Mobile Suit Gundam

[blkmage]

It's my understanding that what you're referring to has only been done in First Gundam, though there are admittedly a few I haven't seen (please, no spoilers).

The other big one that should ring a bell is Four in Z.

[MasterDias]

It's my understanding that what you're referring to has only been done in First Gundam, though there are admittedly a few I haven't seen (please, no spoilers).

Eh, the situation was the closest to what happened in AGE probably, but I really wouldn't say it was the only one. My point wasn't the amount of times it's been used though, but rather the heavy foreshadowing AGE did of it.

To be fair, I do think they have been attempting to throw new twists on things. Grodek is pretty different for a Gundam captain, and the whole multi-generational story was what originally caught my attention. But how well they have been succeeding overall...well...I don't know.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

The other big one that should ring a bell is Four in Z.

My memory may be a bit fuzzy, but didn't[spoiler]Kamille actually kill her by his own hand after fighting against her many times?[/spoiler]I recall her spiral towards the end being quite different anyway. I think the parallel fits much more tightly with First Gundam.

But, let's say you're right and First and Zeta make a similar move but then no subsequent Gundam series thereafter does so, for 25 years, until AGE. I think it would be a bit churlish to say that AGE is simply following the Gundam formula, and that this plot development is just another Gundam trope, if it is in fact the case that the first two Gundam series use it while dozens more over several decades don't use it. That's all I'm sayin'.

My point wasn't the amount of times it's been used though, but rather the heavy foreshadowing AGE did of it.

This is a fair criticism of the writing as such, and I do agree that the writers were not subtle here at all (yet it still affects me...what does say about me?). I just didn't think that the move was necessarily a Gundam trope and to dock points for that reason seemed a tad harsh.

[blkmage]

I didn't list every single one because you said you didn't want spoilers.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I didn't list every single one because you said you didn't want spoilers.

Oh...right...



Of course I did =).

[Rocketshipper]

I am surprised no one has mentioned this issue yet.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/bandai_downsizing_ken_iyadomi_interview

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I am surprised no one has mentioned this issue yet.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/bandai_downsizing_ken_iyadomi_interview

See other threads for some discussion about it. Maybe not the most intuitively obvious place to look for said discussion, but it be dere.

[battletech]

A history of "Gundam" heroine winners and losers. http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2012/01/26-1/a-history-of-gundam-heroine-winners-and-losers

[blkmage]

The 00 entries are perfect.

[blkmage]

Hm, doesn't seem like too bad of a start to the new arc, although it feels oddly positive.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Flit is now much more interesting: caring family man with great kids but also a hardened, xenophobic warrior with a "righteous" cause fostered in the ruins of his boyhood savior complex. This is the advantage of the "generations method" of storytelling.

On the negative side, let us hope we got all the mains vs bullies shenanigans out of the way.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

MONTAAAAAAAGE!

Side note: how the crap is Vargas still alive? He already looked super old in the first generation, and he is still kicking (and operating motor vehicles!) here. What is his secret?

[blkmage]

I'm sure there's a joke to be made about vegans here

[blkmage]

First volume first week sales counting time!

W - 13274 LD+VHS
X - 6598 LD
∀ - 1185 DVD
SEED - 30147 DVD
SEED Destiny - 56760 DVD
00 - 22847 DVD
00 S2 - 23813 DVD
AGE - 1991 BD

Depending on how you read this chart, this could be good or bad news.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

So, I purchased 08th MS Team recently, and I thought it was quite solid. It had that whole Patlabor-ish thing going on where you just enjoy seeing the team interact and genuinely like all of them. The show also boasts a female lead who might be the most attractive one in all of Gundam? At least from the shows I've seen, she takes the proverbial cake. The love story really took center stage for me and was pretty compelling stuff. The ending was a bit odd (maybe Kanda hadn't written it before he died?), and I did stop and wonder why more of these Gundam-esque MS's weren't at A Bao A Qu. Still, it's UC Gundam and is pretty good stuff overall.

Also rewatched Encounters in Space tonight. Good grief, that is an excellent movie!

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Just rewatched 0080: War in the Pocket. It was even more powerful to me the second time around. This is a lofty statement, but I believe this OAV transcends Gundam to be a just a great, moving story about friends that are really like brothers and the effects of war on the non-combatants. War in the Pocket isn't the coolest or slickest Gundam show around, but it has the greatest capacity to deeply move me emotionally. I am extremely fond of this show.

[Agloval]

To my mind the latest couple of episodes of AGE have been really neat. There was one really nicely-animated fight and a couple of fairly significant revelations.

[spoiler]I'll be interested to see where they go with the idea that the present hero isn't a Newty-- sorry, X-Rounder[/spoiler]--

transcends Gundam to be a just a great, moving story about friends that are really like brothers and the effects of war on the non-combatants.

I think it's certainly unusual and 'transcendent' in one sense within the franchise, because I think it can be pretty well enjoyed by people who aren't very interested in Gundam. And I don't even mean in a 'this is a route into Gundam' way, just in a 'this is a cool six-episode thing, no further obligations' way.

[blkmage]

Yeah, I had some reservations about it descending into Gundam SEED silliness and crying, but I like the direction it's headed with this week's episode.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

@Agloval - On 0080: Yeah, my sentiments exactly.

@blkmage - On AGE: I'm surprised you're being as lenient on the writing as you are. It's got that same "convenience of an RPG" thing going on: Asemu has a problem, but then, from nowhere, an NPC--er, I mean secondary character, starts talking about the exact same issue in his life and how he overcame it. I haven't had much of a problem with this, but I know it bothered you before. Maybe the bar has been significantly lowered?
---
I do hope Asemu does not turn out to be an X Rounder because I can just see it "the tests were wrong, he overcame a D ranking to awaken his powers, etc." If they keep it "Natural vs. Coordinator," then it could be pretty interesting.

I'm also digging the AGE 2 design more and more.

Oh, and how could I forget to post this gem:



Thank you for your parenting, Dique.

[blkmage]

It doesn't seem as egregious because it's not a plot contrivance.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

It doesn't seem as egregious because it's not a plot contrivance.

It seemed to me that Asemu's internal problem and his current solution to it were the engine that drove the plot this week. And this problem->resolution schema is that same video gamey kind of convenient as G!, IMO.

[blkmage]

Well, it's like, a guy who talks to you because you're down doesn't seem as contrived as a bunch of guys or things showing up that you have to fight or fight with you.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Well, it's like, a guy who talks to you because you're down doesn't seem as contrived as a bunch of guys or things showing up that you have to fight or fight with you.

Sure. I am on board with that. I guess I was looking at the construct of the actual conversation on a micro level and how it just happened to relate to an inner turmoil, unknown to one of the interlocutors. But, yeah, stepping back and taking a more macro look, Fardain trumps Mechanic Jr.

[MasterDias]

I'm somewhat bothered the anime didn't really show very many substantial scenes of Asemu/Romary/Zeheart interacting, outside of the montage in the ending (although it's a pretty awesome ending). It was like they went from their first meeting to...suddenly timeskip. So, I can't really bring myself to care that much about the love triangle. Ah, well.

I like Arisa, and am going to be annoyed if they keep having her have to get bailed out in every battle.

[blkmage]

I actually don't remember how Romary got introduced to those two.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

I actually don't remember how Romary got introduced to those two.

She just kinda walked in to the mobile suit club meeting. I think the second time she showed up, Zehart caught a flying wrench just before it hit her head, and she was all, "Ooooh, Zehart so dreamy!"

[battletech]

Watching Gundam X again. The show still keeps my interest even now during my third watching. It's a great Gundam series. I have come up with some reasons why it is.
1.newtype dolphin
2 mobile suits on snowboards
3 best explanation of newtypes
Any one what to add to my list?

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Watching Gundam X again. The show still keeps my interest even now during my third watching. It's a great Gundam series. I have come up with some reasons why it is.
1.newtype dolphin
2 mobile suits on snowboards
3 best explanation of newtypes
Any one what to add to my list?

The Frost Brothers

[Agloval]

The mechanic who looks at a pile of scraps and discarded battleship weaponry and sees a mobile suit upgrade.

[blkmage]

Very neat episode this week.