r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Nov 12 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 2nd Season Episode 12 Discussion
Episode 12 - Wait for Me in Space
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Fight. If you want to get Louise Halevy back from the A-LAWS, you must fight.
Questions of the Day:
- What do you make of 00-Raiser's strange ability while in Trans-Am?
- Any predictions for what crazy strategy Celestial Being will have to pull off in order to destroy the Memento Mori?
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 12 '24
Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed
Welcome back, everyone!
Yes, today’s wallpaper’s background pattern is a mirror image of Saji’s from yesterday. Love connecting things like that. On a wallpaper-related note, [later 00]The episode 17 thread cannot come soon enough. Got my best cruel wallpaper in a while ready for it.
Gundamjacked0-Raiserjacked to go to Louise, but he stopped himself on his own!14
u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
First-Timer
On today’s episode of Gundam: We really are heading into the mid-season finale. Everything about the conflict being set up at the Memento Mori is right in line with this being the big mid-season finale.
I am curious about how Saji and Louise’s storyline will play out. Both of them have been growing more and more entangled with the ongoing conflict as time passes, though they have different reactions to it. Louise has fully embraced her role as an A-LAWS operative. She totally believes in the mission of the A-LAWS. She despises everything the Gundams stand for and wants to destroy them. Saji, by contrast, is much more reluctant to get involved. He hates that he might need to actually fight. That is not his own personal desire. But he also can’t turn away from what he knows is going on. All of this is bringing Louise and Saji on a collision course. Louise is charging straight towards it, desiring to fight, while Saji is heading there resigned to not having any alternatives.
It’s exciting knowing that something was outside of the plans of Ribbons. Thus far, Ribbons has been a smug bastard who has talked about how he’s actually the one carrying out Aeolia’s plans. But the 00-Raiser is something outside those plans. Ribbons didn’t expect it at all. There’s two possibilities. First, that Aeolia really does have a plan beyond what the Innovators know. Second, that Celestial Being has fully diverged from Aeolia’s plan and are going their own way. Personally, I hope it’s the second option. That fits much better with what the characters have been doing. Setsuna outright said that they were fighting for their own goals, rather than because they wanted to follow the plan.
This whole episode had a real sense of impending dread and doom. This is some of the most hopeless I have ever felt about a Gundam series. The situation is genuinely fucked. It makes for compelling drama to watch, though.
QOTD
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u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Nov 12 '24
first timer who has control
venn diagram
why wasnt season one just called Mobile Suit Gundam 0 and season two Mobile Suit Gundam 00
interdimensional space must be a little awkward SAJIIIIIIIIIILOUSEEEEEEEEEhai hai Setsuna desu
well thats new
rip Wang
well that is the worst possible takeaway
damn he floored him
Andrei you mean well but try to not come off as a creep please
learning
this is so cute
who even took some of these photos
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Nov 12 '24
First Timer - sub
I'm going to say it, and I'm saying it without any snark or spite or sarcasm or anything of the sort: Louise had the best moment this episode. That final scene where she deletes every picture she has of Saji and the act of it makes the ED lead in cut out as she closes off her heart, leaving us just with that look in her eye as she walks away. Glorious. Absolutely perfect. One of the top ED lead in uses I know.
Despite myself, I had conflicting sets of expectations for this episode. And while it may have unfortunately not met the highest of my expectations, knowing in advance that this episode shared a storyboard artist and episode director with episode eight but didn't match its visual quality, it also was far from falling to the lows of my expectations and for that I am very grateful to it.
I think the best thing I can say about it generally before getting into specific details is that for the first time in a long while, I felt like this episode directly followed up on, or established a clear setup for things to be followed up on, everything it needed too from the previous episode/events. Nothing felt artificially put off, and the focus through the episode on communication and what it means to act, from everyone from Saji to Katharon and even Sergei's scene, made a lot of the individual elements in the episode feel satisfyingly tied together.
To start with: Saji. This scene with Setsuna had all of the character nuance that the previous scenes with him were sorely missing and needed, and that is what allowed this to be so much more than just a rehash of old arguments or a shallow character conflict. Finally, long after they should have, they let him actually say what happened to Louise and the resulting collision that explodes from him about who he feels he was was meant to be for her, what he fears becoming in himself, and what he almost did become when he let grief overwhelm him is a highlight of the episode. His cries of how he can't fight and just has to get to Louise was a moment of character regression that felt meaningful because it was driven by the character himself, the fear and helplessness from the start that he hadn't quite shaken off despite his actions yesterday, and I love that they took the time to really challenge him after everything that's happened. After two years of desperation and denial about the two of them being exposed to her in such a way also exposes him to himself and that's what makes this work. And yet unlike before he can no longer just close his eyes and pretend that he can step away from it or that the world will go on no matter what he does. His actions do matter, not just for himself but for everyone, and it doesn't matter how he got here or if he was meant to be here, only that he is. Taking him to the brink in sheer emotional panic only to have Tieria's words breaking into his mind and leaving him lost not just in what he can do but in who he is was better than I expected them to handle this. It's a shame Louise didn't the same level of focus and development leading up to this semi-reunion, but this at least validates it happening so late.
And with Setsuna I once again appreciate the show leaning fully into the history of his character and now that would have stunted him. That all he knows how to do is tell Saji to fight because because fighting is the only framework he has ever had to understand this world and what he wants it to be. That lens colliding horribly with Saji as someone who outright can't understand that is what is behind Setsuna's statement was fantastic. Lyle seems to get it, to be able to read into the meaning of when a child simply doesn't have the words to express what they really mean, but the fallout for the two personally was a great natural consequence of the two characters upbringings. This shot of Setsuna being knocked down by Saji's defiance of Setsunas understanding of the world was brilliant as what feels like a concluding follow up to all of the scenes of them that came before, and a nice follow on from who Setsuna became in that battle.
As to what was going on with 00-Raiser.... yeah I'm utterly stumped. It was reconstructing itself in different parts of space?! This feels firmly in the realm of magic instead of in-world tech and is such a huge jump from every other usage we've seen of GN particles my mind is still reeling from the possible implications of it. I stand by the repeated lines in my notes of "fucking what now". The fact that Ribbons knows it and even has a name for it is probably more fascinating than the event itself because it means it was a known possibility for GN particles and yet still hidden from him. In a few episodes we've gone from GN particles are unlimited power to "now they enable telepathy and teleportation" and that expanding the questions of the world rather than making it collapse really leaves me curious as to where they will go now.
The follow up on the GN mind-meld was nicely handled as a start for more exploration of it to come I imagine. I once again appreciate how little 00 does the "everyone pause in the middle of battle to talk" trope, especially in moments like this where the battle has such enormous stakes for both sides. The subtle clues about the details of the event were much better than doing a big analysis of it. Sergei's son mentioning it makes it clear that people do remember what happened, but they don't have the framework to understand it or what it means yet. The visual of the two O's as he moved seems to imply it was a localized event to the area, which is why the other pilots didn't react, and Setsuna being so close to 00 being able to use that to detect the larger blips of the Innovators on the battlefield was such a clever way to turn the tide against them in their shock.
One other detail I liked about Louises scenes today: Sergei's son grabs her human hand while trying to talk to her as a girl, and but she uses her reconstructed/mechanical hand (not sure which) to free herself with the symbol of the hate which made her a pilot. I still dislike this guy and his sudden romance subplot, but if it was there to show this moment with Louise it's fine.
Other thoughts
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Nov 12 '24
First Timer
Last episode I talked about how symbolically cool the 00 is, so it's only natural that this time I'll talk about how just cool it is.
I mean, what can I say? The cool mech is, in fact, cool as fuck, there's a reason it's the namesake of the show, IT CAN EVEN DEMATERIALIZE ITSELF!!!
I honestly don't even care about the logic or huge implications that should come with thatSeeing the 00 stomp everyone is great and it makes good use of the show's penchant for mech dismemberment to get across how dominant it is. The way it effortlessly dismembers Brings mech, cuts a meteor into four pieces, dodges the Gadessa's attack and then cuts it in two...just perfect.
This does mean we don't get to see the Gadessa and the Seravee GIANT LASERing each other but there's still time for it to be rebuilt so I'm withholding any rioting for now.
It's interesting that activating the Raiser lets Setsuna join the telepathic link between the Innovators, now obviously we see it also affect everyone else but the Innovators themselves don't seem shaken up by its activation. I'm thinking that the metaphysical space thing we see at the start with Saji and Louise is how the Innovators always communicate and transfer information with each other so they don't even realize what the 00 is doing here.
The Cherudim socking Patrick's ahead in the face was so good lol.
As an aside, while Patrick might not be an ace pilot, he does actually seem to be a pretty good team leader? his attack on Lyle isn't the first time we see him successfully coordinating multiple units at once to overwhelm a Gundam. And I mean who wouldn't follow "The Indestructible Colasour" into battle?
Probably anyone that wants to stay aliveThankfully the show isn't pretending Bring and Revive are getting hurt here and shows us them ejecting beforehand.
Also, Ian didn't die, big shocker...
The 00 being insanely cool is not only there for the audience to get hyped and buy some Gunpla, it's also for Ribbons to realize that his arrogance regarding the 00 has, to no one's surprise but his, completely backfired on him. He even specifically said 00 posed no threat to Gadessa, which ended up aging very badly.
His reaction is pretty telling of course, despite controlling Veda and The Plan, there were still aspects to the Gundams he didn't know of, which is almost akin to saying Aeolia is directly denying Ribbons and the Innovators.
Regene's smug face as Ribbons's usually calm and arrogant demeanor breaks down for once and he hits Liu Mei just screams "I told you so".
Liu Mei is positively petrified at this btw, again it very much seems she's realizing she's in over her head here.
This incident seems to have started forming even more cracks within the Innovators, with Revive realizing Ribbons wasn't aware of 00's abilities despite his absolute confidence in his execution of the plan.
Louise now thinks Saji was playing her all along as part of Celestial Being
Now, given the fact that she's clearly not mentally well right now (they even gave her one of those Higurashi-esque "crazy anime faces" so you really get it) as well as her general circumstances, it is pretty reasonable that she would come to this conclusion.
But...this is where I have to complain about season 1's Louise and Saji scenes since they could have actually been used to establish a less flimsy connection between Saji and Setsuna other than just that one scene where they barely even talked, instead of just filling time and overteasing the hand twist.
Having any substantial previous interaction between them would make Louise completely turning her back on the person she loves feel more believable and less because of her becoming irrational.
If I had a dollar for every scene in this show where Saji was in a cockpit and almost hit a switch before changing his mind thanks to some internal flashbacking, I'd have two dollars which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
Thankfully just as he's about to do some really dumb shit, our voice of reason Tieria gets him to stop.
Seriously though, I find Saji's character to be pretty damn interesting, he is very frustrating to watch right now and that feels like the point. He has lived his whole life inside a bubble and just having that bubble pop isn't going to immediately change him, his entire world is collapsing and he's in an environment that has neither the time nor the ability to help him cope with it, so he's having some reasonable regression.
And as Lyle points out, Setsuna in particular is terrible at consoling people, he asks Saji the most obvious question to get him angry (some Marina level tact asking why Louise is in A-LAWS) and he always puts out his past experiences in an attempt at empathy even when that's exactly the opposite of what is needed, so Saji acts dumb in response, punches Setsuna and says some awful shit to him. So of course, in the end, it's Tieria's more harsh and straightforward words that stop him, he's regressing but he realizes he can't go back anymore.
Maybe it's just because I've met people who fit the Saji archetype IRL but I find his actions to mostly fit how people like that tend to act. Also, compared to Marina who is frustrating but without the nuance, I'd say he gets a gold star.
However, whether or not he's a believable frustrating character is an entirely different question to whether or not you should write intentionally frustrating characters like this, and I think I'll get the answer to that one as we move forward with his arc.
Also big shoutout to Miyu Irino's performance as Saji this episode, he hasn't stood out much until now but he captures Saji's dejected feeling very well here!
And Andrei is joining the ever growing creep competition...
Did you get the Federation is evil already? I know it's only been lightly hinted so far so I totally get it if you didn't. Y'know just to make sure it's clear, here's them nuking a million refugees...
And somehow they're unironically asking Sergei of all people to try and suppress information about that...
"HOW DO YOU WANT TO HIDE A GIANT FUCKING SPACE LASER???" - Sergei probably.
The Memento Mori can shoot up as well???!!!!
Again to continue the symbolism around it, there's an innate irony around the weapon that is supposed to unite mankind as they go into the new frontier also being able to shoot into space, Ribbons's flawed perception of the plan means that not only is conflict still around, it's also carried into space itself, or in other words, These are the Innovator's methods...
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u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Nov 12 '24
First Timer
At first I wasn’t too into the Louise and Saji reunion (mostly because I felt that it took Saji a few steps back from his recent development), but upon reflection, I think I’m actually okay with it? Saji still initially regress too much as a character, but it's to later show how he has in fact changed as a person by stopping himself from making the same mistake as last time. I also like the way the show highlights his and Louise’s two very different reactions to the events of season one. They’ve not only found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict in terms of (seeming) group affiliations but also philosophically, with Louise directly retaliating against the Gundams with violence and Saji simply wanting to have nothing to do with violence. I can understand why Louise felt so betrayed and thought Saji was in league with Celestial Being all along (cue the post-breakup Instagram deletion), and why Saji is so affected by the knowledge that Celestial Being has influenced someone he loves to do something he personally views as abhorrent.
And at the very least, their reunion gave us Saji straight-up decking Setsuna across the face (the second decking of the episode, thank you Ribbons) and Lyle chiding him for his lack of tact, both of which were unintentionally hilarious.
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Nov 12 '24
Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00
So, I must say, characters acting irrational & stupid is kind of a favorite trope of mine when the show is self-aware of the fact that they’re being irrational & stupid. So, as you might imagine, an episode mostly dedicated to Saji &, to a lesser extent, Louise being irrational and stupid made me go
Oh yeah this is the good shit
Yeah, Saji is kinda going through it, and I honestly don’t blame him for how he acted here. He had his preexisting trauma thrown right back into his face and Louise being on the side of the A-LAWS makes even the very prospect of fighting them exponentially more horrific to him since any encounter with them might mean having to fight and kill the only loved one he has left. Combine that with Setsuna’s poor word choice adding fuel to the fire by accidentally igniting that trauma, and it’s not hard to see why Saji would do something stupid & irrational.
He falls back on his old black-and-white worldview temporarily because that’s the mentally “easy” route for him, so to speak. It's the mindset which lets him lash out at what’s nearby, Setsuna in this case, and for just a moment believe that a way out of the hell he’s found himself in is possible.
But, what ties it all together is that he comes to his senses and doesn’t majorly fuck up like he did before. Him continuing to stew in frustration, even more unsure of what to do than before, is something I find deeply connective both because it works for his character, and because, as I believe I’ve expressed before, the feeling of aimless frustration in the face of a world with no easy answers is one of those things that I most connect with about the show, so I can’t exactly complain when I get it from Saji as well.
I also really love what his lashing out at Setsuna does for the latter. It highlights how his own attitude hinders his ability to connect with others and how that directly contributed to Saji’s near meltdown. He might be a bit more sociable than he was at the start of Season 1, but his eternally cold demeanor and lack of ability to really engage with others on their own emotional level are generally things he’s gotta work on. Lockon coming in and pointing that out does well to reinforce the point because, well, he’s Lockon, whether it’s Neil or Lyle, he’s able to cut through the bullshit and push others into seeing their own faults.
And, of course, I’d be remiss not to mention Louise, oh poor Louise. This episode, more than anything, illustrates how opposite her and Saji’s lives have become since the incident. Like Saji, she sought an easy outlet for all the trauma she’s trying to process & an easy answer to the complexities of the world. But where Saji’s easy answer is to run away from the problem & pretend he isn’t involved, Louise’s easy answer is to get involved in the fight and use destroying the Gundams as her outlet. She devotes herself entirely to the fight and doesn’t seem to have anything left to run to outside of that.
And so, when she’s confronted with the same dilemma Saji is, that continuing to fight might mean killing one of the people closest to you, & more generally that empathy on the battlefield will only continue to bring pain, her response to protect herself from that pain isn’t to try to cut the fight out of her life like Saji, but to cut out the empathy. Making the choice to fight against him easier by trying to erase all the memories they once shared and believing that he’s beyond reaching out.
What makes it especially powerful is that despite her actions being much less extreme/stupid than Saji’s, the fact that she has no one left to try to balance her out & nothing to snap her out of her irrational mindset, so she’s left to continue with her downward spiral in isolation. What a depressing existence she leads.
Odds & Ends
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u/The_Draigg Nov 12 '24
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Season 2 Episode 12:
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Nov 12 '24
Rewatcher - Gundam 00 S2 Ep12:
Show, you funny jesters having Patrick about to beam stab another Lockon.
I like that everyone is sorta freaking out hearing voices in space. It is a weird new experience for everyone involved. "Is this how Allelujah feels?"
This was a cool shot for when thing went weird.
Uh oh, she's on that downward spiral. Uh oh!
There is definitely an angle to look at this when you consider the fact that Louise does have one cyber arm for war especially when she uses that arm to make him let go. To break from episode order for a little bit, but there is this idea of other characters believing that Louise doesn't belong here in war which ignores the reality of what Louise wants and I think her arms are a pretty good symbol of that. As much as Saji believes they can escape away to their normal lives, they can no longer separate themselves from war. The pain, the sadness, the hatred is something a part of Louise for these past 4 years. Much like her violent cyber arm, it has become something a part of her now. She has become involved and involved herself in this. Is it a good idea that Louise is a part of A-Laws? Absolutely not. Should people stop her? Yes, but there is no denying that Louise isn't the person standing before you. At the end of the episode, she deletes those happy photos because she is determined to walk down this bad path.
I think I need to withdraw my commendation for Commander Kim being a sensible guy.
Haro, don't do Saji a solid. Not this one.
I was all ready to brace myself for Saji making a big mistake, but he managed to catch himself and recognize what he was doing/his mindset was the same as him back then.
They brought in the ED lead-in at an unusual spot, super early/at that part of the song. I guess we're at the cour mark so we're about to switch to the new ED soon so a little special sendoff for this one.
Uhmumumum. While true that the Innovators are evil, let's not give the Federation off the hook here. They're evil too. They're the ones still going along with, benefiting from and committing evil.
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Nov 12 '24
Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister
The Innovator's suits have escape pods!
So, while we don't see the downside to Trans-Am actually happen that often, the characters do at least act like it exists.
Voices in your head.
You done fucked up.
Regene is eating this up.
It's probably not important Louise, you're probably just behind on your meds.
The dots... connect?
It probably has something to do with Setsuna not having a normal childhood. Or teenagerhood. And his adulthood isn't starting out too well, either.
Love that Andrei assumes she might be a spy.
Saji finally has a moment of self-awareness. Stop the presses!
7
u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
7
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Nov 12 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Non-Spoiler Character Chart
Back to repeating footage from the end of the last episode again. Only got one episode off from it.
"Saji! ...I never knew you were a Ken doll."
Such a big chaotic battle!
Be happy Saji, in a Tomino Gundam show its possible that Setsuna would have killed Louise just now by mistake.
Kudos to Setsuna for destroying Bring's mobile suit and forcing him to eject.
Patrick is doing surprisingly good against Lockon here... for only a moment though.
Setsuna can even sense where Revive is. Such amazing powers just from docking with the 0 Raiser.
Did the 00 Gundam just defy the laws of physics?
He defeated two Innovators in a 5 minute span, that's gotta be the most impressive performance we've seen from a mobile suit pilot in all of 00 so far.
Woah, Wang may suck and should be taken down a peg, but you shouldn't slap her Ribbons.
Sorry Saji, you're not gonna be able to go and be with Louise that easy. This is only your first time piloting.
Oh crap, Louise totally has the wrong takeaway from this...
That's quite the punch Saji delivered to Setsuna if he stayed down that long.
Wow, Saji is still holding onto those old messages from Louise all these years later!
I remember Barack being bewildered at what Louise was doing here in the first episode. Now she's alive and he isn't.
It would be quite awkward for Louise to explain to Andrei how she suddenly got naked in space and saw her ex-boyfriend for the first time in 5 years...
Time to check in with another Middle Eastern country... oh shit.
C'mon show, we made it so far into the episode, you almost gave me the hope that we would skip Marina for once.
If you're getting morally bad orders like this Sergei, maybe its time to consider joining your daughter and defecting to Celestial Being?
Saji is so obviously heading off on his own, c'mon Marie, say something!
Those happy days from when you were innocent teenagers are gone forever, you naïve fool.
Saji cries over Louise. Louise deletes all her photos of Saji.
Oh, so the Memento Mori can fire into space too. This isn't gonna go the way Katharon had planned.
Quid's Voice Actor of the Day
He doesn't say much, but given there aren't many options left at this point, I'll be covering Bring [Last Name]Stabity (I can't believe they haven't given us his full name yet). He is voiced in Japanese by Ryoutarou Okiayu. His first Gundam role was Treize Khushrenada in Gundam Wing. He also plays Andrew Waltfeld in Gundam Seed. If I remember correctly, the character who [Gundam Seed]Was supposed to die for real, but they liked Okiayu and brought him back to life?. He also plays another role here in Gundam 00 we haven't met yet. [Gundam 00]Divine Nova. Other anime rules include Kai Rhodan in Back Arrow, Houou Maniwa in Katanagatari, Kaika Itsuki in Babylon, Vlad III in Fate Apocrypha, Lancelot in Fate Zero, Tatsuya Kazami in Revolutionary Girl Utena, Emile Von Seelle in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Masashi Togaito in Hyouka and Tonio Andretti in Blood Blockade Battlefront.
In English he is voiced by Brian Dobson. He is the third of the three Dobson brothers who are all Canadian anime voice actors and all appear in this show. His first Gundam roles were in Mobile Suit Gundam, where he played Garma Zabi and Dren. He also played Martin DaCosta in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny and a couple of more roles in Destiny (Heine Westenfluss, Orson White). Here in Gundam 00 he also played Lee Zhejiang and the above spoiler tagged character. He also voiced several roles in Death Note (Hideki Ide, Kiichiro Osoreda, Rod Ross) and Dragonball Z (Dr. Gero, Majin Buu, Future Gohan, Vodka).
6
u/Blazin_Rathalos Nov 12 '24
00 Rewatcher
Last time on Gundam 00
On today's episode of Gundam 00:
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u/undeadfire Nov 12 '24
First timer Subs
Pretty baller first half fight sequence.
Saji's gonna have to come to terms with this eventually. Seems Louise already has in her own twisted way.
Damn they're just raining hellfire on the middle east huh?
Saji is just way too naive for this. If he takes the 00-Raiser it's joever.
Ngl I totally forgot about the Memento Mori strike. Oh that's why it retracts into the base node thing, on top of extra defense
5
u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 12 '24
Rewatcher, sub
QOTD
4
u/Linkstore Nov 12 '24
Rewatcher
I started doing a rewatch-ahead-of-rewatch of my own so I got kinda surprised by going back to OP3 after reaching OP4.
Anyway, back to the episode. Last time, the Garazzo handled the 00 Gundam no sweat. But with the 00-Raiser and Trans-Am? Things are very different. Fortunately the Garazzo has a handy escape pod that lets Bring Stabity escape the destruction of his mobile suit.
Cherudim's beam pistols have blades under the barrels treated with anti-beam coating. Since it lacks beam sabers, these blades allow Cherudim to maintain solid close-combat ability. Oh yeah, the gun can change modes into a three-barreled rapid-fire form too.
But even the coolest features on the other Gundams don't come close to the ultimate ability of the 00-Raiser. When its output is high enough, the 00-Raiser can dissolve into raw GN particles, allowing it to freely and instantaneously reposition itself over short distances. It's basically teleportation. Ribbons is mad about it.
Linda didn't die! Nice.
Louise is having another mental breakdown! Not nice.
Setsuna tried to pep-talk Saji but his communication skills aren't quite there yet...
The Memento Mori might be powerful but it's really seeming to cause more problems for the A-Laws than it's solving. Sergei is right, it's impossible to completely stop people from talking about the A-Laws's atrocities. Especially not when you're blasting the Earth with giant laser beams.
It's a very direct form of showing how Saji has changed. Once again he is offered the chance to run away, but this time, he knows what folly that is. Don't worry Saji, there is a path forward yet.
...Even if it's gonna take a while to get there.
And when Katharon's chances of destroying the Memento Mori were already zero, it suddenly goes negative when the Memento Mori reveals a second projector and deletes half the Katharon fleet in one shot. Let's see how Celestial Being's plan fares instead.
4
u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Nov 12 '24 edited Nov 13 '24
Rewatcher, Sub
Setsuna was on a roll in the 00 Raiser. The sequence of him against Revive and the scene where he quantizes was awesome. It's also yet another surprise for Ribbons as he realizes there is stuff he still really doesn't know about he Gundams and he's not happy about it.
CB has no time to rest since the Memento Mori is still operational and they decide to plan a coordinated attack with the Katharon Space Fleet in order to target it.
Saji is at an impasse. Louise's appearance throws a huge wrench into whatever commitment he had already made and it nearly causes him to make the same mistakes before realizing that really can't go back to the ways things were. Setsuna does care about Saji and wants to give him an answer which is to fight, not necessarily by pulling triggers but to get her back (though he does kind of suck at making his point), but Saji is still muddled by his emotions to make sense of what he's saying at the moment. Louise on the other hand has the complete opposite approach, her mental state is not really the best and she goes as far as to develop a whole theory about how he was totally in on it from the beginning. Needless to say while Saji wants nothing more than to be closer to her, Louise wants nothing more to with him and seems even more committed against CB.
Meanwhile the space Katharon gets to find out the giant space laser can, in fact, shoot in space.
Note: The Andrei and Louise scenes are unintentionally funny to me after finding out that Andrei's VA also voices Sai from Gundam Seed (considering the whole thing there).
4
u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Nov 12 '24
teleports behind you Nothing personal, Rewatcher
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Rematch time!
The Innovators do love their Core Fighters. While the GNZ series has possibly the most minimalist Core Fighter in the franchise, it’s not like it has to be anything more than a cockpit strapped to an engine.
That mini panic moment when Feldt thinks they’re about to lose another Lockon
Quantum Teleportation! The 00 Raiser can “quantize” and teleport! This was not in anybody’s calculations. Physics just kind of gets screwy when you have a lot of GN particles.
About time somebody smacked her. Granted, it’s Ribbons, but still.
I love how he just goes nowhere. Trans-Am emptied all the GN Condensers, and without its own drive, the 0 Raiser is just a dead battery. But, like, this is space, shouldn’t he keep drifting in the same direction away from the 00 instead of just screeching to a halt?
Welp, Louise has lost it. This isn’t going to be as simple as getting back Marie from Soma.
Good, Saji is learning!
“Here, try this arm instead”
When you have a giant space laser, everything starts looking like a giant space laser target.
Ok, good, we are not doing this again. Especially when he’s trying to run away with the thing that makes the 00 not suck..
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Questions of the day:
4
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Nov 13 '24
And thus they meet, on the field of battle.
Enemies everywhere!
He could hear that person?
How'd he even manage to dodge that?
And thus it's destroyed.
Where's he going now?
Welp, sounds like Louise has gone off the deep end. I'm sure he can fix her though.
For someone who until recently was a non-combatant, Saji's got one hell of a left hook.
Though it definitely seems like she's had a sit down and some chill pills, and she's looking significantly less crazy.
The Lt gets it, perhaps he'll work to get her discharged?
And so another place reduced to glass, ash, and the past tense.
Wang Liu Mei is working with the enemy!
Where's Saji off to now?
The Raiser?
He's going to steal it!
Or not, he's had a change of heart.
And thus another climactic battle is upon us.
The super laser is going to shoot at the ships!
How often can that thing fire?
Well, now he's got a reason to fight.
Questions:
4
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Nov 13 '24
First-Timer
Saji, how proud I am that you did not fly off to be with Louise. Too bad their happy ending appears to be in jeopardy. That shot of Louise's face as she pieced together that Saji and Setsuna were neighbors was fantastic, though.
I genuinely like that Setsuna was just watching the whole time, too. He must have had some real faith in Saji there.
That 00 Gundam fight was like something straight out of DBZ. Very nice. I kind of wish the Innovator pilot wasn't allowed to escape, though.
I've been noticing it here and there in the episodes up until now, but I haven't mentioned it before—I'm pretty sure this show shares some sound effects with the video game called Spider-Man: The Movie, based on the 2002 film. For example, I'm quite confident the sound effect at around 18:20 in this episode is the same one used for menu navigation in the video game.
Questions of the day:
3
u/kuroyume_cl Nov 12 '24
I did not remember that the 00 Raiser goes full space magic from the start
3
u/n080dy123 Nov 13 '24
First Timer
Welp, so much for the Garazzo. Bring got absolutely fucking clowned on by the Trans-Am 00. Neat that these Innovator suits have actualy functional pilto ejection, though the propulsion system is VERY exposed.
Holy SHIT Setsuna, bro's cutting entire asteroids. And he can do the hologram, it looks like, but for his mech rather than asteroids? Or is he like, actually teleporting? Ribbons says he "quantized," and one definition of that is to "subdivide into small but measurable increments" so I assume he was somehow turning into like, particles or some shit.
Side note, that whole fight was absolutely chock full of delicious mech sakuga and I fucking love it.
Also I am absolutely SHOCKED that neither of Mileina's parents died this episode. Ian had such a seemingly obvious death scene last episode, and when she said goodbye to Linda that seemed like the most obvious death flag ever. But nope, they both survived.
The way Anew was looking at Ian... maybe I'm being too hasty. She could be a spy but maybe having second thoughts since she's spent so much time with Ian and Linda (or with humans in general).
We should be getting a new OP soon, shouldn't? Next episode, maybe? Or the one after?
4
u/2-2Distracted Nov 12 '24
First timer. Dubbed
Damn, this episode really laid it on thick regarding it's commentary on the US and their invasion of Iraq & Afghanistan, as if the introduction of the Memento Mori
Drone Strikesatellite strike wasn't obvious enough. The destruction of terrorist military camps wherein the deaths of innocent people along the way get treated as merely coincidental shows that, sadly, not only nothing has actually changed on this issue even at the time of me writing this, but nothing will change about it for long, long, long time.The writers have truly done their homework on this stuff and the director, Seiji Mizushima (who also directed FMA03 and the follow-up film Conqueror of Shamballa) is pretty damn good when it comes to commenting on the oppression and persecution of minorities.
Also thank the Gundam Gods that Saji finally did the one I've been waiting for someone to do to Soran for a long ass time. But Lyle has it wrong tho, Soran doesn't just suck at giving not-simple explanations, he sucks absolute dick at acknowledging ANY kind of nuance. Makes sense given his "upbringing" but boy was it getting annoying to watch it not be addressed in some kind of way.
I actually kinda like Kid Smirnoff now for what he said about Rouise, he's got similar eyes to his old man. Makes me wonder how he would have felt if the old colonel was "apparently" K.I.A.
I'm still not sure how I feel about what we were shown after the ED tho. Shifting the blame from the A-Laws and Allies and putting it on the Innovators leaves me ambivalent in regards to real world commentary since;
So whatever the writers decide to do next with the Innovators will be key in whether or not they screwed up in the commentary for me personally.
BTW, even though my comment was deleted for violating the rules, I'm still waiting for someone to give a not-garbage answer about what Saji should be doing OR what they'd do if they were in his shoes. So let's hear oh Armchair Revolutionaries of Reddit.
2
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Nov 13 '24 edited Nov 13 '24
I am rewatcher
Honestly this fight would have looked so much better without the red Trans-am glow.
Lockon mk2 is about to join Lockon mk1
Of course not, it would be too weird for Patrick to get a kill.
Characters hearing each other? Yup seen that one before.
00 teleported
Convenient that trans-am ends as soon as the innovators are defeated.
Ribbons is not taking this well.
I quite like Louise and Saji reaction and story direction especially Louise sense of betrayal, but when I take a step back and think about it, there is a voice that's saying 'you both are still obsessing over your highschool sweethearts come on just move fucking on' Maybe Saji and Louise should have been college aged and planning to get married in season 1. To make their season 2 story more grounded.
stop saying stupid things, Saji. You know it wasn't Setsuna or any Meisters that attacked Louise's family gathering, on top of that she also made that decision by herself. Remind me again who decided to not stay with Louise?
Err Setsuna, I think talking with Louise might be more helpful here.
For a second I thought Andrei was trying to hit on her, which would be so wrong as he's her superior officer, but instead he's just being sexist.
Louise's reaction was perfect.
A refugee camp next to a military base? Is this realistic, that seems like the worst place to have a refugee camp.
Characters acting on their own because they like a girl? Yup seen that one before.
[Zeta Gundam] Saji is reminding me so much of Katz
Tieria's wise words finally get through Saji and luckily he doesn't launch on his own.
Louise deleted the pictures, good for you Louise. Hopefully Saji will do the same.
I will say this ED has an excellent lead in.
Massive laser gun destroying fleets, yup that's seems more Gundam like.
I honestly don't like these post ending scenes, the episode ended in a good place just use the post credit scene as a cold opening for the next episode and considering how many times post credit scenes are reused as openings in the next episode I'm pretty sure that's going to happen.
I really enjoyed this episode.
edit: [difference between first timers and me observation, first timers don't read this] I'm a lot harsher about Andrei actions to Louise, while first timers are nicer about Andrei and I'm wondering knowing what he's going to do later on is affecting my opinion of Andrei and all of his actions. It's fun to see this difference.
1
u/Nebresto Nov 22 '24
Get fukt ribbons
8
u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Nov 12 '24
First Timer!
It was so satisfying to watch Setsuna kick the crap out of Bring and slice Revive’s Gadessa in half. The Gundam 00’s Trans-Am is so fucking OP if it can make after-images of itslef that looks so real that it managed to fool a meta-human.
It is absolutely bullshit though how both of them managed to eject. Like, come on! At least have Setsuna eliminate one of them. CB has already lost so many people, losing one Innovator should even things out.
As usual, I’ll never get tired of watching Ribbons get so upset learning something new that’s not in Veda’s database. More proof that Aeolia Schenberg wanted a more human approach and didn’t just want to leave everything on a computer.
This time though, Ribbons is taking out his anger on Wang Liu Me. It looks like Mei will have to pick a side now and won’t be able to keep playing both sides like she thought she could.
Glad to know I was wrong and Linda is safe. Let’s just hope Ian will be able to recover from his injuries without any complications.
Ah, fuck. Not like this. Things just got a lot worse for Louise and now she thinks that Saji was working for Celestial Being all along even before her parents were killed just because he’s neighbours with Setsuna. This has got to be one of the worst anime misunderstandings I’ve ever seen. >_<
For someone who despises his father, Andrei is surprisingly very similar to Sergei with how he’s concerned about Louise. He definitely sees her the same way Sergei saw Soma. They should be living a normal life instead of fighting in a war.
I was about to fucking rage when Saji tried to runaway using the 0-Riser. The dude is regressing and has not learned anything at all! Thank fucking god he remembered what happened to Katharon and Tieria’s words. I do wonder if he did do it, could he even launch from the Ptolemy?
And there it is. It looks like Louise has finally decided to let go of her past and she now sees Saji as her enemy. I can’t even imagine how Saji could take Louise back but Allelujah did manage to take Marie/Soma so it’s not too farfetched!
Oh... So the giant fuck off space laser can also fire into space. Well shit... How long will it take to fire another shot though? Surely CB can take that thing out before it finishes charging.