Summary: The year is 2307 AD, and fossil fuels on Earth have been largely depleted. The people of Earth have turned toward solar power, generated by three orbital elevators in low orbit, to power the world. To manage these elevators, the world has split into three large groups; the Union in the Americas, the AEU in the European block, and the Human Reform League in eastern Asia and Russia. These three forces however are still in a state of perpetual war in an attempt to prove each is better than the other. In the midst of all the chaos, a new type of mobile weapon has appeared; the Gundam. The Gundam's belong to a group called Celestial Being, and their goal is to eradicate all war and conflict from the world.
Review
Plot: There are a number of plots that run throughout Gundam 00, some more important then others, and some with seeming no purpose. The main plot is the fight of Celestial Being, led by their superior Gundam technology, as the group attempts to eradicate war from the world by staging armed interventions in conflict zones to force the conflict to end. For example, during a conflict started by Brazil against the United States, instead of letting the Brazilians and US fight, Celestial Being steps in and prevents the fight from starting (how I will not divulge). The group is led by the ideals of the genius Aeolia Schenberg, who has been dead for nearly two hundred years. Celestial Being's fight is complicated by a few factors, namely the Gundam Thrones which appear about half way into the series, and the machinations of third party actors to further throw the world into chaos, or unity depending on the character. Seemingly completely unrelated to the actions of Celestial Being is the side story of Saji Crossroad. Nearly every episode of the first season has between 1- 5 minutes dedicated to Saji, his girlfriend Louise, and his sister Kinue. Kinue is a reporter trying to discover the truth behind Celestial Being, and Saji and Louise are both in school to become engineers who work in space. Usually when a Gundam series introduces civilian side characters like this, they get caught up in the war somehow, and in a meaningful way. While it seems that (based on my reading) that will be the case in the second season of the show, after the first twenty-five episodes, no such event has occurred creating a side story with seeming no purpose but to waste time. It may be that this was, in effect, a sort of prologue for the second season, but I will have to wait and see.
Characters: Unfortunately, I find myself unsure of the characters of Gundam 00. The pilots of the Gundam, aka Gundam Meisters, all are extremely one dimensional, with any and all depth occurring at the very end of the series. Setsuna F. Seiei, the Meister of Gundam Exia and show's main character, is a product of a war torn middle east who desires to end the horrible conflicts he witnessed as a youth and find the twisted heart of man that leads to war. At times, he seemed almost like an android, as his single-minded drive to end war pressed him onwards. The only times he shows any depth are during a rescue mission late in the season, and in his encounters with Marina Ismail. Marina is an Arabian princess trying to rebuild her country now that the oil economy it had has collapsed. Her purpose in the series though, like Saji Crossroad, is unimportant, with the exception of a letter Setsuna writes her in the last episode. The other Gundam Meisters, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism, and Tieria Erde all have pasts that make them imperfect and led them to become Meisters, but aside from Allelujah's split personality, they are all very straightforward characters. The chief tactician of Celestial Being, Sumeragi Lee Noriega is shown to be fallible, like the rest of Celestial Being, but kind and caring for those in her command. She is led to drink at times due to some past that haunts her, but what that past is has yet to be revealed. The pilots of the Gundam Throne's had no depth at all and no attempt to make their characters more was made. Each of the 'ace' pilots of the three factions (AEU, Union, and HRL) all have stories of their own or reasons they fight as well, ranging from revenge to a desire to protect, but very little is shown past that. The villain's of the series are all equally underdeveloped. I am hopeful the characters will be more fleshed out in the second season, but we shall see.
Presentation: The one obvious factor the show has going for it was the sound and visuals. The Gundam's move very well and very few rehashed animations appeared to be used in the making of the show, so many of the shots fired and sword slashes are unique. The characters are basic Gundam fare and move with the grace one would expect from a high budget modern anime. The sound effects are all well done, and of the 4 opening and ending themes, only one of them I found grating to my ears. To say that Gundam 00 is a pretty show would be an understatement.
Entertainment Value: The actual combat between Gundam's is quite entertaining and will please any fan of Gundam or mecha. The lack of repeat sequences ensure that unlike older Gundam shows like Wing, you do not see Deathscythe, or in this case Exia, make the same slash multiple times making the combat even better. Past the combat though, the show has little enjoyable. The characters simply do not have the depth of the cast of past Gundam shows and all the minor plots surrounding the main one just seem to waste the viewers time as few of them are ever tied into the main story arc. If you watch Gundam for more than mecha combat, you may be disappointed with Gundam 00 - season 1.
Rating: 6/10 - While the combat itself is very nice, the rest of the show is simply lacking and not up to the standards set by previous Gundam series.
Gundam 00 - Season 1: 25 episodes
Note: For reference, I will be posting a set of ratings for every Gundam series I have seen within the next week for comparison. Full length reviews for each Gundam series will eventually be posted here, but as long as I have series I have never seen before in my possession to watch, I will attempt to review just those for now.
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