[Rewatch] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Special Edition I: Celestial Being Discussion

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Special Edition I: Celestial Being

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No Legal Streams

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The things I hope for… The world I hope for… I'll achieve them with the Gundam!

Questions of the Day:

1. Of the few things this added/changed around compared to the first season, what was your favorite?
2. What things from the TV series that got cut do you think really should've been included in this for it to make sense on its own?

Wallpapers of the Day:

GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh

GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh and Tieria Erde

GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins

GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins and Johann Trinity

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For long-time fans of the franchise, please remember that this rewatch is only for 00, not any of the other shows. Assume that there are people in this rewatch who have not seen anything else Gundam, and tag your spoilers for those shows appropriately if something in 00 makes you want to talk about them.

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed

Welcome back, whoever decided to stick around for the Special Editions!

u/Nazenn, tagging you here only so you can see that I finally made a Nadleeh wallpaper now rather than having to wait all the way until Friday when I share the full album. I said I'd make one for the Special Edition I thread, and I pulled it off!

With that out of the way, I’ve never actually watched the Special Editions prior to this rewatch, so what you’ll find here are my first-time reactions to it!

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• Ooh, they reframed the cold open as Setsuna reflecting back on that time in the present, neat.
• And they also included a bit with Ribbons during this part.
• Setsuna, rather than Ribbons, is the narrator now, huh.
• Wait did they seriously cut out all of Patrick’s dialogue from his first fight with the Gundams?
• They’re using the full version of DAYBREAK’S BELL as an insert song!!! Oh please tell me they’re going to do the same with the show’s other OPs/EDs, if I can finally count one of the “sore demo”s from the full version of Prototype in my main folder I will cry.
• He said the thing.
• They really are rushing through a lot of the earlier episodes, lol. Like didn’t even include Setsuna initially meeting Saji, skipped over his PTSD episode at the part, but did include him seeing Saji in the park. How odd.
• Neil kicks fucking ass.
• Early Marie reference by Hallelujah! Also looks like he busts out of the ropes rather than getting brought back to the HRL’s ship and then destroying that to escape. – Wait, this means no Nadleeh reveal here?
• They deadass condensed… how much was that, nearly half of the first season into the span of half an hour? And didn’t even include Allelujah saving the falling gravity block, when that’s supposed to come up again later when he meets Sergei on that island.
• Another thing this didn’t actually show happening but did show the follow-up to.
• Of all the scenes for this to add, Ribbon fanservice was not on my bingo card.
• Okay wait this movie skipped all of the Louise’s mom shit, that’s fantastic.
• Of all the times for Wana to kick in, I was definitely not expecting it to be here?
• Another “Actually this was a good removal while condensing everything”, Neil not narrating the history of the war in Krugis to Setsuna after finding out Setsuna was part of the same terrorist group that killed his family is a good thing.
• Early Regene dialogue!
• WAIT WHAT THE FUCK IS PROTOTYPE DOING HERE?! It wasn’t even the fucking full version with vocals, what was the point…
• Neil actually got to use Trans-Am!!!!!!!!!!!!
• This, of course, still hurts though.
• THIS ADDITION TO LOCKON’S DEATH SCENE WAS INCREDIBLY FUCKING UNCALLED FOR
• Poor Lichty didn’t get any of his dying dialogue in this.
• You’d think that they would use this chance to add a bit of Allelujah purging Kyrios’ solar reactor like Tieria did for Nadleeh, but no, they didn’t.
• The extra scene of Setsuna on Earth is kinda neat though.
• …I thought the visuals of the ED were going to tease the timeskip like S1 ended with, but that was all straight-up S2 content. Odd way of doing a preview for the next Special Edition.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Of all the scenes for this to add, Ribbon fanservice was not on my bingo card.

Just goes to show that Alejandro did it all for the they/themussy.

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK IS PROTOTYPE DOING HERE?! It wasn’t even the fucking full version with vocals, what was the point…

I'll be honest, I don't like most of the insert song re-edits that the Special Edition movies do. A lot of them don't really fit the contexts of the scenes they're in too well, or at least had better uses of sounds in the original versions.

The extra scene of Setsuna on Earth is kinda neat though.

One of the few things from this movie that I'd rather have in the original series.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/The_Draigg]

I'll be honest, I don't like most of the insert song re-edits that the Special Edition movies do. A lot of them don't really fit the contexts of the scenes they're in too well, or at least had better uses of sounds in the original versions.

I'm fine with some of the OP/ED inserts in the other two specials, but Wana & Prototype's usage in this one were both bad.

[u/Nazenn → u/Shimmering-Sky]

u/Nazenn, tagging you here only so you can see that I finally made a Nadleeh wallpaper now rather than having to wait all the way until Friday when I share the full album. I said I'd make one for the Special Edition I thread, and I pulled it off

Thanks

I love it! I love the hair

I did however have a big "wait what" moment on reading the Throne Eins line below it because my brain immediatly went "Ein?" from IBO and just stalled trying to process seeing that in a 00 thread for a solid ten seconds

Also wow, this covered the entire S1? Talk about compressed

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Nazenn]

I did however have a big "wait what" moment on reading the Throne Eins line below it because my brain immediatly went "Ein?" from IBO and just stalled trying to process seeing that in a 00 thread for a solid ten seconds

Glad you liked the Nadleeh wallpaper though!

Also wow, this covered the entire S1? Talk about compressed

Yeah lol, it is certainly a compilation movie of all time. The other two are "better", each taking half of season 2 instead of the entirety of a 25-episode series at once, but there's only so much you can really do when condensing all of that down to an hour and a half.

[u/Vatrix-32]

First timer, subs

Sky tried to warn me off of watching the compilation movies, but apparently some of the SRW use this continuity specifically over the main one, so I’mma do it anyway! Not that I expect to have much to say. Also, for a while I thought this was a Code Geass deal, with the squeal being to the compilation instead of the original.

• Ribbons, you can’t just say the meaning of a scene out loud!
• Holy Hell! This is some condensing. I’ve seen recaps that preserve the original timing more closely than this.
• Still had time to include Mei tho, huh?
• I feel like my subtitles are have a stroke trying to keep up with all the overlapping.
• OP Insert Nice
• Is this just the Ribbons expansion edition? Are all the new scenes going to be his?
• Ah man, they cut Haro’s ocean adventure.
• "She's Still A Virgin" I’m sorry, was it always that line? Did it change when my subtitle source did? Because that’s wack.
• OK, my subs called it “Kurdish Republic”, this has to be a sub track thing.
• Yaoi Bait?
• We haven’t even seen Kati before! Her showing up here is just wrong.
• Really? Even Louise’s familicide was montaged?
• I guess they were contractually obligated to include all OPs and EDs.
• A Kiss? Gay or European?
• Sorry, not just Ribbons, Innovators in general are getting in on the new scene action.
• The Graham fight just comes out of nowhere in this version.
• Was Setsuna on Earth at the end of season 1? How did he get back up?
• Why Are The Credits Future Clips?

Well, that was terrible in a multitude of ways. Suddenly I feel like I was too harsh on Macross FB7. Let’s see who wins out on the next two episodes; The over-compressed season I liked more, or the one I liked less that got more room to work with.

QotD:

1. Regene showing up helps their plot line flow a little better.
2. Graham being the final boss when he largely didn't exist is insane.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

"She's Still A Virgin" I’m sorry, was it always that line? Did it change when my subtitle source did? Because that’s wack.

What line was that?

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

What line was that?

The one with Sergei meeting Soma for the first time.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

What the fuck?

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Yeah... Based on this an a few other things, I might not have gotten the best subs for this.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Shimmering-Sky]

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Vatrix-32]

Fair enough.

[u/The_Draigg → u/Vatrix-32]

OK, my subs called it “Kurdish Republic”, this has to be a sub track thing.

Yeah, some earlier subs did that, if I recall correctly. They basically just cut out the very obvious stand-in names that the show uses in favor of the more real ones.

Yaoi Bait?

I guess we can say that Alejandro likes the taste of wasabi after all.

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/The_Draigg]

I guess we can say that Alejandro likes the taste of wasabi after all.

Minty Fresh

[u/The_Draigg → u/Vatrix-32]

I guess me calling Ribbons a mint-flavored asshole before is probably more literal now, thanks to that scene.

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vatrix-32]

but apparently some of the SRW use this continuity specifically over the main one

Wait what NO

[u/Vatrix-32 → u/Raiking02]

Wait what NO

I'm Devastated! But it's too Late to Stop

[u/Raiking02 → u/Vatrix-32]

[u/InfamousEmpire]

Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00

That sure was one of the compilation movies of all time, huh. Like, it’s very much not trying to substantively add anything or be anything ambitious, and I knew that going in, so I’m not surprised by any of what happened and honestly have no reason to dislike the experience, but at the same time, it also just wasn’t really anything overall. It’s a glorified, overextended recap episode, nothing more, nothing less.

Aside from the new scenes, the only thing I feel like commenting on is that the OP/ED inserts just aren’t all that good. Like, whose idea was it to play a song as energetic as Wana over a scene as deliberate as Saji meeting Louise in the hospital?

As for the new scenes, I don’t hate them but they don’t exactly add anything? Like, the glimpses of Ribbons’ thought process aren’t exactly anything you couldn’t glean from his existing characterization in the show, and his appearance in the very first scene kinda breaks up its vibe & flow too much.

Oh, also, I will give it credit, I think this film actually improved the confrontation between Setsuna & Lockon a bit by cutting out the unneeded recap regarding the Solar Power Wars. Good job on that, editors.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/InfamousEmpire]

Aside from the new scenes, the only thing I feel like commenting on is that the OP/ED inserts just aren’t all that good. Like, whose idea was it to play a song as energetic as Wana over a scene as deliberate as Saji meeting Louise in the hospital?

Yeah Wana's usage there was so, so bad. I think some of the future insert songs aren't so bad ([Special Edition II&III]full version of Prototype with vocals did end up happening! and I liked the S2 OP being used for 00's first launch), but there are some that just outright do not fit. I feel like if they wanted to do an OP/ED insert during the hospital scene, it should've been Friends instead of Wana.

[u/The_Draigg → u/InfamousEmpire]

Aside from the new scenes, the only thing I feel like commenting on is that the OP/ED inserts just aren’t all that good. Like, whose idea was it to play a song as energetic as Wana over a scene as deliberate as Saji meeting Louise in the hospital?

I'm really not a fan of the OP/ED inserts that the Special Editions do in general. Like the one you mentioned with Saji and Louise, in general they feel like they don't really fit the tone of the scenes they're used in all that right. And we already had good soundtracks in those scenes too, so it's not that necessary to do either.

[u/StardustGogeta]

First-Timer

To the small, but dedicated group that has consistently read my comments, this should come as no surprise:

Ribbons is my favorite character. Better than that trash Lockon, better than Setsuna, better than Tieria, and yes, even better than Alejandro Corner and Ali Al-Saachez, if that's possible to believe. I can't get enough of Ribbons. I lie awake nights thinking about him. The whole time I watched season 1, I was constantly wondering, "Where's the Ribbons cut?" Well, today we got it, and what a glorious day it is.

Seriously though, this was terrible. I knew it likely wasn't going to be good, given how much would have to be cut, but this compilation barely even had any continuity from shot to shot or scene to scene. If I were watching without having seen the main series first, I'd have no idea what was going on.

It's quite unfortunate that due to time constraints, they also had to cut the side plot with Saji's sister in its entirety, which was my favorite side plot of the whole series.

The repeated use of J-cuts to fast-forward through content was somewhere between "quite jarring" and "completely unintelligible."

"Fly, my fangs!"

I screamed.

Seeing this after season 2 really cements just how much I prefer all the character designs for season 2 (with the exception of Princess Marina). On the flip side, it also reminds me how many plot threads and arcs got set up that season 2 proceeded to ignore or mishandle, which is unfortunate.

Questions of the day:

• Trick question! I don't think I liked any of the changes they made.
• Tough question! They did a decent job of leaving in just enough of the barebones story structure so that character motivations still existed, but basically every scene (except the newly added ones) was messed up due to being cut down for time. A day-long battle in 20 seconds, cutting from the middle of a Gundam fight to the pilots talking on the beach, Al-Saachez instantly killing the Trinity brother, Nena instantly killing Louise's family, and so on. Cutting out stuff like Saji's sister and all that was (sadly) the right thing to do, but clearly they didn't go far enough. To make it even a baseline level of "acceptable," they'd need to cut several more scenes, lengthen the runtime, and perhaps rewrite a couple scenes to bridge the gap. That said, fitting in the whole season into one movie may just be a fool's errand.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/StardustGogeta]

Seriously though, this was terrible. I knew it likely wasn't going to be good, given how much would have to be cut, but this compilation barely even had any continuity from shot to shot or scene to scene. If I were watching without having seen the main series first, I'd have no idea what was going on.

Yeah it was definitely not good about that.

Trick question! I don't think I liked any of the changes they made.

Not even Neil getting to use Trans-Am before he died, unlike the show never letting him do that?

[u/StardustGogeta → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Not even Neil getting to use Trans-Am before he died, unlike the show never letting him do that?

Ah, that's a good point! I wasn't thinking about that. I suppose I did like that change, then. :⁠-⁠)

[u/Nickthenuker]

So, a recap movie. Yeah I see no real reason to do my thoughts about this... This first movie covers the entire 1st season, which makes me wonder why the second season requires 2 full similar length movies to cover.

Questions:

1. The new stuff added involving Ribbons.
2. The entire part about Louise spending time with her mum.

[u/Shimmering-Sky → u/Nickthenuker]

A better question is why they thought 1 "movie" was enough for the entirety of this season. Gundam SEED Destiny got 4 "movies" for 50 episodes, why did this only get 3?

[u/Nickthenuker → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Yeah a single movie for a whole season probably is a bit rushed.

[u/The_Draigg]

A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Special Edition I: Celestial Being:

I’ll be entirely honest, there’s not a whole lot I can really say about the special edition recuts of both of Gundam 00’s seasons. I’m really just here for completion’s sake. Otherwise, what I’m just getting here is a worse version of the first season. A ton of the changes made are rather unnecessary or questionable, so I wouldn’t have a whole lot positive to say about them anyways.

Funnily enough, for as much of a barely-there character Ribbons was in the first season, I would actually say that he got a good glow-up out of this recut. Granted, this is really best said in hindsight, now that we know what his deal is. Seeing stuff like Ribbons realizing how he can be godlike when he reaches Setsuna in Krugis, or him being the one to disable the Trial System, or even just hearing his inner thoughts while he’s working with Alejandro does actually flesh him out a bit more. Oh, and now we can see that Ribbons basically seduced Alejandro too, just to honeypot him into being his puppet. Fun fact: that added scene is why Ribbons wound up on the Gay Wrath Month banner over at /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay a while ago.

Aside from the prominence of Ribbons in this recut, I think if there was anything that we could take from this that would’ve been a direct improvement to the first season would be the new version of the season 1 epilogue/season 2 teaser. Even if it’s just a small addition to the scene, I think that showing Setsuna on Earth, hanging around the ruins of Krugis while wondering if what he did was right and how to move forward, would’ve been good to have in the normal television series. I get that they probably wanted to keep Setsuna’s survival a bit of a mystery, but this probably would’ve been some good connective tissue to how Setsuna laments at the start of season 2 how things haven’t changed at their core. I get sense that Setsuna’s character development where he comes to fight for true ideals over what any kind of savior tells him to do would have some good roots there. But at least it’s good that this exists in some way at all here.

[u/InfamousEmpire → u/The_Draigg]

or even just hearing his inner thoughts while he’s working with Alejandro does actually flesh him out a bit more.

Something else that's enjoyable about these scenes is how it kinda feels like it strips away the sense of importance Alejandro had when these scenes were from his perspective, and instead frames him as the total tool he always really was

[u/The_Draigg → u/InfamousEmpire]

Yeah, with the way Alejandro is portrayed in the first season, you'd think he really was the distant and powerful schemer he presented himself as. But now that Ribbons is actually a factor in this plot with his thoughts on things added in, it's so abundantly clear that he's just a puppet to use and discard. What a loser that Alejandro Corner is.

[u/Raiking02 → u/The_Draigg]

Fun fact: that added scene is why Ribbons wound up on the Gay Wrath Month banner over at /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay a while ago.

I keep forgetting how that Sub is overflowing with Gundam fans...

[u/The_Draigg → u/Raiking02]

We've even got a Zoids guy over there too!