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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED tv Review

Cosmic Era 71. A war is under way between genetically enhanced Coordinators and unmodified Naturals. The Natural-dominated Earth Alliance, struggling to catch up with the Coordinators' superior technology, has secretly developed its own Gundam mobile suits at a neutral space colony. Through a twist of fate, a young Coordinator named Kira Yamato becomes the pilot of the Alliance's prototype Strike Gundam, and finds himself forced to fight his own people in order to protect his friends.

Story & Characters

I know what you think... blah, yet another Gundam SEED review, don't these people have something better to do? However, after having seen the series and having read some of the reviews and opinions here, I really feel like stating my point of view as well... so read if you like and comment if you feel like it. On with the review! :)

In my view, the story is the main weak point of the series. I haven't seen any of the other Gundam series (except for Gundam SEED Destiny), but even so I couldn't help but notice the acute lack of originality. Basically, it's just 'another' war story, with the hero who doesn't want to fight, but has to do so in order to protect those he care for, the other hero who knows what he fights for, but after encountering his friend on the battlefield begins to question the reasons he fights for, the innocent people that suffer because of the war and so on. Basically everything in the story left me with a strong 'been there, seen that' impression'.

Rating: 5

Art

There's no arguing that the art is one of the strong points of Gundam SEED. The characters are pleasant enough, even though one might think they look a bit *too* similar at times and the only way to distinguish between them is the unusual hair & eye color. Also, throughout the series their looks and their expressions fit well with their personality and their feelings at a given time. However, the 'extra cast' - random Earth Alliance or ZAFT military, or, in other words, the people who show up in order to be killed to heighten the dramatic effect of the series - are strikingly similar... but since they usually die after five to ten seconds from being seen in the first place, I guess it doesn't matter much. The ships and the gundams are drawn with a remarcable attention to the details and I don't think I'm mistaken when I say that they're the best-looking... erm... things from the entire series.

One disturbing thing though is the large amount of footage that's being 'recycled', so to speak. There are many sequences that are being re-played, from the launching sequences to ships or units being blown up during battle. That can be quite annoying at times and gives a nasty impression of deja-vu.

Rating: 9

Sound

I liked the opening and ending themes, even though the opening themes were quite similar to each other. The ending themes, on the other hand, were quite remarcable, especially the last one. The voice acting was good (I'm talking about the Japanese voices here - I've only gotten to see the first five episodes of the dubbed version and I was sadly disappointed, especially by the part sung by Lacus) and even remarkable for some characters like Cagalli and Natal Badgeroule (<--I don't know if I spelled that right... I never knew how to spell that name :( ). The only voice that didn't quite fit was Raw le Klueze's voice, which seemed like a total ripoff of the voices of villiains from other series.

Rating: 8

Presentation

There are a few points that lower the quality of this series. First, certain scenes seem fake and artificial, and the way certain characters just 'happen' to be at the right place and at the right time for the right thing to happen becomes quite irritating at one point. Also, I've never been able to understand how did soldiers belonging to different factions manage to communicate through radio. I mean, it would seem logical for them to use separate channels, right? That didn't make sense. Some characters were characterized in detail, while others were not characterized at all, like the three pilots of the Earth Alliance's new units. I truly think there was more to them than those "Annihilate! Obliterate! Kill!" sort of lines. Same goes for Orb's pilots (the three girls). Finally, there were certain points that weren't explained properly in the end, which left the impression that the story was patched up together and the writers didn't mind that some things didn't fit in.

All in all, this series is enjoyable enough, but I've seen better ones. You should watch it if you have the chance though ;)

Rating: 7

Final Verdict

6.8333 (above average)

Reviewed by Odeena, Feb 24, 2006

Comments

Kidder Feb 24, 2006

Pretty fair review.

A lot of the Gundam shows tend to have the same sort of storyline. If you've ever seen the earlier shows then you'll notice that most of them follow a sort of formula. As an anime show, i really enjoyed Gundam Seed because the animation was quite impressive (except for the obvious recycled scenes) and the Gundam designs were really nice. At times some of the characters were too angsty for my liking, but I think the large variety of different battle environments (space, desert, sea etc) was a nice touch and kept me watching the show till the end.

****Spoiler******

I particularly enjoyed the last few eps, where Kira and Athrun both had insanely powerful Gundams (Freedom and Justice) and were both using the Seed ability. I was like LOL WTF!

***********

IMO worth watching especially if you're a mecha and Gundam fan.
Athrun Feb 24, 2006

I thought SEED was pretty decent, especially since I was in love with the series at one point. I perfer it over Destiny, since Destiny really screws up bad halfway through the series.

SEED actually had a desperate battle. (Phase 30)

And I do agree with your review, since I'm not a total nut for the series, I can agree with your scores.
catyeye Feb 24, 2006

I'm a fan of Gundam Seed, but I hev to say that your review is right. But, I still like it, i think it is a good series. But your right in your points, and I must admit it.
Your good at analising and making review, cause you get to the weak and good points with facility. Good review.
chidoguan Feb 24, 2006

I'm not a big fan of gundam, in fact SEED was the first gundam show I've ever watched.

I agree with you the history is on of the weak points of the show, with friends fighting each other all over the place and switching sides the only thing I would have never guess was the cloning thing, as for the characters I think they were sort of OK some of them were interesting and quite insane >_<.

The art was the best thing in the show along with the soundtrack, the gundam designs were pretty cool!

The presentation... well I hate the recycled scenes, and how they take their sweet time to show us how they lauch the strike over and over, The final battle was intense In my opinion the best battle in the show

It's a good show but not a must have! I'd like Gundam wing better :p

An congrats for another great review! I'll give you a 10 out of 10!
shoujoboy Feb 24, 2006

Gundam SeeD reviews aplenty on this site. The one thing I have to say as a reviewer myself, is that it is sometimes more advantagious to review something as if it is the first anime you've ever seen. Saying its a "been there done that" kind of anime may be true to you, but to someone new to the anime world it could be an excellent first time experience. I know that is hard if you have a lot experience under your belt (I've said the same thing about harem animes) but it does help the general reader descipher exactly what your review means to them. You got your point across well, but that's just a slight recommendation.
Shinku-sama Feb 26, 2006

i thought your review was quite insightful and pretty much right on the nose. i think that the morals portrayed in the show (such as the anti-nuclear and anti-genetic engineering aspects) were much more upfront than the anti-war message of say, Gundam Wing (which i highly reccommend). obviously, i agree with your review and think it's fair^.^

like chidoguan, i must say that Gundam Wing is still my favorite Gundam series. yay for such a great review!
DiamondMaX Feb 27, 2006

SEED was an excellent series. It was one of those kinds where you hold your breath for days and days until the next new episode comes on. i was pretty upset when it ended. i say it was a great reveiw especially the one about the art (the GUNDAMS are probably drawn by hand, scanned into a computer, and 3 dimensionally recreated, if you didn't know that sorry to ruin it for you) also the way characters appear is irritating but if everything is intertwined so intricately it will be more of a soap opera than an anime, besides people run out of ideas and characters gotta come from somewhere right?

all in all it was a great review
touched on points i never even thought of (probably cuz theres not much thinkin' going on at this end) 10 of 10 for the review
monoyunaki Feb 27, 2006

big fan of seed ,Seed is the first series of mecha I've watch ,It's so great that I watched over and over more than 20 times :P
tafari Feb 28, 2006

nice review im acutualy watchin it atm up to ep 38 its a good amine
almina Feb 28, 2006

Interesting review even though I think you were quite harsh sometimes... I really liked the story and I find it surprising... can't say the same of Destiny, but it makes me wonder if I have seen some previous Gundam (just seen Wing), I would have seen this sense of rip-off. At the same time, I feel it goes deeper by speaking about different topics like genetic modifications, intolerance...
nicollover202 Mar 27, 2006

gundam seed is an AWSOME anime.i think it should be viewed all around the world.I haven't really gotten into gundam seed destiny yet.I have seen only two of the series episodes on youtube.com.And im really lookin forward to when it comes to the u.s. and the probably last genaration of gundam seed.GUNDAM SEED STARGAZER if you haven't herd it's the new series being aired in JAPAN probably in year 2007.So i can't wait till gsd and gss are aired in the u.s.

merged: 03-27-2006 ~ 09:31am
i also thought seed was pretty sad in the end.And what happen to all the characters that had passed on.i was almost crying when i saw nicol die.he was my all time fav character.the creater of seed made it really intense and sad that i couldn't believe this series.So R.I.P.the characters that passed on.

merged: 03-27-2006 ~ 09:35am
Go to the almost ready site for gundam seed stargazer.SEED-GAZER.COM or NET
sumayyah Mar 28, 2006

konnichiwa!gundam seed/destiny was my 1st anime list fav!well i like the story plot and the music and also the sound^^thier seiyuu also give the best(congrats!)well most i like in gs/destiny is the gundams xpecially Strike Freedom(go freedom!)it become more powerful with the meteor!it rocks!
mechanical-angel Apr 01, 2006

gundam seed totally ROCKS.
i think everyone should watch it, lol.
I agree that they re-use footage a lot, even in destiny, they do re-use footage from seed, which can be quite annoying. [sometimes strangely disturbing. XD]
I too don't understand the soldiers being able to talk to each other thing.
seems pretty strange that they can hear each other.. -.-
considering gundam seed as the first "proper" anime i've watched, personally i felt that it was extremely good.
oh well, not a bad review! ;D
MapleRose Retired Moderator Apr 03, 2006

Since I've never seen any of the previous Gundam series (in fact, SEED is the first meccha series I've seen), I didn't get the feeling of 'been there don't that' that you did.

yeah the art style is pretty, and the battle scenes and gundam designs are so complex that I can't imagine trying to draw them (I refuse to draw gundams...). as for the scene recycling like the Strike launching sequence, it does get annoying sometimes. but from the artists pov, I understand why they do it, because it saves money, time, and effort to not have to draw similar scenes over and over again.

the flashbacks are annoying, esp in phase 30, we get about 3-4 scenes of the Blitz being sliced in half -_-...

I agree that the OP and ends are pretty, esp Find the Way.

I do agree that most of the main characters are developed well, but more minor characters like the Druggies and astray girls are flat without any history. but in the writer's defence, there's simply no time of space to develop them.

as for the radio thing, they have an Internation Distress Channel, where anyone can tune into (like when Fllay called for help), and I think ships and gundams can radio each other kinda like calling someone on the phone. but for strategic things, they do have private channels (like when Yzak tells Dearka and Nicol to attack the AA while he takes care of Strike) that only they can use. but hey, this is set in the future, who knows what new technological advances they've made in the communication industry :)
bakuraicq Jun 26, 2006

gundam seed is a wonderful animation,it is suitable for every one,the story is also fine,I like it.
deathxmage Jul 02, 2006

Gundam seed was alright. The Mobile Suit were pretty decent, battles were okay first time seeing it cuz after it got a little too repeatitive, great btw.
kagary88 Feb 08, 2007

somebary can tell me what happen in the end of gundam seed destiny between cagally and arthur ? they finish onlu friends or ther return to be lovers
zero-rei1245 Jan 03, 2010

The first half of it was awesome. It was like the best remake I had ever seen. I mean, the mecha designs were like modernized versions of the Zaku IIs and GMs. The course of the series was incredible, until the whole Three Ships Alliance thing occurred. Too much idealism. I expected the ending to be even DARKER than the original Gundam, but as soon as that pink ship appeared, I was desolated.

The final battle was awesome though. Especially the fight between Rau and Kira.

Good series, all n all
Sanisa Feb 24, 2010

Thanks for the review! Nice ^__^
Zero-Remains183 Jun 19, 2010

This one personally in my opinion had great potential, the mobile suit designs were beautiful. Although I can't say the same for the rest of the series, because personally I hate Kira and I see too much of other series.

Although yes the first half was nothing but a blatant copy, but later on when it broke away form the original Gundam like plot, it sort of died. Although the mech designs is what prevents me from completely hating this one. I just prefer good old Zeta Gundam.
WalkingEncyclopedia Jul 19, 2011

I totally agree with you. I really hate it when things go unexplained or are explained badly in movies, books, animes, etc. and unfortunately there are too many loose ends in Gundam Seed and that has indeed lowered its quality on the whole. And yes I also think the whole plot is a bit cliched. Have you watched Code Geass? I find a close resemblance between the plots of these 2 anime series. 2 friends forced to become enemies but were later reunited and fought along each other's side. To be fair, I'd say Code Geass was the one who did the copying as it was released much later than Gundam Seed. However, it did a much better job in developing the characters and clearing up mysteries. Their focuses are also quite different and I have to say, I like Code Geass's better. But yeah apart from the weak story and frequently recycled stuff, Gundam Seed is entertaining enough. Nice review :)

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