I’m ashamed to admit it, but i’ve never watched a Gundam series in it’s entirety – terrible I know! however i’m now correcting my previous wrongs and am currently working through Gundam Seed, i’m just over halfway now and it’s getting really good!
Seed is basically a reimagining of the original Mobile Suit Gundam story, and for this reason it’s a little slow to begin with, as its covering old ground such as the whole colony sequence which in the movie is covered very quickly, in Seed it takes a whole lot longer! But once they’re out in space things start moving, and move in a refreshing new direction they do!
There are 5 propotype Gundam units in this series, 4 of which are stolen by Zaft (Zeon basically) and earth are left with the X105 Strike which isn’t too bad a thing as it kicks alot of ass! The pilot is a yound kid called Kira Yamato, who lives on the neutral Heliopolis colony. We learn quickly he’s a coordinator – a genetically enchanced human, this complicates things as Zaft is a race of enhanced humans so he is met with distrust from others, but really Kira just wants to keep his friends safe, who just happen to be humans.
Alot of time is devoted to the Zaft forces too, specifically the Gundam Pilots. None of them are evil really, one in fact is an old friend of Kiras, two are kinda bolshy asses and one is a nice kid who loves playing his piano – can you guess who just got killed? Yup it was piano boy, kinda sad actually!
I swear though, the characters on this show have to be the most retrospective people in existence! I’m talking of course about the multiple flashbacks every episode, clearly there to pad the series out a bit, but it gets pretty stale pretty quick. Also alot of scenes are reused, the Strike launch sequence for one. Fair enough don’t draw it every time but treat us to a new shot or two occasionally!
Eighteen episodes to go, oh the 50 more for the continuation – Gundam Seed: Destiny and with rumors abound of a Movie too this will keep me busy for a while!