![\"Gundam](\"http:\/\/www.darkmirage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/08_gundam00_s2_ep10i.jpg\")
\nEvery middle-age man’s dream<\/p>\n
\nEvery middle-age man’s dream<\/p>\n
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.<\/strong> 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<\/a> coverage at the end of the month.<\/p>\n Now on to the hate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.”<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And Hallelujah is back! Oh shazbot.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n No, I’m not talking about the Gundam X ED theme<\/a> by the late Warren Wiebe<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n Although I thought Gundam 0079<\/strong> 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The same cannot be said about Gundam 00<\/strong>. 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<\/a>-style uniforms don’t help either.<\/p>\n 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Just think about it.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n P.S. Vanessa Hudgens<\/a> is cute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading Summary<\/h3>\n
![\"Gundam](\"http:\/\/www.bekkoame.ne.jp\/i\/taka_tony\/title-70.jpg\")
\nShe’s a jailbait<\/p>\n
\nHis country is about to be destroyed and he is bored<\/p>\n
\nAli looks out of place in Ribbons’ bishounen zone<\/p>\n
\nWho didn’t see this coming?<\/p>\n
\nIt’s okay. GLA can rebuild through their tunnels<\/p>\n
\nDoes Hiroyuki Yoshino<\/a> get paid twice?<\/p>\nThoughts<\/h3>\n
\nWho is that person and why do we care?<\/p>\n
\nJust misunderstood?<\/p>\nScreencaps<\/h3>\n
\nBefore she took up drinking<\/p>\n
\nEmergency board meeting to discuss the economy meltdown<\/p>\n
\nAmazing character detail for a guy we won’t ever see again<\/p>\n
\nMost useless heroine of all time?<\/p>\n
\nHG model kit out soon<\/p>\n
\nSo how old is the mother when she gave birth?<\/p>\n
\nShe’s a girl, right? I feel funny inside…<\/p>\n
\nThe start of something new?<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe goggles. They do nothing<\/p>\n
\nAll she does is cry and babysit<\/p>\n
\nAwesome<\/p>\n
\n“NO”<\/p>\n
\n;_;<\/p>\n
\n>:)<\/p>\n
\nRedhead fight<\/p>\n
\nHow can he pilot the thing with that blinding light?<\/p>\n
\nIncludes only series I’ve watched<\/p>\n