Final thoughts on Gundam 00 (Season One)

Finished watching Mobile Suit Gundam 00 last week. I think I used up an entire roll of tissue paper while watching the last few episodes.

WARNING: THE REST OF THIS POST CONTAINS A LOT OF SPOILERS.

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Too many deaths and painful losses were depicted in this series. Although it hurt and made me cry so hard my eyes were swollen for a day or so, I still enjoyed watching the entire thing. For some reason I liked how series captured the kind of things that happen during times of war. No one is safe from it, not even the civilians ensconced in their homes or the supposedly powerful Gundam Meisters. No uber Mary Sues or Jesus Yamatos in this series; no sir.

Lockon Stratos broke my heart. I adored him from the beginning, but then he just had to up and pull that stupid revenge stunt. I literally screamed when he got injured saving Tieria, and I couldn’t stop crying when he died because of that hot bastard Ali.

Speaking of psychos…the Trinity siblings? I hate them, especially Michael and Nena. Johann was tolerable (except for his strange preference for cycling shorts), but Michael and Nena were just infuriating. I was very, very happy when Ali killed Michael and Johann, but was disappointed that that bitch Nena got away.

I absolutely despise Nena. I’m fine with cutesy characters, and I can tolerate psychos to some extent. But a psycho who acts like an innocent twit just to get away with the shit that she does? I hate it. Fuck you, Nena Trinity. I hope you die a slow and painful death in season two.

…dammit, now I’ve lost my train of thought and wasted my time ranting about her and making a fugly image of her. Ffffffffffff.

Anyway.  What else can I say about Gundam 00… the animation is consistently good; I didn’t spot a single episode with animation/art that looked rushed or subpar. The music is great…but then with big shots like L’Arc~en~Ciel and Stephanie doing the theme songs and BGMs composed by Kenji Kawai (the same guy who composed music for the Ghost in the Shell movie), you can’t really go wrong. The mobile suit designs are awesome. They look sexier less clunky compared to most other mobile suits from the other Gundam series, and somehow the designs seem to make more sense…well, I still sort of don’t get Nadleeh’s “hair”, but it apparently has a function and still looks cool in its own way.

I think my only complaint about the series is the fashion design. I mean, sure, some of Sumeragi’s outfits were cute, but some of the clothes were just awful, as illustrated by Johann’s cycling shorts and Tieria’s pink cardigan.

All in all, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is one of my favorite anime series to date. And with those damned cliffhangers at the end of season one (…is that a Tieria clone or did he just get a perm…?), I need to buy myself a copy of season two before I start trawling the net for spoilers.

Random thoughts on Gundam 00 (Season One)

I just started watching Mobile Suit Gundam 00 recently (which might probably come off as strange because I bought my Gundam Nadleeh before I even got to watch the series), and I can honestly say that I like it. Watching some of the other Gundam series (like Wing and Seed) was kind of a chore for me, so I’m surprised that I’m actually looking forward to watching more of 00.

I like how the story centers on the the power struggles between nations and the prevention of war and terrorism. I find it somewhat timely, and the themes are something that most people can relate to. The characters seem pretty decent too. None of them are really annoying (i.e. so stupid and/or badly written/designed that I can’t stand them) thus far…although I sometimes want to punch Setsuna F. Seiei in the face for being a robotic, Gundam-obsessed moron and bitchslap Tieria Erde for being such a tight-ass.

Lockon Stratos is my favorite so far. Not just because he’s the hottest Gundam Meister there is, but because I like his laid-back-but-serious-when-necessary attitude, he pilots a smexy Gundam, and has an entire crew of cute little bouncing Haros.  Ali Al-Saachez is hot too, but I’ve been warned about his personality beforehand, so I’ll try to stay away from him.

I have mixed feelings about Allelujah Haptism. Growing up in a predominantly Catholic country, his name just makes me frown whenever someone mentions it. And his voice is…too young. Whenever he and Tieria are having a conversation, I catch myself wishing that their voice actors would trade places. My boyfriend says that there’s a reason for his voice being like that though, but since I have yet to find out what those reasons are, my dislike for it will remain. Al (I will call him that because his real name is a pain to type and, like I said, it makes me frown) is pretty okay overall, though; his name and voice are the only things about him that bug me.

Seeing as I’ve only watched ten episodes of the series, my opinions are subject to change. I have a feeling I’ll eventually start hating/bitching on something (or someone), and I’ll be sure to post my raves/rants here.

OH DISNEY.

Prince Philippe: When will I see you again?

Aurora: Oh never, never!

Prince Philippe: Never?

Aurora: Well, maybe someday!

Prince Philippe: When? Tomorrow?

Aurora: Oh, no! This evening!

El: *facepalms*

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Don’t get me wrong, I adore Sleeping Beauty actually, I adore Maleficent, but let’s not go there; it only recently dawned on me how *FACEPALM* or *HEADDESK* worthy the dialogue is.

And Maleficent’s laughter is still epic. I really need to get a .wav/.mp3 file of it to use as a message alert tone on my phone.

Looking forward to Coraline

While some fans are reacting negatively to the changes made in the film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, I for one am pretty excited about the film. Well, at first I was iffy about the thought of it being an animated film (I personally imagined it as a live action similar to Mirrormask or Pan’s Labyrinth), but I changed my mind after seeing the trailer.

While I’m fully aware of the difference between the visuals in the original book and the film (Dave McKean’s illustrations are things that I would describe as “brilliant, but seriously creepy“), I’m not going to complain about the cartoony-style used in the film. I think that Coraline is a story I would like to share with children, but I don’t want to scare their little pants off with things like a real human being with buttons instead of eyes (for some reason, that reminds me of The Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, who gave me nightmares for a while).

And come to think of it, Neil Gaiman stated in his blog that “… Coraline the book is much creepier for adults than it is for kids, who tend to read it as an adventure. I suspect that this will be true of the film as well.” I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’d be interesting to see Coraline the way kids see it (i.e. minus the creep-factor automatically generated by my presumably grown-up brain).

…not that I don’t like creepy things (note: creepy things, not scare-me-witless things), but it’d be a nice change.

Coraline hits theaters this week (February 6, 2009), but I’m not sure if it’s coming to the Philippines on the same date. Ah well. Here’s to hoping I manage to actually watch it when it does make it here.

Disney sequels destroy my childhood.

While we’re on the Disney end of the spectrum, let’s talk about Disney sequels, specifically the sequels to Disney classics.

I’m one of those Disney fans who hates the sequels/prequels/midquels that the company has been shelling out. Apart from having subpar animation compared to the originals, most of them completely rob the originals of their magic/romance, thus destroying my childhood (I will forever be traumatized by John Smith suddenly turning into a complete asshole in Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World). The only sequel and midquel I really enjoyed were The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride and The Lion King 1½.

It’s like the sequels are just there to rake in more cash from the fans. For shame.

Don’t lump me with the Disney sequel haters who haven’t actually seen any of them; I gave a number of sequels a shot before I started complaining. Here are the few that I’ve seen (i.e. sequels that watched at least halfway through) so far:

• The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves - saw these a long time ago. I remember kind of liking them, but I don’t know if I’d enjoy them if I saw them again anytime soon.
• Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - now this one had potential, probably because it was a midquel and not a sequel. Too bad about that plot hole named Forte. I mean, everyone got turned into household objects that could talk and move; he got turned into a pipe organ that can talk, move (well, fine, he was chained to the wall) and use evil magic. Complete with the glowing green imps and musical notes/scales. Ugh.
• Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World – There goes my childhood. I know they made a mistake in the first movie (the real Pocahontas was only a pre-teen when John Smith and company came along), but they didn’t have to force a correction like this. Turning one of the coolest leading Disney male to date into an utterly selfish asshole was a very bad move.
• The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride – This wasn’t too bad, though there’s still a big plot hole in that it left me wondering where Zira and her cubs had been the whole time while Scar was ruling the Pride Lands.
• The Lion King 1½ – This wasn’t too bad either; I rather enjoyed learning more about Timon and Pumbaa, and their humor is always welcome.
• The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Look Ma, a backwards sequel! In the first film, Ariel wanted to be a human, now her daughter wants to be a mermaid. And she looks like she had a wig made in the shape of her mother’s hair with her father’s hair color. And Ursula turns out to have a sister who looks like an anorexic version of her. Riiiiight.
• Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure – Lookie, another backwards sequel. Tramp wanted to be a domestic dog, now his son wants to be a junkyard dog. Seems like they’re running out of ideas.
• Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time – I only watched parts of these, but I’d say it was enough. The films’ premises were bland, the animation was half-assed, and all those close-ups of Lady Tremaine made her seem more cheesy than scary. I liked the Prince much better in the original too, because he didn’t talk.
• Return to Neverland – this was another sequel that I found to be somewhat enjoyable. I liked how they showed how war can affect a child’s mindset.

Ariel's clone-- er...I mean, Ariel's mother, Queen Athena.

The latest sequel – well, prequel actually – that I’ve heard of is The Little Mermaid III: Ariel’s Beginning. I haven’t seen it, but after seeing a screenshot of Ariel’s mother (that’s her on the right), I just threw up my hands in defeat.

My classmates and I burst into laughter when we saw this image. I mean, look at her. It’s like Ariel had her hair dyed, tied it back, put on some bling (including her father’s crown), and painted her bikini a different color.

I’m starting to wonder just how many wives King Triton had, given that Ariel has six other sisters who don’t look like their mother as much as she does.

...call me sick, but this looks kind of wrong if you had no idea that that mermaid's supposed to be Ariel's mother.