Review of Mobile Suit Gundam 00

The Gundam franchise has been a part of my life now ever since I was re-introduced to the franchise thanks to Gundam Build Fighters and Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans. Throughout my journey from this franchise I had seen a lot of great from this franchise but at the same time a lot of bad from this franchise. Nevertheless, I still had a great time watching all of the Gundam shows from this franchise and I don‘t regret it one bit. The U.C Gundam shows are mostly great sure they had its weak moments like ZZ and Victory but out of all the Gundam timelines, the U.C timeline isthe most polished of them all.
Now the alternate universe overall are hit or mess depending on your tastes and some alternate universe Gundam shows were good others ranged from meh to pretty bad.
Out of all the alternate universe, Gundam shows Gundam 00 got the most praise from the franchise even surpassing Wing and Seed.
So with all that said does Gundam 00 deserve that praise and does it hold when compared to the other Gundam shows before and ever since?
Hello, everyone, this is Shawn aka KurataLordStage and welcome to my review of Gundam 00 seasons 1 and 2 and with that out of the way let’s get started.
Story.
The year is 2307 as the result of the depletion of fossil fuels humanity now had to search for a new source of power. The power was found in the form of solar-powered Dyson rings orbiting the earth and supported by three orbital elevators. Each orbital elevator was served by one of the three power blocks of the planet which consists of the Union, The Human Reform League and AEU (Advanced European Union). Despite having this near inexhaustible source of power it really only seemed to benefit the major powers and allies and because of these minor countries of the world plunging into poverty and constantly break out into warfare just for fuel and energy.
This ongoing chaos led to the actual creation of a private organization called celestial being whose main goal to end wars and end humanity. To accomplish this they created four powerful mobile suits each piloted by four people called Gundam meisters.
The four misters being Setsuna F Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism and Tieria Erde. Together they carry out various missions to intervene acts of war throughout the war while the three powers try to eliminate them.
The story for Gundam 00 is pretty good overall but it has problems which mainly appears on season 2.
One of the mains things that I liked the series mainly season 1 is how different it was when compared to the other Gundam shows. It does away with the standard full-scale warfare that we see before from most Gundam shows from the past and instead, it tells a story that tackles some of the modern topics that the world is facing around that time such as religious and terrorism. I really adored where the first season went with this as it questions celestial beings motives. This is the stuff that I loved about Gundam. The first season made think about the issues that we have to face in everyday life. I was really invested in it.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing for season 2 because it took most of the stuff that made season 1 great and throws it away in favor of a standard faction vs faction story that we see seen before. Not only that but the writing season 2 not that good when compared to season 1 where the writing was pretty strong for the most part. Not to mention some of the topics and themes that was introduced in season 1 got preachy in season 2. It's not Wing or Seed Destiny level of preachiness but it was still preachy nonetheless. The last thing that I want to mention is the pacing. Unlike Seed and Seed Destiny where the pacing was broken beyond repair thanks to having a lot of flashback sequences, 00 pacing was a bit too fast at times especially in season 2 where it becomes a big problem for the narrative and character development.
Overall the story for 00 is pretty alright for the most part. Season 1 by itself is pretty good that did a good job at tacking modern topics as well having good writing for the most part despite the small pacing issues in season 1. Season 2 however, is okay at best where it may had some great moments now and then it but was ultimately lackluster in the writing and pacing department not to mention the themes and topics got incredibly preachy in season 2.
7/10
Characters.
The characters in Gundam are pretty enjoyable for the most part especially in season 1, however, feel like most of the characters in 00 don’t have much character development thanks to the fast pacing of 00 and it begins to the bite the show in the ass season 2.
I will save the 00 boys for last but let’s talk about the other characters starting with Saji and Louise.
I was honestly shocked at how much I liked them in season 1. At first, I thought these two were a waste of screen time however as the first season progresses I understood what the first season intended to do with them. They are normal people living normal lives that sadly get caught in a tragedy by the end of season 1 that changes them forever which was shown in season 2. Unfortunately, while I liked how Louise and Saji changed in season 2 I didn’t like them as much in season 1 especially Saji who for became a Shinji Ikari clone where he spends most of the show whining and doing dumb shit for no reason. It’s such as shame really because I liked Saji in season 1.
Graham was a pretty cool character in season 1 and I really liked his determination of how he wants to beat a Gundam in battle. Unfortunately, he devolved into a shitty Char clone in season 2 and he didn’t really do anything apart trying to 1v1 with Sestuna and whine a lot.
Ali al-Saachez is a pretty badass character in season 1 he was easily my second favorite charters in season 1. I loved how Sasschez was such a great rival/enemy to Setsuna and they conflict with the other was always a joy to watch. However unlike Graham who devolved into a mediocre character in season 2 he still remained a badass but now playing in second fiddle which is honestly sad.
Feldt is a character that I really liked. In the beginning, she was an anti-social girl who barely says anything unless she has to. However, as the series progresses she starts to open up the Celestial Being crew as she starts feeling more comfortable
Now if there was a character that was useless to the overall plot than it would be Marina who is by far one of the worst characters from the Gundam franchise. All she did in the series is preach about human understanding to Setsuna and writing a song that ultimately lead to nothing. As much I hate Relena from Gundam Wing least she redeemed herself in the movie Endless Waitz where she finally understands that she can’t achieve peace by preaching about pacifism and she far less annoying in that film. Say what you want about Saji and Louise but least they're felt like characters that a purpose in the narrative instead of being a useless plot device like Marina.
The villains in 00 not counting Ali al Saachez were pretty underwhelming at best as they don’t have any motives other than taking over the world and humanity. You dropped that ball on that one Sunrise.
Now that’s all the other characters done now let’s talk about the 00 boys.
Tieria was really annoying at first as he liked to be a total dick to everyone in Celestial Being and he was gladly to eliminate anyone who puts the plan in jeopardy. He eventually opens up over time and despite being the most feminist of the group I thought he was a pretty forgettable character that I didn’t like.
The first Lockon being Neil Dylandy is my favorite character in the series. I loved his easy-going nature as well-being the most sociable out of the 00 boys
I didn’t like the second Lockon Lyle Dylandy at first but the series went on I started to like him a bit thanks to him being a very skilled pilot as being kinda likable in the second half of season 2 however at times I feel he can be a total asspuller like Suzaku in Geass R2.
Allelujah is a pretty interesting character as he has a split personality that appears every time he goes into battle. However, I feel the writers never really went anyway with it and it became almost irrelevant when you get to season 2 where he starts forming a love interest to Marie due to them being both experimental super soldiers of HRL in the past
Finally, we have Setsuna who is one of the better Gundam protagonists from the franchise. Setsuna was once a child who slayed his parents to prove his loyalty to God but ultimately became disillusioned and grew to hate conflicts overall which lead him to join celestial being. In a nutshell, Setsuna is Heero Yuuji done right because not only much better-written character who compare to Heero who was a bland, contrived and stoic idiot from start to finish but Setsuna actually has character development. Throughout the series we see Setsuna trying to fix his own mistakes during his child soldier days. Also, Setsuna has an actual personality. Sure he starts off being as a stoic person after being traumatized during his child soldier days but as the series goes on he starts to express his feeling to people without reservation not to mention he starts to become more human instead of a stoic soldier.
Overall the characters in 00 were pretty enjoyable for what they were despite they shortcoming but having mostly underdeveloped characters thanks to the show fast pacing as well as many characters getting downgraded in season 2. Besides that, I thought the characters were enjoyable
6.5/10
Visuals.
Visually Gundam 00 is a massive step up when compared to the cosmic era of Gundam being Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny. The background scenery is amazing to look at that is filled with color that blends well with the tone of the series. The character designs were done by Risa Amada who goes by the pen name Yun Kōga and while haven’t check out her works but she has her own manga series called Loveless. Compared to Hisashi Hirai where most of the characters designs are the same from the Seed series Yun Koga did a good job at with the characters designs however I feel like some of the male characters look more feminine.
As for the actual animation is honestly amazing. The fight choreography was great for the mechs, character movement is fluent and there was no stock footage used. Thank god because after watching Wing and Seed I got sick of seeing recycled footage all the damm time.
If I had any complaints with the animation then it would be the overkill formula. Okay the overkill formula in 00 is not as bad when compared to Seed and Wing but it was still kind of an issue for me especially in season 2
The mecha designs in 00 are pretty good overall and they were pretty original for the most part and like the mechs in Wing and Seed they all have their own gimmicks and strength but I feel they did a far better job at showcasing the mechs in 00 compare to Wing and Seed.
9/10
Sound.
The soundtrack for 00 is fantastic and it’s the war tone for the series very well. Easily one of the best soundtracks from the franchise.
The season 1 openings and endings themes are pretty great overall and they are very memorable especially the second opening theme Ash Like Snow which is my all-time favorite Gundam opening theme as well-being my fourth favorite anime opening period.
The season 2 openings and endings themes are not as great and memorable as the season 1 but they were pretty enjoyable for what they were.
Now for sub vs dub.
I only seen bits of the sub for 00 but I remember the sub being pretty good.
The dub for 00 is pretty as it featured a lot of well-known voice actors from the other Gundam shows in the past.
Brad Swaile who previously voiced Amuro from Gundam 0079, Quatre from Gundam Wing and Dearka from Gundam Seed returned to voice the protagonist Setsuna and he honestly did a great job voicing Setsuna.
Chanta Strandwho previously voiced Lacus and Meer from Gundam Seed + Destiny returned to voice Feldt and she once again did a solid job voicing Feldt.
Scott McNeil who previously voiced Duo from Gundam Wing returns to voice Ali Al-Saachez who has the best performance in Gundam 00. He was fantastic as voicing Ali Al-Saachez.
In short both languages are great.
9/10
Final Thoughts.
After watching Gundam 00 as well buying the out of print DVDs from Beez Entertainment UK at my local Cex store how good was it. Well, I think it’s a good Gundam series for the most part. Do I think it’s the best Gundam series ever made? Obviously not. I don’t think it holds up as well as other Gundam shows like G, X, Build Fighters Season 1 and Turn A but it feels it’s better than the likes of Wing, Build Fighters Try, Seed + Destiny and Victory. I feel like Sunrise did a good job with the series as it fixed a lot of problems that had with Wing and Seed. The first season alone is a great Gundam show that had a lot of interesting in it as well having fun and likable character. Not to mention the writing for the first season was pretty solid. It has some problems though. The pacing at was way too fast times especially in season 2 the characters aren’t the most developed bunch I seen in a Gundam show and season 2 as a whole is inferior in the writing department where it resorted of using a mediocre plot that we all seen before from Gundam shows from the past. Not to mention many of the characters got downgraded in season 2 and because of those reason along 00 season 2 is okay at best but when compared to season 1 is pretty disappointing. Despite its shortcomings mainly in season 2 I still recommended Gundam 00 for people who want to start watching Gundam but doesn’t want to start too far back to the U.C Gundam shows.
Season 1 score 8.5/10
Season 2 score 6.5/10
Overall Score 7.5/10