Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Season 1 Complete

This is not a review to say how great Gundam 00 or how great previous Gundam series were. Each Gundam series (except Gundam Seed Destiny and a few other offshoots) tends to start from scratch with a new fictional future, and new characters. Gundam 00 is a new series where the future is one that is oddly foreseeable. The world has depleted the supply of fossil fuel, so the only resource available is to harness solar power. But to harness solar power on the scale needed to power the planet, 3 orbital solar power stations were built. The Middle East fell into ruin after the oil dried up and the foreign powers abandoned those countries. The countries where the solar elevators were built (along the equator) are targets of struggle and terrorism, despite their apparent fortune.

The world is dominated by three superpowers, but there are still many countries around the globe that war over finite resources. Those superpowers have control of the solar power and can literally 'shut off' a country. So even independent countries must bend a knee towards one of these superpowers.

The Gundam Meisters are in an organization called Celestial Being. They are an anti war organization that uses armed intervention to end conflict (kind of ironic). We do see that there is more than meets the eye, especially as this first half of the series moves to the conclusion. And there is a nice demarcation between season one and two (which takes place a couple of years later).

The Japanese voice acting is a real treat. I have listened to the English dubbing, but I still prefer the Japanese voice cast. The music is very nice and everything is presented in high quality digital audio. The mixing and editing is nice, so you actually get movie quality sound effects instead of the same overly repeated explosion sound of previous series.

The series starts off almost too fast. You are introduced to probably a dozen or so central characters and not really given much time to catch your breath. I highly recommend watching through a second time soon after watching through the first season (I did and it helped). I might also recommend watching the first 5 or 6 episodes then possibly re watching them just to clarify a few items. At times it seems you might need a Gundam wiki at hand just to keep straight the three superpowers and which character is working for which power! It all gets a little clearer later on, but this is really the only negative I can think of.

The animation is top quality, backgrounds are stunning. The story moves along well and is full of plotting, revenge, and intrigue. This is a more political style of story rather than previous series which have been more military or overlord centered stories. Even Gundam Seed featured a moral rift causing war and racism but had a couple of key megalomaniacal characters that could obviously be pointed out as the bad guys. In this series, things are a bit more ambiguous.

The first season is more about setting the table and then dishing out some great action, but the real entree is to be served in season two.

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

NOTE: In the future, when I start to watch some older Gundam, I'll edit this review so it will be like a "New-comer Gundam fan" to "Gundam fan" I don't know, something like that.

Gundam 00 isn't my favorite Gundam series, but it's still near the top of my list.
The characters are fairly standard for Gundam, but what makes them really shine is their histories and the motivations behind joining Celestial Being or the various other militaries.
The animation is outstanding, and the battle scenes are amazingly well done. Director Mizushima's (of Fullmetal Alchemist fame) vision for this series was very ambitious, as the staff discuss in one of the extras, but it pays off in a big way.
There are a large number of characters, but the designs and colors make it fairly easy to tell who's who, so this is a good place to start for someone who's never seen a Gundam season before.
If you're a fan of mecha, drama, action, and good storytelling, you owe it to yourself to check this series out.