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.

Roles filled, offered, and scrapped in A Game of Thrones pilot, and GRRM still has problems with Meereenese knots

George R. R. Martin posted a lot in one go on his LiveJournal this morning (or evening, depending where you live), including some news about the HBO A Game of Thrones pilot and A Dance with Dragons.

HBO Pilot: D&D have cast one more role and have an offer out to a wonderful actor on another. Sorry, no clues, I’m clued out for the present. One of the roles that was yet to be filled has been written out of the pilot. No huge thing, he wasn’t in that part of the book in any case… though we did have a world-class thespian lined up to play the part. Character and actor will both be back if we go to series.

Drat, no clues? Great, now we have to wait a while for official announcements. Pfft.

And I wonder which role was taken out of the pilot…based on what I know about the pilot’s script and the book, it could be Grand Maester Pycelle. According to the script, he’s supposed to be talking to Cersei in the scene where Jon Arryn lies on his deathbed, but that was never shown in the book.

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS: I took a good hard swack at the Meereenese knot. The sword bounced off and cut my nose off. Bugger.

GRRM has been stuck with “the Meereenese knot” for a long while now, so I guess it’s safe to say that he’s suffering from a writer’s block. And based on the way he described it, this one seems more painful than writer’s blocks usually are. Ouch.

Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in HBO’s A Game of Thrones Pilot

Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune’s The Watcher has revealed that Lena Headey, known for portraying Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Queen Gorgo in 300, has been cast as Cersei Lannister in HBO’s A Game of Thrones pilot.

George R. R. Martin is pleased about Headey being cast, saying that “Her range was one of the things that impressed us most about her; Cersei is a character with many colors, and Lena will be able to give us all of them. Her readings were wonderful… and of course she’s beautiful and sexy as hell.”

I’m in awe right now. Like Sean Bean, Headey wasn’t one of the first people I thought of as cast members for AGOT, but now that they’ve cast her, I think she’s a great choice for the role. I’m still a bit worried about her looks-wise since she’s usually shown as a brunette and her skin’s a bit tan compared to the image of Cersei I had in my mind, but as GRRM himself said: “Yes, it’s true, she’s not a blonde, but she has played one on TV (and in films). Seriously, guys. This is HBO. They know about wigs and hair dyes and stuff like that.”

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Image taken from Starpulse.com.

New players in HBO’s A Game of Thrones finally announced

Oh wow, I’m busy for a few days and I look what I’ve missed:

“In the adaptation of the George R.R. Martin fantasy-book series, [Nikolaj] Coster-Waldau will play Jaime Lannister, one of the king’s guards and a ruthless usurper of the previous king. The actor, most recently seen in Ron Moore’s Fox pilot ‘Virtuality,’ is repped by WME, Impression and Independent Talent Group.

Another addition is Tamzin Merchant (Showtime’s ‘The Tudors’), who’ll play Daenerys, an exiled teenage princess.

Also new to the cast: Richard Madden (‘Hope Springs’) as Stark’s eldest son, Robb; Iain Glen (‘Into the Storm’) as Ser Jorah Mormont, a disgraced knight; Alfie Allen (‘The Other Boleyn Girl’) as Theon, Stark’s young ward; Sophie Turner (‘Doctor Who’), as Stark’s eldest daughter, Sansa; Maisie Williams as Stark’s young tomboy daughter, Arya.” – The Hollywood Reporter

I always knew at least one actor/actress would spill over from The Tudors into A Game of Thrones; looks like I was right since Tamzin Merchant made it into the AGoT cast. She certainly looks the part, in my opinion. I never imagined Dany to be your stereotypical beautiful princess; I always imagined her to look beautiful in a weird, otherworld-y sort of way, and Merchant fits that description.

Looks-wise, I’m not so happy with the actor starring as Theon. I always imagined Theon as a younger Jonathan Rhys Myers, and Alfie Allen certainly doesn’t look like that. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how he acts and how he looks with make-up and costume on, as GRRM seems pleased with the casting (check out his multiple entries with comments on the actors on his LJ).

Here’s a list of all the currently confirmed cast members with links to web pages with pictures and/or info on them (mind you, a lot of these actors don’t have a lot of pictures on the internet and I just worked around what I could find):

• Sean Bean as Lord Eddard Stark
• Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
• Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon I
• Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon
• Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen
• Kit Harington as Jon Snow
• Richard Madden as Robb Stark
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
• Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys “Dany” Targaryen
• Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont
• Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
• Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
• Maisie Williams as Arya Stark