I’ve seen of the persona you present (as opposed to the one we don’t see that indeed probably does enjoy the show and yet can’t or rather won’t convey it in his blog posts for what again can only be the purpose of keeping up appearances) so I can’t really fault you for it. We go by what we think we know about something after all.
By the way, not always agreeing with everything a host blogger says with sycophantic comments shouldn’t be a sign that someone hates the blog, or the host, or whatever and given how long you’ve been blogging I would think you’d understand that. There’s more to it then that and in the long run the criticism you are getting now from more than just me could be of some help to you. Well then, enjoy getting price gouged at Comiket.
December 9th, 2008 at 5:45 am
I see DM’s point about model kit sales. Season 1 of 00 had a large number of models but they seemed practical. That is some were necessary to fight on par with the Gundams (e.g. the OverFlag and GN-X). But the number of new units truly is getting ridiculous. Not as ridiculous as Destiny but still ridiculous.
The GN-X from season one should have been kept and only have the Ahead. There’s no way in hell a military would develop a new model every four years. Military mobile weapons are not as simple as cars.
I must disagree about the “heroes and villains” aspect of 00. There aren’t any heroes and villains, rather we get ANTI-heroes and ANTI-villains. And even then the anti-villains turn into anti-heroes, which makes things very one-dimensional.
All in all I agree with most of what DM is saying even though I still like the show. I find one-dimensional villains to be a refreshing change from making diverse villains all the time. It cuts down on the backstory and crap that makes us sympathize with them.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:26 am
@Sourooster: The new MS are not the feddies, they belong to the Innovators. The EF still only has the Ahead and custom variations as it’s high end mobile suit and the GN X-III as their mainstay mobile suit. Each Innovator has their own customized Gadessa, and Ali has the Arche which is literally just the Throne Zwei rebuilt and tuned up. Not exactly what I’d call a deluge of new mobile suits.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:27 am
So…. are you looking forward to THE ARMY?
December 9th, 2008 at 7:35 am
You missed Full Metal Panic.
Gundam 00 is a ripoff of it.
It is not hard to see Souske, Kunz, Mithrill, Leonard, gauron, etc,…
December 9th, 2008 at 7:36 am
@ Billybobbaxter:
The Arche Gundam I can understand but GN-X III? What happened to II? The thing that made me like the suits in SEED the most was the fact that they didn’t have very many models. You had the GINN and a mess of equipment for that suit and then the CGUE, which was only produced in limited numbers because it wasn’t a significant upgrade to the GINN. The GuAIZ, however, was and was therefore mass produced.
If the ESF was basing mobile suit development off of fighter jets in real life then I could understand. For example, the F-15 was built as a heavyweight, air superiority fighter while the F-16 was designed as a lightweight, multirole fighter. But I don’t see much difference in equipment and technology in the ESF’s mobile suits. They all have a beam rifle and a melee weapon of some kind. Granted, the Ahead may have larger engines but why not simply add those to the GN-X?
December 9th, 2008 at 7:43 am
@Billybobbaxter
Well I don’t agree with DM’s tastes…on quite a few levels, though i still enjoy the blogs XD. But you cannot say that Sunrise is making this show for our entertainment only. They are likely making it as entertaining as possible so that there will be higher ratings, yes, but they are most certainly not doing it for our sake. Higher rating = higher popularity = more money from show/modelkits/other franchise goods. All we do is pay them money ^_^ and enjoy it. Not that i’m saying that’s bad, since it’s how the world turns.
December 9th, 2008 at 7:55 am
It is indeed a sad occasion for me that you won’t be writing anymore 00 commentaries. My brother and I always waited for your commentaries after every 00 episode because although we are fans of Gundam 00, we enjoy your parodies as much as we enjoy the show.
And I must agree with you that I’m starting to compare S2 to S1 for some reason. Something in the back of my head is telling me that perhaps something’s gone wrong. It is true that perhaps in the course of trying to pursue Aeolia Schoenberg’s plans subterfuge has to be used to propel the story to two seasons, and I’m hoping Sunrise won’t make it a little drab while they’re doing so. I supposed the focus is actually on who’s toying with who and who’s following the right plan for now since it’s clearly implied that the script writers want to toggle with the viewer’s minds a little bit, just to make time for them to be surprised by the final episodes to come. What I’m praying for now is for Neil Dylandy to not pull a Jesus on us because Hal coming back was something I had expected. Saji has also proven to be the most pathetic character in history; he is even pathetic than Maria Ismail and Shinji Ikari combined. I never hated both. I mean, Relena was a better example.
I never liked SEED and Destiny; it was like Macross all over again. Macross has a good subplot but is always destroyed by the signing-dancing pop idols. I veer away from the Macross element.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy your trip to Japan. I’ve read some of the comments and I’m not surprised why you are miffed. I would be too. That’s taking everything beyond constructive criticism. Whatever happened to the saying, “If you got nothing good to say, don’t say it.”? But then again, ‘good’ is also relative.
Trackback from
ani-tations - Gundam 00 II 10December 9th, 2008 at 8:15 am
[...] to title Gundam 00 Season Two posts are horrendously challenging. DM: War is never a battle between good and evil, [it is complex]. The same cannot be said about G00. [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Marina isn’t useless! She’s there to fulfill the important role all female characters in the shonen have: to prove that the main character is straight.
p.s Is it just a coincidence that your top 3 happen all happen to be under 13 episodes long?
December 9th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
It’s too bad you’re dropping the series as I enjoyed reading your episode reviews. However I would agree that Gundam 00 is the worst Gundam series so far even though I don’t agree with the ratings you gave to older series in your chart.
December 9th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
@Sourrooster: The GN-XII shows up in the Gundam 00F sidestory and was used briefly during the four year time period between the series before being phased out. There’s a line art of it somewhere and it looks pretty much exactly like the GN-X. And Seed had way more overall MS and useless support vehicles then Gundam 00 has had so I’m not sure what you are trying to claim here. Just do a quick comparison on MAHQ to see the number of entries for each series. Gundam 00 currently has less overall mobile weapons then the original MS.
@Mira: Yeah pretty much actually.
Anyway, we always go through this whole “Oh it’s just the worst thing ever” with each successive new Gundam series so I’m not surprised that we get to go through it again before this one ends. The only time it was ever really true though was with Gundam Seed Destiny. To imagine that a franchise can have ups and downs instead of a steady trend of down or uphill is pretty outside the box thinking though, especially for people who probably aren’t even really paying attention to anything anyway.
In what is probably also in vain I suppose I would encourage people to actually pay attention to how Saji has been coming along as a character from a whiner to actually doing something and to realize that the Saji they are all calling the worst character ever is the one from 6 episodes ago. Then again linear time doesn’t seem to count for much anymore as far as commenting on anime goes unless it’s absolutely immediate.
If you ask me Saji’s come along much quicker than Marina who is still sitting around the Kataron base expectly everything to magically right itself instead of taking some action. When push came to shove Saji got in that chair and took control of the ships guns and he also helped Ian out in engineering, which is more to his calling. He’s paying his debt to CB for saving his life, but I ask, what has Marina done to pay back Setsuna for saving her all those times? Nothing. Yet he’s still the one getting dumped on for how he used to act because that’s the set trend. Same situation as the whole Suzaku hate by the way. Oh viewers viewers viewers, you’ve got to learn to account for change in character instead of waiting around for some blogger to tell you what to think about the show your watching. The story of the pied piper has never been as relevant as it is right now.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
[idiotTroll]
NO YOU CANT STOP BLOGGING G00 COS YOU OWE TO THE FANS. YOU MUST BLOG ABOUT IT ALL TEH END OR I WILL HATE YOU AND CALL ALL THE TROLLERS FROM UNDER THE BRIDGE TO HATE YOU TOO AND I WILL SPAWN ALL SORTS OF DORAMA AND SEND AN ARMY OVER TO SINGAPORE TO FORCE YOU DOWN ON YOU KEYBORDZ!
[/idiotTroll]
Have a safe flight and hope you survive the angry swarming otaku mobs over at Comiket. \o/
December 9th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
For those who still want DM to write about Gundam 00, don’t worry. DM is known for eating his words. XD
Trackback from
Gundam 00 / Season 2 / Episode 10 « Anime AnonymousDecember 9th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
[...] Dark Mirage [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Dunno ’bout u guys..but what i m so impressed ’bout gsd is their craziest fight. U know like the protagonist versus the antagonist.Both were strong&harsh.And it continues like that,non-stop ’til onto the next day.Unlike g00 it doesn’t make my blood boiled,yet.But even so,i will wait for it(the moment).
December 9th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
lol truth about model kits, i cant stop buying them
December 9th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
i really like gundam 08h ms team. that was as realistic the the gundam universe while still feeling like it could have happened in an alternate universe in this world. gundam 00? its a about a group of bishounen guys that claim they are innovators and just create tyranny. oh the future is fucked up
December 9th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
How about Gundam Zeta?
December 9th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Bring, an Innovator, is MANLY. A miracle happened!
December 9th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
The only thing missing from this post is an insert song. Or an extended version of the ending theme.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:40 am
@Exia: I’m starting to wonder how many people have actually seen the 08th MS Team versus those that are just trying to look cool. Cause if they had they’d have noted that Gineas Sakhalin is a bishounen that runs his engineering team like a…..tyrant. And boy would he just love to export that Tyranny to the Federation in the form of Gihren’s leadership and a nice hole where Jaburo was.
This continued failure of people to notice that they are picking and choosing their likes and dislikes without regard for actual content is as amusing as anything I’ve seen here.
December 10th, 2008 at 6:40 am
00 less than SEED DESTINY?????
December 10th, 2008 at 6:52 am
DM, I love your Gundam ranking chart.
1. I thought I was one of the few people who watched 08th ms team
2. I thought I was the only one who ever talked about it
3. I thought I was the only one who thought it was the best out of all of them
I completely agree with the chart. 08th ms team needs a revival. It was utterly amazing.
December 10th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Huh O_o … Your sudden decision to quit G00 is such a surprise for me but I understand…. It was a decent ride with you DM :)
Remember “Nostalgia Blinds” ? I thought that your Zeta ranking would be like 3/10 but here you surprised me once again :D Story is all I like about Gundam series and Zeta is the No 1 from all G series/movies on my ranking list.
On the other hand G00 is different – like every other “ongoing” series this one makes me me feel they dont focus on story development but rather they make “pointless” episodes/characters etc. Hehe maybe if I watched it as offline series in two days anime marathon I would see it differently and rate with better score.. hmmm…
PS.: Enjoy Japan ;)
December 10th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Hahaha…DM’s just being a trendwhore at this point and as I suspected can’t handle half of the criticism he dishes out and has decided to call it quits. Some observations:
08th is the consistently trumpeted sentimental favourite Gundam series of every blogger who wants to appear smart to their readers (because it’s oh so realistic compared to the others and all that jazz……not exactly), but unfortunately while it’s one of the better OVA’s the series also has many issues with it’s characterization starting around the last quarter. Examples include aspects such as Shiro’s sudden change of heart as a soldier, the cobbled together love story between him and Aina, and the infamous 13th episode that people are unwilling to recognize. Not to mention that Ginneas is as generic a villain as they come. So there’s part 1 of the trendwhore aspect, the part where he fails to present an argument and just goes along with the popular opinion at the moment.
Now, likewise he is still incapable of recognizing that Gundam 00’s supposed hero characters have had their bouts with darker tendencies(Lockon the first considering killing Setsuna in cold blooded revenge for the death of his family, Allelujah’s “mercy killing” of several thousand SS candidates, Tieria having no issues with judging his own teammates, Setsuna’s impulsiveness jeopardizing many live etc.) and is seemingly more concerned that it is the newest series and therefore can’t possibly have anything about it that could ever be considered superior or equal to those that came before it. Yes THAT is why he is claiming it’s weaker then Gundam Seed Destiny and it would be foolish to read anymore into it. That’s part 2 of the trendwhore aspect, following the assumption that newer entries in a franchise are always worse then those that come before them, claiming so, but failing to support it. Laziness.
Not to mention having to resort to pointing out trite matters in order to find fault with the show. Hooray, here we go again with the model selling argument garbage that’s been beaten to death forever. You know as if selling models for popular mobile suits to consumers willing to buy them is somehow a bad thing. No no no, it’s okay if you sell all the crummy merchandise and figma in the world, but once you start selling Gunpla, only then are you the devil.
Not a valid criticism I’m afraid and in the end, through all of his ramblings Darkmirage has really proved very little. That is part 3 of the trendwhore aspect (not to mention being a hypocrite as well), going along with the unsupportable notion that because the series has model kits based off of a certain aspect of it’s artistry that it somehow cheapens the viewing experience…..without attempting to explain why http://www.darkmirage.com/category/figures/ these are perfectly okay.
And what’s with the backtracking? This is the guy that has been claiming since well before the halfway point of season one that the geopolitical aspects were unacceptable by his standards and now suddenly he is claiming that everything was A okay until the second season as far as story, character and maturity goes? This is the first I’ve heard of this sudden admiration for the first season on DM’s part and I’m left to wonder where this came from. Actually I bet I know where and I’m half tempted to call out a part 4 on being a trendwhore for renegging on his earlier claims about the series just so he can reinstitute them as apparently fresh (instead of being worn as any observant reader can see) for the purposes of pulling the whole “the second season ruined the first” (TM) nonesense that always gets pulled nowdays. And still no examples, just empty words.
Shallow as always for one who protests to be so above the curve, and talk about keeping up appearances right to the bitter end. Sheesh…..it’s been a slice there DM.
Agrees,though I’think DM’s got a good point about the model kits,not that I have a problem with it.
Personally,I don’t see what the problem is.,The Federation only has the GN-X III and recently introduced the Ahead.Other than that the Trilobyte.
It was mentioned that Bushido’s Ahead was a good example that the mass-produced suits can be customised for specific combat.
The Innovators only has 3 MSses introduced in so far with some more incoming probably.A good way to see it is that they are the opposite of Celestial Being’s Gundams lik the Thrones in S1.A good way to see it is to split it to 3 different sides.
December 10th, 2008 at 7:41 am
He did it for the lulz.
I have to agree in a sense with what DM is saying. When I watch G00, I look at it without a straight face. The reason for that is that I no longer feel connected to the characters. Every time something “serious” happens, I just laugh. I enjoyed the first season despite everything, (I found Christina’s dead so sad ;_;)
Regardless, on season 2 it feels more like…I dunno, it’s just missing that depthness that usually pulled me into the “serious” Gundams, hell, even Master Asia’s dead is sadder than whatever the hell is going on in G00.
In conclusion: Watch it for the pew pew. (Ain’t the Gadessa fucking awesome!?)
PS. Da inturnetz is srsbzn. How dare you not take all DM says seriously! :p
PSS. What way is that to kill off Sergei!?
December 10th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hahahaha…and this is the part where we go through all of the motions about how “Season 2 is ruining the first season” and it can’t be taken “seriously”, because “it’s too hard to know what is going on anymore” therefore it can only be watched for the lulz/pew pew/popular character. Oh how I missed that one liner meme from Code Geass R2. Lol, if this commentary gets any more predictable then it’s going to start feeling like a sitcom. Best part is that people don’t realize (though perhaps they do actually)they were all saying exactly (and by exactly I actually mean exactly as in pretty much verbatim) the same things they are now right up until Gundam 00 Season 1 ended. That’s the thing, the show has to end before it will ever be accepted into the Gundam franchise. We’re right on time for almost everything here actually. At least the show isn’t quite as predictable as the people watching it. Although…..
@Yaru: Makes me wonder if they’re each going to have one Innovator as a rival for each Meister near the end. Honestly it wouldn’t bother me for them to introduce a bit of a super robot trope like that to a series that already has a couple of them. Plus once you add some formula it’ll even it out so that all of the comments we’re seeing here to day will have some semblance of accuracy.
@Loki: That would probably help as it would for any continuing story. The periodic serial format breaks up the natural flow of most anime series (especially recently) and I’m hoping that one day it can somehow be done away with altogether. Don’t forget that older Gundam series have the benefit of being able to watch them as much as you want and as often as you want on top of being finished. Very important to how we perceive their stories and characters.
P.S: Man I liked 08th MS Team, but people are really starting to kill it for me now with how they keep putting it up on some pedestal like it’s the work of Christ himself. It wasn’t even close to being the best U.C OVA nor all that realistic to boot. I really think people need to go back and watch it to see just how badly they fucked up with the last quarter. Norris Packard’s battle with the Guntanks and Shiro almost saved it, but stupid Ginneas and the epilogue episode brought it way down from what it could have been. Thanks for making me remember all the worst parts about 08th MS by making me ask the question as to whether it was really that good. Unfortunately that’s the kind of question that always results in a resounding no.
PSS: Stop using 08th MS Team as an excuse to beat down 00 and start grading the latter on it’s own merits, failings, and goals and then we might actually get somewhere here. Cause I think we’ve already established that 00 is not a U.C OVA. OK? :)
December 10th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I understand why you left 00. It sucks horribly. Seriously, it’s so boring; but since it’s Gundam, I’m still watching it.
I watched 08th team like, a year and few months ago. I have to say, it was awesome. No flying around, zipping away, human-like motions for these mechs baby!
I guess I should try 0080 and 0083?
Also, I don’t feel sorry for any of 00’s characters. They are all just annoying… well except Lockon since he’s just freaking awesome.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
@ Billybobbaxter
I’m still watching and I still like 00. I just have a problem with the UN suits being used. That’s not enough reason for me to hate the show as a whole.
People also shouldn’t compare an OVA to a full-length series. Of course the OVA will be of slightly better quality because it’s short and a lot of effort was put into it. SEED appeared to have that same amount of effort. Unfortunately the director didn’t have any balls to speak of. The original script had Kira and Le Creuset killing each other instead of just Le Creuset dying. That ending would’ve been a thousand times better because there wouldn’t have been a crappy sequel. But no, the director wanted him to live.
After reading the hateful posts about 00 I can conclude that this is a perfect example of the “groupthink” concept in psychology.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:21 am
And just so that I’m doing a little more than blowing hot air and to add a little more depth to this discussion than the “sucks” and “amazing” comments getting flung around, here’s my list:
MS Igloo 1: 6.5/10
Mobile Suit Gundam (TV): 4/10
Mobile Suit Gundam (Movies): 7.5/10
08th MS Team (Aka greatest Gundam ever made if everyone here is to be believed): 6.5/10
08th MS Team Miller’s Report: 3/10
Gundam 0080 War In The Pocket: 7.5/10
Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories: 4.5/10
Gundam 0083: Afterglow of Zeon: 0.5/10
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV): 8/10
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation: 5.5/10
Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam: 5/10
Mobile Suit Gundam Char’s Counterattack: 9/10
Mobile Suit Gundam F91: 4.5/10
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam: 8/10
Mobile Fighter G Gundam: 7/10
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: 6/10
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz: 5.5/10
After War Gundam X: 7.5/10
Turn A Gundam: 8/10
Turn A Gundam (Movies): 5/10
Gundam Seed: 6/10
Gundam Seed (Movies): 3/10
Gundam Seed Destiny: 2/10
Gundam Seed Destiny (Movies): 3/10
SD Gundam: 7/10
SD Gundam Force: 1/10
Gundam Evolve: 6/10
G-Saviour: 0.5/10
And of course the reason there’s no 00 in the list is because I’d sooner stop watching anime altogether than pre-rate a show that isn’t even finished yet and toss all of my credibility as an anime review out the window Darkmirage style. For one thing what if I’m wrong about it, and for another how do you go about readjusting your rating after it’s all over? You don’t because you don’t prerate something that isn’t over. Period.
@Sourooster: Ahhh groupthink, it feels good to feel welcome doesn’t it? I don’t know, I have a family and friends so I’m more than satisfied without having to try and impress another group of people by agreeing with them. If they accept my viewpoint I want it to be for what it actually is, and if that’s not good enough well then I’m not interested in being part of the group. I’ll live I’m sure. Anyway, I’m not sure format matters so much as if the series is finished or not. A shorter story is over quicker so might be more suitable for those who are less pateint, but I’m good waiting 50 episodes to get the full dosage of Gundam 00 to see if it was worth it.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I like the groupthink concept. It’s when a group of people (duh) get together and discuss the shortcomings of something. Here being the shortcomings of 00. After awhile with all the negativity being spewed out we all end up thinking we hate the show. Essentially that group of people blow something out of proportion, which is pretty much what has happened here.
December 10th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
that’s the first thing I thought when I saw it :lol:
Nuclear/SCUD is still easier though as it doesn’t need manual direction (albeit less destructive – but that’s what fighters are for, or tunnels)
…
December 10th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I give all gundam series a 9.
Except G00 SECOND SEASON, which is like a 2, just for Billybobbaxter lulz. (Seriously, whatchu talking about, CG R2 was the shit)
December 10th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
TO: DarkMirage-sama, and Billybobbaxter
A shame that you will no longer be posting Reviews for G00 since I love seeing you stomp all over it and Code Geass when it was still on air. Coincidentally my top five favorite gundam series were 0080, 0083, 08th, SEED, and Wing(first Gundam series I ever watched so I’ll never let it down off it’s pedestal).
And to Billybobbaxter I’d have to say ‘Hell Yeah’ to most of your opinions especially your “It’s not over till it’s over” viewpoint, one of the best and very recent example of this IN MY OPINION is Code Geass R2, The first 24 episodes I gave a solid B, but after the finale of episode 25 I couldn’t help but give the series an overall rating of S (yes I know this makes me sound like a hypocrite but I rather like how Dark mirage makes fun of things, I absolutely don’t always agree with him but he definitely has a good sense of humor). I grade from F = somone should go back in time to kill the person who created it before they wrote the script, to S = So good you need the unanimous agreement of the U.N. to watch it. And I’ve only given my coveted(in my mind at least) to 6 other series, Cowboy Bebop, Death Note(I actually hated it and will never watch the anime or read the manga again but I objectively thought it deserved the rating), Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal, Gurren Lagann, Mushi-Shi, and Princess Mononoke.
December 10th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I’ll just continue watching 00 even though I too feel that the 2nd season lost the political mood that the 1st season captured very well. Because I like the Gundam metaseries as a whole. The same reason why I continued watching Code Geass R2 even though the series was accelerating at Mach 5 in becoming a trainwreck.
At the end of it all, I just want to know what happens next.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
THAT is what it is all about.
We could spend all eternity discussing whether CG R2 was good or bad, just like we could spend it discussing whether or not Lelouch is dead.
Seriously, the intranetz is for communism. Let us all agree on the same thing and flame those that don’t share our views. kthxbai.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
@Kaus: Only after it ended was it allowed to be “the shit”. While it was airing it was just “shit”, same as Gundam 00 is now to bloggers. Then again what do they know? You however seem to know how it goes though so props for not being naive.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Relax guys. G00 is not going to suck just because I say that it sucks. It will suck on its own merits. There’s no need to argue about it on this blog because I am not the authoritative voice on anything. :)
December 11th, 2008 at 1:53 am
“Amazing character detail for a guy we won’t ever see again”
funny you mention that as we’ve seen him before, i’m not sure if most of you can remember but he was the JNN correspondent reporting on Celestial Being’s Moralia intervention in episode 7 of season 1.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:30 am
The whole Gundam franchise (and Macross) is way overrated. The characters suck, the fights are unoriginal, and the animation is mediocre.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Hey, at least we got Hallelujah back and that’s about it..
December 12th, 2008 at 5:04 am
kataron is a culmination of minor charecters
sajis older sister will show up soon (srry still thinking of code geass)
the point of this show is to not only rape the people for money
but to show what people will do to be right
War is never a battle between good and evil, it is the cumulation of our collective misunderstandings, greed, pride, fear and tragedies
great line. i brought it in to my ethics class.
what is with people hating macross?
it was just another horrible horrible anime(a block of wood was more animated than those charecters)
December 12th, 2008 at 11:42 am
@DM
Actually I’m pretty sure a lot of people will just say “Well, DM says Gundam 00 is _worse than Gundam Seed Destiny_ and I read his blog, so therefore it has to be true. Man this show sucks!” Sure, the show has stepped a bit over the boundary into ludicrous but the moral ambiguity is still there.
Unless there are people who actually think “Yes, CB’s actions are good.” in which case they should probably go back to watching Wing.
Also, 08th MS Team had some amazing scenes but the plot iteslf bounced between mediocre and awful, as mentioned earlier.
Then I could be totally biased since I’m subbing the show. vOv
December 12th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Yeah!!! No more bad reviews!!!
December 12th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Well, I’m gonna miss your satire in this regard..
About the “Amazing character detail for a guy we won’t ever see again”
well maybe he’s someone important on the production team or somehow relted to the people making the anime
December 13th, 2008 at 2:33 am
G00 has been fascinating. Don’t really understand all the grip about it. Glad the author of this blog will be ending his negative opinions about a good show.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:19 am
@Billybobbaxter
You remind of a person on this blog named Sandslayer (who used to write very long comments on this blog back when Code Geass was on just like you do as I’ve seen on this post breifly) alot.
December 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
chocoleaves: “…(and Macross) is way overrated. The characters suck, the fights are unoriginal…”
“and the animation is mediocre.”
compared to what? Byosoku 5 cm? It was better than most shows i saw last season, if inconsistent. did you even watch it?
December 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
awww I’m gonna miss your humor on gundam 00! i mean, when i saw you were reviewing it i started watching the show so i could get your hilarious take on it…oh well. I do think you are being a bit unfair with the ranking because season 1 was pretty good, at least for awhile…season 2 is pretty bad though, but ranking season 2 with season 1 is like ranking seed with seed destiny.
December 15th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Don’t agree with the above poster at all. G00 season 2 has some bad parts, but overall is pretty solid thus far, I would even say is more exciting & better story telling than season 1.
Well anyways… DM’s reviews didn’t really help viewers understand the story any better, it was just plain old bashing, and lamn attempt at humor.
December 15th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
man, im gonna miss DM’s posts..this is the only reason why i visit his page right after watching g00 or geass..although his reviews may seem harsh and mostly cruel, he kept things on a different plane than just saying “OMG! best.episode.evar!!!” or “this EP SUX!”..he made it so that i found his insights very interesting and funny most of the time.
i love gundam and always will.
December 15th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Dastard. NOW this is something that is of shit and shit and more shit……………
December 16th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Too bad that you stop blogging this, it was really fun. :(
I find DM’s reviews very fun and interesting, regardless if I agree with him or not (which I do, in this case).
I have no idea why people get so upset over someone not liking the show on his blog.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
NOOOOOOO!!! i thought u were joking DM! i really enjoyed the gundam 00 and code geass posts here, the reviews i think were very enjoyable to read, and for some reason i am not bothered about whether i agree, perhaps its beacuse i only watch anime to pass time, who knows?
As i have said before, this blog is very enjoyable to read, it is in the end, a bit of fun and only one persons opinion, just like Tasaio have said i dont think there is any need to get upset over it. but i do have to admit, the arguments people post on this blog are very interesting in both G00 and CGR2, and it is also what makes this blog so good to read and pass time
gonna miss reading the G00 posts :(
December 21st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
So sad you stop blogging this..
December 27th, 2008 at 8:32 am
However it’s not a complete travesty due your lack of taste, Destiny is easily the worst gundam series ever, and your argument of lack of human touch against 00’s quality fails to acknowledge it’s tremendous strengths which puts it far above Destiny. Also your insult on Gundam fans and the series yet watching 15 series of it puts you in the same class of hypocrisy as you pointed to the poster who hates this blog yet continues to post in it. I do thank you for the mildly amusing reviews even if they were done in a nostalgiafag elitist manner.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
So sad you stop blogging this..
Trackback from
Gundam 00 S2 — Episode 10February 19th, 2009 at 10:47 am
[...] Random Feed wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptEvery middle-age man’s dream Before I go into my usual hate-filled blasphemous rant, I have an announcement to make. Due to real-life circumstances unrelated to World of Warcraft, this will be my last G00 post. On a related note, I will be flying off to Japan tomorrow for about a month, so look forward to more Japan-related posts and of course some Comiket 75 coverage at the end of the month. Now on to the hate. (…) Read the rest of Gundam 00 S2 — Episode 10 (772 words) © DarkMirage fo [...]
March 31st, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Oh man… The one thing I enjoyed about G00 was your parody! The 5-minute posts were worth trading my WoW lvl 80 raid mage time for! I’m still reading the blog though, lol.