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.
First! (I think…)
Stupid fansubbers made THREE HD releases and NO SD !
F&%k ! Where’s the logic in that ?!
Those automatons were kind of disappointing, especially after what Metal Gear Solid 4 had already done with their scary tick-like robots with three arms.
Great episode actually. Louise is the new Stallar.
“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. ”
So basically, you’re going to take this about as seriously as everybody does Sarah Palin?
Actually, I do hope that you are going to blog this one, since the other blogger only put pretty pictures away without proper summary. Maybe I’m not going to follow (read: watch) G00, but I still like to know the story properly.
Wow, I thinks of Zeta as the “Best Story Gundam” so maybe if they can follow some Zeta patterns in 00 it can be really great :D
Btw. Louise/Soma/Grace finally get some decent mature look :P But Marina is still the lead female char so i hope for more air time for her ;)
Ascaloth:
Uh no. G00 s2 is looking good thus far, but I just think it won’t last. Sarah Palin has never been remotely good.
Loki:
I thought Zeta was boring, but mostly due to the bad directing rather than the story.
Actually dark mirage, I was the first to call it a trainwreck :P
Awesome review that makes me crack up as usual dark mirage, without your reviews I’d die from the notorious OWW(One Week Wait).
Next ep will be awesome. We will just see 00 Gundam in full hax mode :D -cue 00 becoming a strike freedom Ver.2-
I hope they make a twin GN Drive Union flag…. D:
I was the first to comment randomly.
We all have Geass R2 to thank for not putting too much hope in this new season of G00…
You missed out on Sumeragi and Billy!
Sumeragi should do an episode with Saji and teach him the ways of the world.
WTB beach episode.
Well, i watched the raw and understood very little yet the action was so compelling. The question i have now is… whose sub do i wait for?
Always a hard choice to make i feel. In any case i was impressed with the opening, a lot darker than the first seasons and more impressive… i just pray they don’t drop the ball from here on out.
My comments:
-Graham looks like Hannibal Lecter! “Clarice…”
-I can’t imagine an American wearing Graham’s dress.
-Ribbons is so gay! “He/she grew up into yaoi doujinshi material”
-Louise has “Veda-link” ability!
-She almost caused the death of Saji (as an A-Law) What a bad joke!
-So Tieria didn’t change his hairstyle after all, he isn’t Regene.
-I’m surprised you liked the first episode.
-I hope you’ll keep on blogging about G00 even if it turns out to be a disappointment… for page hits.
yo DM, off topic abit, Macross Frontier OST 2 is leaked :P
u should be studying. really.
The primary A-LAWS suit reminds me quite heavily of Armored Core mecha designs, but then, so did some of the Gundam Thrones in G00S1 so I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised.
Fat military leader is going to get killed off in the next episode or two, mostly because he’s not pretty enough to be in the series for too long.
And also, who the hell did Graham’s Vader look? Both the mask and the outfit are colour mismatched monstrosities. I mean really, it’s like they loaded up a cannon with a bunch of clothes they took out of the bargain bin and fired them at a mannequin in order to decide on his outfit ;/
Next Episode: Tieria and Setsuna go break (H)Allelujah out of mental asylum/prison?
If Louise turns out to be nothing more than a puppet for Ribbons then I will be f**king pissed. I feel that since she’s now a pilot that her fate is sealed so I hope she plays a large role before then. I’m still a Louise fanboy though. Have been since the first season 2 promo.
“*Cue Imperial March*”
Is it just me or are there a lot of Star Wars parallels so far?
Let’s see here…a seperatist group (Kataron) wishes to break free from the Republic (UN/A-LAWS) and call upon the Jedi (Celestial Being/Gundams) for help. Meanwhile, “the chosen one” (Louise?) has joined the Dark Side (Innovators or whatever) to take the place of Darth Sidious’ (Ribbons) old apprentice (Alejandro).
I guess that would mean Wang Lui Mei is Count Dooku and Regene is General Grievous which leaves no place for Graham, Smirnov, or Mannekin. Maybe they’ll turn out to help the Jedi (CB) by joining the Seperatists (Kataron).
See, I’m not the only one who is dominated by school :P
Hey DM, this is completely off topic, but I was reading your archived blogs about how you achieved JLPT 1 in 2006.
I was wondering, did you achieve JLPT 1 through self study, studying abroad in Japan, classes, or a combination of all of them? I noticed you went up one level each year so I’d like to know what you did.
I’ve been studying Japanese for slightly over 3 years now and I’d like to push myself to do JLPT 2 if possible. I’ve never studied abroad in Japan but I think I could do JLPT 3 pretty easily. Is it possible to attain higher levels through self study or classes alone?
nowaday anime character’s mask look like something for a baby artwork…. it has no bad ass design to it( my opinion) i mean orange-kun’s anti geass thing look like a funny looking orange triangle and now Graham has a mask made from black shit
Totally forgot about G00 till i when to check on this blog.
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Benson, I attended a JLPT prep course which doesn’t teach any Japanese except things required for the test. The only useful things are listening and comprehension practice because the teacher explains the answers. The rest, such as vocabulary and grammar lists, can mostly be self studied.
Other than that, I learnt everything from anime, games and song lyrics.
It’s possible to get JLPT 2 without lessons. You need to read a decent amount of non-fiction books (i.e. social commentary and human interest stories) and get a proper JLPT 2 textbook with a comprehensive list of grammar constructs you need to know.
Hey!!!!!!The first season was awesome…….after the first ten episodes,but it was great after 14……
I expected more action from this but I got a different type which was ground personel battle which is actually pretty good.The Exia battle was personally highly anticipated by me,but it fell below expectations(Because I expected Exia to pawn everybody,yeah I know the specs are againts Setsuna but it would have been awesome to see.)
As for the GN-X Ahead,I really dislike the design in the artwork..however I found myself liking the design alot when it is drawn in animation.It appearently beats the other GN-X III hands down when animated.
Ali’s gonna get a Red Throne Zwei Mark II…..(Ali in Zwei= 10X better than Johann in Zwei) and Graham’s gonna get an Ahead.What happened to his Flag fanboyism??I can understand that the previous GN-Flag sucked because Billy had very limited time to modify it(Plus,Flags aren’t design for space and it’s only armed with one beam saber).
I wonder who’s side Wang is on?I always suspected she was with A-LAws or Ribbons because of the Nena-VedaEyes while watching video of 00 Gundam thing in the Epilogue.
Setsuna get points for rebuilding the Exia WITH HIS OWN HANDS!!!!!Sure it took him 5 years and not really nicely done at that but I’m sure he doesn’t even has a degree in Gundam Engineering and considering all the limited parts he had,he did a good job.Gotta admire that guys determination(Like how he tried to pawn the Thrones solo in 19).
Does anyone else find it hilarious that Christina was replaced by a loli? On a similar note, I’m really liking Feldt’s new hairstyle.
Anyway, the second season did indeed get off to quite the amazing start. Especially when Setsuna fights with the damaged Exia. I REALLY want a model of that thing.
Lol setsuna looked a lot more dependable after +4 age + 1 angst and +6 improvised AT shaped charge
Is it me or is Saji going to be the next Shin and so surppass Setsuna in his angst and then Berserk off in some spectacluar fanfare
Worst still, he might be setup by some not-so-kind script wrif the scrter to face off his percious louise in a suit without knowing she is inside and repeats the Shin-Stellar plot device all over again, this time with soundtrack Sorrow of the Deeper sea as BGM
Saji, you must have have sined greviuosly or pissed off the Script writer in your previous non-existant life
tough cookies man
DM – how did you improve your aural comprehension and speaking abilities? Was it also through classes as well?
One of the biggest hurdles I have with Japanese is listening to it. I find that I am much better at reading Japanese than I am at hearing it.
Though, obviously from seeing your fansubbing skills, you have no trouble distinguishing words at all when you watch anime. Were you able to achieve a high level of listening and speaking through JLPT classes alone, or was there some other factor involved?
Hey, at least they are breaking out the cheese early based on what I saw from the preview of the next episode. o_o
My listening comprehension ability comes entirely from watch anime. Seriously. Anime is great for getting you used to the language and understanding everyday conversations. It’s not so great after you reach a certain level of proficiency because all anime have the same set of vocabulary. Then you have to move on to watching Japanese news or something. I’m not particularly good at speaking though.
anyone notice the MASSIVE gundam head on tieria’s new ride’s backside?
megazord perhaps? :o
That gundam face on Seravee looks a lot like the bottom half of Devil Gundam from G Gundam.
That face is Gundam Nadleeh (Or however you spell it) i think…that or they just decided to put a random face on his back to freak people out thinking he can see them.
Graham’s mask reminds me of one of those old full-face masks that samurai sometimes wore with their armor. And if I’ve got him identified correctly in the ED, then his helmet has a pair of small horns on it…
wth?
Damaged Exia looked pretty cool. It’s too bad that we’ll probably never see it again (after losing both of its shoulders and one leg…). And it’s too bad that the cloak will probably look lame if Bandai does it as a model kit.
Ascaloth – it would probably be good to keep in mind that the Alaskan political landscape is littered with the corpses of those who didn’t take Palin seriously…
The head at the back of Seravee is not actually a head for a Gundam 00 gattai, it’s a weapon for Nadleeh Akwos. Click my “name” to see it.
But where is the FLAME WAR I’ve been waiting for….? Oh wait…. >_>
DM- I was reading what you said to Benson and wondered if you also learned to read and write Japanese through anime/songs/etc? I mean, did you have any formal teaching at all or simply watched raw/fansubbed anime and slowly picked it up?
I’ve only taken a semester college course in Japanese at my school and switched to Mandarin after my rather despondent grades, but I’d still like to know enough Japanese to watch anime without subs.
DarkMirage THANK YOU! I will watch Gundam 00 solely for the purpose of reading your blog entries afterwards. You make my day! thank you.
Let me guess… you finished your coursework?
-_-;
@Cassul
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/
yeah i reckon seravee’s ass head thing is probs part of some kind of nadleeh upgrade. gah now i hav to wait an another week for the next episode, and possibly longer for the 1st episode to b subbed and uploaded
Interesting, thank you for pointing out what that face is on Seravee
Cassull:
I did have formal lessons but I felt that they weren’t very useful once the basic grammar structures were covered. For JLPT 3 and beyond, I picked up most of my listening comprehension from watching subbed anime and translating songs, and most of my reading comprehension from doing JLPT 1 and 2 comprehension practices and visual novels.
In every Gundam series, there must always be a masked blond man.
“In every Gundam series, there must always be a masked blond man.”
In every SUNRISE show there has to be at least one masked man!
DM, I apologize if this is beginning to get annoying, but when you are translating song lyrics, how do you know when to fill in the gaps for missing words, and when to connect lines?
Taking your Dancing in the velvet moon translation as an example:
watashi no mune no juujika wo – you fill in the verb for this as “accept” when it is not explicitly stated. When I didn’t see a verb, I instinctively tried to somehow connect it with the line before it, “anata dake ni sasagetai no.”
“futari kiri sotto kagi wo kake.” How did you know to separate futari kiri and sotto kagi wo kake into two separate sentences in translating?
“yume wo miyou sameru koto nai yume wo” which you translated as
“For a dream that it doesn’t need to awake from.”
Analyzing it from stanza 2’s parallel structure:
“futari kiri sotto kagi wo kake
odorimashou itazura na toki ni yudanete”
I thought that “yume wo miyou” would be volitional similar to “odorimashou.” Does “wo miyou” translate into “for” idiomatically, or is it a more loose translation you adopted? Also, does “[verb plain] koto nai” translate into “doesn’t need to” or is that again another poetic translation?
I am by no means challenging your Japanese – I know you know what you are doing. However, you stated earlier that you learned some Japanese through lyric translation so I am curious what thought process you go through when you translate songs. In particular, how do you determine/decide when to translate one line by itself and when to connect it with another line?
P.S. If you feel that this is going far too off topic from Gundam 00, would you mind emailing me via kyoyuy@hotmail.com ? I understand you’re a busy person, so feel free to discuss the issues whenever (or never if you don’t want to)
realistically. louise is the sole survivor of the fabulously rich halevy family, right. why’s she a lowly ms pilot. she’s rich, bitch!
i guese the universal century made the most money so i think sunrise must repeat the same themes over and over again.
oh G00 S2 started out real nice, but they gave us so many new characters to absorb. Once they started showing saji being a baby again i was starting to feel this is going to be a train wreck like others have said. It would have been sooo much better to have saji become a pilot already and be mature at the start. I dont wanna see crying baby shjt like dumb asz Raki from claymore fvcking pissed me off. Louise being all messed up also made me pissed off why the fvck has she joined the a-laws i thought she was with tiera at the end of season one??? Like others have also said Graham looks like a clothes-cannons fired mannequin hahahahaha (Amnestic great) his mask looks terrible + his clothes oh man a disaster. Ribbons is a homo/shemale/doujishin material. Who fvck is Lyle Dylandy that pisses me off, no one can replace Neil Dylandy Lockon Stratos Bjtch! I wanted saji to be the lockon stratos pilot too. Tiera’s gundam is like two times the penis sizes as the screen shots say. Those automons are like the same as the dragoons from ghost in a shell if anyone remembers that old game/anime. They also are like crappy versions of the starwars robots like that starwars maniac up there had said. To end this off, this first episode was a disappointment made me pissed off (if i haven’t over used this phrase yet).