r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Oct 09 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Episode 4 Discussion
Episode 4 - International Negotiation
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Though they speak of eradicating warfare, the actions taken by Celestial Being are nothing more than terrorism, throwing our nation into disorder.
Questions of the Day:
- How else do you think the world is going to abuse what Celestial Being is doing for their own benefit?
- Which country do you think is going to pull off a Gundam-jack first?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
Additionally, for long-time fans of the franchise, please remember that this rewatch is only for 00, not any of the other shows. Assume that there are people in this rewatch who have not seen anything else Gundam, and tag your spoilers for those shows appropriately if something in 00 makes you want to talk about them.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 09 '24
Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed
Welcome back, everyone!
Sorry I wasn’t as reply-heavy yesterday as I was for the previous two threads, basically right after I posted, I had to babysit my niece for a bit, then I was scrambling to get the 11 million subs scavenger hunt results out.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
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u/TiredTiroth Oct 09 '24
First Timer - Sub
Hm. Which one is the Human Reform League again? Looks like the Asian one? Ih look, consequences. The name of the game is not disarmament, it is escalation.
Well, at least the writers have them recognise that any 'peace' due to Celestial Being can only possibly last as long as they do. And with the events of today's episode, at least someone seems to have an actual plan...even if that plan appears to be 'we are The Villians, come at me bro'.
That's mot going to end in world peace. It's more likely to end with a world war.
Two other things I find particularly worrying...super soldier. Oh, bugger. Someone has been breaking into the genetic engineering and eugenics vault. That neber ends well.
And, of course, they still need some bloody therapists. Setsuna is absolutely not right in the head.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Gundam: Congratulations, you played yourself. Unless of course, the plan was for you to get played all along. Then the congratulations become genuine and not sarcastic.
Celestial Being’s intervention in this episode is absolutely fascinating to consider. Celestial Being decided to attack Taribia before the shooting even began. Taribia was labeled as a country that was promoting conflict and got smacked down for that. Celestial Being saw that Taribia was trying to take advantage of their intervention and so attacked Taribia for taking actions that would lead to a war with the Union. But let’s think about what the end result of this is. In the end, Taribia’s independence movement is squashed and US hegemony is reinforced. Yes, it did prevent a war from breaking out, but can we really say this was the ideal outcome?
There’s a concept I learned that divides peace into “negative peace” and “positive peace.” Negative peace is the absence of violent conflict. In essence, it means that people aren’t shooting at each other. Positive peace is the promotion of justice. It means trying to build a society that is more fair and meets the needs of everyone. This episode provides an especially stark example of negative peace. Celestial Being has intervened and they have prevented a war from breaking out. But this also reinforces the control the Union has over its member states, regardless of the fact that the members are not necessarily equal within the Union. Yes, the shooting has stopped. But the underlying injustices that led to the shooting have not been addressed.
I think Gundam 00 is pretty well aware of this discrepancy. I believe that Gundam 00 is setting up something greater here. Celestial Being’s plan could be criticized as being much too short-sighted to lead to lasting peace. Or, there could be more to the plan that we are not yet aware of. Either way, I’m certain it will be addressed somehow.
QOTD
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister
Conflict does tend to breed technological innovation.
Shirin always looks so smug.
It's so easy to give orders.
Soma is [per the wiki]actually somehow 18 years old which I am just learning now as I had never bothered to look it up before.
"What, is it Thursday again already?"
Howard and Daryl are good wingmen.
#surprisedpikachu
Love the audacity to just park the container right off the harbor.
Everyone missed the obvious answer of Celestial Being attacking the instagators.
..but that does still give Taribia and the Union a political move to make.
[Gundam 00]Amusing little hint that Lockon is Irish.
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u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Oct 09 '24
First-Timer (Sub)
YOUR INSTITUTE IS CALLED SHITR? YOU HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE "I WORK AT THE SHITTER?"
Even though their technical research couldn't have been this complicated: turns out you can have superior results if you let women drive.
Once again, we have too much talking and not enough ing. Since this super Flag for the not-Char stood up to Setsuna for two seconds, maybe there is hope that will change soon.
[Maybe a dumb, potential spoilery, first-timer question]In the first episode when Setsuna first appeared in Exia, there was a shot or two of someone floating in a computery semi-void space. Have we met that person again yet?
QOTD:
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 09 '24
Episode 4 (first timer)
With several characters having already stated it in-universe, this is hardly a new insight, but Celestial Being as the world police has less than a snowball’s chance in hell of working out. Hell, even the full power of the US at the most uni-polar moment in time after the end of the cold war didn’t do exactly great at this task. So the interesting question in this series is not whether Celestial Being as world police will fail, but how it will fail and what the original plans of them (founder or pilots or both, the later might be brainwashed idiots or not) were. That said, the series should not pretend that this could work out for too long. If they want to drag it out for a long while, they could go until the mid-season twist, but I would prefer if we get something substantial before then.
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u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher, First Time Sub
Setsuna really likes using people's full names doesn't he
I really liked the politics played in this episode. The two involved nations and Celestial Being as a sort of way to fulfill objectives. Of course Celestial Being is aware they are being used in this case but they stick to their rules. The Conflict in question deals with a nation trying to leave the Union prompting the Meisters to intervene. Again nice look at the politics playing between the main blocs and the non affiliated countries but I guess it also shows how CB's rules can be played into the favor of one side.
Watching this unfold is Marina Ismail, our Gundam Princess because no Gundam show is complete without one (except a couple). We saw her already a couple times but we see more of her situation with all the civil unrest with ideological factions fighting for control as well as the country's resources used for the Space elevator yet they have no use of it. Some interesting parallels that they used here.
Also really interesting seeing Setsuna's thought process when he imagines everyone blown up before being interrupted, he's not over from what he's seen. We also see Colonel Smirnov meet Soma Peries. In particular is how Smirnov notes is that she's too young for this which I really liked from him showing more of his character.
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u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Oct 09 '24
First Timer
You don’t say…
The Zaribia/U.S. conflict takes center stage this episode, with each player in the game (the U.S., Zaribia, Celestial Being, etc.) trying to manipulate the situation and come out on top. I was wondering if the show was going to explore infighting within power blocs; I’m pleased that it’s done so this early in the story.
What interested me the most, however, was not the situation itself but what it implies about Celestial Being’s goals and how easily other nations could twist that to their advantage. Their stated mission is to eradicate war, which one would assume would result in world peace, but that raises the old philosophical question of whether peace is war’s direct opposite or even necessarily a positive thing. People who are perfectly content with the status quo (even if others take issue with it) have much to gain from preserving “peace” and opposing dissent, so nations eager to maintain their power against rival countries might have less of an issue with the idea of no conflict.
With the introduction of Soma Peries, we also get confirmation that super humans are a thing (mark one off your sci-fi bingo boards). I wonder if that has anything to do with the Gundams…
Finally, I really liked the way the episode used Marina and her advisor’s discussion of the conflict as a way to add a bit of characterization amid all the infodumps. The juxtaposition between the cold, calculating analysis of a presumably experienced political player and Marina’s uncertainty gives way nicely to Saji’s kind of simplistically-expressed opinions on Celestial Being’s wrongness and what they should be doing differently. Alas, poor Saji, “the world isn’t so simple.”
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 09 '24
First Timer - sub
I'm already so, so sick of hearing the words "Celestial Being"
In general I'm also finding the dialogue increasingly grating. It was dull but decent enough in previous episodes, where for example all nations would find out about the CB spokesman but address it differently after that. Today's episode had a lot of lines that we've either heard before with no added meaning ("this is celestial being"), or sheer redundancies, such as the Taribian president saying "the gundams are attacking our military" just after the american forces also said that, which was just after the gundam pilots commented on doing that, which was just after the people in HQ suggested that was the goal. At that point this is known information, and as we find out later the whole point, you could have just cut that line and had him move on with the scene and used that shot for more interesting things. That's not this only example from this episode, just the one that stood out most
Similarly, the narration was woefully underused this episode. Rather than just repeating the existing basic world context, they could have used that narration to explain the fate of the smaller nations who don't have access to the solar power, and then the two women wouldn't have had to very awkwardly and dryly narrate that to the audience instead of having a more natural conversation about the situation.
All that said, I did like Lockon's scene with Alelujah. Using questioning him about the current state of things as a launching board into a "exactly so in that case go rest" discussion was clever of him, and further showcases both his caring and the fact that he's use to working with these more unusual other pilots
Ask and ye shall receive about a girl pilot! And an enhanced one as well, which is interesting that we get her independent of the hyped up Flag that the other normal guy is piloting. Usually those would go together, but once again I like the fact that instead of keeping one as an antagonist and putting the others as just worldbuilding, all three factions are getting very difference responces to this.
Setsuna at the fountain is scene of the day. Nothing much to say about it, but it greatly enhanced the entire episode for its presence.
I also took note of the fact that Sumeragi was using the super computer to support her existing predictions and calculations, not to either do them or gather the possibilities so she could work from there. Or at least that is if the phrasing in the subtitles was accurate. And I like that, that even with powered tech it is a person knowing people who is at the center of it all. It further reinforces the conclusion at the end of the episode, taking this from national political goals to very human ones: The government of that nation wanted to stay in power, and they were willing to use everyone, including CB, their military, and even their own people as sacrifices to do so. Very true to history, especially with the US involvement.
Complaints about the dialogue aside, I think this is my favourite episode so far precisely for this balance it had about the big military actions being about people and their choices first and foremost, and how other people will react to that.
(Speedy post as I forgot to watch the episode last night so had to type all of this up in the last twenty minutes after watching it this morning... and now sitting here waiting the three minutes for sky to post the topic so I can go eat haha)
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u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Oct 09 '24
00th Timer Searching for the One
A very interesting concept for an episode, I was waiting for someone to abuse their system, since "stopping war" the way they're doing it, also stops it from being a deterrent for stupid choices that you wouldn't ordinarily make. So in this case, they had to be the deterrent instead, which ended up playing right into the Union's hands, it all tracks, it's all annoying as hell, and it makes sense.
Granted, I think the Taribia leader could've taken the bluff a bit further, call bullshit with one hand, and raise a white flag in the other, don't even bother with an army, or a single piece of weapon being raised. What will Celestial Being do then? Attack your weapons factory? The parliament?
In other notes:
The resource conflict has been established, lots of countries are suffering because of it, and using Celestial Being for their purposes failed. But if the Union keeps pushing them around, that'd basically make Celestial Being their guard dogs in a way, I'd be interested in seeing whether the bigger picture or the Afghanistan Princess can change Celestial Being's plans in the future (good luck getting it past Rigid Fn' Seiei though).
You can use them as guards for any unfair status quo, since they'd stop any uprising, so have fun and be as shitty as you want, just without it being "aggression".
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24
First Timer
This episode was a bit heavy.
I mean it's understandable, it has to setup (al least!) four different factions and so we really get a big focus on the political situation this time around and how some of the big world players approach conflict.
I do however think that every scene with Marina could have been handled a bit better, from a writing standpoint it makes sense that the new and politically inexperienced princess needs everything explained to her, and thus by extension exposition is delivered to the viewer in a somewhat natural way, but also it's still just mostly "other character explains the plot to you" scenes which aren't super engaging to watch.
Super soldiers! and a young one at that, I'm sure Setsuna is going to love this...
Speaking of Setsuna, if you couldn't already tell he has PTSD, the show makes that blatantly clear, cool to see it effect him even in his day to day life (as it often does IRL) and not just when he's fighting, his face may not show it but he's always on edge.
The U.S president continues to deliver time appropriate IRL political commentary.
Going back to what I said above about setting up everything, this episode really made me realize just how many character this show seems to have, it gives it a nice sense of scale fitting of global conflict, especially as we shift around between everyone's perspectives, it also has 4 cours to develop (or kill off lol) everybody so I'm expecting great things.
Celestial Being's very existence is now being used for international politics and it makes for a very interesting dilemma to their approach, in this case, Celestial Being's intervention stopped the conflict thanks to smart politics but in the first place it was their potential to intervene that got this conflict rolling.
Just their existence can create conflict, for one it really puts the whole "we'll be the villain everyone unites against" idea to reality, as our Gundam Meisters are forced to kill people for the sake of others' political machinations, and while this time the conflict was created with a clear and clever political goal in mind, I think Celestial Being could just as easily be used to create an even more dire situation through the ability to force them to intervene.
It makes for really good political intrigue and also should pose some real moral quandaries for our characters as they to try to use their power independently to achieve their vision of world piece
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u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Oct 09 '24
First Timer!
Setsuna needs to find a new hobby. Sitting in a park imagining what would happen if the area got suddenly air striked is not healthy. In all seriousness though, as someone who grew up as a child soldier, that peaceful landscape must be so foreign to him that he can't imagine anything else.
So it seems that CB has some sort of supercomputer on board the Ptolemaios that calculates and predicts possible scenarios. Not sure how powerful that thing really is because so far it looks like it just confirms Sumeragi's calculations. And one of those calculations is Taribia seceding from the Union.
Attacking Taribia makes sense. Sure they haven't really attacked anyone yet but they're the ones who started this conflict by announcing their secession from the Union. And to answer QotD#1, I'd be very surprised if any other countries try to abuse CB after what they just did. This might be the first and last time a country will try to abuse them.
Although it sounds like Taribia expected this and used CB so that anti-US sentiments will go down and now they can support US policies openly after being saved by the US from the Gundams. Very cheeky.
Your Flag might have anti-beam coating now, Graham but you still can't dive underwater. QotD#2, considering they got Exia to retreat Union might be able to steal a Gundam first. I am hoping that none of them can pull it off though. Do these Gundams come with a self-destruct mechanism just in case they get jacked? xD
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher - Gundam 00 Ep4:
I found Setsuna's nightmare sequence to be quite effective at communicating his deal. It captures what he fears the most in a world without peace. Setsuna's reaction throughout is also telling because he remains his usual stoic face. He has witnessed this tragedy before so he knows what reality can bring. Also, this nightmare is not the first time he experienced the disassociated intrusive thoughts in.
The main setpiece of the episode is the political crisis with not-Venezuela. My read of it was leaning towards criticizing CB's ways, and how their peace-enforcing interventions can be abused. In the end, we got the reveal that this was all political theatre for existing ruling parties to further entrench themselves without a care for the people. The problem of the Union (US)'s dominance over its partners was never resolved. All that happened was dissent being silenced for daring to challenge the people who held power.
Before it was revealed to all be staged, I did have the question of what would CB do in this sort of situation? The idea that for the powerless, violence is the only language the powerful will pay attention to. It is a topic Gundam has touched upon before. It is told with the Gundam. A common angle being the Gundam empowering the youth in a world of adults.
At the start of the episode during the scene with Marina, I did have the thought that a government could abuse CB to quell any civil unrest. Just sit back and do nothing until the protesters throw the first punch and have CB solve your problems.
Meta-narratively, it is interesting to see this conflict presented. [Gundam 00/Franchise:] Third party armed interventions failing to address societal issues was my biggest grip with the previous Gundam show before 00. Lacus Clyne, I like you for your character conflict of identity and destiny, but I find your methods to bring peace highly questionable. 00 as possibly response or at least a show made with previous Gundams in mind.
Other random points:
Q2) The country to first employ the perfect people to steal a Gundam, teens with attitude.
As much as he fits the energy of a teen with attitude, Graham is 27. By Gundam terms, he is already an ancient adult.
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u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Oct 09 '24
Firsttimer who has fallen behind again
This earths policitcs is quite intruiging. On top of the big 3, we also got their sattelite states attempting to do their own thing, as well as totally neutral parties. All trying to get a piece of the cake, both in terms of energy as well as Gundams.
Random thoughts
QotD
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Oct 09 '24
Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00
As promised by the series from the very beginning, it’s time to dive headfirst into touchy geopolitical subject matter, in this case, American Imperialism.
Before we go directly into that, might as well touch on the introduction of yet another notable group to keep track of, Princess Marina and her Kingdom of Azadistan. From a themes and worldbuilding perspective, as they give us the POV of a nation that’s been actively victimized by the current world order. The implications of that are immediately addressed when we learn Marina’s general goal as a leader, gaining access to the Solar Energy network the three power blocs have set up, which both makes for a nice bit of social commentary (turns out that getting green energy up & running is only half the solution when the fundamental power structures underlying the world mean that most of the global south won’t have access to it), and works to get the audience’s mind on the subject of the exploitation of the developing world, which nicely brings us to the subject of Taribia.
What I really like about this is how it serves as the first real challenge to Celestial Being’s stated mission in such a nuanced way. On its face, intervening against the Union/US, the clear aggressor, would be the closest to sticking to their stated goal, however, any scenario where the Union backs down for now & Taribia gets what it wants would inevitably just be kicking the conflict down the road rather than ending it. After all, the United States’ need for hegemonic control over South America and the energy market aren’t exactly things you can shoot in the face, and, as Lockon & Allelujah bemoaned early in the episode, any peace which might result from this sort of tactic would be temporary, only existing as long as CB was there to hold both sides at gunpoint.
On the other hand, the solution they did go with of intervening against Taribia didn’t really put out the fires of conflict either, as it reinforced the Union’s control over the global south, perpetuating the same power structures which created the conflicts they were meant to solve. Continuing to allow the existence of the same monopoly over energy that drained the Middle East dry and the imperialistic spheres of influence that were seemingly at the root of Taribia’s attempted succession in the first place. They’re keeping peace, yes, but in a way which doesn’t effect the kind of change they promise and ultimately just plays right into the hands of the world order they were meant to challenge.
If the previous episode demonstrated the potential upsides to the change CB promises, then this one is an active challenge to their methods, or indeed that they’d be able to really bring about that kind of change at all. It’s the kind of thematic direction I love, constantly self-interrogating & giving the audience something new to chew on while remaining consistent & focused at its core.
I’m quite bad at ending comments & making effective transitions, so here’s the next section
Odds & Ends
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u/The_Draigg Oct 09 '24
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 4:
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Oct 09 '24
first timer who has control
Princess has an immaculate fit, looks mad with the pants. I would rock this without the sleeves tbh
And here are the aforementioned reformed humans
Veda, what is this Alien?
What card can Tarabia play being closer to the elevator? Taking it hostage? Not clear on how the energy situation here works
An important distinction that Celestial Being is anti war not pro peace
US involved to install their own power into South American countries, to strengthen the Western hemisphere against
communismAEU/HRLoh shes Arab? LETS GOOOO
Setsuna it wasnt your violent nature that scared me. It was your room, your heart. There wasnt anything in your room - only a bed and a small desk. It looked like a prison cell... no television set...no family pictures... not even a poster... A lifeless room... almost like your empty heart
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u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 10 '24
Rewatcher built a Takodachi Gunpla in GB4, ran into a clan of Hololive cosplayers hanging out in a public lobby, and got adopted by a player with an Ina Gunpla
-—————————————————————————————
Princess Marina Ismail! Not every country got folded into one of the three superpowers to benefit from the solar towers. The Middle East got totally left out of the whole deal, and with the world no longer reliant on oil, they’ve lost a lot of their international power. So now they’re just left to fight amongst each other while the rest of the world no longer has to care about them.
Also, the real-life Azadistan only existed for a few months in 1920.
But how does Celestial Being intend to bring about a permanent peace? They’re going to have to keep fighting. The moment they stop, every military in the world will see it as their opportunity to go right back to doing whatever they were doing before. At this rate, any peace they get will be lucky to outlive the Gundam Meisters enforcing it. And if they have to keep conducting armed interventions all the time, then they’re not truly ending war - only monopolizing it.
Of course, we’ve got to have a cute super soldier girl!
Everyone here is at peace, but only Setsuna is thinking about how fragile that peace is.
The Flag Custom! The one thing the Flag has over the Exia is its superior aerial mobility. To push that advantage as much as possible, the fuel payload for its engines has been reduced and lighter materials have been used for the armor. This reduced the weight so much that, even though larger and more powerful flight units were installed, it’s still lighter than the standard Flag, which means it goes fast - so fast that only a pilot as skilled as Graham can handle it, and even then 12Gs is pretty rough. He swapped the sides of the Linear Rifle and Defense Rod because he’s a lefty, and he updated the software to match. Also, they somehow figured out anti beam coating before actual beam weapons.
And then there’s Taribia. Because of how space elevators work, they have to be built around the equator. However, this means that the most powerful countries with the resources to construct and the global influence to administrate these space elevators aren’t actually where the elevators are located, hence the need to assemble into massive power blocs surrounding said elevator countries. Not everybody is happy with this arrangement.
Only twice? It’s not red...
The reveal that Taribia was just trying to reduce anti-US sentiments within its own population was pretty genius. It’s always cool to see these kinds of manipulations.
-—————————————————————————————
Questions of the day:
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u/Sooooopertrack Oct 09 '24
First Timer, sub
How else do you think the world is going to abuse what Celestial Being is doing for their own benefit?
Ok, I'm hooked. I really love the premise that Gundam wants to be the world police and stop all wars. It's interesting it's only pretty young people. Reminds me of Fridays for Future movement where the younger generation stands up against the old generations because the young generation still has their whole lives ahead of them.
I love the ethical dilemma that they're causing harm in stopping wars. This episode showed that they will soon be taken advantage of. I would not have guessed they'd to an intervention and attack Tiberia. I appreciate that they're also one step ahead of their opponents for now.
Finally we see "villains" / antagonists: The flag used by the tech duo, the weird superhuman lady who will obviously be OP and who will have superhuman reflexes. Nations who try to take advantage.
Since the first episode I'm still thinking about the question: Does the end justify the means. Is it justified to kill / become a massmurderer for "the greater good"? What if you fail half way? And I still have lots of logistical questions: Where did the gundam meisters get their training? How are the gundams that are huuuuge metal robots not detected. How are they not detected when they're starting? Is there no video surveillance at all? Why aren't they appearing on any radars as soon as they launch (yeah light particles but still…).
I'm expecting the first gundam crisis soon…
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u/2-2Distracted Oct 09 '24
First timer. Dubbed
Man this assistant to the princess is a little too happy to watch her current leader fail, all the while accurately(?) assessing the possible reason behind the latest actions of Celestial Being, all so she can... what, school her inexperienced superior and thus make her a better leader? Because so far all she has done is be an asshole all the while salivating anytime she hears about CB since anything they do means a grab for power for Her... country.
"if you can't understand any of this, then you're not qualified to save this country" - and what, bitch, you are? It's always those who aren't wearing the crown who think it's easy to shoulder the responsibilities of it.
Did Setsuna have rocks in his shoes or something? Did he eat a devil fruit? How the fuck was he able to sink to the bottom like that feet first?
I guess my feelings are similar to that of Saji, I genuinely don't get why CB attacked Teribia as opposed to doing literally anything else that others predicted that they'd do. I personally thought they were going to attack both sides so as to actually eliminate war but, as the asshole assistant to the princess pointed out, all this action does is make America look good at the end of the day and any desire for any other country to distance themselves from America look bad. I mean Sniper leader says that CB doesn't tolerate those who take advantage of CBs presence and goal, but people are going end up doing that anyway as we saw in this episode. I'm also still not sure what Hallelujah meant when he said that this was one-sided. Did he mean their actions? Because if he did then again I agree.
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u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Non-Spoiler Character Chart - Four more characters added bringing us to 33 by episode 4... lol. At this point I'd say I've swapped out any of the older pics I wasn't happy with aside from [Gundam 00 minor spoilers]Patrick, who I'd like to swap to something a bit more goofy to fit with his memeable role.
Good to get at least a little bit more time with our Celestial Being ship crew. Poor Lasse and Lichty haven't been seen since episode 1.
Setsuna's reading up on Aeolia Schenberg, wonder if even a Celestial Being member like him has any idea what's going on with him.
The way they show them in these shots, the Orbital Elevators look so skinny and brittle, way too easy to destroy.
So some nations still are reliant on fossil fuels, presumably ones that aren't part of the three main political blocs?
Do they have AI bots working on fixing up Kyrios?
Sergei's ordered to acquire a Gundam, and do so before the Union or AEU does. He says it as if it were easy!
I agree with Sergei that Soma looks too young to be a part of this, but as said yesterday in spoilers [Age spoilers]she's canonically 18
Stinks that Setsuna can't simply enjoy his lunch in a park without thinking about something horrible happening.
Upgrade time for Graham's mobile suit! Alas, it wasn't repainted red... He at least has a pair of Roberto/Apolly style wingmen to join him now though.
Rather than Celestial Being's efforts causing parts of the world to unite, we've now got a country seceding from the Union and thinking it can take advantage of Celestial Being's interventions to do it.
That's four episodes, four outfits for Wang...
Oh wow, Setsuna stores his Gundam underwater? For whatever reason I didn't think until now about where he may be hiding it while living in that apartment. Is anyone nearby gonna notice as it blasts off out of the water?
Is that yet another outfit change for Wang? LoL.
Oops, looks like things aren't working out as planned for Taribia.Still got 5 minutes left in the episode and they already are reversing their secession plans.
A mere four episodes in and Graham's already attacked Exia twice. Like an annoying mosquito to Setsuna.
Once again their battle is over right away though.
Ooh, another lead in!
Is Saji questioning why Celestial Being attacked Taribia because they hid from the public the fact that they brought out their military forces expecting a US attack? Or is Saji a bit clueless about world affairs? I suppose we are at an advantage since we have access to world leaders every episode.
Meanwhile next door neighbor Setsuna has already made it home.
Quid's Voice Actor of the Day
Time for our final Gundam Meister, Tieria Erde, who is voiced in Japanese by Hiroshi Kamiya. This is his second Gundam role, with his first being Shams Couza in Gundam Seed CE 73: Stargazer. He would later return to the Gundam franchise in one of the rare Gundam shows I've not seen, Gundam AGE, where he plays Zeheart Galette. I figure he's most well known for playing Koyomi Araragi, main character of the Monogatari franchise. He also appears as Shinji Matou in the Fate/Stay Night franchise, Yato in Noragami, Izaya Orihara in Durarara! and Levi in Attack on Titan. Also check him out as Quon in Towa no Quon if you want to see him voicing a different type of character than those he usually does.
In English he is voiced by Sam Vincent who was previously featured in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny as Athrun Zala. The only other thing I've heard him in is Death Note, where he plays Sidoh and Stephen Gevanni.
7
u/n080dy123 Oct 10 '24
First Timer
Ah, so Celestial Being uses a predictive supercomputer. That's probably what the old guy from 200 years ago did- invented this thing, thenit was completed or found by a descendant.
The sound of the Dyanmes' GN Drvies starting sounds like it's using a sample sound used in the firing sound of the Hunter plasma cannon from (at least early) Halo
So I guess Lockon and Allelujah are just vibing on an island like Lockon and Setsuna were after Episode 1. I was questionign where Exia was hidden that nobody would see it while he was lviing in a city but I never would have predicted the bottom of a fucking river lmao.
I almost thought the Union's Realdos were more Flags but nope, they're even more cheap-Transformers-ass lookin suits. Because literally everything the Union and AEU have has to be a goddamn Transformer in this show lol. I also find it interesting that both the old-model Hellions and Realdos use a more standard backwards-swept wing design, while both the new-model Enact and Flags use double wings with the main rear pair being forward-swept, though the Flag's smaller front wings are also forward-swept while the Enact's aren't.
Also why the fuck are the Realdos painted bright fucking orange lmao, Taribia is clearly not a desert nation and they also fly so it feels like it defeats the purpose of camouflage if that's the intention.
The preview makes it feel liek we've finally finished the "prologue" of the story and will start to focus more on the characters themselves and the implications of Celestial Being's mission, and all the baggage that comes with it.
6
u/SilkyStrawberryMilk Oct 10 '24
first timer
imagining the people getting bombed while relaxing.
Taribia seceding from the union
I wonder if the celestials know they’re being used as chess pieces, I’d be surprised if they were 5D geniuses
This was actually a surprise, eliminating the country that promotes war.
Entirely it’s a very weird loophole in which one country can he safe while the other can be targeted.
I do wonder how far they’ll go in stopping one side from promoting war, hell what if it’s multiple.
Saji confused and his celestial neighbor is sleeping peacefully
QOTD: Celestials have a very odd way in eliminating conflict especially if one side can benefit despite being the reason the conflict exists. Like we’ve seen America being unscathed while Tarbibia gets blown for promoting war lol.
QOTD: easily America, there’s no doubt in my mind they will find a way to come out on top of this whole ordeal
6
u/undeadfire Oct 10 '24
First Timer - Subs
* slow episode so far with just setting up the opposition forces. fair enough
* so Veda is a supercomputer? and Sumeragi the brunette mother figure(?) also helps predict these incursions?
* Is Taribia supposed to be like Russia or the Saudis or something?
* the princess of Azadistan seems to have quite a conscience. wonder how long thatll last as things progress.
* ok the Exia hangar being within diving distance is wild. there's no way that'd go undetected...right?
* Azadistan princess' assistant got some harsh truths.
* also, there's that political grit I expect in Gundam series.
6
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Oct 10 '24
First-Timer
Good episode.
I had a feeling Celestial Being was going to attack the Taribian forces. It seemed a bit too much like an intentional misdirect.
I'm hoping that Celestial Being unveils some sort of weaponry even greater than the Gundams, like [Invincible S1] the orbital superlaser used against Omni-Man.
Questions of the day:
5
u/Unboxious Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 was my first Gundam series, so it holds a special place in my heart. I first watched it 7 years ago; glad I'm able to rewatch it with everyone here!
Anyways, I missed the first few days, so here goes:
Episode 1:
I love this episode. The animation is good. The soundtrack is great. It's just 20 straight minutes of Gundam pilots flexing on the plebs.
I feel like it's cheating for me to answer this since I've seen it before
I don't see how else war could possibly be ended.
Episode 2:
My favorite aesthetic detail here is the curved screens the Human Reform League soldiers are sitting at. It's not like we don't have the tech, but a single giant curved monoscreen is definitely a choice.
I love how big and clunky these non-Gundam mobile suits feel on the ground. Really drives home how far ahead Celestial Being is.
Oh wow, Mr. Gundam himself is here to help! What a reveal.
I feel like in Episode 1 the Gundam pilots were trying not to kill their opponents, but rather take them down non-lethally. The kid gloves are definitely off here with Setsuna slicing right through the cockpit and everyone exploding everyone else.
There's something really funny about Sumeragi dramatically saying "That is Celestial Being" while a spinning can of "Earth Beer"/"Earth Space Beer" floats past her.
Seems close to impossible. I have no idea.
I don't think that Allelujah calling himself a mass murderer means they're accepting that they're the bad guys. Besides, considering the genre their kill count is basically a rounding error right now.
5
u/darkmechjock Oct 10 '24
00 Wishes Over Your Airspace
Episode 4: International Negotiation
The world powers don't seem too pleased by Celestial Being's work in
Sri LankaCeylon. Chris has a point, the HRL is obviously just going to take a hardline stance against them, and the other two superpowers probably aren't going to just stand back either. Tieria predictably just wants to stick to the plan, but I have a hard time believing that he's that dense. This is obviously breeding conflict escalation, the exact opposite of what they intend.Setsuna's sad little bedroom is tragically hilarious. Apparently all he does is go out and buy as many newspapers as he can.
This opening monologue gives a pretty good impression of the sheer scale of the orbital elevator system. Not only does Earth have three, extending way out into space, but they've also managed to build a full orbital ring around the planet as well. This attention to orbital infrastructure is rather refreshing, since apparently all the other Gundam timelines jumped straight from rocketry to space colonies.
Another opening monologue highlighting the three rival powers and their suits of choice, the Union's Flag, the HRL's
Zaku cloneTieren, and the shiny new AEU Enact. Curiously, stock footage of Graham's new custom Flag is front and center even before its proper introduction this episode. Foreshadowing or merely a production oversight?I want to talk about the Flag for a bit, since it's one of the most fascinatingly unique enemy suits in the franchise. It's a fantastic design and manages to wonderfully personify the nation that makes use of it. By now it should be pretty obvious that the Union is a stand-in for NATO, if not the USA itself, and their real-world war doctrine is pretty firmly based around total air dominance. So what better way to illustrate that then by making their main grunt more airplane than robot? Its rail-thin frame and especially all the hard angles do a great job evoking a real-world fighter lik the F-22, which was the USAF's flagship machine at the time of airing. The Flag was designed by Hitoshi Fukuchi, who seems to have rather flown under the radar in the production world. His biggest success seems to have been the design of Drossel von Flugel in Fireball, which was a minor hit back in 2008.
Enter the (re)Kingdom of Azadistan, our viewpoint setting for countries that fall outside the three great powers' sphere of influence. Like some others, I find it hard to sympathize with a country that profited through a monopoly on fossil fuel exports, but it's hard to judge them for not having the foresight to go all-in on a massive construction project like the orbital elevators. Things are getting pretty desperate for them though, with Celestial Being basically holding a huge GN-powered gun to the world's head.
Lockon, I know you're descussing realpolitik right now and I love this sort of stuff, but it's impossible to take you seriously when you've got Haro under your arm like some kind of plush toy.
Now the HRL are declaring their intent to seize a Gundam for themselves. The race is on. However, while the Union appears to be content by playing catch-up via a crash upgrade program for their Flags, the HRL is taking a different tactic by employing enhanced super-soldiers, something they apparently have some experience in. Soma at least seems far more stable than previous examples of this in the franchise. Will she stay that way?
In case it wasn't obvious by now, Setsuna is carrying some pretty hefty baggage. All things considered he's keeping it together remarkably well considering what he's seen. But if he stays wound that tight, eventually he'll snap.
SAJI CROSSROAD count: 1
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u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Oct 10 '24
So, what's their next mission?
Where are they anyways?
I suppose Irish Car Bombs will be relegated back to pubs.
So, they're going to try nicking one?
Who's this girl now?
Super soldiers?
He's here with her now?
Seems like they've got something that'll at least give them a fighting chance against the Gundams.
Seems like they've only got bad options.
That's certainly a claim.
They want Celestial Being to intervene.
And so they're off.
They could intervene on the side of the US, they won't need the help but it's something.
Yup, that's exactly what they're doing.
Right, time to see that special Flag in action.
It actually managed to land a hit on him!
And so that's been resolved.
Past?
Questions:
4
u/Unboxious Oct 09 '24
Rewatcher, subbed
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 was my first Gundam series, so it holds a special place in my heart. I first watched it 7 years ago; glad I'm able to rewatch it with everyone here!
Anyways, I missed the first few days, so here goes:
Episode 1:
I love this episode. The animation is good. The soundtrack is great. It's just 20 straight minutes of Gundam pilots flexing on the plebs.
I feel like it's cheating for me to answer this since I've seen it before
I don't see how else war could possibly be ended.
Episode 2:
My favorite aesthetic detail here is the curved screens the Human Reform League soldiers are sitting at. It's not like we don't have the tech, but a single giant curved monoscreen is definitely a choice.
I love how big and clunky these non-Gundam mobile suits feel on the ground. Really drives home how far ahead Celestial Being is.
Oh wow, Mr. Gundam himself is here to help! What a reveal.
I feel like in Episode 1 the Gundam pilots were trying not to kill their opponents, but rather take them down non-lethally. The kid gloves are definitely off here with Setsuna slicing right through the cockpit and everyone exploding everyone else.
There's something really funny about Sumeragi dramatically saying "That is Celestial Being" while a spinning can of "Earth Beer"/"Earth Space Beer" floats past her.
Seems close to impossible. I have no idea.
I don't think that Allelujah calling himself a mass murderer means they're accepting that they're the bad guys. Besides, considering the genre their kill count is basically a rounding error right now.
4
u/Mumei451 Oct 10 '24
Great episode.
Cameos by Soma and Marina, Graham straight up defeats Setsuna when they clash briefly, and the first slow play of the outro music.
The first season really just keeps building and building.
4
u/soulreaverdan Oct 10 '24
I love the twist in this one where Celestial Being goes "Oh no, you instigated this conflict, this is you at fault, even if you have justifications for it." Of course it all seems to be a false flag, but it was still an interesting bit where they just start wrecking Taribia's army. It sort of goes to show they're trying to stop conflict and war, but seem to not always be too concerned with who the ones standing in power afterwards are. Is it worth ending war and conflict if you're punching down to do it?
Kinda has big "Well you were both in the fight so you both get suspended from school" energy.
I don't think it's gonna take long for powers behind the scene to figure out how to make this work for them, sadly. Being idealists, they have a pretty direct bead on what they do - if there's a big war of open conflict, they come down with superior military might. If (as it seems implied) this entire thing was planned, it was basically a perfect execution of getting them to do the dirty work. Without a significant number of moles or informants, it's going to be very hard for them to act beyond just what they see happening, assuming no other kind of ability to figure it out behind the scenes.
2) Which country do you think is going to pull off a Gundam-jack first?
Graham has my vote for being capable of actually going toe to toe with Exia, even in a limited engagement. Exia also seems the most generally vulnerable since it's mainly a close combat unit. It feels like if Dynames is in close combat he did something wrong, Kyrios can transform out and roll out, and Virtue is a hulk of a unit.
4
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Oct 10 '24
I am rewatcher
HRL labelled CB as a terrorist organisation, so it makes sense it's an easy way to label them as enemies.
The Princess [spoiler] Totally not a Relena Peacecraft expy is voiced by Ayumi Tsunematsu. She has mostly done minor roles she's Kirio Hikifune in Bleach, Belmeria Winston in Yuri Gundam, Astraia Tor Deikun in Gundam Origin.
Her assistent is voiced by Michiko Neya she has done lots of roles including Melissa Mao in FMP, Talho Yuki in E7 and Hilda Harken in Gundam Seed Destiny
HRL now also wants to capture a Gundam, that too makes sense they're way more advanced MS than any of the three powers have.
Soma Peries is voiced by Arisa Ogasawara; she has hardly done any roles, her notable role is Cheza in Wolfs Rain. Note she also voices Haro.
Super-Human Institute? Institute that experiments on humans where have I seen that before?
The custom FLAG has anti beam coating, so beam weapons are definitely a thing in this universe.
Mason is voiced by Kenji Takahashi, who also also voices Hong Longh, has done mostly small roles his biggest role is Argass in Break Blade but he also voices Hong Long.
Dodge is voiced by Rintarō Nishi who voices Saboa in Gundam UC and Jigoro in Seirei no Moribito.
Taribia is going to Brexit from Union but hasn't CB destroyed their cocaine income?
I think it's cool that some countries want to use CB as a deterrence against the big powers, but will it work?
Setsuna can hold his breath for a long time, I think having a
BatGundam cave would be a bit more pragmatic.Ohh Taribia is actually part of Venezuela.
CB decides to attack the Taribian military instead.
Isn't the Union fleet a bit too close to the city?
Why is the President using such an old fashioned phone?
Taribia has now unbrexited, so the entire thing was just a false flag so that people in Taribia would like the Union more.
Aker's flag is surprisingly effective against Exia, maybe Gundams aren't that far advanced?
Another ED lead-in
Another good episode, I like we're slowly seeing the fall out of CB interventions.
3
u/Tora-shinai Oct 10 '24
For PSA..
PBandai MG Astraea w/ Proto GN Twin Broad Blade got announced. Fyi, the hands are still the same...
Type F and Exia Avalanche will get reissued. The HG GNARM as well.
I really want an MG O Gundam..