Gundam 00 S2 — Episode 01
I like my female blond pilots crazy <3
Why does everyone assume that I would be blogging Gundam 00 Season 2? I never said that I would. It’s not good to be overly presumptuous. I mean, it is true that the only thing keeping this blog from becoming a desolate wasteland is my weekly episode “review”, but that doesn’t mean anything! So yeah, you can take your baseless preconceived notions and stuff them up that place where you stuff things up into! (Turkey?)
So anyway, let’s get this thing going.
Summary
Don’t tase me bro!
These guys called A-LAWS, who sound like a cross between A-HOLES and ARROWS, are totally bad ass dudes who have been running the post-Celestial Being solar system like their own private Sim City, except that Will Wright didn’t make slavery an option in the game. If I had to compare them to one classic group of assholes in a previous Gundam universe, it would probably be Titan from Zeta.
“This is so not in my contract”
Saji is finally realizing his true potential, not. After appearing to be cool and grown-up for the first 30 seconds of his appearance, the degeneration process kicks in and he’s the same old crybaby by the end of the episode. This is to prepare him for the journey to real maturity that he is about to embark on, something he should have already completed in the five years since season one. But let’s give him a break: he’s not been getting any.
He grew up into yaoi doujinshi material
Now, I’m not one to read up on background stories from magazine articles, so I don’t know what the heck is going on in G00 right now. Judging by this episode, I guess there’s a lot of political tension between the regular Earth Special Forces Earth Sphere Federation and the elitist A-LAWS, just like in Zeta. In addition, there are some random third parties like Celestial Being wandering around messing things up, just like in Zeta.
Saji should consult an optometrist
Everyone is all grown up and cool now (just like in Zeta) and Setsuna even changed his suit colour to a less gay shade of blackish grey. Peries and Sergei are living together and there’s some rather disturbing chemistry going on between the two of them that I want to pretend is just my misunderstanding. I like Peries more now that she’s not loli anymore. Louise is an A-LAWS pilot now, which I totally predicted one year ago when she lost her hand.
I quote myself:
… But seriously, I can just imagine Louise being abducted by some top secret joint Union-AEU-HRL black project to manufacture cyborg pilots for whatever super weapon they plan to build to counter the Gundams …
They sewed her hand back
In Gundam, losing an arm means that it’s time for an upgrade! That said, Louise’s a pretty crappy pilot so far, but I guess she’s due for a berserk pwnage sequence sometime in the next few episodes, Stellar style. I think I may be in love.
Thoughts
I realized that my summary didn’t actually summarize anything about the episode, but screw you! I’m sure everyone’s watched the first episode by now! Leave DarkMirage alone!
“AI EIMU GANDAMU”
In any case, the first episode is great. I can’t say that that’s unexpected since the first season had an awesome start too. I want to believe that this is a sign of improvement from the ending of the last season, and that this season will finally be awesome now that everyone’s grown up and not so whiny. I really want to believe it, but unfortunately Sunrise made a cynic out of me with the false hopes it’s been giving me over the years.
In order to not raise my hope again for nothing, I’m going to be a pessimist and assume that episode two will drop right back into clichéd dramaville and it will be a one-way ride to hell from there on. In fact, I’m going to just call this a “trainwreck” right now at this stage, before anyone else does. Remember: I did it first!
Of course, I may be proven wrong. Perhaps the forgettable first season was intentionally meant to be an awful prelude, so as to accentuate the awesomeness that will be season two. Maybe now that the main characters are all grown up, both literally and figuratively, the real story behind this boy-love franchise can finally take its ultimate shape. I want to believe, but let’s not.
In any case, this show should be worth watching, considering the number of female cast members who have now reached full fan-service maturity. Mmmmm.
She’s legal now, right?
It’s a good thing Grace didn’t die. Christina did a great service to mankind
(*ﾟДﾟ*)
Setsuna is most definitely gay
So…*cough* I wonder when the next swimsuit episode will be?
Screencaps
He sounds like a good guy, but his eyes look evil
What’s going on here?
New loli to fill the loli gap now that everyone’s grown up
In space, no one can see you pose
The cameraman is upside down. What an idiot
They repainted their Realdos and call it an upgrade, just like an MMORPG
Red vs Blue, just in case you can’t tell the two sides apart
Tachikoma rejects
Pew pew pew
Twice the penis size
This thing actually looks way cooler than all the Gundams
After Louise left him, Saji became a crack addict
*Cue Imperial March*
I should really be studying.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Gorp:
She was not with Tieria. She’s with the Tieria clone working for Ribbons. In any case, this whole thing is clearly being set up for a Saji (Celestial Being) vs. Louise (A-LAWS) fight with lots of tragic love-hate angst.
October 8th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Actually, there is a rumor Louise will fight against Nena of the Trinity sometime in the series…
And Saji will learn which part of the CB is good, which part of CB is bad.
October 8th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
The exia repaired by setsuna looks like some terminator with the red eyes.
October 8th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
exia’s red eye confused me- but then i guess ur eye would b pretty red too if u got stabbed in it- maybe its taken from the gn flag?
October 9th, 2008 at 5:25 am
i agree with cool…and where the hell did he find a cloth that big to act as a “cape”
October 9th, 2008 at 6:03 am
He spent four-five years sewing it himself.
A gundam series with a predictable plotpoint? MADNESS!
Well if Nena is with Celestial Being now, which is possible, it’d make sense since Louis is with the A-LAWS.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:39 am
i am so hppy that the new series is on (Now i have something mildly distasteful) yet old gundam exploding to watch.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
@ Blake:
Just to note, the red eye was also shown in the final battle of the 1st season, when the Exia head was stabbed in that very eye.
Hey DM, your latest comment reminded me of one scene in the ending sequence. I wonder where did the 3rd clone go though (maybe Ribbons?)
I also am a little confused with Wang Liu Mei. Is she an Observer?
As for Louise, goodness knows what happened to her. Surely she did not become the GSD Stellar with memory wipe & drugs to depend on?
October 9th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
@ zero
ever heard of tarpaulin? it’s a heavy duty waterproof cloth sheet, and is often used to protect vehicles from the elements when they aren’t being used, my guess is it’s a huge sheet of tarp that he pilfered from a mobile suit base or something, to protect the exposed mechanicals where the left arm used to be
October 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Doubt a memory wipe, though it does look like she’s taking tranquiliser pills to keep herself calm cos she’s farked in the head.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
@ Amnestic
indeed, having your family wiped out before your eyes will do that to you.
post traumatic stress disorder perhaps?
October 10th, 2008 at 1:51 am
that new girl is ian’s daughter
and now they are just giving the gundams another gun and a paint job
October 10th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Psh, she needs to get over it quick smart. Pussy.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
UPDATE:
I have seen the Nyoron subbed episode and some scenes from the Mendoi-Conclave version. As usual, Nyoron has incorrect translations. If you watched the Nyoron version, take note of the following scenes:
1. The dialogue between Tieria and Saji.
2. Graham’s monologue.
I am not a Japanese speaker to judge whether the translation was really wrong, but based on logic and the reputation of the two subbers, I think Nyoron made a mistake. I have not yet seen the Shinsen version though.
October 11th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Allion – just because Nyoron is different from Mendoi Conclave doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. While most of the time that’s the case, it can be a disagreement on how to translate lines into English.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Nyoron will keep fansubbing Gundam 00 no matter how much criticism they get, so there’s not a huge point in criticizing them on a blog where most people are already aware of Nyoron’s fansubbing abilities.
But yeah, don’t necessarily think that a slight disagreement on sentence structure means that one group is wrong (however, if the meaning is SIGNIFICANTLY different between the two groups, then that is an issue). IMO Menclave tends to lean toward the literal side of translations so sometimes the phrasing in English can be a bit awkward, but their translations I think will definitely be closest to the original Japanese (probably closer than the Bandai USA subs).
October 11th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Quite a bit of speculation here seeing as how we only have one episode so far…
All I really got out of this, aside from the new general setting and character roles, as well as a good episode to start off the second season, is a crapload of confusion. I guess that with time my thoughts will clear up, but for now there’s a lot of explaining that I hope to find sooner or later.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I agree with you. It’s really difficult to judge who’s right or wrong. And yes, it’s good that Nyoron continue subbing Gundam 00 just like the others.
But I’m not basing my opinion just on the reputation of Nyoron, but also on the events prior to the scene. It’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.
In the Nyoron version, Tieria told Saji that he will be killed by Anti-Federation rebels. But in the Mendoi-Conclave version (and Shinsen too, as it turns out), Tieria told Saji that he will be killed as a suspected Anti-Federation rebel.
However, in the scene with Graham, all the three versions have different translations (and meaning). I believe the Mendoi-Conclave is the correct one.
Again, these are just my opinions and I could be wrong. So I suggest everybody to watch the three versions and judge them yourself, in case you have any doubts.
October 11th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I don’t understand how people can defend Nyoro~n. Lolfang makes lines up and is proud of his ignorance. People who watch his release probably don’t give much thought to the plot details.
It ends up working fine for both parties in this case because G00 is mostly about fanservice and explosions anyway, but he definitely can’t sub something like Death Note without completely destroying any semblance of plot logic with his hilarious made-up guesslations.
But I guess it’s more politically correct to claim that translation is all a subjective matter and he simply has a more creative interpretation (of reality).
In any case, I’m not working for Mendoi-Conclave on season 2 any more — at least for now — so I don’t really give a damn as long as people stop trying to “correct” plot details in my blog entries with information they gleamed from Nyoro~n’s “translation” like in the previous season.
October 11th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
By the way, I was quoting Benson on my previous post, not myself.
October 12th, 2008 at 1:15 am
I’m not really defending Nyoron, just saying there’s really not much point to flaming them any more than they’ve already been flamed haha. My post may come off as a defense but it’s more a matter of “there’s no such thing as a perfect translation, and even though Nyoron misses the point by a mile it doesn’t mean that, in general there is only one ‘right’ fansubbing group and all the other fansubs are ‘wrong.’”
I’m not a huge fan of Internet drama so I say there’s no point in beating over a dead… something. Horse. That’s it.
October 12th, 2008 at 8:26 am
@random hero
yeah i have heard of it…..altough i find it would have been better for him to use 4 yrs in trying to salvage scrap metal from the broken pieces in space and seal off the left arm joint than sew a gigantic protective cloth
October 12th, 2008 at 8:57 am
@DM
Last time I heard of someone trying to be more creative on the interpretation translation of an anime was one of Lunar subs’ previous translators who put so much slang into an episode of Bleach that he got fired on day one. Lolfang really is just an idiot and that’s probably a huge factor as to why Nyoro~n is dying.
@Zero
It could be like Crossbone Gundam and just be a cloak that somehow acts as a antibeam shield. But it still would have been smarter to just stick on another arm.
October 12th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
i think the main pilots are gonna b getting custom aheads etc., judging by the op. i read somewhere that ali is maybs getting a red throne eins turbulenz. but who knows? just hav to wait and see
October 12th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
He’s not a gundam mechanic as far as I know, or a mechanic of any kind for that matter, the fact that he managed to keep Exia in working condition and do any repairs is fairly impressive. (And by impressive, I mean a plothole)
October 12th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I’m actually glad your doing reviews. Your right I shouldn’t have assumed you’d do one however at times your reviews are more amusing than the actual series.
Best of luck in your studies
-Magoda
October 13th, 2008 at 9:28 am
You know Soma Peries was of legal age during the first season right?!
October 25th, 2008 at 12:16 am
OMG! its spandam *.* /websites/www.darkmirage.com-pre/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/06_gundam00_s2x.jpg
Trackback from
Gundam 00 S2 - 01 | Gundam GorakuOctober 27th, 2008 at 6:51 am
[...] Episode Summary by Dark Mirage: Gundam 00 S2 – Episode 01 [...]
February 2nd, 2009 at 8:04 am
Dude, both the blond guy and the weird brown haired pigtailed girl look like they belong in Code Geass, not Gundam.