30 November 2010

Gundam 00 Movie: An Afterthought

Photobucket
I've watched Gundam 00 Movie: A wakening of the Trialblazer in a cinema a little more than 2 weeks ago. As I have been eager to watch the movie for a long time, it is good to be able to watch on the big screen finally.

This post is to be served as an afterthought about the movie, not a review of it (no, not at all) nor on the entire series. I'll try to avoid spoilers for those who want to watch it, so whatever I say in this post are a bit vague overall; it's just something for me to share my thoughts on.

N.B. I do notice that I have very rarely talked about anime on my blog, which has mostly focused on merchandise/toys and other anime-related stuff. With this said, this is going to be one of the very few times I will comment something about an anime itself.


Photobucket

Gundam 00 Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer was aired in Japanese and Singapore cinema on 18th September 2010. It is a movie to conclude the Gundam 00 series, which had 2 seasons of 25 episodes (total 50) aired from 2007 to 2009.

At first, only one cinema would air the movie with approximately 6 screenings in total over 3 weeks or so. Not surprisingly all tickets were sold out very quickly, and I wasn't able to get one for myself. It's only until 2 weekends ago I have found out that other cinemas from the same company have started to do regular showings (i.e. daily), so I was able to grab a seat in the closest cinema in the next hour. Even though I have heard mixed opinions from the Internet and from fellow bloggers (mostly from Singapore), I just couldn't wait any longer ^^;

But I must say I was a tad surprised on how little promotion there was for the movie; I couldn't even find a promotional poster at the cinema I've watched, as if the movie was intended to be low profile. Besides, I wouldn't know that there would be regular showing in cinema if I didn't decide to check on the actual cinema website personally (out of curiousity).

For a (very brief) recap on what happens on the two anime seasons of Gundam 00:

Photobucket

In the first season we see the introduction of Celestial Beings and its 4 Gundams entering "armed intervention" against the world's 3 factions/superpowers while carrying out a supposedly deceased scientist's (Aeolia Schenberg) grand plan in an attempt to remove conflicts and warfare. The 3 factions, aided by a traitor originally working for Celestial Beings, united together and defeated the Gundams, forming the new Earth Sphere Federation afterwards.

Photobucket

In the second season we see the world 4 years after Celestial Being's defeat and disappearance, and is oppressed with an iron fist from a separate military branch of Earth Sphere Federation called the A-Laws. Celestial Being reappeared, regrouped with 4 new Gundams (00 Gundam being their trump card, piloted by protagonist Setsuna F Seiei) and fought primarily against the A-Laws. It was only later they have learnt that there was a another group that was pulling the strings on the conflict from the backstage - a group of posthuman individuals originally created to support Aeolia Schenberg's plan and to guide humans through evolution and advance humanity into deep space but decided to take over the world on their own.

Photobucket

The movie takes place 2 years after the end of 2nd season. With the main threats from previous season eliminated, Celestial Being continues to operate in the dark and overlook the peace of the world as the Earth Sphere Federation establishes pacifist and tolerating approach to manage world problems, while monitoring the emergence of the evolving posthumans called Innovators across the world that may help guide the world to advance humanity as Aoelia Schenberg has planned. However, a new enemy appears in the form of an extraterrestrial alien has entered within Earth's vicinity, and asEarth Sphere Federation and Celestial Being joint forces together for one final mission against such unprecedented threat, the protagonist Setsuna F Seiei, who has evolved into a posthuman Innovator throughout the course of 2nd season, would soon realise his purpose for evolution, with the aid of his newest Gundam - Gundam 00 Qan[T].

As for the movie itself, I must say this Gundam vs alien concept is quite radical, but ultimately I think the points are shown at the end. The movie seems to have a very mixed feedback, with some people downright rejecting the idea (of aliens like Macross and what the movie is trying to point out), and some people managed to draw meaningful points out of things. Plot is fairly straightforward, but there are a few symbolism here and there too it seems which may make some parts appear more abstract than they seem. Pity how some voices against the movie are very strong, and bashed outright that it ruins Gundam traditions, wants 'revolution' but it fails miserably, and that its a rehash of Gunbuster but with Gundam etc etc.

Bad things aside, I am glad that some people manage to draw meanings out of it and treasure it. I think ultimately unlike the UC universe and timeline (which is pretty dark overall I must say), the director and writer (Seiji Mizushima and Yousuke Kuroda, who have no prior experience on Gundam series) feel optismistic of the world they would like to imagine. It's not the best series for Gundam metaseries, but definitely not the worst. Perhaps some more stuff can be extended on (perhaps an immediate aftermath on what happened to the rest of the characters), but I think it's an interesting change to previous Gundam series we had in the past.

Photobucket

6 comments:

  1. Great review buddy! I am not a fan of the 00 series. I don't want to start a ruckus here, so I won't go into it anymore than that. I did like a few of the Gundam designs, namely the Exia and 00 but the Qan[T] looks too "elf like" to me. The rest of the MS designs I can pass on as well.

    I'm glad you got to see the film though and again, great review!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Apt-1B:
    Not everyone is a fan of everything, so that's ok. Besides, Gundam 00 is a bit different overall in terms of mecha designs and perhaps its ideology, so those who are used to the old UC era may find it rather radical, and perhaps not very Gundam-like.

    This isn't exactly a review, and I have actually decided to be quite vague on it to minimise the spoilers involved. It appears that people intepret the movie different so it makes the feedback even more mixed than it is already. For now I've decided to share more of my thoughts between friends and such; the open online community is simply a bit too prone to harsh languages and rages.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Q,

    good review. To be honest, i am a big fan of the UC universe, and rejected the idea of 00 and Wing outright. Some of the 00 designs started to win me over and i gave 00 a chance and have watched AND enjoyed 00. Yes it is different to the UC universe and it is meant to be. With an open mind one can enjoy a lot of different anime! I do look forward to watching this movie... curious to know if you watched it with subtitles? I remember watching Skycrawlers when it was released in tokyo, i couldnt understand a word but thoroughly enjoyed the visual spectacle of the movie.

    BTW still trying to finish zeon missions in 0081... ;P

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ oliver:
    Sorry for the late reply ^^;

    Not everybody enjoys everything, and that is perfectly understandable; we all have different tastes on things. Interesting to know that you originally didn't like 00 but ended up enjoying it. Opening up the mind does allow one to appreciate a greater horizon, though I can see how it can be hard sometimes, like in this case with Gundam 00 Movie with it being very radical and out of the framework that previous Gundam series, especially those in Universal Century, have established.

    I watched the movie with Chinese subtitles in the local cinema. I must say I am really lucky to be able to watch it in big screen rather than having to wait for DVD to come out!

    You watched Skycrawlers in Tokyo! Was it good? I like the WWII-like designs of the planes, so I have been curious about it. As for Gundam Senki I'll PM you when I have a free weekend to play mercenary mode together!

    ReplyDelete
  5. GREAT REVIEW Q, LIKE YOU I ENJOYED THE 00 SERIES AND MOVIE AS WELL. I ENJOYED THE MESSAGE OF HOPE
    AND UNITY FOR THE GOOD OF ALL. LIKE YOURSELF I WOULD HAVE LIKED SOME MORE AFTER THOUGHTS ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER MEMBERS OF CELESTIAL BEING
    AFTER THE BATTLE WITH THE ELS. AS FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T LIKE THE SERIES OR MOVIE; I THINK YOU SHOULD FOLLOW GUNDAM 00 MESSAGE OF UNDERSTANDING
    AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @ TURLEDAD123:
    Sorry that it took me some time to get around to reply to your comment.

    The movie itself really is quite different from the TV series or any other Gundam stories, so not everybody could accept it. The idea of understanding each other is very optimistic, and I can imagine those who have faced a lot of hardship and conflicts in their lives would deeply reject this due to harsh reality of the real world.

    A pity that there are no mention of what happened to other characters at the end, but I'd assume it's a good ending for everybody. At least it's good to know that you've enjoyed the movie and the message it gives.

    ReplyDelete

Be sure to copy long comments to clipboard in case of Internet or server problems