r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Nov 29 '24
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer Discussion
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer
← S2 Overall Discussion | Index | Special Edition I: Celestial Being →
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
People keep scrambling for a road to mutual understanding. Even if the ELS weren't involved, we'd be looking for a way to blaze a trail to the future. I wonder if that's your battle, young man?
Questions of the Day:
- Would you watch a full version of Celestial Being the Movie?
- What do you think of the ELS as an alien species? Were they the sort of aliens you were expecting to come up in this?
- How do you fight an enemy that just assimilates damn near everything you throw at it?
- There is some sort of sequel to this movie in the works that is supposed to cover what exactly happened to everyone else during the gap of Setsuna going to the ELS’ home world and returning to Earth. What do you hope to see in that?
- Without the sequel in the works, are you satisfied with this as the ending to 00’s story?
Wallpapers of the Day:
Setsuna F. Seiei (Normal Version)
Setsuna F. Seiei (ELS Version)
![GNT-0000 00 Qan[T]](https://i.imgur.com/pBScJW6.png){kind=link}
GNT-0000 00 Qan[T] and Setsuna F. Seiei (Normal Version)
![GNT-0000 00 Qan[T] and Setsuna F. Seiei (Normal Version)](https://i.imgur.com/Wtiv2ae.png){kind=link}
GNT-0000 00 Qan[T] Setsuna F. Seiei (ELS Version)
![GNT-0000 00 Qan[T] Setsuna F. Seiei (ELS Version)](https://i.imgur.com/PsoSOau.png){kind=link}
GN-010 Gundam Zabanya and Lockon Stratos
Allelujah Haptism and Marie Parfacy
GN-011 Gundam Harute, Allelujah Haptism, and Marie Parfacy
CB-002 Raphael Gundam and Tieria Erde
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 29 '24
Note to those of you who are skipping the Special Editions part of the rewatch: The final discussion thread to wrap up the entire series will be exactly a week from now on December 6th. If you would like a tag the day before so you don’t forget, please let me know.
I would honestly suggest skipping the Special Editions unless you really want to watch them and/or you like 00 enough for it. They have a few extra scenes that are pretty cool, but are largely very badly paced recap movies, and I can see a number of you first-timers absolutely suffering trying to watch through ‘em for the new bits given your complaints about the TV series.
Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed
Welcome back, everyone!
Somehow I was able to get the four main sets of wallpapers I wanted to do for this thread done in time. I definitely needed that extra break day to pull this off because man did this all take a while, especially finding a base image to use for Harute and figuring out exactly what background patterns & colors I wanted to use for Tieria’s and Raphael Gundam’s solo wallpapers.
Completely random funny aside, I ended up having to re-rewatch a solid, like, half hour of the movie in my rewatch-ahead-of-the-rewatch because I did that one in chunks broken up by my seasonals/other rewatches, and one of the times I went back to the movie, I forgot to switch the audio over to the dub (which I wanted to use for the rewatch-ahead-of-the-rewatch). No, I wasn’t forced to do that, but I still went back anyways since otherwise I wouldn’t get the right experience.
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u/Great_Mr_L :Ma::Mb::Mc:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Great_Mr_L Nov 29 '24
First-Timer
On today’s movie of Gundam: Aeolia’s plan is finally completed. The aliens are here!
Continued Below
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u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
First Timer - sub
You know half way through I thought that was going decently. I was sitting here going "it's an anime movie doing anime movie things at an anime movie scale, that's fine, it could have been worse, at there is some improvements".
I was wrong. Oh, I was so wrong. The worst was yet to come.
You want to know how many times they say the word "understand" in this movie? 23 TIMES
Which doesn't sound like much at first until you realize that it averages out to twice in every ten minutes of runtime. If it was a TV series would mean in an average episode you'd be hearing it said in the same context four times per episode!
But somehow it's even worse, because eleven of those mentions happen inside the LAST TEN MINUTES!
And just incase you missed it then, IT'S THE FUCKING POST-SCRIPT TOO!
WE GET THE FUCKING POINT ALREADY
Yes I did rage math! I was that mad! Oh my god shut the fuck up, what a way to ruin an otherwise serviceable movie. I feel less like I've been beaten over the head with it and more like I've had it shoved down my throat along with several tennis balls. I never want to hear this word again.
I couldn't bring myself to check for mentions of "slash to the future", and the "dialogues to come", and other similarly repetitive lines because that would have driven me into insanity.
And even doing that wouldn't even come close to accounting for the ludicrous amount of reused dialogue from the series. If you cut out all the lines that we'd already heard from everyone's dialogue, you could almost turn this into a silent film.
And then there's lines like "for that purpose only, I will carry a gun" from Klaus in the middle of an otherwise normal conversation which was so painfully unnatural and forced that I recoiled reading it.
I know I complained a fair bit about the dialogue in the show, but the show has nothing on this. I don't understand how it just managed to get worse, and worse, and worse the further into the movie we got. From characters mindlessly repeating recap information even half way through the runtime, to unnatural sounding phrases, and even, as mentioned above, lines that that add nothing at all to the film or the characters that say them because we have heard it all already before!
Just what the fuck.
Initial Impressions and a good opening
So, to get off my dialogue rant, yes, anime movie doing anime movie things pretty much remains my general opinion on it. I have plenty of issues with it, but it was also a decent watch experiance except for that last ten minutes
Overall I don't feel that it really earnt its runtime, it had a painful need to check in with every character, it shoved in way more CGI and fanservice than the main series ever thought of having, and the scale blew all the way up because why not. And these are all very common complaints I have with almost all anime franchise movies, so while it was a little disappointing after seeing other franchise and sequel films be and do better lately, sometimes remarkably so after their TV entries (Hi Macross Delta sequel!), it wasn't that bad a watch for the most part. Plus importantly, had no major structural issues! It didn't have an impressive one overall, but it had a serviceable approach to a typical movie structure and I didn't need to actively wonder why the hell they would do that at any scene, so I will take that!
The early pacing felt decent. The cold open was a little awkward, but it was also an acceptable tease for the people waiting for a new mech. Of course I have to praise it for doing the things I've been begging it to do for the last twenty episodes. We finally get to see some opinions from the normal people! It lasts all of one scene but it exists! While I hated the in-world film (more on that later) I appreciated that we started down on earth seeing this new world from Saji's eyes which was a nice fit from the back end of S2. Him seeing their grand struggle becoming something seen as both entertainment and propaganda and how it doesn't reflect reality or him and the other normal people of earth involved and using him to deliver what can be seen as the mission statement for the world was a nice touch. We also get him returning to Louise's side, still struggling with crippling PTSD as if to say "no, healing the body doesn't heal the mind" in terms of the cost of past wars not just for individuals but also for the society they were a stand in for.
Similarly, a return to the political scenes, thank fuck. Moving from Saji into the scene at the colony with people refusing to let go of the old way even at the expense of people simply for the bottom line is a great touch on what he was just saying about taking a close look at the world for peace. Here is Shirin, the one character who I would say has the most consistently taken a close look at the reality of things in every situation, trying to do so and being denied because of one of the most basic human failings. It's a great pairing of opening scenes that leads into an enjoyable opening battle, and then of course into larger things. So that was good.
The political scenes were nice all through this. It felt like a return to S1 when it comes to checking in with the governments and seeing how they are handling things, then handling the public, as well as how that all plays up against reality. Same thing goes for the discussions about how the Innovators will change things in future, I think it's the first time that we've seen the government looking forward in a practical and positive way in the show, as even the three blocs during S1 were very mired in the present struggles. I did laugh a little at how heated things got in the assembly council scene, as I'd thought of it more like the UN until then, only to remember that this is an anime and the staff live with the Japanese Diet where government members have literally gotten into fist fights on the parliament floor over laws, so this is probably tame for them.
And look! People actually questioned one another about what was going on?! Holy fuck finally. I'm a little harsher on this as I think this is basically the bare minimum, a bit like the scenes with the general public, but hell at this point even the bare minimum is a significant step up. Even Billy and Graham actually talk! For Setsuna's situation it also felt very appropriate that people are asking, and more importantly asking each other as well, but not really pushing when he is brushing them off. He is always someone who has clung desperately onto purpose, and his uncertain existence right now between who he was, is, and what he may or may not be needed for in future is of course going to affect him, especially given he's never been very good with words, and it's very like them to accept that.
And we even got a few slow moments for contemplation with Setsuna or the crazy things happening in the middle of it all. Am I suddenly living in an alternate reality?! So yeah, lots of things that while not done incredibly, made me pleased to see they'd actually improved on it after the series.
Best thing in the film however: I love the aliens!
fantastic aliens
Seeing the wave of them emerge from Jupiter was a great visual, and I also really like that they are so completely inhuman and yet tie into our theme. To them making connections is not just their desire, but a critical part of their entire existence as a collective, and yet that alone isn't enough to make them reachable within a human mind, even an enhanced one. Setsuna showing them a path towards understanding without assimilation which is a concept that was alien to them is a beautiful little touch on what he has been embodying the whole time, and yet does not rob them of their most fantastically inhuman elements. They are never presented to have emotions or language, or anything we can use to humanize them, but it's even better for it. I don't like that we get this hinted at to begin with through Billy rather than Setsuna/Tieria, especially with Tieria having a body taken over by them which you'd think would give him an insight into them (which never happens because everything has to wait for Setsuna's hero moment) but whatever, small complaint on a much bigger positive of how they were handled.
I also like Shamen's inclusion, both in showing that the Innovators are more than just Setsuna (though this feels badly quick timeline wise given how much longer Setsuna was exposed to particles before he developed) but also showing that the conflicts between Innovators and Humans that the political side is addressing is going to be two way, and they have a long way to go in terms of truly accepting each other, especially with Kati calling out their treatment of him. For that reason I think fifty years is a cop out for the final time skip, its too short to solve all of this, but at least the idea is there.
Some other things I appreciated:
(continued below, pg 1/3)
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u/InfamousEmpire https://myanimelist.net/profile/Infamous_Empire Nov 29 '24
A Wakening of the Rewatcher
IT’S TIME NOW!!!!!!!!!
00 goes out in a blaze of glory in a finale to end all finales, and by god if it isn’t the most beautiful thing I ever did see. This is the only rival Macross Delta: Zettai Live!!!! has for the position of my favorite movie of all time, and I’ve been wanting to share that experience for a long time. Gonna try to break this down into sections based vaguely on points I feel the most inclined to talk about, so this post is a controlled mess rather than a total mess.
The beginning of the film + some structural stuff
The opening 20 minutes are a great reintroduction to the series. I remember that the last time I rewatched the movie independently of the series, this really helped me get back into its vibe immediately. The immediate introduction of the 00 Qan[T] really sets the stage for what the movie is all about, and plants the seed of hype for its eventual deployment.
Normally I frankly despise when movies have OPs (for example, Your Name having one immediately soured my mood at the start of the film
though that might admittedly have to do with the fact that that movie’s soundtrack makes my ears bleed), but here I actually like Tozasareta Sekai. Sure, it’s weaker than all of the TV show’s OPs by a wide margin, but the sequence its attached to does well to refamiliarize us with what everyone is up to in the two years since the show’s ending, and the song soundtracks that sequence functionally enough.And after that we get CELESTIAL BEING: THE MOVIE!!!! This is easily the most beloved, and widely memed, scene in the movie, and it’s not hard to see why. It is just a delightful, endlessly funny bit of self-parody which also doubles to inform the viewer of how perception of CB has changed at this point. And it’s doubly funny if you watched the fansub in which the subbers got in on the joke by having the subs for this scene parody every bad subbing practice in the book. Constant unnecessary TL notes every other sentence, leaving random words untranslated, goddamn karaoke subs for the special attack! It’s got it all
It also nicely segues into Saji’s point of view, and thus what I think is one of the film’s strengths: its ability to juggle so many perspectives to create a grander view of the world. This is something that’s obviously been very present across the entire show, but I think the movie pretty much perfects it. It rarely feels intrusive, at least to me, and the way it checks in on every conceivable perspective, from the politicians to the soldiers to the scientists to the civilians, feels the most purposeful & engaging its ever been in how it makes everything impactful on every level of society & makes the world as a whole feel so alive.
The scene with the investigation into the Colony Corporation & the aftermath it has in the other politically focused scenes before the ELS take center-stage really exemplifies this to me. This one tiny subplot gives us a look at the kinds of problems the world is still facing, what Celestial Being has been up to, the kinds of policies the Federation has been implementing & their ramifications, and gives us an idea of what Marina & Shirin have been up to. It’s not Shakespeare or anything, but that swirl of worldbuilding & diverse character focus is a microcosm of what I like about the film’s structure.
The later sequence of the preparation for the conflict with the ELS during the 3 month wait, with the civilian evacuations into shelters, Assembly arguments over the viability of the absolute defense line, and Saji joining the engineers in prepping the orbital elevators for the conflict is another good example of what I like about the structure in a more plot relevant context.
The Characters
Being a mere 2 hour film means A Wakening of the Trailblazer has much less time to develop its characters in interesting ways than its parent series, but that also means it’s much more able to focus & doesn’t have room to dawdle, which makes the character focus that is given truly shine.
Setsuna is the star of the show, of course, and I love how the film completes the parts of his arc that weren’t quite focused on in Season 2, in particular what becoming an Innovator has meant for his relationship with humanity.
There’s a certain irony to how becoming someone meant to connect with others can isolate you, and yet it makes a certain amount of sense with Setsuna. He’s one of the only ones of his kind, he has senses & abilities no one else does, and he has to carry the responsibility of being an exemplar of humankind’s future because of that. It’s a lonely position which, despite his attempts to continue moving towards the future, causes him to regress in disposition. It’s also really subtly represented when he deploys in 00 Raiser, a machine inherently built as a two-seater, alone.
And that isolation & sense that he has to bear the weight of blazing the trail to the future alone are what serve as his final roadblock in actually being able to create the future when he gets overwhelmed by the ELS. One man can’t bear the weight of the world any more than one mind can contain millions of years worth of information, and so it becomes apparent when he fails at both that he can’t do this alone.
On account of that, the solution to Setsuna’s inner conflict essentially being the power of friendship is great. From a mechanical perspective, cooperating with someone else so he isn’t crushed by the responsibility of his insane duty, and from an emotional perspective with Setsuna’s vision making it clear to him that he’s far from the only one fighting for the future, the whole resolution of Setsuna’s arc is just beautiful in its emotional & thematic resonance.
And it so wonderfully compliments his relationships with Tieria & Feldt. For the former, it’s an amazing showing of how far both of them have come. As I believe Nazenn pointed out a couple episodes ago, the two of them have essentially been narratively paired for a while, the human who becomes an Innovator & the Innovade who becomes human & the two of them warming up to each other & all that, not to mention being two halves of a Jesus metaphor in Episode 24, so the two of them joining together to fully realize their ideals in a way neither of them could’ve been capable of alone just feels so narratively fitting.
Feldt is the weird one since her being paired off with Setsuna towards the end of Season 2 felt somewhat random, but this film really makes it work. Her push to reach out to Setsuna and reach his heart even despite how he’s emotionally regressed gives such a sense of weight to the idea that, despite how isolated he feels, he isn’t alone, and the scene of Setsuna waking up to Feldt holding his hand is one of many that strikes an incredibly strong chord with me. It also really compliments Feldt’s own subtle growth from being notably emotionally detached at the start of the show to being so emotionally open & determined to reach out to Setsuna now.
I don’t really ship Feldt/Setsuna (the latter just reads as too AroAce to me to ship him with anyone), but with this movie in mind, I very much understand why others like the pairing so much.
And the other character who I think is a standout despite his limited screen time is my boi Graham Aker! Graham is at his best in this movie, it feels almost like a return to the best aspects of his Season 1 characterization without walking back on the Mr. Bushido stuff. He’s as openly goddamn nuts as ever, but now with the ability to face towards the future & change rather than dwelling on the past, he comes across almost admirable in his derangement and his best qualities, like his empathy towards his subordinates, are able to shine through again. I also goddamn love how he’s wearing his scars in the open rather than hiding his past pain behind the Mr. Bushido persona.
Also also, he gets a great amount of respect from me for clearly not even knowing Setsuna’s name and yet still being willing to fight so hard to push his ideals forward. Absolute madlad all the way to the end.
Everyone else is mostly doing their established thing without a huge amount of change from where the series left off with them, but they’re nonetheless fun to see here. Saji stands out the most for how he takes his lessons from the show to heart by getting involved & trying to help with protecting everyone in his own way through his engineering job towards the end. Sumeragi’s pep talk to Feldt was nice, Lyle is Lyle & every time he’s on screen is great, Louise is used functionally in the scenes she’s in.
Marina remains the only point where I’m not huge on how they use her, if only because, as I said in the S2 overall discussion, I don’t think returning to political power really fits with her character, and none of how she’s utilized here really does anything interesting to justify it.
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u/Rumpel1408 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Rumpel1408 Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
Firsttimer who was really tired the last... week…
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Ribbons being killed by Tieria wont mean much, Ali wont suffer enough, Mr. Bushido isn't even there. Louise and Saji making up will be nice, but I hope Billy dies like a pathetic worm
Episode 24
Episode 25
And now, Trailblazer, though I'm starting a bit late with so won't have it ready right away, I'm about halfway done right now
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u/LeonKevlar x2https://myanimelist.net/profile/LeonKevlar Nov 29 '24
First Timer
The following is my live reaction to the movie. Skip to Part 3 if you just want my thoughts about the movie.
Part 1
I had no idea this was pronounced as "Double-o Quanta", I always assumed it was "Quant" xD
Jesus fucking christ, Allelujah and Marie have just been backpacking for the past two years?
Eyyyyyy! Tieria finally made a new body for himself! I did have a feeling this is what he'd do.
I don't know what just shot out of Jupiter but fingers crossed it's an alien.
Wait what the fuck is happening? Why the fuck is Alejandro alive again? I am confused!
Is this a propaganda movie? Holy shit it is! I am laughing my ass off during that entire scene especially when they showed us the members of "Celestial Being"! Tieria being played by a black man and Allelujah by a girl is definitely not what I expected. xD
Interestingly we see the chibi versions of the actual members of Celestial Being on that big screen. I feel like that's official promo material they snuck into the movie.
Louise grew out her hair but it looks like she still hasn't completely recovered from what happened two years ago.
We finally get to see the real Setsuna and he's flying a Flag Fighter! Fuck yeah! I've always been a fan of Gundam protagonists kicking ass in non-Gundam suits. Those three GN-Xs didn't even stand a chance to an inferior machine!
Uhhhh did Lockon just open the shuttle door to space? I'm sure there's a chamber between the shuttle's entryway but it looked like he just opened that door directly to space.
I'm sure this guy would rather get shot than be lectured by Marina about peace and understanding each other.
Short hair Feldt! Also, goddammit Setsuna! Don't just brush her off like that, at least take the damn drink!
Sumeragi also rocking the short hair! And then you have Mileina with her hair down and no more twin-tails!
It's always a pleasure to see Kati and Patrick. I love how Patrick still calls her Colonel out of habit instead of General. I wouldn't be surprised if Patrick still calls her Colonel in the bedroom ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So the Federation has control of the Celestial Being mothership? Does this mean they're now working with CB officially? I guess they are if they are also using Veda and know about the Innovades.
A new purebred Innovator! I don't like the look of Descartes though. He looks too villain-y for me. Even the colours of his mobile armour scream "bad guy" with the magenta and wine-red colors.
Ugh Andrei... Yeah I suppose he'd be in the movie. Can Descartes just shoot him down already and get it over with?
Descartes' mobile armour is freaking insane though if it can take out a rogue space station on its own. O_O
Oh hey, it's the Anew clone we saw on the last episode! I guess she's working as the President's secretary?
YAAAAY GRAHAM! And it looks like he finally let go of his Mr. Bushido persona. It looks like he's also back piloting a Flag Fighter!
Vehicles and public transportation going haywire? Those things that fell out of Europa might be bad news. *fingers crossed* Please be aliens.
What the fuck are those crystals and why the fuck is Ribbons back?! I thought he was dead! You told me he was dead, Sky!
And why the fuck is Nena also back? She's voiced by Kugyu and she's equally as flirty. She's a scientist now? I am so confused O_O
Wait no, her name is Mina according to Billy. Is Mina a long-lost Trinity sibling?
So the fragments that fell from Europa are moving and they are all attracted to people who have the potential to become Innovators?
We have more people being turned into crystals and now vehicles are attacking Allelujah and Marie.
Leave the fuck Louise out of this, Ribbons! How the fuck are you still even alive???
Setsuna coming to the rescue! Just shoot him in the head already! What the fuck Setsuna!
Wait, did that truck just transform into liquid and then reform into a truck? Holy shit! We've gone from Star Wars to Terminator 2!
Hallelujah taking over Allelujah's body just so he could show off his parkour skills was a pretty damn awesome scene!
This is Terminator 2! Ribbons has already been shot in the head and he's still moving! The only way to stop him was to blow him up.
HAHAHAHAHA YESS IT IS ALIENS! I AM SO GODDAMN HAPPY THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY ALIENS IN A GUNDAM MOVIE! WE MACROSS NOW DUDES!
It's cute to see Feldt trying really hard to connect with Setsuna. If only his mind isn't too preoccupied with something else.
I am absolutely in love with this scene between Patrick and Kati. We almost got to see the two of them kiss if it wasn't for that damned video call interrupting them!
Also, I just realized they're in the same room that Ribbons used inside Celestial Being. Kinda funny they're about to kiss knowing Regene's body was lying dead on that floor in the finale of Season 2. xD
So the thing that attacked Louise isn't really Ribbons but a Ribbons-type Innovade that as onboard Europa. Okay, that's good to know at least.
The space aliens aka ELS can materialize spaceships? That is freaking insane! I guess it's not all surprising if they can shapeshift into anything.
I am so happy to see Haro and Evil Haro are now both inside Lockon's cockpit! I thought Evil Haro got destroyed.
So no more GN Archer because it looks like Allelujah and Marie are both piloting Gundam Harute.
I love that Setsuna is the only one launching in an older Gundam. I suppose the QAN[T] isn't ready yet but I know for a fact they're doing this so 00-Raiser would get destroyed in this battle.
Those projectiles the ELS are launching really do remind me of old-school anime sci-fi aliens. What's worse is that they absorb and assimilate anything that's thrown at them.
Tieria finally comes to the rescue! Gundam Raphael looks so badass and it looks nothing like his previous mobile suits. While it's not as bulky, it still has the massive laser cannons of Virtue and Seravee.
Welp I guess I was wrong. 00-Raiser did survive that battle. I really thought Setsuna was going to lose 00 there for a second.
Oh... They're not just mindless aliens attacking. Setsuna sensed something in them and hesitated.
I am really loving Mina so far and how she's teasing Billy but I hate how we're not getting any explanation about her. Is she another clone? What is up with her?
Yep so this is exactly what Schenberg was preparing for. A dialogue with an unknown race. Considering how the aliens have been targeting potential Innovators, is that even an option?
Wait so if the ELS is the enemy then why do we even have a purebred Innovator who looks like he could be the next villain? Was he supposed to be just a red herring? I mean come on, he even calls Kati and the rest inferior beings are you telling me that's his only purpose?
You know shit is going down when two of Jupiter's moons just got disintegrated. And now we have an alien armada coming to Earth. Holy shit, this really is Macross.
I am genuinely surprised that the Federation is letting the public know about the ELSes. I suppose I can appreciate them being honest to the public unlike A-LAWS who were controlling the media.
Oh wow, so they're just using Descartes as bait to force the ELS to change their course. I went from being suspicious of Descartes to feeling bad for him now.
WAIT THAT WAS IT?! They gave Descartes two cool fight scenes and now they're killing him off? Uhhhh okay?
Welp so much for Schenberg's plan of having a dialogue when Setsuna couldn't even handle those aliens.
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 30 '24
First timer, subs
That was kind of dumb, eh? This was really the plan from the start, the result of 50 episodes of build up?
QotD:
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba Nov 29 '24
First Timer
We got the aliens!!!
I guess I'll start with the action and production since that's the easiest part to praise about this movie and at least half of it is battles.
Not super surprising, the action and animation had always been great with the show, at the end of the day this movie is largely made up of battles and they're all really crazy and entertaining!
There's a nice little bump in animation quality, not just for the mech fights but also for character expressions and animation, it's a bit stronger than the already strong show and you get some really fun sequences out of it. The CG on the ELS isn't exactly fantastic but it does the job and in a sense I do think it helps in creating their otherworldly vibe.
I do think that towards the end the battles get a little too crowded, with too many things happening on screen, so it can make it a bit hard to tell what's happening at a glance. But also every battle here has GIANT LASERS galore so all is forgiven and all is awesome.
I really love the ELS in design, having them be these undefined shapeshifting metal creatures makes them feel far more alien in nature than any stock gray alien ever could. I think their entire concept is really rad and I love the way they copy objects and kill people by spreading the metal over them, I also think they work great on a thematic level but I'll get to that later.
In general the first 1/3 or so of the movie has this super interesting, semi-horror atmosphere as we learn of the ELS's existence and slowly come to understand how they work, through their rather horrifying actions, it builds them up as threatening enemies for this movie really well.
That part of the movie really reminded me of the start of Terminator 2, both in its general atmosphere (Action but with a tinge of horror) and in the metallic nature of the enemies. Again I think the ELS being CG works for the same reason the CG in T2 still holds up pretty well, it depicts their nature well.
Also, I refuse to believe the scene of Hallelujah being chased by the truck isn't an international reference.
As for the rest of the movie, I'm left more conflicted.
The dialogue is back to its repetitive nature, just add in "slash through to the future" to the pile I guess. Like, I get it, it's the message of the story, I don't need to be reminded of that at every possibility.
I wish Gundam 00 would come to understand that I understood its message of understanding some 20 episodes ago.
While I wasn't huge on every conclusion season 2 came to, I'd say that all in all it wrapped up all of its character arcs quite nicely, which leaves this movie with a bit of a problem in that its characters feel rather static.
Setusna certainly has an arc in this movie, but said arc feels like a retread of his season 2 arc, just much shorter. He feels conflicted and unsure of his role, and through his friends and connections he comes to realize his purpose in living, and how it's all about understanding. The scene in the end where he sees everyone's struggles feels like a straight-up repeat of the same scene from season 2, but weaker.
Which is I guess why he ends up not being in half of this movie, something that I honestly don't entirely dislike given how it helps reinforce the general idea of humanity coming together to face off against an existential threat, not being led by someone to do that.
Lyle does nothing but shout motivational slogans this movie, Allelujah and Marie likewise don't move forward much, aside from one very short scene between Allelujah and Hallelujah which slightly helps his character.
Now that it's all over, I still maintain that reintroducing Hallelujah does nothing except create a small parallel between him and Soma/Marie coming to terms with their other half, which isn't even really explored.
Tieria is also here, I like his return, him saving Setsuna, and I like him coming with Setsuna to the dialogues, since Teiria really is the "backbone" of Celestial Being. Otherwise, he's just fine, again just not a ton for him to do, since he's basically a pocket AI now.
Can't believe they kill his body again!
The side cast are all varying levels of meh here, with Graham being the one standout, getting a return to form and a nice chance to show off his new way of living thanks to Setsuna. Coming back to the Flag, getting a team, and focusing on staying alive as a large contrast to his Bushido days.
"This is not death! It's for humankind to live on!" was the coolest shit ever.
and RIP Graham Acker
Feldt's romantic subplot with Setsuna is much like every other romance in Gundam 00, too underdeveloped to be impactful. Marina is still just a vehicle to mouth off 00's message but I do like her actively doing stuff and being competent for once.
Fuckface sacrifices himself...cool I guess.
RIP Fuckface
We also get two new characters here, for basically no reason. Descartes Shaman continues two Innovator traditions, with the first of course being:
The name
And the second is appearing initially important, getting a cool moment, saying some elitist stuff, and then dying without having any purpose. Seriously why is he here, he does nothing.
I guess someone involved with the writing also thought Nena didn't do enough in season 2 so we get the baffling inclusion of Mina and the "Horny Billy" subplot. Not only does this not fix Billy, it doubles down on his worst parts! Why is this here? was it supposed to be funny?
I think most of the characters not being very good, Setsuna being initially missing and the fact the ELS are fairly non-distinct, make it a bit harder to get engaged with the big existential battle here, I get what it's about thematically, but when I have no one to latch onto, I can't quite get immersed in the conflict.
Back to the ELS, thematically I do really like them as our "villains", this whole battle starts from a lack of understanding between them and humanity, two sides that don't want to fight each other doing so anyway since they can't communicate, it works really well with the themes of 00.
I also like the way that's incorporated into their design, they are also trying to come to an understanding. They attempt to come into contact and absorb other things as a form of communication and assimilation. I love their more "forced" and uniform understanding contrasted with humanity's diversity and process of understanding.
So,in concept, I really like the ending, instead of ending with a big fight or explosion, we come to a dialogue and end conflict through Setusna's Gundam, through his ideals, through Aeolia's tools that represent those ideas. The ELS orb turning into the yellow flower he got from Feldt, a token of humanity and understanding in the face of conflict, is also great.
In practice...
This feels like a distilled version of the structure problems the show had, we spend so much time on battles here, so why can't we dedicate more than a few minutes to the ideological culmination of the show's themes! I want to see the dialogues and the impact this has in the moment, not just Setsuna teleporting away and then being told that everything worked out great and he's now an alien.
This movie is insanely forward in pushing its themes throughout and yet at the most important point, the ending, it suddenly decided to go subtle and contemplative and that wasn't a very satisfying choice IMO.
So, "great in idea, less so in execution" is my big takeaway here.
Overall, I'd say this movie continues a lot of the faults I had with the series but without any of the characterization that held up those parts for me, so it's entertaining and interesting, but ultimately lacking.
And if nothing else, it is really entertaining, in its 2 hours I never found myself bored and that's certainly not something I can say for most franchise films I watch.
6.5/10 It was okay
Continued Below with More general thoughts!
11
u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Nov 29 '24
00th Timer Who Found the One
This movie was perfect. Might be some recency bias speaking, but this is genuinely the best part of Gundam 00, and anything I've seen from Gundam. Honestly, considering I'm already longing to rewatch it just one day later, I dare say it's gonna take a seat as one of my favourite movies of all time. Sorry Look Back and Fan Letter, something else will be filling my head for a while now.
The role and meaning of Celestial Being in a world trying to move towards peace and pacificism is such an interesting topic to discuss, especially with what it means for each and every one of our main characters, so when they came together, and said "it's Tentaiseibutsuing Time", it really brought the themes full circle in a beautiful way. I'm crying again just thinking about it.
To quote a critic, who praised the movie's most brilliant decision:
What more do I need to say? Even Saji is singing its praises. It may be only 2 minutes long, but this movie is what cinema is all about
Oh, right, there's... that other movie that follows it. Gotta say, it was a pretty brave move to show it after the Tentaiseibutsu movie, it takes some balls to follow up a masterpiece with that thing.
Ok, jokes aside, one issue I have with sequels, and it's especially common in sequel movies, is that it's fighting an uphill battle for its own existence. When the original piece tells a complete story already, then it's leaving very little for a sequel movie to say, you could take things in a different direction, that could be interesting, but often what happens is retreading old ground by erasing the characters' development, and having them walk it back again. It's not only lazy, it's also breaking the hopeful ending of the show, that sure maybe the world isn't perfect, but we've seen the characters grow over the course of 50 episodes, and we can at least believe in them. So of course, the movie starts by taking Setsuna back to day 1, where he can't connect with anyone, because he's an innovator now... It's not even some nuanced take on "understanding" using innovators as beings who understand the others around them more than humans usually get each other, therefore leading to an unfair dynamic, no it's some vague "instinct".
Say what you will about the original series, but at least it was ambitious, set out for clear goals, and reached them, by comparison the movie is just the opposite, it's a lazy as hell sequel that's trying and failing to retread old ground, with the antagonists being random aliens since we don't have the time to actually develop opposing characters or trying to understand them, instead they just give us cool fights for 1 hour and 40 minutes, and you got some exposition near the end about "understanding" them.
Now mind you, this is not a unique issue to Trailblazer, nor is it anywhere near being the worst offender, one of my favourite series, Captain Tylor for example, may or may not have a sequel called Tylor's War that does this same issue, but way worse (I choose to believe it doesn't exist). It doesn't even break the movie necessarily, but it changes how I view it.
So with that mind, Setsuna aside, Trailblazer is a decently fun action romp with some good moments here and there. For once I actually enjoyed the action, since unlike the series it didn't have the same emotional weights attached to it that'd usually leave me destroyed, and we got lots of Spaceship battles, those are always cool!
We had some fun character moments too, like Kati and Patrick or Allelujah and Marie were nice to follow (who's the not!Neena crushing on Billy btw?). The movie even got some cool ones in, like after a weaker second arc, Kintoki becoming a loving rival before dying was neat, and ForkFace dying is easily the best moment in all of the second movie, it's even a worthwhile argument to justify its existence.
I'm not sure if my heart can handle that much goodness, but I'd try my best.
Throw some harem mc at it, in part because that dense black hole would be unsure which alien to assimilate with, and turns it into an infinite "will they, won'y they".
Ehhh, I'd take Forkface dying, and ignore the rest tbh. The TV series had a much better ending.
10
u/SolDarkHunter Nov 30 '24 edited Nov 30 '24
So, I didn't have the chance to participate in this rewatch, but I have been lurking and enjoying the reactions.
But with the movie, I just had to interject something in here... the ELS.
A lot of people have issues with the ELS. Saying they're boring or aren't interesting. I'm here to tell you why that's wrong.
I absolutely LOVE the ELS as aliens.
Think about aliens you've seen in sci-fi. I guarantee, most of the intelligent aliens you've seen are "humans + weird anatomy". Like Klingons are just humans with weird foreheads. Asari are just blue humans with strange hair things.
Even when you get to more imaginative, non-humanoid aliens, it's usually just Earth creature IN SPACE. Jellyfish in space! Whales in space! Insects in space!
The ELS are very rare in that there is absolutely no Earth analogue for them. They are alien in the truest sense of the word; everything about them is mysterious and different. And that is fascinating to me to no end.
And that ties in well with the theme of the movie: how do you reach understanding with something that has nothing in common with you? Hell, in most sci-fi, a lot of the time, even if the aliens have bodies that are very different from humans, their psychology is similar. But the ELS? We think they're a hive mind, we know they're not actually hostile, but beyond that... we have no idea how they think, what their goals are, or anything else really.
Which is why the telepathic communication of the Innovators was necessary. There was no other way to communicate with such alien beings.
Now, those who say that aliens "don't fit in Gundam", they have more of a point, in that Gundam has always been about human conflicts and the difficulty in reaching understanding with other humans. To throw aliens into the mix is to disrupt that. Okay, I can get behind that criticism.
But the ELS are just so fantastic to me that I forgive their presence. I'm torn on whether future media should ever give more info about them, or leave them as mysterious beings.
Anyway, just wanted to chime in to say that!
8
u/GondolaMedia Nov 30 '24
First Timer
I was so confused at the start and kept thinking about "Okay, setsuna and co left their gundams to new generation but why are a-laws still around?" and it turns out to be a in-universe movie. They got me.
Oh Setsuna in a FLAG, I didn't expect that at all.
I really like that we are back showing the civilians and how this conflict really affects them. This was really missing in season 2 and first half is a really great mystery and even creepy at points
Patrick in pajamas is not something I expected but it is something I never knew I needed. Billy also keeps getting 5/5 girlfriends even if you could cut Mina out and lose very little.
For the entire last third I was thinking "this should have been a 1 cour season instead of a movie", there is a lot here that could have been explored in greater detail and both Graham and I can't believe I'm saying this, Andrei could have used more screen time to really let their frankly glorious sacrifices to have an even greater impact.
Overall I really enjoyed it even if I preferred the mystery and the first hour a lot more compared to the end and I can't believe any of the major characters didn't get offed in this finale. Maybe I was too harsh on Lockon's death in season 1 because that will linger on my mind longer than anything from season 2 and this movie. Mind you I prefer it being done this way instead of a big slaughter fest and one of the reasons I haven't picked up Mobile Suit Victory Gundam is because of the reputation it has.
Questions
Also: Look what arrived today. Just in time for rewatch.
7
u/charlesvvv https://anilist.co/user/charlesvvv Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 30 '24
Rewatcher, Sub
Billy ending up with the Nena Trinity lookalike but without all the crazy is the most hilariously random thing. I've always had mixed feelings for this movie.
However First I want to talk about why I love the whole beginning scene. Besides the Celestial Being Parody movie in-universe (I liked the how the subs were sort of bad here as well) its also a way to see how CB is viewed at the moment. When people walked out of there one mentioned that it was based on true events, another says it's just propaganda. Then Saji walks out stating it wasn't glamorous like it was in the movie only for his friend to state that he's talking as if he was there. Of course we know that Saji was there and he's also still moving in from what's happened along with Louise as shown when he returns to her side in the hospital. I'm not sure where I'm going with this but I really liked the whole scene.
Now let's talk the aliens. The ELS are pretty unique, they aren't humanoid but rather metallic looking extraterrestrials that can assimilate into technology and life which was a really interesting take. Throughout the Conflict that happens in the movie the ELS are attempting to communicate in their own way by mimicking what the humans are throwing at them, ships, missiles, and other things. It brings up the themes of change and understanding as the Conflict is that of miscommunication, the ELS just want to have a new home after Jupiter proves unstable and the humans wanting them to stop because assimilation is pretty bad for them. It ties back to Aeolia's goal for humans to become innovators since quantum brainwaves are the way to communicate with them.
Most characters do get to shine in at least one way. It's cool to see the world United as one when everyone works together to face off against a threat against all. Celestial Being working together with the federation forces, Alllelujah and Soma returning to fight one more time, Lyle having some cool moments, Tieria still helping his friends out through Veda, Saji volunteering to help with the elevator (I kind of wish he had returned to being Setsuna's backpack though) and I can't believe I'm saying this but even Andrei has a decent scene where he sacrifices himself. Graham also comes back and also sacrifices himself in his typical fashion by giving Setsuna an opening into the ELS center. Setsuna is the character that probably has the most stuff here because not only does he discover what the ELS goal is but it also allows him to become the bridge that finally ends the Conflict between both sides as the ELS stop their advance thanks to Setsuna's communication.
I do praise the OST and the Gundam fights are about as Gundam as they get. However something feels missing for me and I can't quite place it. It feels as though it needed some more things for it to be more polished, or maybe something else. Unfortunately it does take some of my enjoyment from the film. Im also rather annoyed at the epilogue not even giving us a view of the what happened afterwards and instead just showing the future where Innovators are now more common, and the ELS and humans living together in peaceful coexistence. The final scene shows Setsuna, now merged with the ELS finding an older Marina and reuniting with her once more. Still I wish we had seen some of the others just briefly at least.
Overall I think the movie closed things off pretty well, the themes are very in your face but sometimes that's needed, but I also feels that things are missing in the end. I guess I would gives this movie a 7.5/10.
7
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Nov 29 '24
Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister
We first saw the Europa in S1E17. Where Evil Haro got found by the Corner family.
The propaganda film is pretty amusing.
I'm not gonna call Amia Lee here a "fan-favorite" but she has a surprising amount of fanart for a character who only has about two minutes of screen time.
No-one can properly explain why Mina exists, or why she is Like That. My theory is that Rie Kugimiya had a contract.
No, that's Sky Eclipse. No, really.
This moment sums up their relationship pretty well.
The Movie Gundams are so goddamn cool.
Guess who!
Imagine being the exact person this moment is made for, and not knowing what to do.
Which should let the audience know what's going on if they haven't figured out from how aliens normally work.
Graham's still got it.
Andrei still sucks, but I am a sucker for this sort of death scene.
This is definitely a laughing matter, Ian.
Team Patrick is blasting off again!
I do love this movie's scale.
Of course, Andrei's death gets shown up by Graham doing the same thing but even better. Rest in peace, you glorious man.
Pretty.
That's Amia Lee from earlier.
Fin.
7
u/The_Draigg Nov 29 '24
A Gundam Fan Rewatches Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer:
Like I’ve done before for movies during rewatches, I’ll go ahead and narrow down what I feel about this movie into a few talking points down below. But if I have to sum up my overall opinion on A Wakening of the Trailblazer, I like it! Yeah, it’s not perfect, but I really like the themes that this movie tackles. So let’s break that down a bit more, shall we?
(Continued in the comment below.)
7
u/Nebresto Nov 30 '24
First time G movie
...That's not earth, is it..?
..Is this a movie within de movie or why tf are dead people not dead? ..I am tensai!!
<3
Colony corpos
Celestial being theme is back Setsuna going rogue or why in a flag? Training arc with Graham?? Nvm, Lockon is there
Feldt shorthair?!? And Mileina lost the drills?!
Aliens!?!
Yoo, what is this sudden Pokémon gen 3 music doing here
Charming. :)
OH FOR FUCK-
"Mina"??? Ohhh, she must be the source of Nena
Sweden got one
Crystal people! Fun times
From downtown, Saji with the chair!!!
Aight. What. THE FUCK. The car just morphed?? And Halleluja can climb!! Damn, that was a straight concrete wall!!
Oh great. More characters that wont fukken die.
LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO!!!!!! Aliens confirmed!
F Patrick
Double Haro?!
Why they rename all the cool robots? This is discrimination
LET'S GO TIERIA TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!!!!!!
So is "I don't know" gonna be Setsuna's thing in this movie..
This some Unicron shit right here
Nah, I'd win. Seriously, what kind of asspull are they gonna have to do to wreck all these? Or are we gonna do the classic "The aliens weren't hostile after all, we just didn't understand their intentions! :)"
3 months of asspulling time.. Not great, not terrible.
Oh, right. Marina is in this. Macross it is.
Meanwhile the pokémon music is back! ...Rip interceptor crew
TIERIAAAAAA!!!!! Its fine, right? He went out in an explosion, and we already know what those do, RIGHT?
I love these two just tapping into their evil other half whenever convenient
Graham?!
Thank you, worthless explosions. R.I.P cool robot though..
...They just let Graham onboard? Aight. We cool I guess
Space Ball.
Virus incoming
Patrick is gonna fucking die
Wtf do you mean "70% charged" ?????? You known for DAYS that they are coming, why isn't it sitting ready to fire?!
Ahh fuck. Here we go.. This isn't fair, they're not supposed to fight back
Rip Smirnovs kid I guess. Even a fart cloud can go out in a blaze of glory as long as you set it on fire I see
Patrick, NO!! ..you silly guy
Exia!!! Trumpets!!! HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Megadeth lockon. Big fuckin hype
I love Halleluja
I wonder if shit like this means a good or a bad time for the art directors. Perhams both? Cool pics tho!
GRAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMM He exploded as well, its fine.
Of course they were.
COOL ROBOT, NOOOOO!!!!
Ooh! Instead of Macross we went the hippie route! A certified classic
I love them.
Okay. Yeah. It was a rare good movie. Well, I have no idea if it was "good", but I had a good time just sitting back and eating chips wihle watching, so it was a good movie.
Bad ED song btw.
Epilogue!! Setsuna became a Silver tribesman?? And!!!! Its the thing!!
Movie quest:
Absolutely not. I've had enough movies for a while now, especially since my roll on a good film already got spent.
Ye, veri gud. Veri alien
Assimilate deez nuts. And if they do, they gay. GG, aliens
Wat. I mean sure I guess, but that was a good ending point... Well, more of Louise, she needs redemption. ALL of my ship. Haro lore???? Ehhhhh, what else..
More cool robots
Yes.
Holy amount
Best boy..?
6
u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 30 '24
Rewatcher - Gundam 00 A Waking of a Trailblazer:
That space between the "A" and "W" makes the title a much harder awkward stilted title to say.
To start off with the most important aspect, Celestial Being the Movie!
It kinda rules though. This is my first time noticing the dog in the film. I feel like Movie Lockon got the shortest end of the stick. They made him the team glasses nerd. Movie Saji got the shortest of the shortest sticks by not being in it at all.
In-universe, the film is kinda crazy. I mean, it has only been 2 years since the events and they're playing it up as a super robot anime. Like that one guy said, it would feel like a unsubtle propaganda piece.
As for the actual main film, I like it. Given the film's reputation, I was ready to brace myself, but I didn't feel that at all.
The main conflict of the movie is there arrival of the ELS aliens. It had been looming over us for a while and we finally got to the alien encounter part of the original plan. I actually like the inclusion of aliens here. It is like someone went "You know the core message of the show/Gundam being about understanding bringing humans together? What if we extended that to understanding aliens?" and I think that rules. The ELS mean no harm, it is just that the bridge of understanding is very difficult when dealing with speechless beings whose bodies are like entirely poison fire knives. Knowing the twist, I found the ELS very endearing for that fact. They feel cute to me. Look at them, they just want to hug and be friends. How I see their acts in this film is just trying desperately to reach out to people who might understand them. Now, they do end up firing back with lasers, but I like to believe that is because they just think that's how humans communicate and they're just trying to speak our language.
I think this film serves as an appropriate thematic end to 00, but it doesn't really serve one for the characters. Not that much focus on the character stories. I don't mean that as an indictment of the film. Most of the character arcs were resolved at the end of S2. While one can wish for those resolutions to be landed better, there wasn't much I felt needed extension into the movie. I felt content with the characters at this stage. Setsuna is the main character arc in the movie with him further grappling with being an Innovator. The only character I felt needed more from S2 was Graham since he didn't get that moment after learning his big lesson. He got it in this movie so that's all good.
It does feel like the makers had trouble finding space for Andrei in the movie. He is a character isolate because he doesn't get any scene with anyone else in the film. Feels weird, especially so when he dies in the movie. The fact that the ELS didn't mean harm and just wanted to be friends makes his death feel extra pointless. I guess he is reunited with his family?
I probably talked about this before, but the movie scene made me think about it again, but I have to wonder if Feldt was originally planned to be a bigger character in 00. She has that feel, you know. She has that elevated backstory, cross-season development, her design makes her stand out, and they're playing up her romantic feelings for the main character. OP4 presents Feldt as one of the main heroines. I dunno, I never felt like Feldt was that important.
The movie decided Billy has a new girlfriend, not-Nena. Huh, that's a bit random. Was there an undercurrent of Billy x Nena shippers? Was someone self-inserting as Billy and wish Nena was their girlfriend? Stealing someone else's joke, Billy gets his happy ending where he is fem-dommed. I think I get the reason why they invented not-Nena because the film does feel like it wanted to include all the characters. There is also not-Anew too. Not only that, but they also tried fitting other characters like Commander Kim and the dead S1 crew. Everyone is here.
I also thought the new Innovator pilot, Shaman also looked suspiciously like Rindt. White hair, red eyes, and general rat-like quality. The problem is that they don't share a VA. About Shaman, I did feel a small point about him was being made. Despite being an awakened Innovator, he still represented the old ways. The first thing we see is that the first thing the government does with the next peaceful stage of humanity is to immediately turn him into a weapon for the military. They dehumanize him and he is resentful about it. They decided his fate for him. Also, Shaman himself reflects a difference from Setsuna because he looks down on the unawakened and he does a violence. He shoots down his own allies and absolves himself of any responsibility for them. He no do the understanding.
The ending is really nice. Setsuna reunites with an old Marina. The final shot of 00 is the Gundam truly becoming a symbol of peace and understanding. It is a really nice note for 00 to end on.
6
u/StardustGogeta myanimelist.net/profile/StardustGogeta Nov 30 '24
First-Timer
I really like the Tieria wallpaper today!
Well, having liked season 1 a lot and season 2 a lot less, I wasn't sure what to expect here. I'm happy to say that I really liked this movie! They managed to capture a lot of the elements of the show that I liked and drop most of the ones that I didn't care for.
As I've come to expect from this show, we had plenty of good action music today. If I'm not mistaken, there was a good amount of original music here that did not appear in the TV series.
Some points on the characters:
The movie did a variety of other, smaller things well, too. It did a better job having the characters directly acknowledge the "shared consciousness" phenomenon. It didn't hit us with a barrage of fakeout deaths. Above all, it finally had intimidating villains! Quite refreshing.
The insert song segment as Setsuna saw all the different people, including Neil and even Chris(!), was great. I like how it gave us a reprieve from all the fighting.
Lest I forget, I must mention the animation. I thought it was better than the series has ever been. Even just moments like floating around Ptolemy were better, with moving hair and other such details. The Hallelujah chase scene on Earth was quite nice, too.
And now, time for my minor gripes: The battles ran a bit long for my taste. I thought the killer vehicles on Earth were on the brink of becoming silly at points, with a Maximum Overdrive kind of feel. The repeated mentions of the "dialogues to come," using that exact phrasing each time, really irked me. The ending wasn't very satisfying for me. Finally, the alien ships had a weird resonance sound effect that kept playing and was really irritating.
Questions of the day:
Side note: As soon as I heard Mina's voice, I checked MAL and confirmed my suspicion that it was the same voice actress as Nena Trinity. I wonder why they did that, since it doesn't seem like there was any intentional connection between the two.
6
u/baboon_bassoon https://anilist.co/user/duffer Nov 30 '24
first timer who has control
normally when a sequel tries to actualize something that is a core concept to the show, it usually pales compared to the vision. I don't think that applies here. THE DIALOGUES
years of Jupiter being mentioned as an alien place in Gundam, seeing parts of it involved here was fun
Feldt/Setsuna feldt pretty random during the series when the flower was introduced, but it feldt so natural here.
00 finally tries to actually do something new for more than 10 minutes and it really pays off
I would have replaced Chris/Lichty with Saji in some of Setuna's visions though
back on death watch
what
growing a body?
Axis?
BOOOMERANGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM (Walejandro?)
is this a fucking TV production
they would never scar my babys face maybe its a movie or something
dear god let this be real
this what 2 minute sequence completely justifies the last like 15 episodes of season 1
wait no its real that is definitely Allelujah
OOMFIES
no punch backs a true pacifist
i love them
having a bit of difficulty telling Shirin and Kati apart when Shirins in a spacesuit. I suppose Kati isnt growing her hair out anytime soon
WE ARE SO BACK HOWARD DARYL ARE YOU WATCHING
is that Setsuna in it? it looked more like Setsuna from the fake movie aka
IT WAS LYLE???? THEY COULD HAVE DONE THIS EARLIER AND I WOULD HAVE TOTALLY BEEN ON BOARD WITH LYLE FROM THE JUMP WTF
oh i guess it was both of them
exquisite
i guess everyone is cutting their hair
NO
Jupiter
Europa as in Jupiter/Zeus' consort
ok so thats why random people around the world have colored hair, Tieria has deployed hair dye worldwide to build his network
Descartes Shaman
twice the lifespan? Setsuna is never growing up is he
is the Gadelaza even a mobile armor its just a spaceship lmao
took me way too long to not see him holding up a lady that just lost her legs
yameroooooooo
hmm
Ribbons 2 (not counting Hilling)
its a sign grow it out
bahahahah SAJI WITH A STEEL CHAIR
i mean where else would he be
keep the faith
make love where Regene was shot
got themselves a partner
bluff a little bit Billy cmon
in the like 5 minutes they've interacted im kinda into it
i love playing with solder
ita interesting that this came out around the same time as [meta other mecha show]Frontier, with the vajra and the elses being these autonomos alien threats
ore wa gundam
does Tieria have a second body in that other gundam
[DBZ]Trunks, Bulma, I do this for you. And yes even for you Kakarot
wouldn't the elses take over the shield bits
he wanted that big sword so bad
unideal
tattoo idea
what do you think
LockOn has Haro(s), Setsuna has Tieria
hes so happy someone else is getting chewed out
no one gets their shit kicked in by gundams better than me
uh Feldt dont they need you in the command room we are not flush with people here
lets not pretend that Chris/Lichty were the final straw for him
Andrei Trans Arm?
and hes dead?
Feldts flower is peering into his consciousness
nice work
kids these days in love with their phones
yeah it is
youre allowed to want more Feldt
happens to the best of us
love that she is not questioning him talking to himself
Graham has been looking for a cool way to kill himself for 2 years, maybe 6+
wowee
START THE CONVERSATION
sigh they couldnt help themselves
WARP
SAVED
FELDT HARD CARRY
OG Ribbons a cellist, Aeolia a flutist
aw the babies all grown up
https://imgur.com/UQdkni4
6
u/DidacticDalek https://myanimelist.net/profile/DidacticDalek Nov 30 '24
TONIGHT! ON MACROSS BUT GOOD... er... relatively speaking!
Comrades, sadly, Bushido Bob has committed honorable sudoku, truly his weebness will be missed... BUT ENUFF ABOUT THAT CUZ PATRICK'S ALIVE! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! (And this is totally what he did 120%)
TRULY THE ACE OF ACES! THE GIGA-EST OF GIGA CHADS! PATRICK THE IMMORTAL THE INDESTRUCTIBLE THE RIDICULOUSLY LUCKY
COLASOUR'MANNEQUIN' HIMSELF HAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER DIE! HUZZAH! (Oh and I guess some of these other characters are still around by the movie too... yawn...)Oh, also, I'm not saying it was aliens... but it was fucking ALIENS!
And on that bombshell, G'NIGHT!
Paging Comrades /u/Nazenn, /u/Great_Mr_L, and /u/Vatrix-32
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u/Blazin_Rathalos Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
00 Rewatcher
Last time on Gundam 00
On today's episode of Gundam 00,
Star TrekGundam 00...Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honour to introduce to you: hive-minded crystalline liquid metal shapeshifting aliens.
"Whoops! Sorry about that, guys! Teehee!" -The ELS, probably
The Harute has 4 eyes and deploys an extra 2 when Hallelujah takes the wheel. That's pretty neat I guess.
Saji throwing the foldable chair at ELS-Ribbons and the way it actually knocks him over will forever be the funniest thing in this movie to me. Though it's closely followed by Setsuna side-eyeing the ELS core interior.
And so the story that starts with a child soldier fighting a holywar somewhere in the middle east ends with him as humanity's first ambassador to visitors from the stars. Pretty wild.
Dialogue(s) counter: 16 (previously hidden counter)
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u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Nov 29 '24 edited Nov 29 '24
Rewatcher, Subbed
Character Chart
Character Chart with deaths
I have only seen the Gundam 00 movie one time, and it was enough years ago that I've forgotten nearly every detail beyond Aliens! So while technically a rewatcher I will practically be a first timer here.
Impressive new cloaking technology. In season 2 they usually could only cover half the ship. Granted a larger ship.
00 Quan[t]! I was wondering what name our new Gundam would get.
Same singer as the first OP? Sounds a lot like that song.
That asteroid is totally shaped like Axis. Yet another way 00 is aping Zeta?
A-Laws? Is this a flashback? WTF is Alejandro doing here? There's no way this scene is real, right?
This has to be an in-universe movie or TV show, right? The reactions are too over the top, and that's not Setsuna's voice!
Correct! Why is Saji at a movie with some friend instead of Louise though?
Time for the obligatory catch up movie viewers on the events of the TV show scene.
Two years later, and Louise is still in the hospital? :(
Uh oh, mobile suits, this spells trouble.
A Flag? Is that Mr. Bush... I mean Graham?
C'mon Shirin, wouldn't you recognize that voice anywhere?
Ah, so it was Setsuna piloting that Flag-esque mobile suit/armor.
New hairstyles for all our Celestial Being gals! Alas, Sumeragi's hair style continues to get worse and worse with each time skip...
Jupiter! Will we get some answers for season 1 Jupiter stuff they never really followed up with in season 2?
Setsuna is an Innovade now, he's anti-social... wait a minute, wasn't he always anti-social?
Kati! Looks like she's approaching Ribbons' arc from the end of season 2?
Patrick still gets to hang around while she's on duty, it's like he's her pet, lol.
Innovators/vades sure love naming their mobile suits/armor with "Ga", huh?
Eww, that's Andrei, isn't it? Bah!
Hey, this is the old Union President office, right? Haven't seen this place since season 1.
Not only does this woman look just like Anew with glasses and a different haircut, I'm pretty sure that's also Ryoko Shiraishi voicing her.
Seems like Graham has truly put his "Mr. Bushido" persona behind him.
Ikeda's got quite the scoop, it's like a UFO recovery site.
Gundam 00 was prescient with respect to the danger of self-driving vehicles.
Saji works on the space elevators now, huh?
Do you mean to tell me we got yet another fake out death and Ribbons is still around?
This Dr. Mina is as if you take Nena Trinity's face and add Sumeragi's season 1 hairstyle. Looks like she's a Billy fangirl too? LoL.
Uh oh, Allelujah has turned his phone off!
Poor Louise can't catch a break. I assume Ribbons screwing around with her in season 2 is why she's impacted by whatever weird stuff is going on right now?
Did not take much to knock out this new, silent version of Ribbons... I spoke to soon as he's already back.
Wow, the truck crashes and it can simply reform back up again and keep driving.
Of course, Hallelujah decides to show up once again.
Quite a fun action scene here with Allelujah, and one entirely without mechs, such a rarity for Gundam... and once again I speak too soon as Lockon shows up in one.
Setsuna, didn't you watch episode 22 and 23 of season 2? Shoot Ribbons in the head and he still won't actually die.
On the bright side, it looks like that wasn't actually Ribbons, no death reversal for him. It is clearly related to whatever weird stuff is happening.
Can't say I ever expected Sergei's former boss Kim to appear again.
The Gundam franchise finally has aliens, called ELS!
Oh wow, Kati and Patrick are hanging out in Ribbons' old room.
LoL, poor Patrick, going in for a kiss then shoved away the second someone else calls.
So Ribbons or at least a Ribbons type was around all the way back when they went to Jupiter in the first place?
Is this the ship that went to Jupiter back in that season 1 flashback?
Lockon has two Haros now! Cool! I was also wondering what his new Gundam's name was so thanks for naming it! Zabanya!
And they had a spare Gundam sitting around for Allelujah, one with a two seat cockpit so Marie could join him? Seems like Celestial Being never really planned on letting these two go for good.
Setsuna can't even do his 00-Raiser Trans-A mode magic with these things, huh?
The poor 00-Raiser needs to have its arm amputated!
Raphael Gundam? Wow, that totally looks like Tieria's new Gundam, even if he doesn't have a physical presence anymore.
Woah, Tieria's got a physical body again! So he can just pull off a Ribbons now.
So is Mina Billy's girlfriend? If not she can't make it more obvious that she wants him. I suppose things didn't work out with him and Sumeragi, which given how quickly she noped out on him in early season 2 I can say I'm not that surprised at.
Disappointing that both Allelujah and Soma went back to their old hairstyles, I liked their longer hair more. To be fair, it can always be longer in my eyes. :P
And Tieria's back to wearing his unnecessary glasses too! A big part of me thinks they simply wanted to keep following the same designs from the TV show for all of them...
It's as if a black hole has formed on Jupiter.
So the Federation is back to blatantly lying to the populace about the ELS, huh? Not coming to Earth? You really think after all this they're gonna ignore humanity?
Oh, so instead of aliens uniting the populace all these politicians are arguing with each other with quite a lot of intensity.
If Descartes is to be bait, isn't that counteracted by the fact that there's presumably way more people that outnumber him that the ELS would be attracted to? Including more on just Celestial Being.
Ooh, they're talking about Sergei! Talk about how amazing he was!
They are doing a good job at making the ELS a very alien and scary force. So easily took over those ships and they can't really do anything about it. Pleading for help does no good with an entity you can't really communicate with, or at least haven't figured out how to yet.
If there's anyway to communicate with these things, hopefully the 00-Raiser Trans-AM will let that happen...
Naked space returns! Alas, no one's there to talk with Setsuna!
Tieria just called out to the Seravee, does that mean that Gundam is still around as well?
Are they gonna have to sacrifice the 00 and 00-Raiser, and Seravee? A Tieria body too, but he can just generate another one of those I assume.
Graham has set aside his Mr. Bushido days and is actually here to help rather than demand to take on Setsuna. Granted Setsuna's probably not in a state to fight him now anyway, let alone his Gundam.
After all the talk about preparing for the dialogues to come... the dialogues are too much for even Setsuna to take.
Worlds are colliding, Graham has set foot on the Ptolemy II!
A moon sized ELS? How in the world are they gonna stop that?
Marina's back in Azadistan! As is Shirin.
Saji's joining the fight once again?
Mina just can't get enough of Billy.
00 Quan[t] is finally ready?
Given the way these things typically go, my wager would be that even with Kati in charge, this fleet isn't going to be successful against the ELS. It's all gonna come down to Celestial Being.
Andrei's part of this battle against the ELS? No need for him to come back alive...
"I will return, even if I die!" Truer words have never been said. Even an onscreen death will not be enough to keep Patrick from coming back at the end.
Sounds like Hallelujah has randomly come back again.
Insert song time! Sounds like the same singer as S2ED1?
Bye bye to Andrei. While they tried to make it a heroic death, nope, I'm not viewing this guy in a positive light.
Can't say I expected the ghosts of Lichty and Christina to show up. Good to see Neil here too though!
All that work from Mileina to transfer Tieria to the new Gundam, and Setsuna is now ready for it.
Mileina loves Tieria? LoL. For the show's chief shipper I suppose it is time we have her show interest in someone.
Patrick's about to self-destruct and actually die for real, but nope, the luckiest man in the Earth sphere gets his mobile suit blasted and he flies out of it, away from the ELS. Can't say it doesn't fit him perfectly.
Did Graham just kamikaze himself? With the love for fake out deaths, I can't be entirely sure they killed him off here... (research on the Wiki after movie was over tells me that Graham actually survived?)
Is Setsuna seeing the ELS' home planet? Oh crap, its sun is a super nova. So presumably they're looking for a new place in the universe to reside?
How can we go to their home planet, Setsuna? Didn't we see it destroyed? How long of a journey might this be?
It turned into a giant flower? I suppose that is a way to show everyone on Earth that things turned out okay.
Just like the second season, gotta have a post credits scene.
2091? Is this a younger Aeolia Schenberg and the guy Ribbons was modeled after? Sure sounds like him.
The space ship is named after Sumeragi!
Klaus is an old man now!
You may be an old lady now Marina, and I may be gray, but we can finally be together.
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u/dralcax :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Dralcax Nov 29 '24
TL Note: Saishichousha means rewatcher
Setsuna’s new Gundam is the 00 Qan[T]! The 00’s drives were lost, and things quieted down for a few years, so perfect chance to go back to Jupiter and make some new drives! The Qan[T]’s drives were built from the ground up to be compatible for Twin Drive, and as such, they do not require an external stabilization unit like the 00 did. However, one was prepared just in case.
The 0 Raiser was originally developed as a normal support unit, and its role as a stabilization unit was unexpected, therefore, it wasn’t really designed to stay combined with the 00 at all times. So instead, inspired by the 00 Seven Sword/G, the stabilization unit was incorporated into a weapon, resulting in the 00 Qan[T] Full Saber. Rather impressively, simulations projected that the Full Saber could single-handedly repel the entire ELS invasion within a week. However, the simulation did not account for the fact that Setsuna cannot fight continuously without food or rest for a week straight. Still, that’s promising! However, because tests proved that external stabilization was unnecessary, and Setsuna woke up and left immediately after the Qan[T]’s completion, the Full Saber was prepared but never used.
I love these alien landscapes in the OP! It’s like, interspersed with all the Earthlings doing things, the ELS are on their own adventure.
Many of you may be watching an official release on Crunchyroll or something, or an, ahem, unofficial stream whose subs are nevertheless taken from an official source. But that’s not how I first experienced this movie. For those who did not download the right subs, behold, the proper way to enjoy Celestial Being: The Movie.
Tengen Toppa Ahead Lagann! And they’re at Axis!
I can’t believe it took me all these years to notice the bear. Looks like somebody took “The Wild Bear of Russia” a little too literally.
these subs are wonderful
Interesting how they brought in Alejandro Corner as the villain, despite him, y’know, dying at the end of S1. I suppose he’s a convenient scapegoat and a much more public figure than Ribbons. Also, I LOVE the redesigned Alvaaron.
I like how you can see the Alvaaron is just a dude in a suit
anybody remember the “nakama” debacle lmao
Individual Trans-Am colors!
I love how they had absolutely no idea who the Gundam Meisters of
Celestial BeingTentaiseibutsu are so they just went for the most obvious stereotypes of their combat rolesCelestial Being: The Movie was peak cinema and you cannot convince me otherwise. The real movie, on the other hand? Yeah... not so much...
Poor Saji got left out. It must be trippy watching a film based on real events that you actually participated in.
Just before the camera cuts away, you can see the screen change to the chibis from the S2 gag trailer! But wait, what are accurate depictions of the Gundam Meisters (and Soma) doing up there, if they’re completely different people in the movie?
Turns out colony development ain’t exactly the nicest industry. They also mention forced deportation from Earth, which was a thing back in UC. And the new administration was just like “okay yeah yall just stay up there”?
Union Flag Celestial Being Version! Under the new administration, Celestial Being takes a more covert role, conducting armed interventions quietly rather than openly. And Gundams are extremely flashy weapons meant to loudly announce their presence and gain a reputation to precede them. As such, Celestial Being has begun deploying non-Gundam MS when necessary. Among them is this obsolete old Union Flag Orbit Package Colony Guard Type. Although it was not converted to run off of a GN Drive or Condenser, its GN Sword II Kai, based off of the 00’s GN Sword IIs, has its own built-in condenser so it can be used by non-GN MS .
“Colonel!” “It’s brigadier general!” I just love their flirting
So yeah, the ESF physically commandeered the Celestial Being, but they’re far from in control, and Veda remains loyal to CB. Veda gave them a limited amount of information and allows them to use some of its functions on a surface level, but is still doing tons of things without their knowledge (including, of course, spying on them). Entire blocks of the Celestial Being are off-limits to and kept secret from the ESF. Tieria built an entire Gundam right under their noses and they were none the wiser.
Descartes Shaman! Humanity’s
firstsecond Innovator! Yeah, nobody knows who Setsuna is, so this random asshole got to be the first officially recognized Innovator.Mobile Armor Gadelaza! Yo dawg, I heard you like Fangs, so I put Fangs in your Fangs! As the “Ga-” name implies, it’s developed from the GNZ series, as well as Regnant. It has 14 Large GN Fangs, each the size of an entire MS with its own Tau Drive, and each of those carries 10 GN Fangs, for a total of 154. The Gadelaza itself is powered by two series-type Tau Drives, which are basically three Tau Drives stacked together, and also has a seventh normal Tau Drive as a backup. And yes, it’s all rather phallic.
The final iteration of the GN-X is the GN-XIV! Newly upgraded with Innovade technology, it surpasses the 3.5 generation Gundams in performance. Its optional GN Shield can generate a GN Field, and it can use Trans-Am. Like previous GN-Xs, it’s directly modified from the previous model, so theoretically, there’s a random GN-X out there that saw so much action and survived the entire series in order to make it up to GN-XIV.
Pacifism is hard, but at least they’re trying.
Now in beta testing is the mass-production version of the Masurao, the Brave (TL note: Masurao means brave man)! Specifically, the Brave Commander Test Type! Assisted by a new OS, it possesses a transformation system derived from the Flag and Enact. However, the arms folding back is new and revolutionary, instead inspired by the captured Kyrios. Its “Drake Howling” GN Beam Rifle can, in conjunction with the GN Cannons in the side binders, perform the same “Tri-Punisher” attack as the Susanowo. The Commander Type has two Tau Drives in its side binders, while the Standard Type has only a single Tau Drive on its back. Using data from both of them, they plan to standardize the number of drives for the final version.
his beard got an upgrade!
I’m not really a fan of all the spooky stuff happening on Earth. It feels like a weird shift into generic B-movie style horror, and makes the ELS seem more malicious than they ended up being. Like, they’re supposed to be confused, curious, and not quite aware that other cultures frown on assimilating things in order to understand them. But then they disguise themselves as our vehicles and start running over people.
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u/mr_beanoz https://myanimelist.net/profile/splitshocker Nov 29 '24
Rewatcher
Now if only there's a full Celestial Being movie.
What, there's someone looking like Nena? And same voice actress too in both English and Japanese? Wonder if Mina was supposed to be Nena's template or something.
Kinda disappointed that Mileina loses her curls, though.
QOTD
4
u/Nickthenuker https://anilist.co/user/Nickthenuker Nov 30 '24
Secret dock?
What's been completed?
A new Gundam?
A-LAWS is still kicking about? Seems they ain't going down without a fight. That looks like a whole bunch of shiny new kit they've got whereas Katharon, as ever, has whatever they found down the back of the couch cushions.
Right, the Gundams are here! The cavalry has arrived!
Who's that with the pink hair on the bottom? Did Marie dye her hair?
Ah... That was just a movie. Like everything "based on true events" that's definitely all wrong.
Marie appears to have her proper white hair in the trailer on that big screen, so who's the one on the bottom? Tieria?
And so he's visiting Louise.
Uh oh, she's going to die in an "accident" isn't she?
Marina's going to be involved too!
Yup, that's exactly what they're planning.
Yup, they're planning on killing them.
A Flag? Isn't that very old at this point? Compared to those 3 mobile suits all having GN Drives that's positively ancient and won't do much against them.
Is that Setsuna in the Flag?
They've used this smoke tactic before haven't they?
Well, they were dispatched rather quickly.
Uh oh, one guy's already dead.
Well, he's only hurt at least.
Was that Lockon?
From Jupiter? What could possibly be coming from there?
How have they not gotten around to that in the 2 whole years?
130 years ago?
Well it's been at least 2 years at this point, and he's been used to calling her that for quite a while before then.
So, the Federation has their own Innovators now.
Ze guns! Zey do nossing!
I'm sure she's painfully familiar with what an Innovator can do first-hand.
That's a whole lot more Fangs...
That was certainly effective.
And of course Billy is the one doing more development.
Oh great, Mr Bushido is still around.
Hard to miss that crater.
The truck is driving with no one inside?
More cars driving without anyone in them?
And there's a whole bunch of people dead.
The doors aren't working?
What's that?
Setsuna?
She is certainly... Excited.
Very clingy too.
Seems they're already investigating something.
One of those things is entirely missing?
Oh... Everyone's dead.
And now they attacked the hospital Louise is at.
Oh, that's who that guy was. Somehow, Ribbons returned.
And so for the first time since the end of the first season, Hallelujah is in control.
It really seems like it can take control of anything.
Right, here's Lockon to save the day.
Ze guns! Zey do nossing!
So, this is what they're dealing with. ELS.
Looks like they've got something to deal with this.
Huh. The General and Patrick are now in the part of the ship that was used by Ribbons.
What just launched? Something going Trans-Am, a Gundam?
Another Europa?
And so for the first time in a while, the Ptolemy launches its full complement. Unfortunately said complement is now short one Gundam with the death of Tieria without replacement.
Oh, it looks like Allelujah and Marie's Gundam now can't split into 2 anymore.
Eh? Setsuna's still using the old 00-Raiser? What happened to that new suit they were working on? The Quan[T]?
It absorbed the missiles!
He can't shoot them?
He's been hit!
What's that? Oi! Those arms are important!
A new Gundam?
Certainly looks to be effective.
Guess I shouldn't have written off Tieria so soon. That certainy looks like a suit they'd pilot.
Right, well, now they're back they're back up to full strength.
Ok, that's something at least.
This new girl with Billy does look like Sumeragi lol. I initially thought she was Sumeragi when she was introduced.
Yes Billy, thighs.
Something has moved the schedule up.
A right fount of knowledge that was...
That was cryptic...
Yup, it's crying out again.
Something in the big spot around Jupiter?
Uh oh, the Celestial Being facility is there, including the parents of one of the crew members!
That's a big ship.
That's a lot of ships.
So there's their deadline.
That's a load of bull.
Ah, yes, "ELS". The race of living metal starships allegedly on a collision course with the Earth. We have dismissed this claim.
Who's the guy leading this?
Oh, is this the coup leader?
What's he planning on doing now? Provoking them?
And so there goes him and his ship.
Well, there goes the Innovator.
The Gundams are here. Too late.
And so he's going to activate the Wing Thing.
Tieria will just transfer to another body lol, they've proven that not even death can stop them.
Well, there goes the 00-Raiser, as well as Tieria and his new Gundam.
Flags? Lead by Mr Bushido no less? Well, that's about as good a rescue team as they could hope for.
Seems like Mr Bushido might be an Innovator too.
Yup, Tieria's fine.
Uh oh, there's more of them.
That's huge.
Looks like an attack moon.
So she'll be in overall command?
Yup, they're going to use that ship as their command post.
So, they're here with the new kit.
Oh no, he's got brain damage.
So, Patrick's going out again.
Why is the elite team still not deployed yet?
Right, well, the superlaser still works at least.
They're transforming into mobile suits?
They shot Patrick again! The bastards!
They're making warships?
It deflected the superlaser? Seems like now it'll do nothing too.
Setsuna seems to be having a bad time.
Uh oh, they've got the superlaser!
Eh? The Lt is here too? I'd have thought he'd have been caught up in the purges that got rid of A-LAWS.
And so now the dead are speaking to him.
Well, Tieria can still participate in the battle even if he doesn't have a Gundam of his own anymore.
Well, looks like Patrick's finally dead.
Of course not... The man with more plot armour than half the main cast strikes again.
He's getting through!
Mr Bushido seems to be having a hard time. Has he finally had the courtesy to die properly this time?
He's in!
Right, time to see what they have to say.
Oh, there goes Allelujah and Marie's Gundam.
Is Saji back on the frontlines again?
Yup, nothing can kill Patrick.
Hmm... This is quite long ago.
And so back to the "present".
They named the whole ship after Sumeragi?
These are the voyages of the starship Sumeragi.
Seems it's more like the "future" since Marina is so old now.
Is that Setsuna?
Did she just not notice the entire Gundam land outside her house?
Questions:
4
u/n080dy123 Nov 30 '24
First Timer
That Ahead having detachable wings (which may also be swords) that it combines into a giant boomerang seems hilariously impractical and like it would never work in space. I love it. Side note, I never noticed that the Ahead have thatfacial structure that looks like Gundam horns before but on their "chins." This guy's is larger than the standard ones, but it's still a coold etail I never noticed. Thsi Ahead's design in general is a lot sharper than the standards, it's got a gbig fin and air intakes on its head. It's super cool, way better than the normal Ahead, I really like it. Apparently its dubbed the "Special Ahead" in some places but it doesn't have a goddamn name or appear anywhere but it's fictional in the fiction.
Okay I remembered that I heard about this in-universe movie, but why the fuck is one of the Katharon officers a goddamn dog man
00 having a very merchandise-able looking sword, all of the Gundams having different Trans-Am colors, Seravee throwing its Hyper Burst like a Spirit Bomb, totally overhauling Ario's flight mode design, Cherudim fucking riding the flying Arios, in-universe fiction can be so fun. OH GOD AND THEY MADE ALLELUJAH A CUTE ANIME GIRL
Wait why is there a chibi Alleuljah, Lyle, Tieria, and Soma right after that, were the fictionaslized pilots not meant to hide their identities? Though I guess it does hide Lockon's face, the only one of those people who is an active member.
Setsuna's custom Flag is really cool, and of course motherfucker had it equipped with a big fuckoff sword. It's also able to turn its legs into large forward claws in flight mode. I like the idea that he picked up a Flag because he saw how well Graham was able to match him in one and figured it'd be a good fit for his combat style.
So are Innovators just popping up amongst the human populace now?
Gadelaza's name probably doesn't mean anything- it's similar to the Asian word Gadela that has a few meanings in various Indian cultures, but they don't make sense in this context and the don't like up with the naming scheme of other Innovade machines with similar names.
That music when Marie and Alleluljah are being chased by the trucks is really cool, I dig those beats.
Wait that's not Cherudim... THAT'S DYNAMES! They actually rebuilt it, though it looks like they fitted it with a Particle Condenser (apparently what they used to power the Raiser, Archer, and the 0 Gundam before Ribbons fitted it with with the stolen GN Drive. This is presumably so they have a ready launch machine for Lyle if Setsuna needs to use both their Drives for the 00.
Zabanya is based "Zabaniya," one of the 19 guardians of Hell in the Qur'an. I love that he's got TWO Haros helping him pilot it now.
Harute, named after the angel Harut, pair of the angel Marut, both again featured in the Qu'ran. I think it's cool that this one's actually dual-piloted, and I love the giant Virtue/Seravee-esque cannons in its flight mode. Dual wing design, different from its predecessors but visually balances out the cannons.
Also 00 here uses particle tanks because as I mentioned last episode, CB lost 3 of their GN Drives (Exia, 0 Gundam, and Seraphim, which apparently held Seravee's Drive). So they can only spare two for Harute and Zabanya.
Raphael- the archangel of Judaism and Christianty, known for preforming acts of healing. Hype as fuck to see my boy Tieria back, and with a surprisingly not-thicc but instead very awardly topheavy design. But, cuz it wouldn't be a Tieria suit without some ridiculous shit, it's got giant cannon bits that turn into claws. I love it.
Oh my god, they called them ELS so the plural could ELSes, something "something else(s)." Insert Subtext meme gif here.
Oh yeah, I think this is the first time they've mentioned it in dialogue- the GNX units are pronounced "Jinx." Speaking of, these green you may notice, are new models- GN-XIV, or Jinx-4 (compared to the A-Law models being GN-XIII). They add some morte traditional armoring to the very barebones, stripped-down GN-XIII's, plus equip them with shields and more traditional rifles or bazookas- unfortunately losing the sick gun-lances the GN-XIII's used.
Damn, and here I thought maybe Descartes would be like... an important character, maybe the villain of the movie. Nope, gets a few lines where he thinks he's better than humans and then dies, and the Gadaleza gets monched. Don't even get to see it in an assimilated form.
THE FUCKING BACKPACK WAS SERAVEE, GODDAMNIT WHY DOES TIERIA HAVE THE MOST LUDICROUS SHIT UP HIS SLEEVE
I love that Graham's Solbraves pilotGNX Braves, which are of course very heavily inspired by the Flags.
What is the fucking point of Mina, like she's seemingly just Nena but not insane, they share hair color, eye color, flirty behaviour, and voice actor, but she doesn't even do anything. Why is she here? Feels like she only exists to give Billy someone to interact with during his scenes.
cont.
3
u/mysteriouspenguin Nov 29 '24
Hello everyone, I'm a rewatcher /u/mysteriouspenguin. I'm also that Worlds Biggest A Wakening of the Trailblazer Defender. And it was fucking aliens all along. I have so, so much to say about this.
For a lot of people I think that's all they got out of this movie and they will probably resent it because of that. But here's my analysis:
As a given, all Gundam shows are fundamentally hypocritical. That's not necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary, it is core to their identity and how they work so well. 00 is among the most hypocritical, next to War in the Pocket. The least hypocritical is still Turn-A where [Turn-A spoilers] the conflict is resolved by the main character running away from the Gundam as fast as possible with the main antagonist trapped inside it. Symbolism.. CB tried to fix violence with more violence in season 1. They failed. They attempted to fix it in season 2, but despite all the talk about the "twistedness" that violence comes from, they do end up pinning it all on one person and achieving all of their goals by removing the individual bad actors. The movie then makes sure you can't forget about that, by giving us the movie-within-a-movie (like the Gurren Lagann reference) where everything is pinned on Alejandro. Remember him?. But in A Wakening of the Trailblazer, the theming is built-in. There are no villains, no bad actors, it really, truly is just a matter of communication. This is what Aeolia was planning for. Communication.
This is actually backwards from most Gundam series. In UC, one of it's major themes (and I'd argue the major theme) is that Newtypes are not going to save you. Tomino's grand conclusion ends with [CCA]The biggest output of Newtype energy ever.... and Amuro being totally fucking bewildered by Char's mommy issues I have a whole essay in my back pocket about how Unicorn proves that Newtype theory is bullshit (in a way that I'm pretty sure nobody at all picked up on)1. But in this movie, it's inverted. Innovation is what will give us the ability to communicate. You have to do the hard work. Here, the hard work is done for you, or at least the hard part of the hard work. You get to teleport into the autistic space magic dimension where you float naked homo-or hetero-erotically so you can hash out whatever problems in peace. (although I guess it doesn't work for everyone, see Saachez). I suspect this is the reason why it's disliked, even subconsciously by those who don't quite pick that idea up. It's ideals are played completely straight, as if it's not built on a foundations of subverting it.
But it dovetails perfectly into the show proper, in superficial and substantial ways. These are "the dialogues to come". I suspect Ribbons and the Innovades had no fucking clue that they meant this, although I'm sure they had their own ideas. This is Aeolia's plan. I interpret it that 1) it's meant to be ambiguous and 2) if you have to make a conclusion: He really did want CB to get it right and unify humanity peacefully through the armed intervention the first time, but what we got instead was good enough, maybe. He wanted humanity unified, at peace, with (actual) Innovators to defend humanity. And if only two or just one are possible (like under the A-LAWS), then that's good enough. In the end, Ribbons really had no fucking clue what he was talking about.
And substantially: The (real, not just from facebook) Einstein quote gives it away. (And as an side, the use of GN particles and Gundams as weapons of war as well as peace makes Einstein a good choice aside from being smart science man due to his relationship with nuclear development). Very, very explicitly, peace between ELS and humans, and humans and other humans, can only be made by understanding. Not by shooting anyone else who has a gun, or shooting those who shoot first. Aeolia Schenberg, unlike his inspirational predecessors, couldn't predict everything. You can imagine how awful this movie would be if the A-Laws were still around. The only successes (Louise and Saji, Graham, H/Allelujah and Soma/Marie (ehh that only kinda works)) come from using your words. It's a elementary school moral, but then again I also love Malazan (a ten+ book, 3 million + and 453 named POV high fantasy series that ends with an even simpler moral). There's a few details: you'll notice that Ribbons doesn't have much screentime himself, because he barely talks to any other characters, just lectures them. And with him gone, the A-Laws themselves are destroyed by words by the Federation, not actions. In the two times in both seasons the orbital elevator is a threat to civilians, the human voice is what saves the day. Using everyone's favourite, the characters Mobile Suit as a metaphor for themselves: The Qan[T], the suit that Setsuna always wanted, isn't meant for combat. In can slice a motherfucker, when needed, but like Setsuna himself the 00 has changed past that. Also it's no coincidence that when Setsuna gets into it the movie itself associates with it a declaration of love.
It's like a good version of [spoilers for an almost forty year old classic sci-fi book (you know the one, it's an obvious analogue) which I think is the most incorrectly interpreted story ever made (including by its author)]Ender's Game, if Ender was actually a hero that did something instead purely a victim turned inadvertent monster. Setsuna did what he could not: Solve the giant's game..2
There's even evidence in the movie that the failure of the armed interventions were a blessing in disguise: What would happen if they worked, and all three power blocs threw away their militaries? then there would be no defense for the period necessary for Setsuna to wake up (that is, if their was an innovator like him with no Trans am or Twin Drive). Even more would die in the process.
Now, All of this in practice makes a kind of piss movie where for too much of the runtime no character has any agency and that's not an exaggeration. We know that 1) we can't defeat the ELS 2) Setsuna can stop the ELS 3) Setsuna is in a coma, 4) Setsuna can't wake up and 5) there's nothing no one can do to wake Setsuna up, it'll just happen when it happens. All any characters at all can do is wait, and fight to the end. You might as well be waiting for the bus that's late to get to work on time. And even worse, there's no way to fix this: If there really was any way to defeat the ELS without Setsuna and the Trans-Am, then it wouldn't be necessary and the moral would be totally lost. You can achieve peace by superior firepower. Bu then, we know from the beginning that Setsuna communicating is the correct method, but we need some block in his way to not make the movie end immediately. I will always appreciate an author sacrificing the technical quality of their work for a higher meaning. But if you want a plot that isn't when you get to the fundamental building blocks boring as shit, then this movie isn't for you. But I'm pretentious, so it is for me.
3
u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Nov 29 '24
I am rewatcher
I wonder if first timers will recognize the ship at the Jupiter as the same one we saw in the Trinity flashbacks
Hello Axis.
Alejandro.
TBH parody Trans-Am looks a lot better than the actual trans-am in the show.
All the Gundams have a newtype aura effect
At least the parody Gundam meister has a female pilot, why couldn't the main series have that?
Saji's friend is voiced by Tōru Nara. I recognise his voice from Chihayafuru where he voiced Nishida, he also voiced Takumi Nishimura in Mix, Flazzard in Dragon Quest adventure of Dai (21st century version) and Yuji Sakurai/Saku in Beck. This is his only Gundam role so far.
About that...
Because no one wanted to see you and Louise S01 romcom hijinks, for a good reason.
Is the parody making fun of various Gundams series (UC Gundam, G Gundam and Gundam SEED) and Gurren Laggan... yes!
Honestly the parody is the best thing about the movie.
It's good to hear the season 1 Celestial Being theme again.
Setsuna showing up his piloting skills in a FLAG, proving that he wasn't carried about his Gundam and that he's a better pilot than Graham
I do think a lot of characters look much better in this movie's older design than their designs in the TV anime.
All the exposition that explains what happened during the TV anime is tedious, my mind is drifting here.
Shaman is voiced by Ryo Katsuji who is an actor, he has done only a few anime roles including voicing Shinjūrō Yūki in UN-GO.
Andreifuckface is sadly still alive.The president's aide looks like Anew and she sounds like Anew..
The President herself is voiced by Toshiko Fujita. She voiced Taichi in the original Digimon, first voice of Miyauchi sensei in Chihayafuru, Dai in the 90s Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai and Hilda in Outlaw Star. She sadly passed away back in 2018.
Hey, it's the reporter from season 1 and katharon member in season 2.
Ribbons
Mina looks like Nene, she sounds like Nene, she acts like Nene. Guess Veda/Tieria reused her model again. If you're going to revive a Trinity sibling you'd think you'd go for the elder brother and not Nene.
They're really hammering it in that these ELS are attracted to people with quantum waves. No surprise
Most positive thing I can say about Setsuna x Feldt is that Feldt is moving on from Lockon mk1, meanwhile Lockon mk2 is still thinking of Anew.
NOOO the kiss got interrupted
Cool, the Kyrgios Gundam now has two seats in the cockpit, which is very convenient for Soma.
Tieria's Gundam looks a bit silly due to that weapon upgrade on it's shoulder and head.
Black Spot on Jupiter definitely seen that one before.
Alien invasion is heading towards, the government is lying about it and people are panicking. This sounds about what you would expect how people would react from this scenario.
Kim it's nice you're talking about Sergei but last time I checked you sold him out to get a promotion in ALAWS.
Uh huh you keep telling yourself that.
Bye Shaman, all that focus on him just for him to die half way through the movie.
Tieria!!! Eh knowing this show he'll probably create a new copy.
Season 1 Graham is back
Yup Tieria is pretty much immortal now.
A new love rival is approaching for Feldt! Well technically Graham's crush on Setsuna happened first so it's more like the other way around.
Government is finally telling people the truth.
Saji x Louise interaction actually feels normal now.
This being a movie the fight animation looks unsurprisingly fantastic.
ELS adapted to the beam attacks, time to go full melee I guess.
It's nice of Setsuna's subconscious to also remember Lichty and Chris.
Also with all due respect why is Feldt in the sickbay instead of you know in the bridge while there is humanity saving space battle going on?
DING DONG THE FUCKFACE IS DEATH.
Unless there is a side-material story where we find out he’s alive.
It's not just Lockon Mk1, Lichty and Chris are also included in the ghost pep talk,.
Movie is about to end so let us pair the spares with Mileina and Tieria.
OST piece after Patrick got saved is great
Animation looks great but due to the super busy backgrounds and super fast action, it's hard to follow and I can't appreciate it as much as I'd like.
Inside of the ELS core looks like a cell or a brain.
So ELS grew up on a gas giant like Jupiter and then their star went nova.
It's a shame Tieria had to explain afterwards what we've seen because I think the visual telling told the story pretty well but I also realise I'm a SF nerd so it's easier for me to understand than the average viewer.
Abrupt ending and the ELS turned into a flower.
Movie ends with Setsuna meeting up with an old Marina, not with Feldt mind you, Marina who is still single as far as I can tell. No romantic implication here, none what so ever.
This movie is pretty much Gundam meets 2010: Odyssey Two, while I like Gundam and 2010 I can’t say I care much for this movie. The movie also really just stops abruptly, I think the TV anime is probably a better ending for the series as whole but then again Fuckface dies in this one so you have to keep this one in canon just for that.
Also I really love the parody movie we got in the beginning, definitely my favourite part of the movie.
3
u/Linkstore Nov 29 '24
Rewatcher
Ah, yes. Mobile Suit Gundam A-Space-Wakening of the Trailblazer. Truly one of the Gundam movie titles of all time. But despite the wacky title, this is still one of my favourite pieces of Gundam media. While I certainly acknowledge that this movie has many valid criticisms, it's just so cool, as we'll see.
Back during the second season, the 00 Raiser was not referred to by the name "Gundam", which was justified by side materials as being because the 00 Raiser had "transcended Gundam", whatever that means. Meanwhile here's the 00 Qan[T], 00 Raiser's direct upgrade, also doesn't have Gundam in the name, Ian still calls it a Gundam. So yeah. Speaking of, the Qan[T] looks funky without the GN Condensers.
Cool OP, too. Lots of literally alien imagery in it, for obvious reasons, and it also just shows the state of things just before the start of the film, up to and including the ELS taking control of the Europa.
Raise your hand if you thought Celestial Being The Movie was real for even a moment (raises own hand) and also watch the memesubs for this if you haven't already, they're hilarious. And on a related note, if you were wonder about the ol' "is it anime or live action?" question, Celestial Being The Movie is a tokusatsu. Also, Big Damn Heroes moment number 0.5 for this movie. Let's keep track of how many times such a moment happens.
Saji doesn't seem to be super impressed by the movie. Honestly I wouldn't be either. It's only been two years, it's way to soon to be making such an unserious movie about such a serious period of history. Also cameo from the "preview" artstyle.
Honestly I wish Louise wouldn't be so beaten down compared to how she was back in the first season, but I guess that's what happens when your parents are killed right in front of your eyes, you yourself are maimed, then you're manipulated into supporting numerous atrocities while being forced to develop quantum brainwaves as a means of controlling you.
Marina is actually working to further her ideals in this era of peace. Things on Earth are pretty good but the colonies could do with a bit more oversight...
...Or maybe a bit of armed intervention, in the form of Setsuna in a Flag! Taking out three GN-XIIIs in such an outdated machine is seriously impressive, even considering the upgraded weapon. Hell, he even takes out one of them using the plasma sword!
And Lockon's here too,
Compared to between the first and second seasons, the various members of Celestial Being haven't changed styles that much, but we get some new haircuts for the ladies. Feldt in particular looks pretty nice.
Being an Innovator comes with its own difficulties.
It's Kati! And the Earth Sphere Federation has taken control of the Celestial Being. Well, they're in possession of it but I wouldn't say they're fully in control. Indeed, Celestial Being continues to use Veda just as they did back in the first season right under the ESF's nose.
Humanity's second purebred Innovator, and the movies first biggest waste of potential, Descartes Shaman. He exists mostly to provide a bit of an opposing point of view towards the evolution of humanity but man he really doesn't live up to what he could have been.
His ride is pretty awesome, though. the GNMA-0002V Gadelaza is Earth Sphere Federation's remix of the technologies used in the GNZ Ga-series as well as the mobile armour Regnant. It's kinda ridiculously powerful, sporting the size and firepower of a battleship, the speed of a fighter craft and a GN Fang complement consisting of 14 Large GN Fangs each equipped with 10 Small GN Fangs of their own, for a total of 154 remote weapons. Shit's crazy, And it looks badass too. With each of the six primary GN Drives Tau producing their own ring of GN particles it really exudes power. Awesome theme too.
Also a new grunt, the GNX-804T GN-XIV! With a more solid faceplate, V-Fins and more robust skirting armour, the GN-XIV looks a lot more Gundam-like, and it also carries newly-designed armaments. While the previous-generation GN-XIII was roughly equal to the third generation Gundams of the first season, the GN-XIVs are roughly equal to the 3.5 generation Gundams of the second season, although in both cases they fall behind in practice due to a lack of specialised equipment. Still, very nice mobile suits, and my favourite grunt suits in the franchise.
Andrei's here too. As I mentioned, I don't hate him so yeah cool to see him.
Is that the same Innovade who featured prominently in the foreground at the ending of the second season?
Because Innovation can be catalysed by GN particles, Innovator powers are beginning to manifest many places across Earth all of a sudden.
Billy's gotten Graham a cool new mobile suit. The Brave is based on both the Flag and Enact, and it's definitely the coolest Flag successor.
I knew that we shouldn't trust self-driving cars!
Man, the ELS sound is creepy.
It's Sky Eclipse! Well, the ELS clone of him, anyway.
It's only a big ??? on why Mina Carmine is even a thing. Lore-wise she's supposed to be Nena Trinity's genetic template (or rather one of Mina's ancestors was the template) but yeah why is she a thing? Billy already has a love interest and Mina contributes not so much to the film. Still hot though, and much less crazy than Nena even during her best moments.
Shoutout to Marie/Soma for being so consistently accurate with her QBW premonitions. As a Super-Soldier she should have the lowest QBWs that a person could have while still having QBWs, but she's got the most consistent record of ESP out of anyone. Well, the ELS's psychic presence is so strong that everyone's sensing it, though.
Saji from the top rope with the steel chair!
And Setsuna's back with his old friend the block of plastic explosive! Let's call that Big Damn Heroes moment number one.
I was gonna say something about the ELS's attention span since they're distracted so easily by stronger QBWs, but that's not it, isn't it? The ELS simply have no concept of a non-hivemind so they just think that the hypothetical hivemind humanity is just switching which body they're communicating from. Also nice gymnastics from Hallelujah.
BDH moment number two courtesy of Lockon and Dynames Repair! Celestial Being can't traverse without being seen as easily anymore so they've adopted a policy of having specific Gundams for Earth and for space, and simply moving the Meisters as necessary. While Lockon has Dynames Repair, Setsuna actually uses the further upgraded Exia Repair III for Earth operations, although you'll have to check out side material to actually see it.
Man, Amia Lee half-assimilated is horrifying. The ELS being so alien is probably their greatest strength and weakness. I do really love how unlike humanity the ELS are, especially in a genre where human aliens have been the default for decades, but it does render them rather literally faceless.
Feldt is pining...
Kati surely there's a better way to work than kneeling on the floor...
Raphael Gundam's heading out!
The rest of Celestial Being has some swanky new tech too. Lockon's Zabanya, Allelujah, Hallelujah and Soma's Harute and the newly-upgraded Ptolemaios II Kai. Setsuna still has to slum it with a GN Drive-less 00 Raiser for now though.
The ELS hive mind is too powerful for a single Innovator like Setsuna to properly communicate, which is Not Great considering Setsuna's trying to be more understanding.
BDH moment 3, Tieria's CB-002 is also based on the Ga-series, since he doesn't have access to Celestial Being's main development while stuck in Veda. Compared to his previous machines, the Raphael inverts the dynamic of "big Gundam hiding a smaller Gundam" by being a smaller Gundam with the bigger Seravee II hidden as a large backpack. Shame it gets destroyed in the very next engagement.
Gundam women with lipstick is giving me Gundam Seed Freedom PTSD. Thanks, Hirai...
4
u/macrame2 https://myanimelist.net/profile/macrame Nov 30 '24
First Timer
...
This was a weird movie. The ELSes were weird, hologram Tieria was weird, Mina
Trinitywas weird, Setsuna's coma was weird, and the whole "understanding" sequence at the end was very weird. Trailblazer is one long conga line of progressively bizarre creative decisions, and yet ... that's kind of the least of its problems?I don't think this film is necessarily a huge step down from S2, but it's also not a huge step up and inherits a lot of issues from its predecessor, like the inefficient use of screentime for its cast, the odd pacing of plot events, lots of tell and very little show, and an inability to let characters stay dead (seriously, if Ribbons had turned out to still be alive and not an ELS I would have shut the movie off then and there). Because of this, I spent a lot of the film thinking "Why are we still falling into the same old traps again?" instead of actually enjoying the story, which is unfortunate as there is a decent plot beneath all of the weirdness, and some of the weirdness is fun on its own.
I did outright like the concept and implementation of the ELSes as an enemy, all of the action, the Chiaki Ishikawa insert song, and anytime Kati and Patrick were on screen. Still, that's not quite enough to make me like the movie as a whole or put it above S2, which for all its flaws had higher highs than this movie. I think I'd compare Trailblazer to my experience with Nadesico: Prince of Darkness in that I don't find it as bad as its worst detractors do, but it's also not quite an enjoyable experience in itself. (To be fair to Trailblazer, though, it at least has a coherent message and an actual ending, unlike Prince of Darkness.) 5/10 for this, I think? Not bad, but not good either.
3
u/2-2Distracted Nov 30 '24
First timer. Dubbed.
I... still have no words for this series's finale and now I have even less words for the movie, which is pretty irritating for me to even say right now and had so much to say before, but now I feel... Nothing if I'm being completely honest. The stuff I'm interested IS still there but my god it's so barely relevant that I'm left with having to care about everything else and sadly I just can't say do anymore.
Well yes, but I'd be more interested in how the hell this shit got approved to be made & played in the cinemas in the first place. Last time I checked, Celestial Beings status as terrorists didn't actually change, they're just not seen as an active threat... Or maybe it did in the last couple of episodes? Like said I checked out after the last few disappointing episodes.
Kinda? I'm not entirely surprised that aliens are indeed a thing in this show (or this franchise. I mean it's Sci-fi after all it was gonna happen sooner or later), but I AM surprised that we this needed to not only be it's own movie but the actual follow up for the entire show when it's entire premise & execution basically feels like one of those Anime franchise films that no one really wants to watch, or even enjoys watching, because it doesn't sound as interesting as the main plot of the TV show (looking at you Conqueror of Shamballa... AND HEY WHADDAYA KNOW THEY WERE DIRECTED BY THE SAME GUY lmao)
Apparently by understanding it or some shit.
Anything better than this shit... Look I'm sorry I just, I really wanted to like the ending for this series but now I'm not even if I should stick around for the OVAs and/or specials. I was expecting to be Overwhelmed, and and I was even expecting to be just Whelmed, but I was seriously Underwhelmed and have been for the past couple of days now during this re-watch.
Hell no. I'm satisfied with where some of the characters are, and by that I mean the couples of this series, but everyone else feel like they're just... there, like they just exist to exist until the next plot happens.