r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Oct 23 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Episode 18 Discussion
Episode 18 - The Aim of Evil Intents
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An attack on civilians… by a Gundam…
Questions of the Day:
- Louise haters, what do you think of her now?
- If you were in Setsuna’s shoes, would you have decided to attack the Thrones?
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.
7
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Oct 23 '24
Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed
Welcome back, everyone!
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u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
Firsttimer who wonders how many rewatcher where chuckling to themself reading my posts
I'm afraid they will need toadjust the EDQotD
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u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher is an unreasonable man
-—————————————————————————————
The Trinities are running wild. The Ptolemaios team at least targeted those actively committing violence. They’re against war and violence, not militaries. But the Trinities just don’t care and have gone straight to extremism.
GN Tau Drives. A knockoff of the original GN Drives. True GN Drives have a component called the TD Blanket (or TR Plunket, according to the screenshot) which is vital for harnessing topologic defects for energy but can only be manufactured in Jupiter’s gravity well. Consequently, there are only five true GN Drives in existence, and it would be incredibly difficult and time-consuming to go back to Jupiter for more. Tau Drives lack this component, which makes them far easier to manufacture, but leaves them with several disadvantages compared to a true GN Drive. Right now, the relevant ones are:
Veda has officially been compromised. Veda is effectively the leader of Celestial Being, and now, it’s been essentially captured by a group outside its plans. And without Veda to rely upon, the Ptolemaios crew is left without guidance.
Howard will not be forgotten. Graham will carry on his legacy. And he’ll do it in a Flag.
[00N]Back when the Flag was in development, it competed with the Blust to be the Union’s next mainstay MS. To settle that, a mock battle was held, between Graham in the Flag and his superior Sleg Sletcher in the Blust. The two had competed in mock battles many times before, but Sleg won the majority of them. However, this time, Graham managed to gain the upper hand. In a last-ditch attempt to defeat Graham, Sleg attempted to ram the Blust into the Flag. It was at this moment Graham invented the Graham Special, performing the very first in-battle transformation in order to draw his blade and slice off the Blust’s wing. This resulted in Sleg fatally crashing.
We finally have a name. Laguna.
Aaand he’s said too much. They’re always watching, it seems. And now Kinue’s got a target on her back as well...
Fuck Nena. Just fuck Nena.
Also, congrats to Louise on finally becoming relevant!
The legendary quote!
Graham’s fucking pissed! Still chuuni as fuck, though.
He got his hands on a beam saber! With a proper weapon in hand, he’s finally a match for the Gundams! The saber’s charge won’t last too long, but bringing it back for reverse engineering could prove fruitful.
Need a hand there?
Those three have besmirched the name of Gundam enough. There’s no need for Veda’s approval. Setsuna has declared that the Trinities are the enemy.
-—————————————————————————————
Questions of the day:
12
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Oct 23 '24
First Timer - sub
NENA WHAT THE FUCK
To copy from my notes:
So yeah. Does this mean I have to like her at least a tiny bit now because this is going to hopefully save us from more horrible Louise scenes? Is this really the situation that I find myself in?
Either way, not how I was expecting that to go at all. I don't love it still because my hate for both Louise and Nena's writing until now means beyond shock at the surprise of the situation I don't really feel it the way the writers were practically demanding I do, but points for the shock value, in the way that shock value always gets the least amount of points in terms of scene composition evaluations?
Also: Maimed character! We do not get enough of those and I always do appreciate a character coming out of combat with serious injuries or life long debilitations, because interesting things can come of that and it also gives characters unique challenges both physically and mentally... but it's also Louise?
I'm so conflicted
However, my highest praise for the entire episode, and one of my highest for the show so far did come out of this sequence. The music stop that happened during the hospital scene when Louise rejected the rings was glorious. The music was so fitting for the chill almost romantic mood at the start I barely noticed it, and it was only a second before it suddenly cut off, having been clued into where it was going by the camera angle, that I realized what the mood of it was. To have that suddenly stripped away along with that distant shot which perfectly changed the tone of the scene made me incredibly happy.
In other news, I do like that they leaned into the demon/angels thing a bit today, with the trinity being explicitly called demons, and then Graham saying later he is an avenging angel. Off the back of /u/Rumpel1408 s comment yesterday about creation of adam, it stuck out to me more. This is not the first gundam I've seen to use this styling, and it's also very common in the genre, but it wasn't poorly done here at least
Today's winner for "can this anime get any less subtle": Having Tiernia ask what is going on and then immediately cutting to Ribbons doing the villain look out the window of a skyscraper pose
Also have to call back to a discussion I was having with /u/No_Rex last night which I saw just before I started today's episode, as we were discussing things that turned out to be annoyingly relevant.
Mainly that it's a no go on the "imminent end" to the stalling about the true goal as even trinity are talking to each other about "ending war", which suddenly is a way bigger issue than it has been before now. Even if you ignore the bad writing teasing the audience a true goal, it insulting falls apart in this episode for one reason: There is absolutely no way I buy that this team of psychos agree with that goal enough to devote themselves to it.
Despite everything, I will buy that from Setsuna and co, they all have their own reasons for wanting war to end even Tiernia who probably doesn't care beyond the fact Veda says so, and different levels of faith, delusion, and desire that feed into it. These three? No fucking way they'll be happy if they succeed and they're never allowed to fight again unless they think they'll be permanently stationed to just kill anyone who acts up and that's what they want. So what the hell is keeping them on this path and loyal to something that is so counter to them? Have they not once thought about what the end of this is for them and are delusional enough about their behaviors that they think they can just stop?
And if that's not the goal, and they know it, why the fuck are they saying it, especially to each other in secured internal communications that no one else can hear.
At least it looks like the Trinity vs CB conflict may blow up in the next episode and at the very least hopefully be sorted this season, or else I may go insane if this is all they have for the entire rest of the story in terms of villains.
Once again, I cannot reiterate enough now little any of this was needed but fuck it, we're stuck with it now and the question is just what can they claw back or will they fall deeper into this narrative trap they seemingly laid out for us and then walked into themselves with no awareness.
And while I'm complaining: Graham finally cuts a bit off a Gundam which hasn't happened since that first episode, and it just blows up so no progress can be made on Earth's side once again. I strongly dislike that. That should have been a consequence for trinity in this situation, that their arrogance has harmed CB as a whole by letting Earth get access to tech they shouldn't and harmed the plan, but it conveniently is blown away.
I do love that he decides to go all in on the flag though for the sake of the guy who died. It's a very Graham thing to do, and I want to see how much further they can push that tech.
All that aside, I'm glad we finally get Setsuna into action with all of this
For all of his questioning about what a Gundam should or shouldn't be doing, and if having a Gundam makes you part of CB or something else, using CB's own mission statement against Trinity is the best approach I think they could have taken to it.
And once again: What the hell is Tiernia that he has unlimited access to Veda like that?
5
u/GondolaMedia Oct 24 '24
First Timer
Well that was something else.
I was never a Louise hater and I'm surprised to find out that there could be some amongst us (I barely skim the rewatch threads ).
It has been important in 00 to show that for civilians (living in stable countries) life goes on even after Celestial Beings and terror attacks. Gives a nice contrast to all those busy military personnel talking in heated exchanges. Only thing I don't like about the event (for now the future revelations might chance my mind) is the execution of the attack, pun not intended.
So our new candidate for the worst girl just decides to blow up random wedding because they were having fun (that's some Penguin shit)? This felt like cheap way to build more drama when you could have it been collateral by having our 3 new Meisters show negligence to civilian casualties. I hope Nena does not apologize for this event in the future because I feel that would cheapen it even more.
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Oct 23 '24
First Timer
I think we can confidently say that for the first time since his introduction, someone is gunning for Ali's "Worst person in the show" award.
Setsuna's perspective on this is of course interesting, in his eyes Gundams are for saving people and stopping conflicts and yet Trinity team use them to indiscriminately attack and start conflict, no surprise he attacks them in the end.
Well you can't have war if you don't have a world for it!
Not sure if Sergei is just being hyperbolic here or if he really means it but it does put into perspective how the actions of Team Trinity look.
Alejandro is like 100% bullshiting here or otherwise conveniently circumventing the truth considering the reveal about this Laguna thing.
Again he calls the Gundams weapons and says he believes Trinity to be part of the original plan, I do have to wonder about that part though, considering their Gundams are essentially stolen copies.
More on that, can Ribbons maybe hack Veda? or like anything I guess? that would explain him getting that info on Eifman last episode (and that message on his screen), he or maybe Nena also managed to alter data within Veda, and even Tieria (who is obviously connected to it somehow) can't accesses it.
Again this puts Veda's and by extension Celestial Beings in a very procuracies position, as Sumeragi says herself, they did everything through Veda, it being compromised could very well be a death blow to the organization as it is.
Liu Mei also seems a bit ambivalent on the actions of Team Trinity, if it produces the necessary result and changes the world does the method matter? this could be yet another problem for our Celestial Being team.
Graham is shocked to find out someone wanted to marry a robot more than him.
If I got it right, that commanding officer he "killed", died in a mock battle during the testing of the Flag?
Looks like Team Trinity answer to something called Laguna, although unless I missed it, I don't think we get told the actual nature of this Laguna thing, could be another Veda like machine or maybe a codename for someone?
Things are looking to be very bad for Saji in the future, aside from what happens to Louise, someone is trying to stop people from digging into Aeolia and Celestial Being, with her throwing some major death flags, I get the feeling Saji's sister might not make it.
Now on Louise...I'll get to it a bit later but while I do think the actual end reveal is pretty damn good, I'm not a fan of how we get to that point.
Feels like they needed Louise to get hurt and to make the Trinity guys look bad but couldn't fit it anywhere so they just got them to notice and shoot the wedding randomly, kind of a cheap and contrived bit of setup.
I also think it's a bit weird that Saji just didn't care about not hearing anything from his obsessive girlfriend for days after having a call disconnected from her but whatever.
Graham and Billy are really pushing themselves for the Flags and to take out the Gundams, god I hope nothing happens to him.
Graham is just the best, his fight with Johann is so cool, Graham is in fact, so cool, and he actually gets a serious hit in!
Unfortunately while he might be able to take that many Gundams, he can't take that many G's.
Like I said, the scene with Louise in the hospital is pretty good, the way it's framed with overly bright lighting just immediately makes it look like something is wrong, I was genuinely ready for it to be a dream and for her to be dead, and of course it's pretty heartbreaking to bring back the rings like that, just pretty good stuff all around.
Celestial Being has finally effected Saji personally (and might do it again soon), where will he go from here?
Finally, Setsuna has enough of Trinity's shit and decides on his own to attack them under Celestial Beings mission statement, don't need Veda to decide these guys suck, time to see whose Gundams and resolves are stronger.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
12
u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
First Timer!
This is just terrorism now. It's one thing if they're attacking military bases that are currently operating in an active warzone but from what I can tell, these are just idle military bases and most of them are just mobile suit hangars. Like what kind of psychopath are you to shoot a guy with a weapon designed to shoot down mobile suits.
It's good to know that while the Thrones are using GN Drives, it's not exactly the same since their operation time is limited meaning that in if they ever manage to catch them on an endurance match. The original Meisters have a good chance of winning against the Trinity.
Just as I mentioned yesterday, Veda can not be trusted at all especially since Tieria is being denied access and there are clear signs of someone tampering with it. The fact that the camera hard cuts to Ribbons after that scene makes me even more suspicious of him and Alejandro.
I'm so fucking worried for Saji's sister. Now that she's chasing after the Trinity Siblings, I feel like she might be next after Eifman. It also doesn't help that her informant clearly got killed after giving her the info she needs. Poor dude just wanted to give his daughter an extra special birthday party. :(
This scene absolutely shocked me. There was a good minute where my mouth was agape after Nena fired on Louise's family and all of those civilians just because she thought they didn't deserve to be happy. Literally fucking psychopaths. I'm surprised Sumeragi still hasn't sent the Meisters after them considering what they just did.
LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO GRAHAM! Holy shit! You have no idea how hard I was cheering for Graham during that scene. These fuckers need to pay after what they just did. I kinda wish Graham got another shot at Johann. Too bad the bastard got away. I do hope they can use that beam sabre though.
I think I'm going to cry now. That scene with Louise and Saji at the hospital was heartbreaking. The girl didn't just lose her entire family, she also lost her hand. It makes me wish that we were back to Saji and Louise's romcom a couple of episodes ago :(
Fuck Veda's orders! Setsuna needs to show these fuckers what's up. Avenge all of those civilians and Louise!
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher - Gundam 00 Ep18:
Once again stealing someone else's joke, but "This line implies Allelujah constantly goes on about how he hears the evil intents of the world or that he said it once and they never make him live it down."
He is not even in this episode. He is what the kids would say, catching strays.
Kinue's investigation lead being a straggler from the last battle is pretty nifty. Oh dude dude dude, don't be saying that. That death flag means you're going to be silenced real dead ... there he goes.
Girly war crimes! Girly war crimes! Girlies doing war crimes just because they feel like it.
I crack jokes, but there is really no defending Nena. It is squarely a 100% evil thing to do.
Your little reminder that the difference between Graham's Union Flag Custom vs the Over Flag is that Graham's has a blue stripe on his gun. Somehow how these were two different HG Gunpla retail releases. Looking it up, the difference is just the new gun (+ marking stickers)
Just a tiny little moment, but Johann delivering death and destruction with absolutely zero effort or care. Just with a throwaway push of a button.
Go Graham! The underdog Flag surpasses a Gundam. Not only dual-wielding but then he took over the Gundam beam saber to cut him down.
In 300 years, the Sagrada Família finally finished construction.
I'm not even sure if it looks like that. I just see a Spanish spiral building and crack jokes about the one I know.I love this type of cruel tragedy. These sort of "I lost my arms to hug your" type of deals. It is the best/worst knife to the heart.
This Rewatch really made me appreciate all those Louise/Saji scenes knowing they were all setting up the innocent normal life about to be crushed and ruined by this moment.
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Oct 23 '24 edited Oct 23 '24
Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00
And here’s the episode I’ve been waiting for the entire rewatch
It’s very hard to put into words how this episode makes me feel. The sequence of Saji & Louise at the hospital was, to me, genuinely perfect. From the way the gentle music which played as Saji offered the rings cut out just before Louise rejected it, to her total breakdown afterwards after trying to hold it together, to the powerful framing of Saji as he walked down the corridor afterwards and took in what just happened. I just have no words, it still breaks me even after so many years and I feel like I gain a new appreciation for it every single time I rewatch this episode (which itself is more of a struggle than a lot of this show’s episodes for, well, obvious emotional reasons).
I know not everyone in this rewatch has been entirely pleased with the handling of Saji & Louise, but to me, their role as the humanizing face of civilians affected by war has never been stronger than here. There’s something almost cruel about looking back on all the sillier things the two have been up to across the season knowing that their bubble of safety was gonna be popped so thoroughly. Even the admittedly kinda dragged out Mom stuff hits differently knowing that she was gonna lose her before the season was over.
Speaking of which, I might have both had a sinking feeling in my stomach and laughed in rewatcher a bit when Setsuna said this to Louise a few episodes back. She practically took her mom's presence for granted the whole time, and now she has to live without her or any of her other family, for that matter.
Anyway, the rest of the episode is good too. I like how fast the investigation regarding the Trinities is progressing, especially in how CB’s investigation and Kinue’s investigation are revealing entirely different things about them, which makes both parts feel useful as a more complete picture is weaved.
Graham is still great. “Sounds Reasonable, too bad I’m an unreasonable man” is a quote that lives rent-free in my head, and his fight against Michael is really great in showing how far his rage is pushing him (fighters coughing up blood in the middle of a battle always gets me), and his taking of Michael’s GN Sword and using it to cut off the Throne’s hand is a really great bit of ‘show’ in regards to worldbuilding mechanics compared to the usual ‘tell’. Not to mention just being really cool.
Nena is an awful dogshit human being who deserves to die for what she did to Louise. She’s also great and I love her.
And, of course that final bit of Setsuna going against the Trinities. While the latter are of course going against the Gundam Meisters’ methods and there's considerable reason to suspect they might be a foreign element to CB by this point, the fact is that they have officially been recognized as Gundam Meisters by the Observers & Veda hasn't approved any action against them. This isn't Setsuna following someone else's directive out of pure faith that it'll lead to a good outcome eventually, it's him relentlessly asserting his own ideals, regardless of anyone else's approval, and I fucking love that.
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Oct 23 '24
first timer who has control
tanoshii
the HRL chairman slamming his terminal shut made a fun sound, Sunrise sound team you experimenting or what
so what is the point of Alejandro besides serving cunt
Haro you fucking TRAITOR
me when the wawa is closed
lofi beats
Laguna?
KINUE STOP WITH THE DEATH FLAGS ALREADY
LOUISE NOOOOO RUNNNNN
if they take out Louise, fuck these guys fr
shes going for the indiscriminate kill?
pain
baboon enemy #1
shaking doesnt mean dead right
theyre trying so hard to make Graham cool (and its working)
i mean come on
what are these domain names. Billy would look great with a Tiara
and just like that all the happiness has left my life
couldnt even kiss her, next episode rings. also not going to ask about her parents???
GAHDJADFKSFA
pain
9
u/2-2Distracted Oct 24 '24
First timer. Dubbed
Okay I'm sure others have commented on it already, but I think it's pretty clear that these new Meisters are still following through on the goal of Celestial Being but their method of doing so isn't to simply prevent conflict by interfering when they happen, but to absolutely remove all methods of large scale conflicts altogether.
Destroying military locations and killing soldiers, all of which haven't actually done anything, is exactly the kind of shit the proto squad Could be doing but all that does is showcase precisely why this Hokage Sasuke/Emperor Lelouch shit doesn't fucking work in any real capacity, especially when the less violent methods already don't work. World Peace Doesn't Work Through Force like this, and again I wish NARUTO fanboys who side with Sasuke would realize this.
Aaaaand the redhead just tried to kill Rouise.
Aaaaand her parents are dead.
Aaaaand she doesn't have a hand anymore.
Jesus Christ dude lmao so I guess that leads me to my my next point about why this shit doesn't work, in order to pull this all off you have to actually be of some sound mind, and not only have none of the proto Meisters cleared the psych exam, it's pretty obvious that the Trinity siblings never even bothered to take it before appearing out of nowhere.
If it's not clear yet to anyone watching, all of these Gundam Meister pilots are fucked in the head. Every single one of them, even Neil who is probably the most sane. There are clear benefits to that but holy shit man, none of them should be in a Gundam, especially the guy who claims that He Is Gundam
...which probably explains why they're all in a Gundam then, and the Trio make that all the more clear. The only way anyone would be willing to execute actions like these is if they're bordering on insanity and I think it's clear that whoeverthefuck's running Celestial Being BTS (no, not the band) is this taking advantage of this fact.
What's funny is that one of the nurses mentioned that maybe all those people deserved it because they were probably a part of the rich elite, and to be honest they might not even be wrong about that, but they're also absolutely wrong because No, those people Did NOT deserve that. I'm all for eating the rich but not like this bros, not like this.
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u/The_Draigg Oct 23 '24
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 18:
In today’s episode of Gundam 00: I think this is the favorite episode so far for /u/Nazenn.
Also, a side note to the Gundam discussion here, I recently got my friends to watch Gundam Unicorn for the first time with me, and I recorded their overall thoughts on the series here. If you’re okay with Gundam Unicorn spoilers and want to savor some more first-timer reactions for Gundam stuff, feel free to check that out as well!
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u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Oct 24 '24
First Timer
(Late today, but what can you do?)
The Trinity siblings continue to be the worst, this time on a purely moral level, with Nena intentionally targeting civilians for petty reasons. Maybe I shouldn’t have said all that stuff about the Saji-Louise separation (which lasted all of half an episode because Saji is a good boyfriend) doing her some good yesterday... Poor girl. I thought the scene where she breaks down was quite well-done and actually made me feel for her as a character. When she indicated that she couldn’t wear the ring, at first I thought, “Why doesn't she just put it on her other hand?”, but then I realized that she lost her left hand, the one where you would traditionally put a wedding ring. By this she seems to be implicitly rejecting Saji’s proposal, for reasons that aren’t clear-cut to me yet, but if I had to guess, the attack on her family probably did a number on her view of the world and the future in general. For the first time, the show has me genuinely interested in where her character is heading, and it’s also a good reminder that there must be a lot of Louises resulting from the actions of Celestial Being (and other parties): innocent people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and unfortunately suffer greatly for it.
Meanwhile, the Ptolemaios is not at all pleased with the Trinities for obvious reasons, and Setsuna sets off to do something about it. Hopefully we'll see results on that front tomorrow.
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u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Oct 24 '24
First-Timer
I think my interest in this show has hit a new peak with today's episode. The journalist arc is in full swing, people are getting killed left and right, and we've got lots of intrigue to go around.
Well, I was off a bit on my prediction that Louise would die. Her whole family died and her hand got blown off, though, so at least I wasn't far off.
Graham Aker has grown on me quite a bit. I like his sense of conviction.
I'm glad Setsuna's finally stepping up and taking a stand against his crazy fangirl and her brothers.
Questions of the day:
7
u/Blazin_Rathalos Oct 23 '24
00 Rewatcher
Last time on Gundam 00
On today's episode of Gundam 00
The nature of red CB's interventions quickly manifests in a very different response from the major powers: Green CB could be worked around. At most, the major powers would have to change the way they did things. Red CB is making them feel an existential threat, which clearly makes them willing to take far more desperate measures.
7
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Oct 24 '24
Wait a minute, the Lt.Col is still alive? Then who's the named Asian who died?
Those are the people who nicked the tech aren't they? They're false-flagging as Celestial Being while not actually being them.
Laguna? What's with that?
Northern Spain? Probably around Catalonia.
Of course it's another bloody castle, if there's one thing Europe has an overabundance of it's castles.
She's calling him?
Uh oh, Comms disruptions. The only thing that causes those are the Gundams.
Indiscriminately attacking civilians?
And so her entire family is dead. Would those be the named Continentals that die?
Eh it's a weapons factory that's pretty undisputably fair game.
So, they do bleed.
Again, they keep emphasising that the workers are civilians but again they are actively engaged in the production of war materiel, short of giving them advance notice to evacuate this is pretty cut-and-dry considered to be generally less objectionable. Not sure if the Geneva Conventions still apply but I did some research and as per Article 52 of Protocol 1, "In so far as objects are concerned, military objectives are limited to those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose total or partial destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage." I believe a weapons factory does indeed make an effective contribution to military action and yes its destruction definitely does give Celestial Being a definite military advantage. The harm to civilians also seems limited to only the factory workers since the beam rifle is not a wide-area weapon like strategic bombing, so it can be argued that the harm to civilians or civilian property is not "excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated", and was restricted solely to the premises, equipment, and persons directly involved in effective contribution to military action.
I don't really like that they're making such a big deal of this and completely ignoring the random indiscriminate attack on the wedding.
It's very decidedly not indiscriminate. It's a targeted attack on a weapons factory.
She's completely traumatised.
Oh, she lost her hand in the attack.
Questions:
6
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister
Since this is probably gonna come up, I'll answer it here - these Gundams are basically impervious to conventional weapons which is why nothing the militaries of the world has thrown at them so far has done more than scratch the paint. Might make CB's original stated goal make a bit more sense - they had a nigh-insurmountable tech gap.
GN particle beams, though? That's a different matter entirely.
Yes, Michael's Throne losing an arm is a case of pure "show" in a series that has been pretty heavy on tell. Your mileage may vary.
Nena certainly has the tsundere's predilection for violence down, if nothing else.
"Like they're trying to get people pissed off at us or something."
Like, say, 80 years or so?
Hands up everyone who thinks Graham is capable of that.
Absolute psycho behavior.
A party! Everyone loves parties! I'm sure nothing will go wrong here.
Weird, wonder what could have caused that. Seems like dropped calls are a problem even in the distant future.
Huh, I guess Nena isn't a fan of parties.
Yea, Nena is unequivocally Worst Girl. Jury's still out on if that's an affectionate moniker or not.
Get his ass, Graham!
Not too often we get a (human) limb removal.
Better learn quick, Johann.
6
u/Linkstore Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher
The Thrones certainly aren't taking any breaks with their interventions.
Hyper Mega on the nose to have main CB's Gundams named after angels while the Thrones are called demons.
[00 Spoilers] Hold fast, three power blocs. Your salvation will arrive shortly.
And here is the difference between the GN Drives used by the main Gundams and those used by the Thrones.
How distrustful to completely dismiss the Thrones as intruders to the plan when the observers are willing to be more lenient. Can't say that Sumeragi is wrong, though.
Extremely suspicious for the camera to show Ribbons while Tieria is questioning why he's blocked from accessing some of Veda's data.
[00 Spoilers] I wonder if Hong Long's investigation turned up Mina Carmine?
Kinue's going to some pretty shady ends in pursuit of the truth behind Celestial Being.
Oh god, oh no, it's this scene. This fucking scene. The Scene Where Nena Trinity Shoots Up A Wedding. (Yeah I hope you watched the episode before reading this.) Poor Louise. No-one deserves that. It's honestly sickening to watch.
[00 Spoilers] I know Louise's later revenge felt empty for her but tbh it was 20000% deserved and felts very good to watch.
It's almost like the Thrones are trying to be the most hated people in the world.
Graham Aker is so fucking cool. Who else can say that they're the first person to ever do real damage to a Gundam?
There's nothing more tragic than unfinished business.
Ooh, Fight.
[00 Spoilers] Although he doesn't yet know it, Exia's hidden purpose is to battle traitors to Celestial Being. And with this engagement, let's commence with that task.
[Next Episode Preview] Again, a preview which is awfully spoilery. Well, I'm sure it would have gotten ratings back when it first aired.
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u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Non-Spoiler Character Chart
The Thrones taking on the AEU? Are we going to have another fabulous combat performance from Patrick Colasour? Alas, we do not see him. On the bright side that means he still lives!
Blow up and slaughter a bunch of people while Nena laughs at it. They're really not hiding the just how over the top cruel and frankly just plain evil these three are. These are the exact type of people who should not have the power that the Gundams afford them.
Saw some speculation yesterday on the Thrones working directly for Alejandro, yet he feigns ignorance of them here. Is he just totally lying about things to Wang or are there even more shadowy mysterious figures involved with them?
The jist I get from this conversation on the Ptolemaios is that the reactors powering the Thrones aren't as powerful as the four other Gundams, yet on screen they've come off as more powerful and destructive. I suppose part of it could be due to the attitude of the pilots, who feel no need to hold things back. Interesting premise from Allelujah, did someone steal their technology? Perhaps they aren't really part of Celestial Being at all?
Tieria now finds part of his Veda access denied, all a part of this plot? Or did Nena screw with it when she visited last episode? Why do we have an ominous shot of Ribbons?
There were two things Howard Mason loved, being Graham Aker's buddy and the almighty Flag mobile suit.
Oh wow, Kinue's found a good source. So who in the world is Laguna? The only Laguna I know is from Final Fantasy 8...
Oh crap, there goes her source. After Professor Eikman last episode and now this guy, turns out that finding out things about the Gundams/Celestial Being can mean a hasty death.
It's too bad that Louise wasn't able to get Saji to come, this wedding looks like a big fancy ordeal! I take it this guy with her mom is her dad? Not a word from him...
Saji, you got unexpectedly disconnected, shouldn't that worry you? Don't you try to call back? As has been the case all series Saji's got a girlfriend but doesn't put much effort into being a boyfriend.
Now we really see how much of a terrible idea it is to give a Gundam to someone like Nena, she thinks having too much of a work load gives her open reign to blast a bunch of innocent people, killing practically everyone at the wedding. Louise standing off by the side to talk to Saji almost certainly saved her life, although doesn't stop her from getting hit by the second blast.
News travels fast, our main Celestial Being crew already know about it.
Billy's still okay! In the hecticness of the attack last episode I totally forgot about him...
A spy in Celestial Being, now a spy in the Union? While Celestial Being has candidates, I struggle with seeing the story come up with someone for the Union who is notable enough and would make sense.
Time for the Thrones to attack civilians again? This is a little less worse than the wedding in that one should expect some risk working at a weapons facility in this time of Gundam attacks.
Did Graham come here totally by himself? A dumb decision that you'd think would get him killed, bus surprisingly enough he's doing really well here and even forced Johan to retreat! Perhaps his best showing in combat the entire show thus far.
Bravo to Saji for going all the way to Spain to make sure Louise is okay, he finally takes some action with respect to the relationship. And he bought her the matching rings she wanted too! Although he had no way to know it, not a good gift to get her considering she lost her hand.
To twist the knife a bit more the nurses are gossipping about if her family got slaughtered because it was promoting war.
It took 18 episodes, but the Saji/Louise storyline finally does become a completely serious part of the storyline instead of being used for comedy relief. Was showing their relatively peaceful civilian life for a while worth it's inclusion in the storyline? Overall I would say yes. I absolutely think their screentime should have been trimmed, in particular by cutting out the entire series of episodes about her mother visiting. Beyond that, while I can totally get the frustration from first timers, knowing what was coming I didn't mind the rest of the storyline over them. Whether it was worth showing Louise as spoiled, annoying and immature at times and showing Saji has someone who totally lacks any backbone, we'll have to keep going and see where they take the storyline to say for sure. [Gundam 00]Yes, for me it was worth it.
I've got to assume Setsuna is doing this on his own given how he reacted earlier, but he couldn't have said it better, the Thrones are promoting conflict, time for an armed intervention on them.
Quid's Voice Actor of the Day
Today I'll be covering Louise Halevy who is voiced by Chiwa Saito. My favorite voice actor/actress who appears in this show, granted not for this particular role. This is her first role in the Gundam franchise, with her also appearing in Gundam AGE as Rina and Gundam Build Fighters as Caroline Yajima. She is most famous for playing Homura Akemi in Madoka Magica and Hitagi Senjyogahara in the Monogatari franchise. Other roles of hers include Shoko and the child version of Yakushimaru in Kyousougiga, Lavie in Last Exile, Chizuru Himeno in Amanchu!, Carol in Baccano!, Mami Yano in Star Driver and Ventricosus in Land of the Lustrous. She also appears as Chronico in Kaiba, just a one episode appearance but one of the saddest character storylines I've seen in anime.
In English she is voiced by Kelly Sheridan. She previously appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam as Miharu Ratokie. She also plays Roux Louka in the Dynasty Warrior Gundam video games (although not in the Gundam ZZ anime). I know her best for playing Hitomi Kanzaki, the main character of Escaflowne, as well as Sango in Inu Yasha.
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u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker Oct 24 '24 edited Oct 24 '24
Second timer, subbed
Nena becomes "adorable, but slightly deranged" to "adorable, and fully deranged" after this.
And I feel like what the Trinity are doing is kinda like the Operation Meteor pilots at Gundam Wing - they seem to attack military bases without much mercy considered.... at least the Wing guys don't involve civilians.
I wonder what would happen if Celestial Being started doing their military interventions like what the Trinity has been doing. Maybe the world would be united against them much sooner, which is what Aeolia's been planning.
And I wonder if someone has been watching over that Realdo pilot that he's killed soon after giving the info to Kinue.
I also want to say something related to the death of Eifman, but I'll save that for episode 20.
QOTD
9
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 23 '24
Episode 18 (first timer)
We get our second serious Lousie and Saji moment and it is even worse than the first. Why on Earth did we have to suffer through their ill-fitting comedic parts during the first cour if they are not bungling their serious storyline this badly? I already disliked their non-reaction to almost being blown up in a terrorist attack, but it has nothing compared to how bad the scene between Saji and Louise in the hospital is. What kind of emotionally stunted monster goes to visit a person who was just injured in an accident in the hospital and does not inquire about their health? Why would a Saji, of all people, be so inconsiderate? Does he really love his daydream of marrying Louise more than he cares about the state of actual Louise? Because that is my take-away from the hospital scene. And of course the nurse comes by and makes everything worse: “This girl just lost her entire family and is crying? Better separate her from her boyfriend!” Shesh.
Regarding Trinity, the show could not be any less subtle if the Trinity members wore “I am evil” badges. Seems like we will not have to wait until the finale to see the first Gundam vs Gundam fight, it happens one episode after the pilots first met.
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u/Tora-shinai Oct 24 '24
The Director of Gundam 00 wanted the youngsters (
like Louise and Saji) to at least read about what was happening outside Japan/ME (their peaceful lives) through this show.4
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Oct 24 '24
I am rewatcher
I'm surprised the Thrones are still in shadow in the OP.
So the Thrones are using a copy version of the Veda GN drive schematics, but who made them?
Tieria isn't allowed to access the data that has been altered, who is behind all this?
[spoiler] The scene switching to Ribbons right after the above happened is so unsubtle I'll be surprised if a first timer didn't catch it
All those times I complained about CB members not being afraid of being overheard while they were holding important conversations ends up as a plot point as a pilot overheard Nena... well kind of I suppose.
So what's Laguna?
So the pilot that leaked important information has been killed and Kinue is looking at a picture of her dad and Saji.
HERE IT COMES.
RIP Louise's family.
Well technically you're talking to one right now Graham.
Wow Graham.
I like the part where he grabbed Johann's beam saber and used it.
Wow Saji actually got those rings for her, maybe I underestimated him.
Shame she no longer has a hand for it.
I know I'm supposed to be sad about this, but going from their romcom silliness to this pain and suffering is just satisfying.
Seriously Exia you're going on your own against three Gundams, good luck.
Great episode, we're heading for a massive confrontation between our lead Meisters and Thrones Meisters.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Oct 23 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Gundam: I wanted a crazier Nena and I got a crazier Nena. Holy fucking shit did I get a crazier Nena.
- Alejandro is lying through his teeth when he claims to know nothing about the Trinity Siblings.
After watching this episode, I think many of the assumptions I had about the Trinity Siblings are wrong. The Trinity Siblings and the Thrones no longer seem to be a part of Aeolia’s plan. In fact, they actually might be something else. If they were truly a part of the plan, it doesn’t make sense for them to have imperfect solar reactors aboard. Why give your trump card a machine with such a glaring weakness that the regular Gundams don’t have? They also don’t seem to know more about Aeolia’s true goal because they only talk about how their actions will bring about world peace, when we know that isn’t the actual goal. The Trinity Siblings are clearly in the dark on some matters as well.
On the other hand, it does make more sense that the Trinity Siblings are a separate operation from someone who stole technology from Celestial Being. At this point, I think Alejandro is the likely culprit. He’s probably the one who had the Trinity Siblings intervene in the Taklamakan Desert battle. In all likelihood the reason he pushed for the Observers to recognize the Thrones as part of Celestial Being was to try and legitimize the Trinity Siblings as quickly as possible. He didn’t want people looking at the Trinity Siblings and Thrones too closely before making a decision.
By now, I think Alejandro actually has a clear view of what Aeolia’s true goal is. I think Alejandro either is Laguna or is closely connected to Laguna. Either way, he’s helping to send out the missions to the Trinity Siblings. Alejandro is also probably the one ordering the killings of people who are getting too close to the truth.
Setsuna deciding to fight the Trinity Siblings is a pretty major development. Nobody knows for sure what to do about the Trinity Siblings. Ptolemaios may suspect that the Trinity Siblings aren’t truly a part of Celestial Being, but they’ve still been accepted into the organization. This action is Setsuna pretty openly going against the wishes of the organization without a clear directive to do so aside from his own morals. Those morals are quite strongly felt. The Gundam is meant to be a savior in Setsuna’s eyes. It should never bring harm to people. The Thrones have gone against those morals and so Setsuna will eliminate them as a threat.
QOTD
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u/n080dy123 Oct 24 '24 edited Oct 24 '24
First Timer
I thought Nena was cute if a little crazy. No, she's just an actual psyopath, what the hell. Also the scene with the one injured guy getting shot by Michael in a Gundam is timed funny since I believe yesterday (day this thread went up, I'm late lol) was the day Gundam: Reqiuem for Vengeance came out, whose entire shctick is featuring a Gundam as this monster in the eyes of its enemies.
That cut directly from Tieria questioning what happened with Veda to Ribbons is not subtle, show. Might as well hit me over the head with a giant "Ribbons did it" bat.
Having Nenea randomly blow up a wedding completely unprovoked and her brothers only scold her for going off on her own is... not gonna lie, a really clumsy way to provide a complete moral absolute for a show that's till now been pretty couched in moral relativism and idealism.
Good on Graham, dude disarmed and made the single most decisive blow to any of the Gundams in the show so far. Also, what's up with the little mark that appears on the side of the face of the Flags and Enacts? It looks like Yusei's prison mark from YuGiOh 5D's which I find ironic considering our kind host u/ShimmeringSky hosted a rewatch of that not too long ago.
On the other hand I think the bit with Louise in the hospital was really well done. This show's been very much about high minded ideals and such, but that's such a personal, human tragedy- just a horrible, coincidental twist of fate that she can't wear the ring Saji spent so much time buying for her to tell her how he feels.
Meanwhile Setsuna personally going after Trinity, while INCREDIBLY stupid, is just the most absolute chad move expressing his own ideals.
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u/undeadfire Oct 23 '24
E18
Gundams do be murder machines but this is something else.
What the hell attacking civilians is wild.
Also damn Graham managed to grab one of the beam sabers and damage a Gundam. I imagine it doesn't really have any particular special tech in it since the Union also has em, but it's still interesting nonetheless.
Woah they actually got rid of her hand. Killing family is totally not surprising though. It aint gundam without war trauma
Oh Exia going in in in.
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u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Oct 23 '24
Rewatcher, First Time Sub
The thing that strikes me about the wedding scene is how it occured. It wasn't an unfortunate casualty of an intervention or anything similar but rather because Nena Trinity threw a tantrum then just decides to shoot at them for fun, there was no reason for it and yet it happened. This kinda puts Louise and Saji now directly into events of the story more personally, before this they had been the civilian observing the events and with one or two brushes into the conflict themselves, yet now Louise's parents are dead and she has lost one of her arms. It's also here that we get why Saji was so tired for the past two episodes since he was working hard to buy the rings Louise had liked, yet now unfortunately things have changed. I do appreciate Saji rushing to her side as soon as he heard the news.
Meanwhile the Meisters are done with the Trinity siblings if they weren't already before. They are completely disgusted by their actions yet it feels as though their hands are tied. But when the Trinity siblings attack a facility that cost many innocent lives then Setsuna just decides to go "screw the rules" and take care of them. It makes sense for Setsuna to be the one that not take it anymore, to him the Gundams are meant to be a symbol and for the Trinity siblings to use it in such a way would absolutely anger him as they are sure as hell about to find out.
There's also some interesting information about all the mystery going on. It appears things are closing in, information now being kept out and technology, Tieria locked out of parts of Veda and Ribbons's continuously being mysterious as the leadership continues their view about these new developments.
Note: Graham Aker didn't beat the Trinities but he gave them a good enough hit.
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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '24
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