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Blacks Anime Reivews; It's not really just Gundam anymore
Topic Started: Jun 22 2010, 03:06 PM (3,588 Views)
Black Golem
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With neither Will alone nor Strength alone
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I'm currently rewatching Victory Gundam figured why not do a big ZZ style?

anyway 10 episodes in and I can honestly say I'm enjoying things, Uso has hints of Judau in him but is a better pilot though he does have a lookie at the manual. In the first 10 episodes he's displayed some cool tatics and seems to come up with something new every battle and is very good at using the environment, in episode 10 he also invents the panted throw his legs at his opponent move which would latter be copied by Shinn (only not with his legs ). As is normal he's already been called a Newtype behind his back but not so much as a flash out of the boy himself he's just incredibly adaptable. The fact his Video game are old MS simulators probably helped

The victory its self is beautifully simplistic it feels like the original Gundam only more rounded and its quite hard to imagine that this would crap on every other UC suit thats came before. The Zanscare units like the Zolo's are wacky but cool with there helicopter MA modes and Beam roters for flight plus shield and we have even seen the Battle Bike units of Victory which were novel.

One thing I have to say when it comes to Victory though is the fights, theres very few shows that Ive enjoyed watching the fights off there all very well done and blanced between throwing a new suit at Uso to giving him some kind of handie cap (try fighting with out arms or legs Uso!)and I like how the Victory isn't all that powerful and it does get damaged admittedly there are always fresh legs to be sent out but its there.

on the Zanscare side of things Chronicle the Char of the show comes off as simply a nice guy, he's kinda in between MSG Char and Zechs but not to the noble warrior level of Zechs, and in fact this is the same for most of Zanscares normal troops they all seem like general nice guys even when Fula one of the Commanders uses the guillotine to kill the leader of the LM Uso is with shes now getting punished by the higher ups for been to cruel!

One of the problems I have had is with the first few episodes been shown in the order 3-1-2-4 this was mainly so the Victory could be seen in the first episodes and though the other episodes are shown flashback style it still hurts it a bit. Uso seems a bit undecided at first here been torn between wanting to live at home quietly with Shakti like a normal 13 year old and not wanting his new LM friends to be killed by the end of Episode 10 however he seems to be resigned to the fact he is now a part of this war for better or worse and Shakti doesn't seem happy about it.

Katajina is of course here first off been rescued by Uso before been captured by Chronicle, however you can tell shes becoming attracted to him, even some of the other Zanscare people make jokes about why he captured her, but she does seem to still like Uso and her main problem seems to be with the LM using Uso a child in a war. things are shaping up good :)

over all this first leg is a solid 9 let down only by its mixed start
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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ok now for V2 part (yes really bad pun intended)

anyway I'm now up to episode 20, at this point I expect to have met and know pretty much the character, anyone that comes in now should be relevant to the plot, I also expect to bee seeing the main character skills come into there own at this point in the show. With that said Victory doesn't disappoint Uso is coming into his own not only as an excellent pilot but also as an impressive team player something which isn't touched on much in other Gundam shows.

The show warps up the Earth arc here and moves to space, however thats not to say the Earth arc slowed down, in fact the Earth arc was very good, introducing the Shike team, a team of all female pilots. There like the Apolly,Reberto level pilots of Victory with the exception of there leader Junko who is reckless but good. The Shike team help advance Uso's character giving him more friends and people to look up to and also people to morn.... in these 10 episodes we lose 3 of the members, Helen, crushed by a punch to the cockpit, Mahalia Beam rotor though the cockpit and Kate, beam saber though cockpit. This helps Uso develop more but sometimes comes off as harsh. In these episodes we see what happens when he gets angry and literally lays into a MS with the Victorys fists until it can move anymore.

The space arc works a little differently with Uso getting to grips with Space battle very quickly , he also learns that in space its more about team work and that is the main focus of the space battles with the Zanscare now using the Zoloat and its effective beam wires. We also see a more caring side when Uso encounters stranded Zanscare pilots and helps them, to there surprise and gratitude. This is a very good scene which for me encompasses everything about UC and its humans can understand each other message. Funny and fitting how the last and youngest UC protagonist gets it so quickly and naturally while the earlier and older couldn't

Chronicle seems to have taken a step back for now and doesn't pilot much in these episodes but when he does he proves he's no slouch taken on multiple Shike Team members at the same time. We also learn he is the younger brother of Zanscares Queen. We also see more of Katajina who told Uso that she wanted to spy on Zanscare however from the looks of things she's falling for Chronicle and he is falling for her.

The show also gives us something very rare in Gundam, the funeral of a pilot (Mahalia) which was very depressing and well done. I also like how in the space battle at the end of episode 20 Uso sees the dead body of a Zanscare pilot float by his Gundam, that was very blunt and the kind of things you just doesn't see in other shows. My final little note on this show is the harshness of Fula's punishment, been shot out to space with a little bit of food and Oxygen to just float until you die is just plain evil.

Edit: one minor thing I forgot to mention was the Earth arc's fighting, and how Uso and everyone else have to avoid hitting the generator of an MS to stop it exploding, because thanks to the size and power output of Victory era generators making an MS explode on earth causes large amounts of damage as seen when Uso screws up and totals a very pretty forest by hitting the Generator of a Zolo. I think this speaks a lot for Victory's pilots as they have to handie cap themselves to avoid key area's. I have also leaned that cutting from just above the "Heart" up though the shoulder will disable an MS.

overall while I would of liked some of the Shike members to have lived a bit longer this part of the show was great, both in action and in how blunt and dark it can be, while still getting the lighter parts in every now and then so you don't slit your wrists from the death and depression. 9, there wasn't really any parts that I hated, Shaki's little lapse into insanity was merited everything considered. though the baby still bugs me, its not even as useful as the Ideon baby!
Edited by Black Golem, Feb 20 2011, 07:22 PM.
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team


January 25, 1996 war changed. No longer was it about a young man stumbling into a Gundam and fighting off wave after wave of highly trained military pilots using a combination of dump luck and psychic powers, this is real war.
Of course, that’s bull but this is what 70% (random highly accurate percentage!) of the Gundam fan base would have you believe that 08th MS Team is the realistic Gundam. It’s not. But that doesn’t stop it from been entertaining. Released while Wing was still running to appease UC Nazis and reassure them that AU’s was not the way Gundam was heading, it has the longest release time of any Gundam taking until April 25, 1999 to finish its 12 episode run. This is thanks to a slight snag in the production run, the director died. This was the turning point from where the show began getting much bigger with the whole plot to blow up Jaburo, this leads fans to split the show into its almost episodic beginning and the love story second half. But ive prattled on for too long so let’s move forward.

Music
Well the Team brings some pretty good music to the table that complements the situation well, however it sometimes suffers from the problems of the earlier stuff in been rather forgettable. There’s not a real stand out theme save for Soldier and the final theme VIII. Over all the music does its job and does it well but it never really jumps out at you.


Characters

The 08th MS team has one of the lowest Ace populations of the Gundam shows, featuring one 1 real Ace and 1 maybe. But this is what gives it its charm, the main character Shiro is a normal quite inexperienced recruit (who just happens to be watched over by God) and holds the impossible record of taking down a Zaku in a Ball in a 1 on 1 fight not only that be he can also start a Mobile Suit just by shouting at it (and people say Gundam can’t be hot blooded and realistic). Like most Gundam mains he also has a thing for a girl who shoots at him and of course this whole romance becomes the centre point of the story. However despite all this the oldest Gundam main is quite the optimist and upbeat guy and all together a very good character a good departure from the brooding Gundam main that is all too common in this series .
The next main character is Aina, A high class Zeon, who is also an ace test pilot and Shiro’s love interest. A kind woman with an evil brother who she stays loyal to cause he is not that much of a twat to her. Moving on we have the supporting characters; on the fedi side we have the normal high ranking bastards like Isan Ryer and then we have the good normal guys like the members of Shiros crew. We have the jinx Terry who has a pretty bad track record with been in a team but after seeing Shiro take down a ZakuDom in a Ball feels that the kid will break his jinx. We have Karen Joshua the hard bitch of the team who also doubles at field medic and isn’t all that impressed with her new commander. The remaining members of the crew are Eledore the operator and all round “guy who’s not cut out for war” and Michel who writes to his girlfriend B.B well till she dumps him….

Zeon meanwhile has Ginias the big bad evil mad scientist and loving brother to Aina who wants to get recognised for his evil genius by taking out Jaburo with a huge death ray attached to some kind of flying metal bug thing…. Moving on we also have Norris “Spiderman” Packard who is so badass he can draw blood from a machine and scale buildings in his equally badass Gouf custom like Spiderman in one of the most realistic scenes in Gundam ever. Needless to say he is what Ramba Ral should have been.

Mecha and Techs
Mech’s are pretty standard OYW fair here, Zaku’s Goufs, GM’s and so on. Our mass production Gundam’s aren’t anything special but do look like a MP Gundam should. The Ez8 is pretty ugly imo and even loses the iconic V fin. Zeon’s designs are rather uninspiring either slight changes to the normal stuff like the J- type Zaku II or are old designs with Dom legs (ZakuDom, Gouf Flight type. We also have the Gouf Custom easily the best design on the show despite been a variation. The final thing is the 3 Apsalus’ which effectively look like giant metal bugs with Zaku heads… and the 3rd form just looks terrible.

Story

As I said before the 08th MS team is a show of two halves. The first more episodic bits at the beginning that ease use into the characters and the main arc based around Shiro and Anna. 08th MS team is at heart a love story and theme of two people on opposite sides falling in love. Cliché I know, but its done well far better than any of the horrible romances we have seen in Gundam so far (exception Cecily and Seabook that’s not horribly handled, though Shiro and Anna’s is still better). The show does the normal UC OAV thing of shining a negative and positive light on both the EF and Zeon giving us yet more depth to this war which is always good. The only real grip I had was how it handled the final episode, and how it was handled though I approve of the end result.

Za Rap up
Over all 08th manages to come close to been a true pure blood Real Robot Gundma show but still has it’s super robot moments though not quite as many as most shows. The story is well paced and the characters likable, the villain I felt was a bit forgettable, but every show has its chinks. It also lacked a truly epic moment for me so I’ll go for a fair 8.5

Next up After War Gundam X

But first!

Right well this is a very spur of the moment thing I felt like doing, it’s not a Gundam review but a review of

New Getter Robo
The newest Getter Robo aptly named New Getter was my first venture into the world of Getter though not my first Go Nagi show (that would be Mazinkaiser). New Getter is very different to the older Getter in that it’s much more faithful to the original Manga then the original watered down show ever was. It’s a true re-imagining of the original Getter and features a new getter along with very different characters this is mainly thanks to the Devilman (another Nagi work) inspired designs .

Story
Fast, furious and entertaining. Getter is much simpler to a Gundam show , it doesn’t try and ram some kind of convoluted message down your throat and it doesn’t try to be more then it is. The story is pretty simple, the world has begun to be attacked by the Oni who are effectively homage’s to the 2nd Getter Robo Antagonists the Demon Empire, to defeat them Dr. Saotome creates the Getter Robo and then searches for 3 pilots strong enough to survive piloting the monster of a mecha. Once the gang is all together they fight the Oni and things start to get strange, time travel, Alternate dimensions and the monstrous and mysterious Getter Rays all cumulating in a battle on the scale of Gods before ending with the first animated appearance of the fully formed (New?)Getter Emperor. The show goes a bit beyond been a mere reimagining and adds its own mark onto the ever changing Getter Lore.

Music
Fucking Jam Project mates! Yeah music is amazing as normal JAM offers the Theme song which si then played when ever Getter starts to win and it really got me into it, if there was a 50/10 I’d give it it.

Characters
Same guys but very different. Once again the Getter Team have underwent a change in character, if the Getter Team in Change!! Getter Robo (Armageddon) are considered badass then these guys are bat fucking insane and are the most radical departure from the originals yet despite what this show is. Ryoma is a irresponsible street fighter that would rather beat someone senseless then argue with them and loves to fight, and is pretty much the exact opposite of what a hero should be. Which is entertaining in and of itself and in his new ability to get high on Getter Energy and this Ryoma is even more brutal then his Armageddon Persona.
Hayato returns as normal and as normal is a compete badass but he’s also a bloodthirsty, sadistic terrorist who scratches the eyes out of a member of his gang in his first since, Hayato plays his normal role as the brains out the robo and often has to calm Ryoma down, this is my favourite Hayato by far. The third Pilot is taken up by a new Character for Getter 3 kinda Benkei Musashibo is a kind of fusion between Musashi Tomoe and Benkei Kuruma the original Getter-3 pilot and his replacement. This means we lose the ionic Musashi death but Benkei does good as far as a perverted monk goes.

Mecha
A New Getter Robo is used in this it resembles the original Getter Robo but looks more realistic and its combining makes a bit more sense however the thing ends up doing stuff on the Level of Shin Getter by the end.

Voices
Not normally on my list however I feel the need to do this since the mains voice can make or break a Super show (he is going to be yelling his attack names a lot after all). Thankfully Getter has been very good with voices and have been dubbed well, naturally Hideo Ishikawa comes in for the Japanese voice and is phenomenal as he was in Neo and Armageddon after all the dude is Itachi Auron and Jūshirō. But don’t count the dub out yet Ryoma gets a new English voice in the form of Lex Lang and he’s not as shouty as Armageddon Ryoma was he did do Wargraymon in Digimon and frankly the dude can do move shouts epically and his Change Getter-1 is great the others actors also pull great performances out as I expected from Bang Zoom! Entertainment (F91, S-Cry-ed).

This show turned me fully into a super robot and getter fan, its epic to a tee and I’ve no complaints solid as a rock 10/10
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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Start of some short DVD reviews

Gundam 00 Season 2 Box 1 DVD 1

Picking up 5 years after the end of Season 1, Gundam 00's story continues, here's my take on the first 5 Episodes

The Ugly
Might as well get this out the way, the opening sucks like it stinks I'm sorry but after the two great openings in Season 1 this is just bad like Wings of Words bad.-1 however the BGM of 00 seems to be as strong as ever which means all is not lost on this front +1 however again the ending is bad.-1
-1

Everyone is older! (or dead or a Trap)
The first 5 episodes focus mainly on introducing everything and getting us up to speed and then getting the GM's back together. Setsuna seems more mature and his talk with Marina was OMG over due and has made me start to like him +1 however got to say his grand entrance could of been done better, Tieria is well Tieria however he does seem to have loosened up a bit. now for the interesting two, Lockon 2 appears here and despite been the same Lockon 1 in looks, is quite different his links with Katharon add something here, I really hope he moves in his own direction character wise and doesn't make the mistakes of his Brother. Hal... is an interesting one first he now has different colored eyes and he has lost Al (which sucks) which has made him lose some of his ability but we now have the link with Soma explained. I have some hope for this thread.+1

on the villein side we have Graha I mean Mr. Bushido seriously this was the best they could do for a Char. Good think I liked Graham and him randomly choosing to sit the mission out made me laugh, I'm getting bad vibes from this but hopefully he gets to do a bit more then in S1. Only other main villein is Ribbons who is now hanging around a Tieria clone which might actually be a woman and is doing evil things.

Saji is back and seems to be getting thrust right into things this season which is good, since he's the main(only?) relateable character in this show. I can under stand his stance with CB and did feel sorry for him causing the attack on the base at the end there.+1 Also WTF Louse an A-Law really? well this could be very good or Very lame.

Psycho bitch Nena is alive sadly but seems to be just been an errant girl for Wang Liu Mei, who seems to be playing both sides, hopefully she gets a slap down the road.

+3

It's a NEW GUNDAM and a fucking awesome Grunt!

Mech wise everything is new and shiny! Aheads look epic! and have jumped to one of my favorite Grunt MS ever, meanwhile the New Gundams are mixed, 00 is plain but not bad, Arios just looks strange, Servee is cool with the face on its back and Cherudim is ok nothing too special though I'm a sucker for the duel while pistols. +1

So yeah CB fucked up

that pretty much describes the plot here oh and the part where there going to make everything right by fighting the Titan- I mean A-Laws. Most of the story her was about getting the GM's back together and letting everyone play catch up which is fine, with some fun things like Louse, Soma plots getting started along with Sumeragi having to get her confidence back after speeding the last 5 years drunk. I don't really have any complaints this early, A-Laws have been shown to be bad, CB has to beat them and Ribbons sits in his well lit room watching reminding mer of Lord Dijbri pretty standard stuff, fights have been enjoyable and I loled at Set trying to take on the Aheads in a broken down Exia and failing. Brave but your no Gray Stoke mate. +5 (1 for each episode)

Final score +8
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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Gundam 00 Season 2 Box 1 DVD 2 - Episodes 06-09


It's growing on me

ok music is first and I'll admit it the Opening is growing on, still not half as good as Ash like Snow or Daybreaks Bell, however its still not great. BGM is great as normal here +1 but i'm still not liking the ending -1

Some old, Some new, Some new with old faces
few character recrop up here, The Immortal Patrick Colasour comes back yay and is just as daft as he was in S1, Which is good +1. We also see more of the Innovators, and dam it 00 strikes again with tricking me with its Traps this time with Regene Regetta, first thats a craptstic name plus he/she/it looks like a girl, dress ambiguous clothing and hell he/she/it even sounds like a girl. I can only imagine the amount of yoai/yuri fan fiction these characters have made. actually lets not. however his/her/it's motives seem to be questionable even now so I'm not going to take a point since it's interesting.

I also heard the name Revive Revival and am pretty sure its the purple haired dude (please say he's a he) and while his name sucks, he made a fool of that A-Laws dude which gives him Neutral points. Finally Ali Al-Saachez makes his come back which is always good +1 for beating Set and Teria for awhile

+2

A throne and a big cannon.

a few New MS here first is Ali Al-Saachez's Arche Gundam, Ive never been a fan of the Thrones MS but this one looks pretty cool and I really like the sword +1. we also have the Trilobite which is uninspiring finally is the Gadessa, I'm not a fan of the paint job here, it's also pretty ugly just looking at it, however I liked the look of it in action

+1

Innovators and Super Soldiers


Ok few main plot bits happen here, first is the Al/Soma thread which is brought to a close, and while I thought it was brought to a close quite well with her saying good bye to Smirnov I felt it happened a bit soon +1

the second main plot thing is with the party and Teria meeting the Innovators and Ribbons, first lol Trap Teria and second I'm liked this part since it gave Teria more character for the story, something he really need last Season. +1

we also have some more bites with the Kati and Sumeragi, it seems they know each other. but why has it taken Kati so long to notice this? she twigs on in the first S2 battle she has but has never noticed this all though S1? that just seem strange to me.

Oh Azadistan is also burning and then gets taken over but frankly Ive yet ton start caring about this place. It's no Orb or Sanc Kingdom.

+6 (+1 for each Episode}

Final score +9
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Code Geass R1

This is very much a impulse review, having just finished Code Geass’s first season I felt mpw was a good time to review it.
I went into Code expecting something good, I’d heard it was good from a friend at uni and I liked the art style I had seen, it had seemed cool in ACE and I had heard there was a kira clone in it, what could go wrong?

What I got was something only one other Anime has ever made me do…. Watch 3+ episodes in a row because I had to know what was going to happen next. Code Geass R1 is one of 3 anime I consider to be perfect. Now Ive given 10 out of 10’s in reviews before simply because they did what they wanted to do exceptionally, Code goes beyond that and delivers a simply amazing package with great characters, amazing art and animation, superb music and an excellent story. The only anime I have seen that compare to it are Gundam Seed and Shin Marzinger Z those three are the only shows (not Movies) that have dragged me in that much.

But enough, review time.

First off, are the characters, now I could sit here and type about each of the characters and how they are great characters but I’d rather just talk about the two main characters, Lelouch vi Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi. Both characters friends on different sides of the story, both wish to change the world, Lelouch see the only way to change the world is though destroying it from outside and rebuilding it, while Suzaku wishes to change it from within. So despite them both been ultimately after the same thing there ways of doing things put them at odds and unwillingly against each other.
Lelouch is an arrogant, scheming, yet brilliant show off and he’s absolutely lovable and entertaining to watch even when you know what he’s doing is wrong or outright evil you can’t help but root for him. And in a departure from normal Mecha shows he absolutely stinks at piloting.

Suzaku meanwhile is an idealistic, kind hearted, loyal but flawed thanks to his father issue. Unlike Lelouch, Suzaku as regular military has trained with Knightmares before the show starts and is an incredible pilot from day one, but that’s not to say he takes over the show he still plays 2nd to Lelouch. At the beginning people could says he’s a bit of a Kira clone but his development and reasons for fighting take him in a completely different direction and by the end of the show, he stands on his own perfectly.

The two complement each other perfectly and really bring out the best of each characters traits, with some situations showing Lelouch as the right one while others Suzaku. This is how you have two main characters on different sides.

The art and Animation of Code is top class, the character and Mecha designs are varied and are easy to recognize but not just that but the way they move and there expressions are very individual and unique. Leluoch and Suzaku have some of the most amazing expressions Ive seen and each slipping to them perfectly to the point of you know exactly what each character is thinking at any time in a scene. Which in turn makes the more expressionless characters like C.C seem all the more unnatural and interesting. The battles are all featured on Earth on land meaning we have none of the problems of boring space and air battles that Gundam run into and are animated very well and though its not much coming from me, I saw no stock footage.

It has a great complementing musical score with great opening and ending themes, I’d say more, but I’m no music student.

Now I’m not going to do any spoilers in this with the story here, what I’m going to say is the story is well constructed to show the best and worst of both main characters and features one of the most sadist “I want to change that Episode” Episodes Ive ever seen. Along with a ending that literally made me swear several times at the screen before going “NO! OUR NOT ALLOWED TO END THERE! I’m starting the second season RIGHT NOW!” only other show that’s did that is Shin Marzinger Z, though that was cruller since there is no follow up (yet). As I said before it’s also the only show where I had to watch the last 3-4 episodes back to back because I refused to wait and even then I had to start the second season right after because the ending was so evilly amazing.


10/10 doesn’t do it justice. 15/10 I can’t decide if I like this more or less then my other two favorite shows so I’m going to say this is my joint 1st favorite anime.

Now if you don’t mind I have a 2nd rebellion to go watch.
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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With neither Will alone nor Strength alone
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Code Geass R2
Well here we are the follow up to Code Geass R1, the question though, was it as good as the virtually perfect first season?

Characters first up and pretty much everyone from R1 returns and we get to find out more about them all and we are introduced to several new characters including some from the Chinese Federation and we meet the might Knights of the Round, well some of them at least. The new character’s are very nice additions particularly the Chinese Federation character who gave use a look at more of the Code Geass world, shame we go no one from the Euro Universe, or what ever it was called. The Knights where a very nice addition and helped expand the verity of the cast to the point it has someone for pretty much everyone at this point, though there are a few throw aways like two Knights of the Round who seemed to exist simply for Suzaku to own, they never even had custom Knightmares for god sake…..not that it would of helped them all that much. We also had Rolo who has a pretty broken geass but was a great character to hate and feel sorry for, if that makes any sense….

The returning cast however is very much where the action is, our star of the show Lelouch returns, Lelouch goes though some pretty drastic changes as the story goes on and he loses people around him and begins to feel the gilt of his actions, never the less he continues on and refuses to look back even as he has to push everyone away from himself. Lelouch has become probably make favourite character in the show, he’s a great mastermind who always seems to have something up his sleeve but he still can get out played and his final lie was maybe one of the best moments in anime I’ve seen.

Suzaku is also back and dam has this guy changed! No longer the naïve and soft guy from R1, Suzaku started this show as the nicest person in the world but though loss he grows and turns very cruel, at first he felt it was not about the end result but how someone got there by R2 he’s now focused on the end result and this puts him on a downward spiral that almost true him evil though he is able to stop himself and like Lelouch give up everything to create a peaceful world. As far
as I’m concerned Suzaku is a better character then Kira Yamato, though I still like Kira more.

Code Geass played the twin protagonist game perfectly having two similar characters after the same thing but going about it in different ways that cause them to clash before finally ending up working together to compete there goal. All the while been a joy to watch.

Well art and animation is still top notch having not really changed, Characters liek Suzaku look noticably older without looking diffrenet and the mech’s have across the board improved vastly in design, and there are even more custom model’s this sword with the appeared of the Knights of the Round and the Chinese federation, I can honestly say none of the designs really bothered me most of them where great with a few just been good.

There is still room to improve the score imo as appear from the openings and a few stand out pieces there isn’t that much that stood out to me though nothing outright sucked.

Story, can someone say twists. Code is the master at throwing twists into the story, with them all been did very well, the plot is never boring unless you hate the school bits which I still enjoyed as they added character and shows a more human side to the case. The plot is well constructed and pretty much everything is explained and makes sense… save for 1 little lose bit which annoyed me, what happened to Suzaku’s connection with the Geass and C.C. the fact they seemed to forget about this point annoyed me to no end. However save for this they pulled off the “perfect unchanging world vs a world we create” dynamic perfectly (and much better then Seed Destiny I might add) and came to a very good way to come to a world peace state without it been a bit forced (Gundam Wing). Finally the ending by itself was the best I can think of at time of writing this and is worth 10/10 alone. That said I’m very sad it came to an end… oh well I can always watch it again!

Some people may call me a fanboy for this but frankly this show (both R1 and R2 together) has entertained me more then nearly every Gundam show has yet.
20/10 10/10
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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After War Gundam X

Well this took a long time now didn’t it, anyway airing from 1996 to well 1996… April to December, After War is the often forgotten child of Gundam. The last “Full” show before Gundam’s 20th Anniversary, X is the shortest of the main Shows hitting it at a low 39 and this stems from it been moved to a stupid time slot and then been cancelled, forcing the show to be cut short.

Some of the character’s of Gundam X, like a lot of things in the show are a bit of a throwback to older shows mainly UC character such as AW’s version of Amuro and Char, Jamil and Lancerow, though Lancerow (aka Trieze’s twin brother ) hardly gets any screen time. Jamil comes off as a cool Amuro/Quattro hybrid and is probably one of the coolest captain’s in Gundam, and his inner battle to get back inside a MS was genuinely interesting unlike the wining we got from Amuro in Zeta.

However, the main character is not Jamil but the young Garrod the most regular main in Gundam, Garrod isn’t a Newtype and he’s not specially trained for piloting, he’s a regular kid who has had to learn everything himself. He also gets by with the least amount of main character boost and his growth as a pilot is handled very well in that he does not suddenly become an ACE over night like most, and his training from Jamil to handle Funnel’s was a very nice change to the normal MC gets owned by Funnel user  comes back next time able to dodge them flawlessly.

Most of Gundam X’s cat is very likeable and each have their tale that supports the plot of the first half, this helps make me care about them. If there is one thing X did well it was making a cast of regular hero’s that are likeable.

On the flip side however the bad guy’s really aren’t much to write home about, the main bad guys the Frosts, while very evil characters lose a lot of cred when there beaten -2-3 episodes into the show. This really distracts me from thinking of them as these really evil final boss worthy character’s, especially when they have more kills on their own side then they do the hero’s….

The art and animation of the Show is pretty standard fair, it’s slightly better than Wing but not by any huge margin, and there’s nothing really eye catching. The Mecha designs are good but often take a lot from other shows but seem to only make the design uglier rather than improving which is annoying.

The musical score isn’t bad but not as good as Wing and the OP and Ending’s are equally unremarkable.

So so far X is a unremarkable show, thankfully it makes up for it in story and Lore. Gundam X takes place in one of the more interesting settings for Gundam, it almost takes place on a “bad end” OYW post-apocalyptic Earth, complete with scavenger group’s and pirate’s all trying to make ends in this ruined world, while the armies of the past rebuild and prepare to wage war again. The shows makes the correct decision to stay on Earth for most of its run and thanks to the second space half been cut quite a bit, most of the show takes place on Earth showing how people are trying to rebuild while the shadows of the past grow. As such the first half or 2/3’s I should say are extremely strong, however once things move to space things got a light speed and pretty much just show the cool idea’s the producers had for the show. Which is a shame for one reason, Gundam X gives a great outlook on Newtypes, not viewing them as some kind of space messiah but as simple mutations and the whole final talk with D.O.M.E was good food for thought. However the final fight was a joke and seemed completely like a afterthought… but more importantly how are the Frosts still alive in the dam epilogue ??!?!?!?!

Over all Gundam X is a great show that is plagued with great problems, ultimately ending in a unremarkable if interesting show… 7/10

Also why is it that Gundam seems to enjoy cancelling the interesting shows while allowing crap like Zeta and G to get full shows?

(what you didn’t expect me to go a Gundam review without bashing G did you?)
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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Mazinkaizer SKL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD3baL20ID0&feature=related

DMC crossed with Getter with a coating of Mazinger and made off 100% pure badass.

That one sentence sums up the newest addition to the Mazinger family perfecting. As a 3 episode OVA it’s extremely short and follows a completely new universe with brand new characters (though points if you can see all the classic characters that show up as camo’s ;) ). So with that its not a deep show, the story is pretty much stop the bad guys before something really bad happens. However if you’re watching a Go Nagi robot show for plot your doing it wrong frankly, it’s not trying to be deep or even complex, Mazinger never has. It’s simply trying to be Crazy Awesome, which it is.

So how is it Crazy Awesome?

Characters, Ken and Ryo are the newest dynamic mains, Ken seems to be a Armageddon Ryoma mixed with Shin Kouji, meaning he’s a complete hot blooded psycho willing to jump out of Kaizer to have a sword fight with loads of guards because it’s more fun and it looks cool. Contrasting him is his partner Ryo, who is at first the stoic cool guy kinda like good old Hayato Jin and like him he can have his moments of pure sadisticness. He’s also a clone that gets REALLY pissed off about the notion of fate and goes complete berserker. He’s also trained under Dante when it comes to duel pistol combat doing completely stupidly epic things while been a master of Gun Fu. The guys are classic anti hero’s that Nagi is known for and are every bit as awesome. The rest of the cast aren’t really much to talk about, save for Yuki the female engineer and pilot how “Supports” the Devil team, which means she gets shouted at by Ken and is typically out of place with her hellish partners until she shouts back in the final even getting Ken to say “She grew a par!”

Mecha wise we have the newest Mazinger in the form of Mazinkaizer SKL, apparently weaker than normal Mazinkaiser, it certainly doesn’t have the armour, it’s still dam powerful and has enough tricks to make its family proud. However the big think is it just looks so badass and that’s before it gets its huge devil wings Scrander and then in the epilogue Mazinkaiser dual wields a spear and its signature Big Fucking Sword while riding on a mecha horse that transforms into a mecha motorcycle.

Animation is beautifully brutal and has the signature Mazinger style, however it now has lots of things taken from Devilman (another Go Nagi work) which gives it a even darker look(not dark in the sense of depressing but in the evil demonic way). The fight scenes are great however the death of Galen was very disappointing, (even Ken is disappointed!)

The thing that lets the show down a bit in my view is I’m not overly keen on the opening, yes I know not the biggest of complains but one none the less. The sound track however is very good.


SKL is pure Go Nagi goodness with a new spin while saying very faithful to the original, like Shin Getter versus Neo Getter though it’s just two short, it is better than Shin VS Neo and feels more like a set up to a new show which is slightly infuriating because if I don’t get Shin Great soon I may have to kill people. well worth a watch if you want a quick dip into the Mazinger/getter universe and if you don't like the 1st episode then its not worth watching 9/10
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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Black Golem
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New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

1997 saw the release of Endless Waltz a 3 part OAV set a year after Gundam Wing's final. EW sheds light on the original operation meteor as well as giving a bit of background to Heero and Trowa.

The cast is pretty much the same from the shows, some are pretty simple and the same as before others deal with new issues. Heero has broken up with Zero and this causes him to get a bit emotional and want to give up fighting he also has just started remembering some girl who's dog he blow up. Duo is Duo. Trowa's name and past is expanded on, Quatre is same and Wu Fei has become even more of a dick I mean can't let go of fighting because Treize decided to kill himself rather kill Wu Fei. Zechs is the Wind and is alive but has seemly ditched Epyon in favor of a new Tallgeese which I have no idea where it came from. Releana is annoying as normal.

Make of that what you will but the bottom line is thats FAR better then the 2 new guy's who are meant to be the bad guy's but lack any kind of threating feel to the that the whole show is just you waiting for them to get beat. That said we have Dekim the mastermind behind all of this but like with a lot of Wing villeins (awesome Zechs and fabulous Treize not included) is just a grade a dick that you don't care about, he's not like Bask or Azrael who you love to hate, he's just kinda lame and unthreatening.

We also have Mariemaia Khushrenada now apart from having maybe the longest name ever in Gundam she's pretty unremarkable basically being a useless smug figure head that you just want to punch repeatedly.

Animation top quality stuff as you would expect for an OAV and some of the Designs look great in movement (Read: Wing Zero Custom) but some of the designs are silly like the Deathsythe Hell. That said Sandrock enters the area of cool thanks to a crossbone like coat even if it's not really used. All of the MS save for the always there to get blown up Leo are new which adds an extra layer of eye candy

Music is like the TV show very good and I don't think I'll ever forget White Reflection anytime soon

The story line for EW isn't really that good, the whole affair seems very unthreating because the villeins are so bad and the more interesting bits are the background stuff, it also has a perfect end, which is then destroyed by the newest Manga to the point that there remaking the TV show and EW in manga form to fit in with the new Manga making this OVA and the original show no longer canon yay! -__-

it's worth a watch for the fights if anything just don't be surprised if you find yourself wanting to skips though some parts that grade A drag..... 6/10
Edited by Black Golem, May 15 2011, 02:51 PM.
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http://zeiksanimereviews.wordpress.com/ Current Watch though and review: G Gundam/Macross 7/CG Akito the Exiled /Jojos Bizarre Adventure
"I, too, am a true Gundam Dynasty Warrior!" - Kira Yamato
"I will fight with this sword! Knight Gundam, Launch!" - Kira Yamato
"I've finally come to understand what I'm really fighting for." - Kira Yamato
"if theres a hole a guys just got to be ready to thrust into it!" - Ryoma
"Beyond the beaten path lies the ultimate end. It matters not who you are...Death awaits you." - Nyx
"No one's going to decide my future. No matter how hard, I'll choose it myself!" - Kira Yamato
"If a god gets in our way, he gets cut down! If a devil gets in our way, he gets shot up!" -Ken and Ryo
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