Mobile Suit Gundam SEED & Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

To be honest, this is a series that made Syibrie very interested into robots. To be honest, it is on top of Syibrie's most favorite animes he has ever watched! Despite it being war-themed, there are a lot of  aspects that teaches many things about life. A very recommendable series for those who loves to read along the lines about something big that carries an even bigger message to the viewers. For this post, we will be reviewing about two animes. Yes, TWO animes, but can actually be considered as one as the second one is actually the sequel of the first despite not being called as the second season. Thus, we give you.....

The First:

Title: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Mangaka: Chiaki Morosawa

Genre: Military, Science - Fiction, Mecha, Romance, Drama, Action, Space

Number of episodes: 50

Period of airing: October 5, 2002 - September 27 2003

Publisher(s) (of manga) and

Production Company(s) for

both Japanese and English versions: MBS, TBS, Animax, Cartoon Network, YTV, Anime Central, Sunrise Inc, Asatsu DK, Mainichi Broadcasting, Bandai Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Atelier Musa

Ratings: R - 17+ - 7.8/10 (IMDb.com); 8.7/10 (tv.com); 8.00/10 (myanimelist.net)

The original crew members of the Archangel.

Sypnosis:
C.E. 71: In the midst of war between the Naturals (OMNI) and Coordinators (ZAFT), a unit from ZAFT is dispatched to hijack the Earth Alliance's newly developed mobile suits on the neutral colony of Heliopolis. Orb Civilian Coordinator Kira Yamato attends the technical college on Heliopolis. After ZAFT hijacks 4 of the 5 mobile suits, Kira stumbles upon the last one, Strike, forced to pilot it to save his and his friend's lives. During this confusion, Kira is also reunited with his childhood Coordinator friend, Athrun Zala, who ironically turns out to be a ZAFT soldier and one of the hijackers at Heliopolis. Having control of Strike, Kira joins the Earth Alliance boarding the ship known as Archangel, to protect his friends while despairing over becoming the enemy of his childhood friend and people.

The GAT-X105 Strike in its first action, piloted by Kira

The Aile Strike getting ready to be launched.

The Aile Strike about to be launched.

Our View:
This anime, when viewed thoroughly and not just thinking it as a story of war and robots, is actually a story about friendship. Kira and Athrun are best friends ever since they were kids. At one point, Athrun had to move to PLANT, only for Kira to follow up later. However, a controversy occured when a residential area of the Coordinators was destroyed, signalling a war called the Bloody Valentine between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. When Kira and Athrun met once again, both of them were members of the two different warring sides, which forces both of them to fight and eventually kill each other. Imagine you are pitted against your very own bestfriend to a fight to the death, which one would you choose - loyalty to the cause of the side your are fighting for, or saving the friendship of which you have longed for to be reunited? When you are forced to go up against a friend, given the situation that both of you were never the ones who caused the havoc in the first place, could you pull the trigger? Mobile Suit Gundam SEED does not only give you the excitement of megalithic fights between machines and the consequences of war, but also a tale to two friends fighting each other and the untold romance that has always happened in wars that will really ignite your soul. The character development and animation has gained praise, but similarities with previous Gundam series have drawn both comparisons and criticism from Gundam fans. Eddy and Syibrie, launch!

Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne, Athrun Zala and Cagalli Yula Atha

A story of two friends pitted against each other.

A scene between Athrun and Cagalli where Athrun tried to explain the reasons of his actions when he fought Kira, where he thought that he killed Kira.

"He was an enemy! He was no longer on my side! I had no choice but to kill him, did I?"

The ZGMF-X10A Freedom.

The Second:

Title: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Destiny

Mangaka: Chiaki Morosawa

Genre: Military, Science - Fiction, Mecha, Romance, Drama, Action, Space

Number of episodes: 50

Period of airing: February 25, 2005 - October 29 2006

Publisher(s) (of manga) and

Production Company(s) for

both Japanese and English versions: MBS, TBS, Animax, Cartoon Network, YTV, Anime Central, Sunrise Inc, Asatsu DK, Mainichi Broadcasting, Bandai Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Atelier Musa

Ratings: R - 17+ - 7.1/10 (IMDb.com); 8.8/10 (tv.com); 7.44/10 (myanimelist.net)

The three ace pilots in the SEED franchise:

Athrun, Kira, Shinn

Infinite Justice, Strike Freedom, Destiny

Synopsis:

C.E. 73: While the second battle of Yachin Due brought the war between the Naturals and Coordinators to a close, tensions between the two races are at an all-time high. During a meeting between PLANT Chairman Gilbert Dullindal and Orb Representative Cagalli Yula Athha, a unit of soldiers hijack ZAFT's newly developed Gundams. ZAFT soldier Shinn Asuka along with his friends at the ZAFT ship Minerva sortie in attempt to deter this hijacking. With the assistance of Cagalli's bodyguard, Athrun Zala, the Minerva chases after the unknown ship that hijacked the Gundams until an even greater problem occurs leading to the start of the second Bloody Valentine war.

Shinn in the Core Splendor, the cockpit part of the Impulse.

Our View:

Basically, SEED: Destiny is the sequel of the previous anime, which circles around the occurrence of the second Bloody Valentine, which is caused by the falling of the ruins of space colony towards Earth, done by rogue ZAFT soldiers. Them being ZAFT soldiers has caused a war to happen once again between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces. Much like the first series, the story revolves around the lives of the Mobile Suit/Gundam pilots because each time they start their machines, their lives are always at stake, which shows us the conflicts that are confronted by these young men. Despite not rated as high as the first series, those fans of the first must really continue to watch its sequel. The main characters are still pretty much the same, in addtion to new main characters such as Shinn Asuka, ZAFT's new ace pilot and the decisions that he has to make in life in order to live on. Other than that, similar to its prequel, this series is about trying to give the awareness to the public of how bad war can be to both sides of the warring sides and that war would only cause more pain that good.

The main casts of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Destiny.

The ZGMF - X42S Destiny, Shinn's new machine given by ZAFT after his achievements, which was resembled the Strike because of it array of weaponry and mode changes.

The ZGMF X20A Strike Freedom, considered to be the greatest machine of the SEED era, piloted by none other that the Ultimate Coordinator, Kira Yamato.





Trivia:

• Continuing on the story of the conflict between Naturals and Coordinators, Gundam Seed Destiny is the first TV sequel series to an alternate universe (non-Universal Century) Gundam show.
• The name for Athrun Zala's new Mobile Suit, "Infinite Justice" comes from "Operation Infinite Justice" which was the original name for President Bush's counterattack against the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (The final name was Operation Lasting 'Freedom')
• The name for Kira Yamato's new Mobile Suit, "Strike Freedom" pays homage to the Mobile Suits he piloted in the first Gundam SEED, the Strike Gundam and the Freedom Gundam.

(Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2669&page=22)