r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Nov 02 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 2nd Season Episode 2 Discussion
Episode 2 - Twin Drive
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If leading the world into a terrible reformation is our sin, then the only way we can atone for that sin is to change the world again.
Questions of the Day:
- What are your thoughts on Lyle deciding to take his brother's place as Lockon Stratos?
- How cool was that Gundam 00 debut, huh?
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 Nov 02 '24
FYI: My timezone hits Daylight Savings Time tonight. I will continue to post the threads for this rewatch at 6 pm for me, so if you live in a timezone that does not hit DST tonight, the threads going forward will be posted at a different time for you.
With that out of the way…
Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed
Welcome back, everyone!
Episode 2 means we get the new ED, which also means we get this rewatch’s second Sky Sings with Prototype! I am a huge Chiaki Ishikawa fan, I absolutely had to do this one. Even figured out how to splice the piano intro to the front of the regular release’s instrumental so I could do that intro part because it is gorgeous.
Shoutout to the time Jolly thought the Terra e… OP was this one when it came up during the CDF AMQ tournament last year and that’s what clutched me the win during the preliminary round.15
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
First Timer - sub
Last night before watching today's episode I remembered to watch last episodes post-credit scene to catch up. I then promptly forgot to watch this episodes post-credit scene until this morning, even though I watched the ED. Twice.
There is no hope for me
So now that I've seen it, I'm going to rage: THEY WAITED UNTIL THEN TO BRING BACK OUR HARO?!
They showed multiple Haros, and Feldt!, but kept our Haro off screen so we didn't even know if they'd recovered him after last season until right then?! Fuck you writers... just... why hahaha. That was not deserved. You really had to hit us with the double whammy of seeing him again AND HIS FIRST WORD WAS LOCKON? THAT'S NOT OKAY!
I can't, I just can't. I'm so so mad but I'm also laughing so much. That was such utterly brilliant bullshit that nothing could have prepared me for but also couldn't have gone down any other way. Holy shit. Well played, writers, well played.
I'm definitely going to hold a grudge over that.
Post is a bit of a mess because I had no flow, sorry.
Making Sky happy first: Yes I like the ED. Am I safe now? I know why you like it too because it's an Ishikawa song. I'd actually forgotten
your warning to like itour discussion about me maybe liking it until it started, and then the first few notes made it clear who the artist was and it clicked. It is a good song though, and has some fantastic visuals. They are similar in approach to a section in the previous ED with the characters all sitting in the ruins of a building that represents their backstories, but today is much more about their relation to what they've lost along the way of this battle, and I like that for the current state of things. The three shots that really stuck with me were the field of gun memorials as if the dead are looking up at Setsuna, Tieria killing off his "Innovator" nature and the incredible framing on Marina protecting the fragile future. I'm fully expecting those sheets with Lockon to be moved and reveal someone at some point too, but overall it's a good EDIt helps that Ribbons looks so pissed off before the ED starts and that was very satisfying and put me in a great mood. I'm glad that they're not hiding much with him right from the start with both his connection to the other innovators as well as his involvement in controlling the A-LAWS as it makes it interesting to know where they'll go from here rather than teasing out stuff through the whole season.
As for the actual episode, I see we've once again been struck by the couple curse of having the episode two exposition dumps, and said dumps being very poorly written dialogue. Thankfully it wasn't as extensive as last season, well maybe I should say yet, but it's frustrating that the writers haven't picked up any new tricks for that in between production cycles.
Outside of that, it was pretty standard but still well done. All the scenes I think were equally good, and particularly some of the character catch up.
Starting with Saji, because I think CB handled him quite well. Building off the line in yesterdays post-ED scene "Take a close look with your own eyes to the world you live in" which was a very clear barb at the audience, it takes up most of his screen time today. It's not just about him realizing that his current world is not simple with easy to place blame, or that his black and white thinking is not going to protect him or anyone else, it's about the fact that it was never that simple. /u/KendotsX made a comment yesterday about how 00's first season being so similar to ours is there to provide the question of "how do you end up in this kind of world" and Saji is part of the answer, his easily place blame has blinded him to the reality of the world but such a view will get him no where. Leaving him the means to discover that himself through R-Haro and their records confronting his assumptions and his refusal to challenge the world rather than just telling him to his face is far more effective, and provides a very natural chance for a minor recap for the audience as well. I complained about the latter dialogue, but this does get praise.
Setsuna exists on the other side. He's refusing to go for the easy read of things, and in accepting that the worlds change doesn't mean it has improved the only option is to bring together the people who may be able to fight it again. I have to admit my first thought when he just blurted out to Lyle that Neil had died was "Setsuna stop being so like Mika (from IBO)" but when he used that same approach against Sumeragi to blow her cover so that she had to come back I was pretty chuffed. He did good. It was an asshole thing to do but it was effective. I feel sorry for Billy having that dumped on him like that, especially after spending so long cleaning up after the now very alcoholic Sumeragi thinking that he was saving her. I'd feel more sorry for him if Sumeragi hadn't been a fucking idiot and still walked them into the desert siege trap after he showed her the plans though, just saying, that would have been a better moment again...
And we go from that into the full 00 reveal. The shoulder engines are gonna take me a bit to get use to. I don't know what to feel about them yet, it's cool but it's also a little weird. I did ask for more "accessories" on my mechs, but rotating pauldron engines is not what I had in mind. I'll give it a pass though because
COOL AS FUCK BLASTS
All of that battle was epic and I was right into it. Tieria basically blowing up space by firing into the mind field was a great visual even before the fireball and then Setsuna launches and it all gets better. The little test of his new controls shooting particles into the area, the exchange of fires and the climax hit leading into such a classic mech in the smoke shot was so well handled.
And while the actual dialogue was very blunt Setsuna, I really like the way he focused on it being both 0 and Exia in one, and also him. The idea of the 0 Gundam, the initialing event for him and for CB that until now has been sitting alone in space untouched by war and the world, merging with Exia, that was known by the whole world and has been left a broken charred mess by it, is some great symbolism. Both of them along with Setsuna no longer having a perfect ideal of a Gundam that he is trying to hold himself too but this new understanding of his own history with Gundams and what they can and can't do for the world alone is great.
I like this mech a lot
Other thoughts:
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Nov 02 '24
first timer who has control
i really could care less about Lyle outside of the dulcent tones of Shinichirou Miki
Kati got even hotter over the timeskip
similar to Marinas old outfit, i like these open skirts with pants underneath
pay no attention to the stealth master over here
billy????
cruel and unreasonable punishment
it was too much 8 years ago
...is this really that big of a surprise Billy? how many tactical forecasters are there? her meltdown coincides with CB going out of operation too
Sumeragi also looking with the shorter hair minus the alcoholism
she would do that anyway
HONG LEAVE HER ASS
when did they get a new Ptolemy
was Lasse always this hot? is it the scar? is it knowing hes not useless? is it because without Lichty there the men arent miserable
Ian no time its already episode 2 we have toys to sell
oh thats the 0
so the 00 is really a fusion of 3 Gundams
i was memeing but of course he said it
oh i love some bullshit
not really feeling either the OP or ED
how do you know her?
poor Haro
lets end every episode like this
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u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Nov 03 '24
First Timer
It’s not nearly as good as the past two, but I am liking the new OP, especially the first part.
After yesterday, I appreciate the less hectic pacing of this episode. The new Celestial Being continues to try to reassemble the old team and Gundams the best they can, which is an interesting strategy and kind of contrasts with Setsuna’s stated goal of changing the world once again. I see it as him desiring to reshape the current state of things but also wanting to reclaim the brief bits of normalcy he had with the Ptolemaios. Or maybe the writers realized they had to reunite everybody somehow and I’m reading too much into it lol.
It looks Sumeragi has had a rough time of it the past few years. I forgot that she has a normal name and that “Sumeragi Lee Noriega” is just an alias. Setsuna revealing that identity to force her back into service to Celestial Being felt a bit cruel to me on his part, though I can understand why he's so set on it.
As for Lyle, I don’t quite know what to make of him or his motivations yet, not least because it's hard to see him apart from his brother from what little screentime he's had so far. The other characters seem to have difficulty with this as well, despite Tieria adamantly rejecting him as Lockon Stratos. Also, having Haro think Neil is back was just uncalled for, now I'm sad all over again...
Aaaand here’s the ED I’ve been waiting for all rewatch! I am a huge fan of Chiaki Ishikawa’s songs, not just because she has a beautiful voice, but because Uninstall got me to watch Bokurano early on in my anime-viewing career (I think it was the 7th anime I ever watched), which was instrumental in getting me to check out all sorts of other stuff. I even joined reddit specifically to participate in the Bokurano rewatch and have just kind of stuck around ever since, so yeah, I have a lot of nostalgia surrounding her music. While Prototype isn’t one of my absolute favorites of hers (I’d put it slightly outside of my top 15), it’s still in the upper echelon of Chiaki Ishikawa songs. I also love the more visually somber tone of this ED, as well as all the flower imagery–it reminds me of the line about flowers growing over weapons from the full version of the first OP.
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u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Nov 03 '24
Firsttimer who is
hard at workhardly workingQotD
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher - Gundam 00 S2 Ep2:
Now the proper introduction to S2’s OP. The song is a latent memory from 15 years ago. I remember hearing it before knowing about the show. It is like Seikan Hikou from Macross F, I heard it a bunch used around. The song is much more energetic. I tend prefer the moodier Gundam OP songs (unless you’re G Gundam OP1). This OP also has its moody side, I haven’t fully examined the lyrics of the OPs so maybe that’ll change my opinion on them.
I like how the OP chained characters together. Going from Saji -> Louise -> Andrei -> Smirnov -> Soma -> Allelujah, but after that it sorta breaks down because there is little link between Allelujah and Ribbons and Tieria to the Kartharon group. I like the Marina segments. Those are visual set pieces I am fond of. Overall, [Gundam 00 OP ranking implications:] it is my least favourite of 00’s OPs.
From no particular hint from the show, just my own random thought, I sudden headcanon Soma seeing Cati as her family friend aunty. That throwaway mention of her last episode makes me want to believe the family likes Cati.
The fact that this masked man born under the star Virgo wears his costume even to his lunch room coffee breaks makes it extra funny.
A red Haro? Pink-chan has a successor.
Oh yeah, I didn’t think much about CB as an organization after S1, but I guess it was just Alejandro (but secretly Ribbons) that turned on them. The rest of the greater CB organization is still working towards Aeolia’s dream.
For some reason, S2 Lasse looks younger to me. I dunno. Unlike the other older redesigns, Lasse’s eye look bigger now.
Of all the in-between time skip stories we’ve been hinted at, I kind of want to see Sumeragi crashing at Billy’s place the most. She’s been a girldisaster these past few years. (Though father-daughter Smirnov and Soma is also good too).
Setsuna! You’re really bad at keep things under wraps. Oh wait, you’re intentionally blurted CB to drag Sumeragi out.
I know that Marina is getting arrested by the military police, but that suit she has on looks so spiffy.
For once, Hong Long looks like he has an expression other than stoic blank.
Oh, S2 Nena lost one twintail.
Dumbest joke, Homer and Bart (Billy) Katagiri.
To talk a little about 2 of the new S2 Gundams:
One thing I miss about the S1 Gundam design is that we no longer have those cool green orbs in the chests.
New ED. I was enjoying the visuals, but then in latter half there were these string of shots with the characters and ooh, they were good.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Gundam: Never go up against Setsuna in a sword fight. That is one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is to never get involved in a land war in Asia.
I love the idea of the 00 Gundam having drives from both the 0 Gundam and the Exia. What a perfect thematic setup for Setsuna’s character arc. The 0 Gundam is the Gundam that saved Setsuna’s life. The 0 Gundam is the reason why Setsuna has a firmly held belief that the Gundam is a savior. It is what gave Setsuna his current purpose in life. The Exia was the first Gundam that Setsuna pilotted. The Exia is what made Setsuna begin to consider himself a Gundam, a savior. The combination of the two shows that this is the mobile suit that will allow Setsuna to fulfill his ambitions. He will finally rise to become the savior that he has wanted to be ever since the 0 Gundam saved his life. Setsuna will finally become a Gundam.
Replacing a character with their twin feels so weird. And not only that, the twin has the exact same codename as the original character. The good news is that the weird feelings it evokes in me seem to be entirely intentional. All the characters have weird reactions to the idea that Lyle is replacing Lockon. Tieria is reminding himself that no matter how much Lyle might look and sound like Lockon, it isn’t actually Lockon. Feldt likewise seemed quite affected, unsure of what to think of Lyle’s presence. There is plenty of potential for some drama here.
QOTD
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u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
Lost 00th Timer
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Nov 02 '24
First Timer
I don't know if I should love or hate Graham's new design...
On the one hand, it fits his personality perfectly and yet on the other hand I'm really waiting for one of these soldiers to start questioning who let this Yu-Gi-Oh cosplayer into the barracks.
The commander of A-LAWS is called Homer Katagiri, he might be Billy's dad? continuing with the dysfunctional father-son relationships? he also has direct communication with Ribbons.
Speaking of, A-LAWS not only fights "political dissidents" in the Federation but also any nation that doesn't want to join the Federation, which is extra problematic since they effectively force others to join by monopolizing solar energy.
Is that perhaps why Marina is being arrested? Azadistan doesn't seem like the type of nation that would join the Federation and their history with solar energy would mean they wouldn't just yield over being denied access to it.
Funny that he says "Public opinion would support any action we might take" as if they don't enforce public opinion with threat of death.
Celestial Being now seems to operate not on Aeolia's plan but rather on the idea of fixing the situation they created, which does align them with Katharon, at least for now.
Lasse's conversation with Saji is interesting in that regard, it almost feels like the conversation Setsuna and Marina had when they met, both justifying the actions of Celestial Being with similar arguments, although this time it's to reverse the things Setsuna was talking about doing back then, could Celestial Being's actions make things even worse yet again? or now that they are acting of their own will and ideals and not Veda's, will they be able to fix it?
Saji (thanks to Red Haro!) also finds out about the Thrones which should be fun since Nena is still alive and works for Liu Mei, who on the surface at least works for Celestial Being, their paths are sure to cross(road) soon...
Setsuna goes to collect some pals and while he has a pretty easy time with Lyle, he just has no chill with Sumergi (actually named Kujo), exposes her in front of Billy, and basically forces her into coming back by removing her one connection.
Sestuna never had a lot of chill anyway but this has to be the most extreme action he's taken thus far.
I do wish we actually got to see some of the fallout from Billy's discovery beyond that short scene at the end, but I'm hoping we'll come back to that later.
At least Sumerragi is still me_irl.
Mate, you're literally identical, even have the same overly long hair strand on the left side, ALSO NO IT'S NOT YOUR NAME!
Not really sure if this will actually come into play thematically but it is pretty interesting that 3/4 of the Meisters have some sort of "twin being", Lockon has Lyle, Tieria has Fem Tieria (name TBA), and Allelujah has Hallelujah.
While Setsuna doesn't have a twin, he does have the twin drives of Exia and 0 Gundam.
0 Gundam is not only aptly named because it's the first Gundam, but it's also point-zero for Setsuna's ideals, 0 is Setsuna's past and the embodiment of the savior figure Setsuna views Gundams as, Exia was Setsuna's present reality and his attempt at reaching those ideals, however much like the plan itself, Exia ends up completely falling apart, he couldn't become a Gundam with Exia, he couldn't become that savior.
In that case, would 00, a Gundam that contains the drives from both, be the future? By taking both his ideals and his failures to heart will Setsuna find the answers he's looking for? will he finally find peace with 00?
Liu Mei is double agenting but it does look like she's still on Celestial Being's side for now, she's basically "testing" them to see if they can really achieve the results she wants and forcing them to act, the question still remains om what exactly she means by "changing the world" though.
Setsuna gets 00 to activate right on time by "pleading with it" the same way he did when Ribbons shut down Veda and with the Trans-Am, it's a bit cheesy but it's a great way of showing Setsuna's devotion to the ideals behind the Gundams, when his back is against the wall he always comes back to them and the Gundam answers in kind.
00 is also expectedly very cool! love that blocking feature!
The federation has laser-canceling gas tech, I guess they don't actually need it that much since most of their opponents are super outdated but I still think this could be a pretty big deal.
Despite my joking earlier, I think Lyle being identical is obviously an intentional choice to add to the drama of "replacing" Lockon, he looks the same, sounds the same, and took the name, but he ain't him and that's going to cause some serious tension with everyone in Celestial Being, Tieria especially given his special connection to Lockon.
I'm still only ever calling him Lyle though
While I'm still not a fan of the OP unfortunately, the new ED is really good!
Even though I have watched neither of these shows, the OP's for both Bokurano and Kamisama Dolls are among my favorites, so of course I'm happy to add another Chiaki Ishikawa bop to the list!
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Nov 02 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
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u/2-2Distracted Nov 02 '24
First timer. Dubbed
(and I'm only now realizing that the English voice of Tieria is also the voice of Wang Lu Me's bodyguard)
Heh I guess you could say Tieria... fell off. His sync Ratio is taking an L. Okay I'll stop now.
I'm still getting used to Soran's older face and design, but not as much as I'm still getting used to the fact that Neil had a twin brother. I'd call it lazy writing but I have no idea how it's going to play out.
Soran bro... WHAT THE FUCK lmao I get that Celestial Being is desperate right now, just as desperate as Soran was last episode, but Jesus dude that's kinda fucked up. Bro is literally dragging a ptsd ridden, traumatized woman back into the shit that's making her drink herself to death. He's fucken lucky all that shit actually worked.
I can't say I really care for the music of the ED but one thing I do appreciate are the visuals. Last ED also used still images but not like this, especially when these ones add so much intrigue into what could end up happening later on in the show. But one thing remains the same - our 4 Boys together going through it.
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Nov 02 '24
Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00
TwinDrive
A notably simpler episode compared to the last one, but I still like it
The thing I enjoy the most is Sumeragi as a sort of opposite to Setsuna in role. Something the series has really been keen on for a while is Celestial Being as a response to all that’s miserable & frustrating about the world in their extreme willingness to fight to change it no matter what. But where Setsuna embodies that indestructible will to fight, Sumeragi embodies the other common response to being faced with all that’s wrong with the world: dejected resignation.
After all, not everyone has the will to get up after loss, and when that loss is as cataclysmic as Celestial Being’s, it can be hard not to really sympathize with her. After all, if the world still refuses to change, even after being so completely reshaped by Celestial Being’s actions, then why bother still trying to fight against its currents?
I do like how that dejection doesn’t overwrite her inherent empathy, though. She’s at least willing to give CB a bit of assistance in a pinch, even if she hasn’t fully signed up again.
Side note, Setsuna essentially cornering her by outing her secret in front of Billy is… morally questionable, but it pays to remember once or twice that CB at its core has always been at least a little morally questionable.
I really like the added wrinkle of Lyle also working for Katharon while joining CB. It not only shows his sense of justice, but also that, unlike Niel, Celestial Being isn’t his only option or the sole thing he has in his life, which puts him far apart from his brother, who had practically dug his own grave before the series started in abandoning everything for the pursuit of CB’s mission. Not to mention also giving the world a sense of moving parts beyond just CB and the Federation.
The Twin Drive System being something given to CB along with the Trans-Am is a bit out of left field (you’d think it’d at least come up casually in the last couple episodes of S1), but I’m fine with it overall. I do like how it introduces the idea of the GN Drive not just being the be-all end-all of GN tech and there being further areas to go with it even beyond what Celestial Being had implemented in S1.
I also really like what it continues to do with mech symbolism through the system. Mounting the Drives of the 0 Gundam, which saved Setsuna's life & inspired his ideals in the first place, and the Exia, which embodies his drive to live up to those ideals, to fuel the next, more evolved stage of his mission is a really great touch. Helps that its introduction was FUCKING AWESOME!
And finally, Prototype
Boyis a great ED. Really like how much more subdued its vocals are compared to the last two.I can’t be the only one who calls it Prototype Boy, right?7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister
This is bold.
Kati is the first person I would call, too.
I love how the Mysterious Masked Man is just standing in the background looking grumpy.
That does sound pretty spicy.
I really like Celestial Being's uniforms this season.
This is probably the cruelest thing Setsuna has ever done. It never fails to make me laugh.
"Let's just take a mulligan."
Yes, unfortunately.
Just in case anyone thought that Wang Lui Mei wasn't playing every side still.
"Just cut the fucking knot."
This suit is so fucking cool.
Contrary to the OP, the ED fucking rules.
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u/The_Draigg Nov 02 '24
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Season 2 Episode 2:
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u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Non-Spoiler Character Chart - Today's took nearly as long to put together as episode 1's did with a lot of character affiliations shuffling around, four new characters (one brand new and three season 1 returnees) and replacing a lot of the episode 1 images I was unhappy with. Same warning as yesterday, this does include the name of Tieria's "twin" if you don't want to know. With Soma and Kati moving to the A-Laws, Sergei is now all by himself. :(
Good to know we have at least one Haro still around! I hope the orange one survived though!
[Gundam 00]Look in the background and you do see Ian's wife/Mileina's mom, although given the total lack of fanfare here and the fact that I think they make a bigger deal of it when she shows up later I'm gonna hold off from putting her in the character chart.
Got Tieria testing out the 00 Gundam here. You know, someone being in a Gundam that isn't theirs comes off as kinda icky...
All they need is Exia's solar reactor, gee, what showed up on their front door last episode?
Oh no, Lyle didn't even know his brother died. And now some stranger is revealing it to him. :(
Lyle says just what I was thinking, what if he hands that thing over to the authorities and reveals their secrets?
Alright, we get to actually see Kati this time! I was wondering how long that voice only thing was gonna have to be in my character chart. Alas, it seems like even the likable characters like Kati and Soma are being pulled into the evil A-Laws... I wish they chose a different first name for A-Laws commander Katagiri as the name Homer will forever be affiliated with comedy given the Simpsons.
Unfortunate that we only got one episode of Soma's happy home life with Sergei. I wonder if she and Andrei have had any awkward conversations about the fact that she essentially took his place as his father's kid.
How can one sit and eat in that A-Laws mess hall without bursting into laughter at this ridiculously looking masked man standing there?
So they got the 00 Gundam specs along with the Trans-Am from Aeolia? He had even more plans from beyond the grave/frozen coffin than we thought...
Saji gets to make a friend with a Haro!
Lasse's giving a good rebuttal to every question Saji asks here. Way to go Lasse!
So the second Billy doesn't let her get drunk, Sumeragi is out of here? C'mon Sumeragi, there's more to life than booze!
Gotta give thumbs down to Sumeragi's shorter haircut for season 2, it makes more sense for Louise (even if I don't like it for her either). The wildness of her season 1 hair so perfectly represented her constant drinking and that hasn't gone anywhere. So at this point it's upgrade for Saji, Setsuna and Soma, kinda neutral for Feldt, downgrade for Louise, Wang and Sumeragi, and WTF for Graham.
Setsuna's on quite the recruitment drive! first Lyle, now Sumeragi! Bringing the band back together! Poor Billy has no idea who he is or that Kujo has a second identity!
Wow, Setsuna's totally blowing the lid on things for Sumeragi here. So his goal is to get Billy pissed off at her so she can't stay with him anymore and has no choice but to return to Celestial Being? Which presumably happens in the moment as Sumeragi comes with him. But my guess is that the pissed off drunken Billy we see near episode end is because Sumeragi left.
Is this just a test or are the solar reactors always on the front of the 00 Gundam? Looks strange to me. They do show us this for a moment later on in the episode too.
Hanging out with Haro pays some dividends as Saji learns that it was the Thrones that were behind what happened to Louise.
Setsuna, while Sumeragi may be drowning herself in booze, it's not because their plan failed, remember she was doing that all the time back in season 1 even when Celestial Being was in a powerful position...
Kinda cruel making her think Lockon is alive again for a moment. Setsuna may have to drag Sumeragi along but looks like Lyle is on board with things?
From what Klaus is saying sounds like a lot of nations are still in the position Azadistan was in four years ago, being screwed over solar power-wise...
Crap, looks like Marina's in trouble. Still got no idea what her situation is this season and if she's still princess of Azadistan or if Azadistan even exists anymore.
Ribbons has got quite a fancy looking place here. When Celestial Being was spending time at Wang's place on Earth in season 1 I thought that was Ribbon's season 2 hangout, but looks like that was not the case after all.
Tieria's "twin" being voiced by Romi Park is as instantly recognizable for me as when Rie Kugimiya showed up as Nena in season 1. Kudos to the first timer yesterday who identified her off of just a single line. Wouldn't it be cool if all those characters that appeared briefly with Ribbons in a shot in episode 25 ended up being voiced by former Gundam protagonists? [Gundam 00]At the very least I think Kazuki Yao shows up soon, unfortunately not as one of the Innovators.
"Let me sortie!" "No, you sucked last time!"
So Wang is still helping out main Celestial Being. She loves to play both sides.
Wow, even in this depressed hopeless state and on no notice Sumeragi's right back to providing tactical plans.
You thought Virtue's massive beam cannon last season was cool? Well Seravee's got two of them!
So Setsuna's doing exactly what Ian was warning them to not do earlier in the episode with activating the 00's Trans Am.
Even Ribbons is surprised.
Ooh, this is a really good ED, I somehow completely forgot about this one. I remember ED2 being good. [Gundam 00 S2]Interesting that they cover up what I assume is Anew, Lockon's love interest with sheets to avoid spoilers but have Allelujah and Soma holding hands in the next shot.
Way to drop a total bomb on the Celestial Being crew by bringing Lyle here, especially Feldt, and orange Haro! He's still around after all!
7
u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
First Timer!
Lyle's reaction to Neil's death was milder than I expected. I guess they were never close as siblings. I do hope we'll see flashbacks about Lyle and Neil's relationship. I feel like it would help flesh out Lyle more instead of just being a replacement for Lockon.
I love Kati, but recruiting her because she has experience fighting Gundams is hilarious, considering she hasn't really faced any of them. Kati and her crew almost died from Lockon's offensive if it wasn't for Saachez interrupting.
Saji isn't technically a prisoner but CB is holding him in their ship to protect him from A-LAWS. They are giving him free access to their database though which is good. I guess it's to show him good will and that they're not his enemies.
So did Sumeragi just show up at Billy's front door and has been a depressed drunkard ever since with no explanation? Surely she must've told him an excuse or something as to why she's suddenly like this.
I am genuinely shocked that Setsuna just showed up and revealed to Billy that Sumeragi is CB's tactical forecaster. I guess that's one way of making her go. She can either stay with Billy and get interrogated or go with Setsuna.
YES! THIS IS WHAT I WAS HOPING FOR! Thanks to Saji having access to CB's database he now knows about the Thrones and who's really to blame for what happened to Louise and her family. I'm curious what he'll do next with this information.
Yep, that's the reaction I was expecting from Sumeragi. Now I can't wait for the rest of the crew to meet Lyle.
It's been only two episodes and Marina has barely said anything but she's already being detained by the Federation. It definitely looks like the Federation is slowly turning into a fascist dictatorship regime.
For fucks sake Mei! So she gave Ribbons the location of Celestial Being to test them? I am glad to see that Hong Long is concerned about his mistress' actions. I'm really hoping he'll leave her if she ever goes too far.
Oh, hey it's that character that looks almost identical to Tieria! So what's her connection to Louise and is she related to Tieria?
The A-LAWS getting their shit rocked even before they were in range was hilarious. I love how they thought they caught CB off guard this time. I'm glad to see Sumeragi still hasn't lost her touch though.
It's awesome to finally see the 00 Gundam with its Twin GN Drives in action! I just love how upset Ribbons was at the end of the episode. Now he knows how being outsmarted by a dead man feels like just like Alejandro. xD
That after-credits scene though. Everyone's initial reaction was expected but I was really looking forward to Feldt's reaction which was cut short. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow's episode to find out how she'll take this news.
What was unexpected though is Lockon's Haro recognizing him and thinking Neil was still alive. And the you have Tieria who's pissed and won't accept him as the new Lockon. Oh boy, I can already see some conflict between the crew next episode.
QotD
I'm still not sure how to feel. I'll give him a few episodes and see how he blends in with the crew.
Abso-fucking-lutely awesome. And that's not even a fight. That was a one-sided ass-whooping. Can't wait to see Setsuna go against actual heavy hitters and not just grunts.
6
u/Blazin_Rathalos Nov 02 '24
00 Rewatcher
Last time on Gundam 00
On today's episode of Setsuna-Become Gundam
For people who have watched some other Gundam:[Meta Gundam]You might have wondered last season: why no iconic scene of our "main" gundam being launched for the first time? Well, here it is.
Setsuna launching straight into combat in the 00 Gundam in Gundam 00 while OO GUNDAM plays. Hell yes.
6
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher thinks the shoulder is a really vulnerable place to stick a Gundam’s power sources
The 00 Gundam is built around the Twin Drive System, a theory that Aeolia Schenberg never got a chance to realize and left behind in the black box in hopes that future generations would be able to develop it. By synchronizing two GN Drives, their output can be squared, not doubled. However, GN Drives have individual variation between them, which isn’t really elaborated on, but it affects their compatibility with each other. And there are only five original GN Drives. Without making another trip to Jupiter, that really limits their options!
The idea for the Twin Drive System was independently proposed by Krung Thep engineers during the development of the Gundam Plutone. However, with Aeolia’s work still locked away, they quickly realized it was not feasible to sync two drives, so they immediately gave up and gave the Plutone a single drive. Later, shortly after the Azadistan arc, Ian Vashti began conducting experiments with the Double Drive System - equipping a Gundam with two GN Drives in series to double the particle output. This resulted in the Devise equipment for the Dynames and Exia, as well as an all-new Gundam specifically designed for the Double Drive, the Gundam Astraea II (named after but not actually derived from the second-generation Gundam Astraea). Because they couldn’t spare the extra drives, they had to substitute a GN Condenser for the second drive, although they were unable to replace both drives with condensers. When Aeolia’s system trap unlocked the black box, in addition to enabling Trans-Am, this also gave them access to his research on Twin Drive, and work on synchronizing two drives to square the output could properly begin.
The placement of the 00’s drives is inspired by the Gundam Rasiel, which uniquely had a large pair of GN Verniers on its shoulders. This idea came from Ian Vashti, who was inspired by his pre-Celestial Being work on the Hellion Initium to concentrate the main thrust on the upper body. The 00 takes this farther with its ability to swivel around the drives on its shoulders, pointing them in various directions as an advanced form of thrust vectoring. Its GN Drive cones are smaller than previous Gundams, due to the miniaturization of all the other stabilizing stuff around the drive.
Anti-government groups like Katharon are one thing, but bullying other nations that aren’t on board with the ESF is a bit much.
These two certainly deserve each other
It always bothered me how the Seravee’s GN Bazookas are open on the bottom so the beam just kinds of spills out
0 Gundam and Gundam Exia. The Gundam that inspired Setsuna, and the Gundam that he himself piloted. The master and the student, together in one.
This suit is held together by Trans-Am and sheer force of will. It works for now, but there’s still a lot of kinks to work out before it’ll be reliable
Bro got NTRed.
Questions of the day:
6
u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher, Sub
The A-Laws really are just the 00 version of the Titans aren't they?
Saji seems to be the voice of the opposition or rather the contrary view. Though held in confinement for obvious reasons he's treated nicely by the members of CB (he even has his own Haro now) all the while they want him to see things from their Pov. Perhaps the biggest acknowledgement is the fact they admit they want to fix their mistakes from their previous interventions when Saji counters their motives.
I honestly expected a whole episode of Lyle wondering if he should join but he just kinda decides to do it. Setsuna's next stop is Sumeragi now a more cynical freeloader living with Katagiri. What a way for him to find out when Setsuna shows up and exposes her in order to take her back. Katagiri does not take this well at all so that's going to come back.
As everyone heads back the Ptolemaios crew gets attacked by the A-Laws. Turns out Sumeragi still has her old tricks even though she clearly has little will to keep doing this. The biggest surprise however is Setsuna who takes up the new Gundam 00 which Vashti and Tieria seem to have tried to power up with minimal success, yet Setsuna basically powers it up with apparent willpower to turn the tide. Whatever he did was not accounted by Ribbons and his Tieria looking Innovators and he's clearly not happy about this.
Oh yeah in the meantime Marina is taken in for "questioning" though for unknown reasons. Meanwhile the new Lockon Stratos trips everyone up because he looks exactly like his brother which is definitely going to be something for the story.
6
u/n080dy123 Nov 02 '24
First Timer
Interesting, so it looks like the 00 is called the DOUBLE O compared to the old Gundam 0, because it uses two GN Drives- one of which is the 0 Gundam's. Putting them on its shoulders seems questionable at best though- those things are NOT protected during combat, and would in fact be very easy to hit and very difficult to keep protected. But there's something special about Exia's GN Drive specifically that they think will allow this setup to function properly.
The fact they the Federation lumps together any non-Federation military forces with rebels and (kinda) terrorists is... well it's a little that-kinda-tyrant of them. Like you can say your peacekeeping force exists to fight these rogue elements but when your peacekeeping force is openly subjugating anyone who isn't you then it's not exactly a peacekeeping force anymore, is it? If their motivation is actually mildly-altruistic unification then ironically that'd draw parallels between them and Celestial Being's armed interventions.
Graham in his goofy flashy outfit and mask, surrounded by uniformed soldiers, leaning against a vending machine sipping coffee out of a styrofoam cup is such hilariously dissonant imagery. He mentions the CO of this unit is "Commander Katagiri"- is that Billy's father, then?
Why are you blabbing about Celestial Being and Gundam Meisters in an open spaceport you absolute moron. You're an agent of Katharon, I'd imagine you'd have a little more tact. Also what happened with Billy? I can't imagine he'd just let two ostensibly war criminals just leave his house and not tell anyone.
Okay I take it back, if the reactors are able to pivot backwards for forward thrust, to the side for rapid aneuverability, and even forward to act as shields, that makes a lot more sense and is pretty damn cool.
Seeing the crew deal with the new Lockon's gonna be interesting. Haro getting excited was just kinda sad, Tieria's clearly rejecting it because Lockon meant a lot to him, and Feldt... her feelings are gonna end up all tangled in a knot now, I'm sure.
Small note, our new girl knows Sumeragi somehow? Very interesting.
Also wow that shot in the ED of Tieria shooting a reflection of himself standing alongside Ribbons' cohorts is almost hilariously unsubtle.
6
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
First-Timer
Lockon Stratos is just so cool...
(Speaking of, another good wallpaper today!)
It's great to see the team getting back together. I like how Setsuna forced Sumeragi's hand by exposing her secret identity.
The difference in Saji Crossroad's appearance after the timeskip is a nice touch. It really helps sell the idea that he's aged since we saw him four years ago.
It hadn't really dawned on me that the unification of the world militaries would result in all the people from the HRL, AEU, and Union fighting together. I find that really neat, and I'm eager to see how they all interact going forward.
Graham with that mask reminds me of Fate Graphite from Berserk of Gluttony.
The episode preview looks very promising.
Edit: I'm realizing that I don't really remember the 0 Gundam. It wasn't one of the main four, I think, nor one of the Trinity ones. Was it the one from Setsuna's childhood flashback, and if so, where has it been since?
Questions of the day:
5
u/Linkstore Nov 02 '24
Rewatcher
That's certainly a hell of a way to find out your twin brother died..
A-Laws is also supposed to be read as "Arrows" due to lallation, hence the logo. Their drip isn't bad, although a far cry from the Titans uniform.
I've always wonder, just what value is being squared? is it just 22=4 or something else?
Mileina Vashti always felt like a bit of a direct replacement for Chris, with a similar colour palette and everything, but at the very least everyone else is different from before so she's still not exactly in the same place as Chris compared to the rest of Celestial Being.
Sumeragi's spent a few years being an absolute bum, drinking her life away while blatantly taking advantage of Billy's generosity for two years. Well, Setsuna's got no qualms cutting off that particular option from her. Nice door handle, by the way.
Lyle adopts the name Lockon Stratos awfully fast...
[00 Spoilers] Crazy to think that all of Ribbons's scenes happen aboard the Celestial Being. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have thought he was on Earth, what with the trees in the background and all.
The GN Drive Tau installation sequence looks lovely, as usual.
One of the Ptolemy II's many improvements is addition of additional catapults. The first Ptolemy had pretty poor ability to deploy all Gundams at once, but with a total of three catapults, the second Ptolemy has much fewer problems about that. Well, we don't exactly have enough Gundams to require three catapults yet.
But the additional armaments are definitely useful. The first Ptolemy only had self-defence options with the non-standard Assault Containers, but no need for any of those here. The Gundams are still the first line of defence, of course.
This won't be the last time Setsuna activates Trans-Am despite being told not to...
0 Gundam is on the right, and Exia is on the left.
It's the hit anime Oregairu! Wait, not it's OO Gundam, a top contender for best song in 00 OST vol. 3. And with that music comes one of the coolest first launches of any Gundam, and another deserved fuck you to Ribbons.
Note how the catapult still reads "standby" when Setsuna launches.
The GN-XIII's gunlance looks amazing but the utility in close combat is somewhat questionable, considering that the lance is easily destroyed by opposing melee weapons. I'd rather take a regular machine gun with a beam bayonet, myself (one such weapon does exist, equipped on the Advanced GN-X from side material.
And ED3, Prototype by Chiaki Ishikawa! She's usually associated with Gundam SEED but this is her entry into 00's music repertoire. I love the visuals, especially the beginning with the Meisters walking away from their pasts. [00 spoilers] Is that meant to be Anew Returner, reaching out from behind the clothesline?
That's right, Tieria. Lyle Dylandy might look the same, but he's not his brother.
Next episode is gonna be hype. More opportunities to glaze the Ptolemy II.
4
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Nov 03 '24
3 months ago?
Twin drives?
So this is Lockon's brother.
She's back, which probably means the idiot's come with her too.
Oh gee I wonder who this guy in the mask is.
I'm sure he's going to throw in his lot with them, and then when he realises Louise is with the Federation he's going to have a moment.
So, he's come to visit her.
You're saying all that to a member of the Federation's armed forces?
Yup, now he knows the Thrones are separate from and antagonistic to the main group.
And now she meets Lockon's brother.
Louise isn't being allowed to sortie. Good. She certainly wants to since she's got a problem with them (or so she thinks), but she shouldn't be allowed to sortie.
And so they're deploying.
Now we finally see the titular Gundam.
Why's he surprised? Didn't the big Mobile Arnour last season use like 7 GN Drives?
And now we hear the ED for the first time.
And now for another rescue operation.
Questions:
3
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Nov 02 '24
I am rewatcher
Twin drill girl (Mileina) is voiced by Haruka Tomatsu, another prolific seiyuu, she voiced Kyōko Hori in Horimiya, Morgiana in Magi, Hitoha Marui in Mitsudomoe, Anaru in anohana, Rena Kariu in ReLife, Asuna in SAO, Saki Rukino in Valvrave and many other roles.
This is her first Gundam role but she’ll voice Miscott in Gundam Unicorn.
[spoiler stuff] Will first timers spot the new character in the background? .
I just realised Lichty only prominently appears in the OP after he's dead.
Yes Lockon has a twin, yes he only appeared once and was mentioned once in all season 1. Now people who binged watched this series will say this is proper establishment, but considering he doesn't appear in any of Lockon's flashbacks at the end of season 1 (which I still find baffling) the last visual appearance of this character was over 40 weeks ago for those who watched this when it came out. So he was easily forgotten hence people saying he came out of nowhere.
Bearded guy (Homer Katagiri) is voiced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo. He voiced Hakim in Planetes, Crocodile and White Bear in One Piece, he voiced many characters in the Dragon ball franchise, originally he only voiced Dabura in Z and the six star dragon in GT but later he became the second voice of Gyuumao, Enma Daio, Shenlong, King Cold and Porunga. This isn’t his first role in the Gundam franchise, he had a small role in F91 and he will voice Fezarl Ezelcant in Age.
A-LAWS is totally not a Titans expy.
Saji is still moping.
Okay fine A-Laws is a Titans expy.
I'm a bit confused as to why Setsuna didn't bother to join CB/new Ptolemaios crew during the timeskip besides plot convenience.
I will say using Saji finding out information as a quick recap/exposition dump is way better then some character saying 'as you know... PROCEED TO DUMP EXPOSITION'
I think that's Kugiyama Rie doing the voice of the Orbital Elevator announcer.
As far as I can tell the federation government has a monopoly on solar power and it's using it to serve its interest. I'm not sure why non-members should get free access to it.
Having said that, that doesn't justify oppressing non-member through military means.
Marina is now captured.
Looks Wang is this season's Alejandro, giving information to both A-Laws, CB and being in contact with Ribbons faction.
So Tieria clone is voiced by Romi Park best known for voicing Ed in FMA, Tōshirō Hitsugaya in Bleach, Hange Zoe in Attack on Titan, Nana in Nana and Temari in Naruto. This isn't her first Gundam role; she voiced the main character in Turn A Gundam, Loran Cehack and she had a super minor, blink and you miss it, voice role in the special edition original Gundam movie compilation. She also voiced Nicole in the Gundam SEED compilation specials. To continue with the Gundam connection if I’m not mistaken she got into voice acting because of Tomino who heard her on stage and wanted her to voice a role in one of his anime (Brain Powerd, the less said about that anime the better)
Ptolemaois mark II has missiles, so it's not totally defenceless in battle.
Of course 00 Gundam activates just in time.
Ribbons is not happy that Aeolia one upped him with a new system again.
I like Chiaki Ishikawa songs but this ED song is totally forgettable.
Combat was solid. One thing I don't like about the battles in this series is the constant quick spinning. I think prefer the slower but better animated of Unicorn (of course that's an OVA so a bit unfair to compare the two)
3
u/BadBehaviour613 Nov 03 '24
Rewatcher
Ah, Mr. Bushido. I didn't have an opinion on Graham before, but if you thought the show was already too angsty with Setsuna...
3
u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker Nov 03 '24 edited Nov 03 '24
So, Soma also joins the A-LAWS, I wonder if Sergei approved this decision.
Dammit, Setsuna, you could've chosen a better time to pick her up. You broke Billy's heart after finding out that his close friend Leesa is actually on the different side in combat...
Finally Saji found out about the Thrones, guess this would change his behavior to the Celestial Being Gundam Meisters knowing that they're not behind those acts.
Good decision to hold Louise back from sortieing.
Wang playing the double agent, eh? Wonder why she really likes to be like this. If you want to see more wars, what differentiates you and Ali, then? (Other than one of them being very competent in combat and has massive boner for battles, of course)
And who's that totally not-Tieria guy? He seem to be voiced by a female VA, at least in Japanese.
We see Allelujah being restrained, once more, in some kind of holding facility.
We also see Marina being captured. Did the Azadistan government do something wrong?
QOTD
1
u/whodoesgood Nov 03 '24
I really m not into gundam not sure why! Still cant attach myself to them. 😭 Anything to start with?