Archive for 2014
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Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00 Kidō Senshi Gandamu Daburu Ō?) is the 11th installment of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise. It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, with character designs by Yun Kōga and music by Kenji Kawai. Uniquely, Gundam 00's 50 episodes were split into two 25 episode seasons, the first Gundam series to do so.
Plot
Season 1
In the year 2307 AD, fossil fuels have all but vanished and the distribution of energy is unbalanced. Humanity now relies on three large-scale solar power systems controlled by three multinational power blocks: the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (Union), the Human Reform League (HRL), and the Advanced European Union (AEU). With this nearly inexhaustible source of energy benefiting only these three powers and their allies, constant warfare erupted around the globe among minor countries for precious fuels and energy. Countries whose economy relied solely on the sale of fossil fuels were plunged into poverty and some even believed that the solar power system threatened the "promised land of God", resulting in the twenty year-long Solar Wars. Such a chaotic reality has lead to the creation of a paramilitary organization in possession of four highly advanced humanoid mobile suits called "Gundams" and a mysterious technology known as the "GN Drive". They call themselves Celestial Being, and their goal is nothing less than the complete eradication of war through the use of war itself.Season 2
Four years have passed since the United Nations Forces' victory over Celestial Being. Humanity, having established the Earth Sphere Federation, forms an independent police force separate from and with authority over the ESF Army known as the Autonomous Peace-Keeping Force, or A-Laws. Given unfettered discretion, A-Laws is charged with the duties of further unifying the world's nations, enforcing the will of mankind, and disposing of resistance groups and terrorist cells as they see fit. Unknown to the general public, however, is that the A-Laws use their unchecked power as a means to oppress freedoms, doctrines, and ideologies through the use of inhumane tactics under the guises of "unity" and "world peace". Celestial Being, fully aware of the A-Laws' misuses of power, has arisen from the ashes of defeat to eradicate the A-Laws and set the world on the true path to peace once more. Armed with Aeolia Schenberg's gifts of the Trans-Am and Twin Drive Systems, Celestial Being hopes to correct their past mistakes and atone for the damage caused by the A-Laws, aided by the resistance group Katharon. Unknown to both Celestial Being and the A-Laws, however, a third party calling themselves the Innovators is manipulating both sides of the conflict from the shadows, all the while claiming they are carrying out Aeolia Schenberg's true plan.Movie
Two years have passed since the defeat of the Innovators and the exposure of the A-Laws' crimes against humanity. The A-Laws have been abolished and their infrastructure integrated into the ESF Army, which has become the mainstay force of world peacekeeping and humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, their goal accomplished and Veda recovered, Celestial Being has returned to the shadows to rebuild and quietly observe the infantile peace that has taken hold; however, the world's exposure to GN Particles has resulted in many people awakening as True Innovators. Realizing the military benefits of such individuals, the Earth Sphere Federation has begun to research Innovation and exploit the emerging Innovators' abilities, creating new tensions with Celestial Being as an external threat arrives at the scene. As Celestial Being and its Gundam Meisters begin their final mission to save humanity from this unimaginable threat, Setsuna F. Seiei will soon discover the true purpose of his evolution as an Innovator and the nature of the "dialogues to come", for which Aeolia Schenberg's plan had prepared the human race.
And The Trailer :)
Picture
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (or "Gundam SEED") is an anime television series from Japan. It is a part of the Gundamfranchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate universe called the Cosmic Era. The series has 50 episodes, aired in Japan from October 5, 2002 to September 27, 2003 at 6:00 p.m. on the JNN TV stations (Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS TV), Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS TV, producing TV station), etc.). The series had finished remastering in High-Definition for it's 10th year anniversary, omitting two recap episodes.
The majority of the series was aired with a TV-Y7, apparently, at the insistence of Bandai who were desperately trying to push the new Gundam SEED toy line. However, since most retailers had stopped carrying the Gundamline due to over-saturation from the G Gundam series, this soon became a lost cause. Only the final episode was given the TV-PG-SV rating rather than the usual TV-Y7 rating.
Overview
Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda (Future GPX Cyber Formula andGear Fighter Dendoh), the series is the first set in the Cosmic Era universe. This series begins with a war between Earth and the colonies that is similar to the One Year War of the original Gundam series with certain traditional elements from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing and After War Gundam X. On one side is the Earth Alliance, and on the opposite is the space colonies that form ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty). Mankind is divided over human genetic engineering, with normal humans known as 'Naturals' and the genetically altered humans known as 'Coordinators'. Like the original series, ZAFT has a head start on mobile suit design, the Earth Alliance quickly catches up with its five prototype Gundam’s. With ZAFT having stolen four of the prototypes, young pilot Kira Yamato takes the Strike Gundam and is forced to fight his old friend Athrun Zala. Little do they know that there are sinister forces at work that go far beyond their worst nightmares...
Themes and reactions
The series was widely acclaimed upon release,[1][2] and has left a great legacy upon the otaku community of Japan and abroad. Some of the major characters can still be seen in the Top 10 favorite character lists ofNewtype magazine,[3] and the merchandise sold in the millions.[4]
The series was intended to be the 21st Century Gundam[5] updated for a new generation of fans, with other elements from previous series added into the mix. The similarities between the original Mobile Suit Gundam and this series are by far the most numerous. To fit the tastes of 21st century viewers, themes based on the elements surrounding present day situations were incorporated namely the 9/11 attacks, Fukuda speaks of an unbroken cycle of hatred since Christ's death with justice on both sides (Muslim and non-Muslim).[6] The series primarily focused on the interpersonal relationships between the characters,[6][7] resulting in many layered romantic friendships. The series is guided by the traumatic friendship between pilots Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala.
The inclusion of issues such as racism, with desires of genocide, further updated the series and provided food for thought as well as social commentary. The genetically altered Coordinators provide a vision for the future in a world fraught with talk of GM food and cloning.
Airing information
The series is licensed by Bandai Entertainment, and was released on DVD in North America in uncut bilingual format. An edited version of the English dub premiered during the Toonami block at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday nights, it was pushed back to 1:00 am on Friday nights starting with Phase 27 due to below average ratings.[citation needed]
The majority of the series was aired with a TV-Y7, apparently, at the insistence of Bandai who were desperately trying to push the new Gundam SEED toy line. However, since most retailers had stopped carrying the Gundamline due to over-saturation from the G Gundam series, this soon became a lost cause. Only the final episode was given the TV-PG-SV rating rather than the usual TV-Y7 rating.
Things that were edited out on Cartoon Network include mature content (ex. most references to the sexual relationship between Kira and Flay—though the initial scene presenting this was left partially intact); scenes of intense combat violence (ex. almost all shots of pilots, including main characters, in their cockpits before having their machines destroyed); cold-blooded or brutal murders that are non-mobile suit related (ex. Siegel Clyne getting shot by ZAFT soldiers loyal to Rau Le Creuset and Patrick Zala); all references to the fact that the Living CPUs need to take performance enhancing drugs; and most notoriously, handguns being sloppily and inconsistently transformed into neon-colored lasers, dubbed "Disco Guns" by fans, for the majority of the show's run. Also, there was little to no use of the words "kill" or "die" in the middle of the series airing. Since most of the series had been edited by Williams Street before broadcast, Cartoon Network changed very little in terms of content allowance. However, the airings of the final two episodes were left mostly unedited, with only a few elements being affected—namely the guns used by Azrael, Patrick Zala, and one of the ZAFT soldiers (which was given neon-colored lights in certain but not all of the image frames), airbrushing the naked Flay's body in the final episode to avoid showing her cleavage, reducing the amount of blood shown, editing the character's lines; to remove either inappropriate language or controversial lines, and the removal or altering of flashbacks of graphic assassinations. The Canadian version debuted on YTV's Bionix block in September 2004 at 9:30 p.m. where it got a better reception and aired comparatively uncut, with almost all of the material listed above intact.
In Japan, it occupied the Saturday 6 p.m. timeslot on MBS and TBS, widely considered a prime timeslot; the anime and its subsequent successor to the timeslot (Full Metal Alchemist) went on to do very well.
In the Philippines, the show was aired on ABS-CBN last December 20, 2004. First shown on the 6 pm primetime block on Weekdays (Mondays-Fridays), it was later moved to the 5:30 pm slot on the same day frame until it's End last March 4, 2005. Currently, it airs on ABS-CBN's Cable Anime Channel, Hero TV every Friday at 10:30 am, 5:30 pm and 11:30 pm, and in Cartoon Network Philippines every Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 pm (double episodes) (all times in Philippine Standard Time [GMT+8])
Adaptations, Spin-offs & Sequels
A three-part compilation of the TV series has been released as Gundam SEED: Special Edition. The English manga, authored by Masatsugu Iwase, is published in North America by Del Rey Manga and in Singapore by Chuang Yi, while Gundam SEED Astray, a spin-off of Gundam SEED, is published in North America by Tokyopop.
An adaptation of the TV series, authored by Mizuho Takayama, was originally as supplement of Comic BomBom. This version comes with folding color posters of the Mobile Suits, and a bonus Gundam SEED Destiny episode 0 comic. The stories were eventually published into 2 volumes by Kodansha. The 2-volume version is available in Chinese, published by Rightman Publishing Ltd. in Hong Kong.
The TV series was also turned into a series of novels by Riu Koto, published by Kadokawa Shoten.
Also running with the series was a series of manga called Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray that told a side-story to the anime series. This proved popular enough to generate two more side-stories: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray R and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED X Astray.
On July 6, 2004 the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, was announced after over a month of rumors. It started airing in Japan on October 2004 on the network Mainichi Broadcasting System and ran until October 1, 2005. A third Gundam SEED production, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73:STARGAZER, an ONA side-story to Destiny, is currently being streamed on Bandai Channel. A film was recently announced to complete the trilogy.
SEED is currently being rereleased after a HD remastering project in honor its 10th anniversary, some scenes are redrawn, effects such as beam weapon shots touched up for larger TV's (previously would be a couple of bars of solid color now have extra fine details and graduated color changes across the beam), some scenes are cropped for widescreen while others (like computer console displays of text or graphics) have extra detail added to the sides (such as the edges of the console itself) to make them into widescreen aspect without the console content loss which would occur from cropping.
and this is the trailer :)
