Rating: 8.5/10

Overall Series Rating: 8.8/10

Impressions:

To me, Gundam 00 never had a nice flow to it. It’s hard to find shows that actually do, and because of that, I can say that Gundam 00 is already quite the enjoyable anime. This episode ties everything up quite nicely, before throwing out heaps of new leads with the four years later aftermath/interlude. Because of that, I’m anticipating the next season a lot more than I would have if the show simply ended. I love how they decided to make a mess of everything (in a good way), by doing things like putting Louise in the same place as Tieria, or showing how Marie is actually an important person to Allelujah.

Apart from that though, the emergence of an even greater evil was quite expected. They ended up making Allejandro look like quite the unaccomplished fool’s villain, with his reckless last attack and ‘exploding’ timely demise. They also decided to make Setsuna look like the saviour of everything, but ultimately, he’s still just the average pilot (which is greatly disappointing). I doubt he’s actually dead anyway, so he’s probably going to come back and become the star of everything next time. What intrigues me more is what CB have been doing for the four years after the demise of the Gundams.

In regards to the union of the world as shown in the last few scenes, I really still don’t think anything has worked. Sure, they are united as a military force, but chances are there’s still heaps of racism, and certain people not accepting certain other people etc. It’s hard to imagine that a fully united country would ever occur anyway. Relating to this, has CB’s objective been accomplished? Most likely no, so we’ll have to see what they do about everything now. There are also heaps of questions flashing in my mind about the new developments of CB’s arsenal of Gundams (and pilots).

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Uh oh, second last episode already. And yes, this is what I meant in my Shana post. Some more deaths to plague us with…the show seems like it’s going to throw in a whole new cast next time round. Ok, maybe a little exaggeration there, but I can definitely foresee plenty of new characters. And they really need to develop things with old characters, like Saji and Setsuna, or Marina and Setsuna. I’m only stating Setsuna because, really, he IS the main character here—can’t have him being a character with no substance and whatnot. But before all that, we have to see the finale of this first season, and I doubt there will be much closure…

Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

I definitely wasn’t expecting Lockon to die, but it’s for good effect that he did. I’m not being a heartless person, but his death gives the show that much more substance, something which I fully endorse. This show really does just continue on with the same battle-after-battle pattern, but at least they throw in different variables each time to diversify things and make the show more interesting as a whole. There’s still no real mindbender twist in the plot or anything of the nature, but perhaps they can pull something out of their sleeves before the season is over. One thing’s for sure though; Gundam 00 has been more than just a pleasant ride.

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Finally, Setsuna gets the spotlight (though unfortunately not through his own prowess, but some function in the Gundams). It’s quite surprising that the Trinity siblings have been wiped out almost completely so shortly, as I had expected them to play a larger part in the overall plot. With the turn of events now, it doesn’t look like Nena is going to be representing the Thrones anymore, and I can see her either dying in an act of revenge, or siding with Setsuna and becoming more or less ‘good’. We’ll have to see though, and I wonder how this first season is going to end (obviously, it has to be pretty big).

Rating: 7.2/10

Impressions:

With the inclusion of the Thrones, the story really should have started to harden, though at the moment, it’s actually weakening. It’s becoming progressively like a fight-rest-fight relationship that will only succeed in pleasing those hardcore mecha fans. Until now, we’ve only really seen a lasting war between CB and the rest of the world, and even the three worldly powers haven’t done anything really interesting. Unfortunately, if things don’t improve, I’m going to end up thinking that Gundam 00 is another anime that started with huge potential, but ended up wasting it.

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

Well, I wonder how the hell Celestial Being is going to combat the many new Gundam units that they are now pitted against, and whether they will actually work together with the Thrones (for the sake of easier blogging, I’m going to call the four Meisters we know best CB, and the new three the Thrones). Hopefully the four CB Meisters are fairly competent in their piloting abilities, and were not just chosen for their hatred of the world or something. Otherwise, CB will be out of the picture quite soon. I sure hope that nothing dodgy happens to ease the plot, like all the GN drives crashing at the same time or something.

Hmm, secondary characters seem to be stepping up now. Allejandro seems to be the traitor from CB, and also seems to be manipulating things for some other ulterior motive. All the while, Mei’s starting to collaborate with the Thrones, seemingly putting her desire of a resurrected world above all else, and also seems to be entering as a prime candidate for another ‘bad guy’ for the show. Then there’s Saji, who seems to have lost his sister as well. He’s probably going to jump in a Gundam and go on a suicide run some time soon, or maybe discover the truth and side with Setsuna. In any case, I’m betting that these characters will step up in the second season.

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

It’s really refreshing seeing the Gundam Meisters fight as a team, a proper one that is, and actually do a fairly good job of it. I did hope that fighting in and amongst CB would cause more of a surprise in the superpowers’ political leaders, though it seems it was somewhat anticipated at least. I continue to assert that Nena really needs to die, and her brothers are no better. But Setsuna still needs to properly step up and show that he is superior to the others. If he’s not, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a main lead, and would make the show just a little more dull than what it might be. But oh well…

This episode has a lot more character development than you would think. The fight with the Thrones bring the four Meisters together more (although I should say three, as only three are present in the battle), and provides as well as links the backstories of Setsuna and Lockon. While at this point in time, many other characters seem rather insignificant, the Meisters are getting some well-needed development—and I hope this continues for a bit as well. Saji continues to get his fair share of useless screen time, though now it seems like he may actually become part of something big. I’m more interested in Alejandro and the possible influences he may have.

Rating: 9.3/10

Impressions:

Holy f8ck this episode is good—best ep so far, without question. It’s been decided: Nena has to die a slow and paaainful death. Preferably at Setsuna’s hands. Her inhumanity astounds me, especially as her reasons for deciding to pull such a stunt involve a petty and childish sense of spite, and although this might be due to her being raised in a poor family, or something along those lines, the fact that she takes great pleasure from committing such crimes really makes it unforgivable. I didn’t think she would be such a psychotic girl when she first appeared, but it’s clear now that she’s an enemy to humankind.

My favourite scene in this episode has to be Setsuna’s last appearance. The wording he uses to ‘record’ his actions before initiating his attack are just priceless, branding the Thrones as a moving contradiction—being clear and unprovoked aggressors in a war to end warfare (which is quite something as CB is a contradiction in itself already). What this scene also means is that Setsuna is finally going to do something significant. But this will only be the case if he can make a stand at least—I truly hope that he’s able to bring down one Throne at least, though the preview of the next episode suggests an anti-climax, which I hope isn’t the case.

I’m sure the other thing on everyone’s minds right not regarding the show is Louise’s loss of her left hand. This actually came as a HUGE shock to me, as I can’t honestly say I’ve seen a lot of this kind of stuff happen to such an innocent character in an anime. Sure, there might be heaps of deaths and blood, but losing a hand is different by miles, especially as she now has to live with and deal with it. This form of emotional tragedy makes simple deaths look like nothing, as honestly, I would rather die in an instant than live the rest of my life without a hand (and the loss of many loved ones, which may include your lover due to your sudden deformation). Yes I know it’s cruel.

Rating: 7.8/10

Impressions:

Judging by the preview, it looks like FINALLY, Louise and Saji are gonna get involved in the bigger picture, as for the past 15 episodes, they’ve just been random duds as characters that had nothing to do with anything. It seems like Louise is going to get into some (physical) trouble, though the kind of involvement I’ve been picturing has a lot to do with them and Setsuna, since they seem to see each other enough. Speaking of Setsuna, wow, that kiss that he got must’ve crushed him hard…not that I care—I don’t even see Marina as a good pairing for him…ah well.

The Haro vs Haro thing is pretty funny, but at the same time devilishly stupid. I can’t believe the producers put something like that in the midst of all the seriousness. And the scriptwriters are either planning something phenomenal as a result of the meeting of the two Meister parties, or were just being lazy and didn’t bother including a proper reason for the Throne’s ‘invasion’ of the Meister’s ship (did it have a name?) I can’t imagine what they would’ve done if Sumeragi had simply refused Nena access to the ship…But I guess that would be an excusable reason for now…

And about the Thrones…do I like em? Yes, in fact I do, as they really spice things up. I can’t wait for Setsuna to get up there and start making a fuss about them, or picking a fight. But if he does, he better be the one beating the other down, if he’s to prevent himself from ending up as a failure of a protagonist. And they claim they’re older models, do they? That would make things quite sad if the four Meisters that we know end up getting their asses handed to them. I like Nena’s spunk in particular, as there haven’t been any important characters like her thus far. But it doesn’t look like she’s gonna stay a good guy for long.

Rating: 6/10 (it’s a recap, can’t help it…)

Impressions:

I really don’t like the idea of the three world superpowers actually defeating Celestial Being in any way. It would be much more entertaining if the Thrones or something defected to their side and ended up being the main retaliating force. I find Graham, Ali and that super soldier girl annoying (I think I got their names right), though I really love Patrick’s character, as he’s so bad it’s just a joke now. Speaking of annoying characters, surprisingly, I didn’t find the Throne members that bad. I was expecting a lot of cockiness from them after saving the original Meisters, but only one of them really says the nasty things.

By the way things turn out, it seems like Sumeragi really never knew about the Thrones. Or at least never knew they were going to intervene. But was she really expecting the Meisters to simply die? I mean, everyone was only being captured, so there’s no reason they would die unless they decided to self-destruct (if they had that capability), but obviously no one did. This could just be a minor script slip up, but there’s too much that we don’t know (or not supposed to know anyway) for me to say anything at the moment. Hmm, maybe Sumeragi received some kind of order from above or something…

The second half of the episode is a recap, but nicely altered to become a discussion by what seems like a SEELE-type group, which at the moment doesn’t appear to be involved in anything significant. While SEELE basically controlled everything from behind the scenes in NGE, this group that Alejandro’s in may prove in the end to be an imposing third party. I can see them taking hold of these new Gundams somehow with their political influences or something, but right now, they’re too far out to be seen as a threat. In any case, next episode seems to be about the meeting between all the Gundam Meisters, which should prove to be quite interesting.