12 (Naughty) Moments of Anime 2011 No. 9 – Setsuna Is a Sappy Bastard

The Gundam 00 movie is all about Setsuna F. Seiei trying to get laid. Stay with me here.

After the conclusion of the show’s second season, Setsuna is basically an Anime Jesus, one of several in the Gundam universe. His Gundam shits out rainbows and whatnot — that is essentially Jesus territory. And as Anime Jesus, Setsuna’s mission in life is to proliferate peace throughout the galaxy by means of blowing shit the fuck up.

You know, just like Jesus.

Anyway, also like Jesus, Setsuna can’t get his groove on with his main squeeze because everyone is all, “Nuh uh”. But Setsuna totes wants to tap that, even though his only emotion is “:|”, and so he works harder than ever before to forge peace in the universe so that all those player haters will get the fuck off his back.

Everything culminates in the final battle where tons of characters die anticlimactically and the space cancer crystals from Guilty Crown are understood to be nice and peaceful, and Setsuna makes an offering of a space flower. However! This space flower is not an olive branch to the aliens! In fact, this space flower is meant specifically for Setsuna’s honey bunch, Marina Ismail.

“Hey, baby,” Setsuna is saying. “I’m totally done with this peace-bringing business, so let’s you and me have a few drinks and listen to some Space Barry White.”

Tragically, though, Setsuna undergoes a transformation that 1) Makes him entirely silver, and 2) Leaves him anatomically similar to a Ken doll. Also, the next time he sees Marina she is really old and blind.

Such a tragedy.

The Gundam 00 Movie Is the Comedy of the Year

Setsuna having the same hairstyle as his movie counterpart is only the tip of the iceberg. :p

When I heard a bit more about the Gundam 00 movie at Anime Expo a couple of years back, I was looking forward to it. While in retrospect, Gundam 00 isn’t as good as some other Gundam series, I nonetheless enjoyed it and have actually watched it more than once. (And I suppose I’ll always be fond of it to a certain extent since it was my gateway Gundam.) But some initial reviews poured in after the movie was shown in various places (most notably Mike Toole’s article at ANN), and the feedback was not great, to say the least. So my expectations were lowered considerably heading into the movie, which is why I can safely say that I still thought it blew huge chunks.

But there is enjoyment to be had from the Gundam 00 movie! This is because it is secretly the best anime comedy that will be released in 2011. Let us count the oh so very many ways it is hilarious!

Twelve Moments in Anime 2010 No. 4 – Love! Love! Tenkyoken!

G Gundam was the last of my brushes with Imagawa-directed anime, and it was my least favorite, though a more accurate term would be that I thought it was the least totally fucking awesome. It has some definite flaws Giant Robo and Shin Mazinger Z do not (most notably a couple of strings of truly crappy episodes), but it says a lot about how good the good is that G is my second favorite Gundam series behind Zeta.

When I think about G Gundam, the ending is what leaps out at me. It’s everything that is wonderful about the series: On one side, you have this overgrown monstrosity of a Gundam — all fangs and mecha tentacles and what not — with Rain Mikamura at the head. On the other side is Domon Kasshu, wondering how he could possibly defeat the Devil Gundam without also destroying Rain. And then Domon realizes that what he needs to do is not fight . . . but to show Rain that he loves her, to really let her feel it for the first time.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m a huge fucking sap. I hate sappy endings as much as anyone when they don’t work and aren’t earned by the story, but when they do work, I eat ‘em all up. G Gundam‘s ending works because it is indescribably awesome. After watching Rain and Domon for 48 episodes, how could you not love them finally being together and teaming up to CRUSH AND DESTROY the Devil Gundam with the power of their Love?

Domon and Rain forever.

A Violent Battle Between Head and Heart

I had a jumbled idea of what I wanted this post to be about beforehand, but ghostlightning’s great — and well timed! — post yesterday had me thinking a bit more about what I wanted to express. Definitely give his post a read, because it is very interesting; I haven’t read the manga he writes about, but it’s not completely necessary to understand the post.

A necessary warning: I try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there are a couple from Now and Then, Here and There‘s final episode that I believed were necessary to make my points clearer, so if you want to avoid all spoilers for that series, then tread carefully or avoid the post altogether. Sorry. And no images in this post because, frankly, writing this has wiped me out, and I don’t have the energy to get images right now, haha. Maybe I’ll edit some in later.

When I watched Now and Then, Here and There a few weeks back, I wondered how the series would end. It is not an easy show to watch — it pushes the boundaries of suffering, cruelty and violence in ways many anime do not dare, both in content and presentation. I wondered how the finale would top this; now, I never thought there would be some large-scale bloody battle with both sides duking it out, because it seemed to me that this would run counter to the series’ message, but still, I wondered what would happen. Well, there is blood shed — plenty of it — and the situation resolves itself through a Deus Ex Machina of sorts. And the survivors are left with what they have.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

WARNING: Spoilers for Gundam SEED within this post. Read with caution.

In many ways, Gundam SEED Destiny is like the mirror image of its predecessor. Nowhere is this more apparent than in how the plot progresses throughout the series — more specifically, how the quality of the plot progresses.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Ever since I watched Mobile Suit Gundam 00, I’ve been slowly making my way through each Gundam series. I’ve already seen Wing (enjoyed it, although it becomes increasingly convoluted as it goes along), 08th MS Team (like that it’s basically a war movie dressed up in Gundam colors) and Zeta Gundam (like it, although my god are there a ton of really annoying, frustrating characters). Recently I watched Gundam SEED, which, like Wing, has a distinctly mixed reputation, to say the least. And although I do like the series once it gets going, that reputation really is deserved.