About Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Complete First Season
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Complete First Season Reviews:
Pros:
Great Japanese voice acting (as expected in a Gundam series)
More modern character designs and appearances
High quality animation and backgrounds
Terrific musical score
Interesting and oddly foreseeable future
Rarely does it bore the viewer or settle on one scene for too long
$30 for 25 episodes of great Gundam action!
Cons:
- Too many principal characters and too many introduced too quickly
- Some side stories and back stories detract from overall flow
- Each character less developed than characters in previous Gundam series
First off, this review is coming from someone who has NOT seen any Gundam series in the past. This is the first series of Gundam that I finished, and I have to say that the experience was amazing!
Story:
There are rumors about Mobile Suit Gundam 00 taking a large resemblance from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, but since I haven't seen any other series of Gundam, I won't compare them. Basically an organization called "Celestial Being" uses it's mobile suits called "Gundam" in attempt to rid the world of conflict through armed intervention. Though this may seem like an impossible task... it is. The story probably sounds boring, but trust me it's not. The story's theme, especially in Season 2, is so realistic it changed my life forever! There are times where the Gundams seem "invincible" which can upset some people, but I didn't mind.
Characters:
I LOVE the character development and how they change throughout the course of the anime. That's something I always look for in any TV show/movie, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 surpassed it completely!!! You have a wide-range of main characters in this series. I like what they did with two of the main characters having a civilized/normal-person point of view that isn't affected by the war at first, but later they will and will cause them to change dramatically. The members of Celestial Being all (Except one) have some sort of dark, depressing past which makes them determined to rid the world of war, and thus joining the anti-war group. Characters opposing Celestial Being aren't considered to be "evil", which is very realistic because large-scale wars are not about good vs. evil, but rather different beliefs.
Animation:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is just stunning when it comes to the animations. The battle scenes are beautiful and the mobile suit designs are not only original, but amazingly crafted. Gundams Dynames and Exia are just awesome when it comes to their design. The explosions in outer space are abnormally purple, (which I began to notice because of a friend) which does kind of bother me, but that's just a minor thing (Then again, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED's explosions are pink... Why? I don't know).
Music/Sound and Voice-acting:
Let's talk about the openings real quick. L'Arc en Ceil starts the series with "Daybreak's Bell", which if you look at the lyrics translated in English, you will notice how relevant the song is to the series. Season 2 is started with UVERworld's hit "Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi", again, the song's lyrics are relevant, but it's such a good song to listen to because of how upbeat it is. The music for the anime itself is really good and it fits in perfectly with everything that's going on. No complaints.
I didn't notice anything unusual with the sound, so again, no complaints... I watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00 in the English dub for personal reasons, and I have to say that the voices were top notch. I didn't notice any problems other than the first couple episodes. Setsuna's voice actor did an amazing performance and same with the voice of Nena Trinity. Once again, no complaints.
Verdict:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 left an impact on me that will last the rest of my life. This is basically the Gundam series that got me into Gundam, so I absolutely recommend this to those who are just getting a feel for Gundam and don't know where to start. Your eyes will love you as Gundam 00 delivers amazing graphics and animation. I loved the mobile suits so much that I decided to get my first Gunpla! English voice acting is top notch, and music is great. What more can I say? I love this anime, and if you haven't seen it yet, please give it a chance!
Story: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Animation: 5/5
Music: 4.5/5
Voice-acting (English): 4/5
Overall: 9/10
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Complete First Season is for dvd wholesale only.
