I’m pretty sure that I watched some Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed when I was a kid, but I was never really big on Gundam so they didn’t have that much of an impression on me. However, since becoming a fan translator of the Japanese radio show Dear Girl ~Stories~ , I often hear one of its hosts, seiyuu Kamiya Hiroshi, talk about his dream-come-true role as one of the Gundam Meisters of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam 00 or Double 0 for short
Since I don’t understand most of the Gundam references he uses when talking about the show, I was guilty of tuning out and not really translating what he was saying. I can’t deny though that it was DGS that made me curious about Double 0, so I put it on my ultra-long to-watch list.
It wasn’t until Fall 2015 that I finally decided to watch it. Unfortunately, after just 5 episodes, I dropped it. I guess it was too intense for me at that time. After the New Year this January 2016, I finally picked it up again but I found that I couldn’t watch more than one episode at a time. The scenes reminded me too much of the recent terror attacks our world suffered recently. It literally made my chest hurt.
Then I decided to hog our family TV and watch it there, forcing my dad to watch it with me. I don’t know, but I think my family’s presence gave me courage to tough the intense terror attack scenes and I finally managed to watch the entire first season.
By the second season, I didn’t need to watch with other people anymore. Season 1 successfully absorbed me that I was literally impatient to start Season 2. After Season 2, I watched the concluding film Awakening of the Trailblazer.
My eyes have been opened! I hereby declare that I am no longer a Gundam snob! It’s presumptuous at this stage to say that I’m a Gundam fan, but I can still confidently say that I’m a Double 0 fan!
Rating: 😀 😀 😀 😀 🙂 (4 & 1/2 grins)
What I love about Double 0:
1. The Hot Guys
I think most of you already know that I love ogling hot anime bishies. Lockon, I love you!!! Tieria, you were a huge jerk at the beginning, but you’re the most awesome Gundam Meister to me at the end! Setsuna, you’re not my type but you’re HOT and you rock the entire series! Allelujah, you’re so nice that I sometimes want to smack you because you’re too nice. I like your other personality Hallelujah more.
2.The Seiyuu Cast
Well, if it weren’t for DGS and listening to Kamiya Hiroshi talk about Double 0, I don’t think I’ll give this series a time of my day. And oh my gosh, 3 out of 4 of the Gundam Meisters are some of my favourite seiyuu! Miyano Mamoru’s performance was phenomenal! Like seriously, Miyano totally deserved his Best Actor win for his role as Setsuna F. Seiei at the 2nd Seiyuu Awards in 2008. And of course, Kamiya Hiroshi bagged the Best Supporting Actor in the same Seiyuu Awards as Tieria Erde. As for Miki Shin’ichiro, he also won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lockon Stratos at the 4th Seiyuu Awards in 2010. Totally deserved! Not to mention that I love him as Fujiwara Takumi from my fave car racing anime Initial D. Finally, I like Yoshino Hiroyuki’s performance as Allelujah Haptism but I think I know the other 3 more than him as voice actors.
3. Great Art & Animation
l really like it! I don’t give a freak about what other hardcore Gundam fans say, but I think that the animation and art style of Gundam 00 are really great. Of course, there are some episodes where the art style and animation are inconsistent, but overall it’s a treat to watch.
4. Deep, serious & entirely possible premise (I think)
This can happen. It portrayed, in my opinion, very realistic possibilities of futuristic humanity, Earth, and space colonization. It also gave me goosebumps to watch how it mirrored the power dynamics of our current world, the reality of war, and the ugliness of human nature. Kind of like Attack on Titan when it comes to the big question of survival of the human race.
5. Awesome Music
Love all the opening and ending theme songs and of course the background music! This is the first opening theme song “Daybreak’s Hell by L’Arc~en~Ciel. Got stuck in my head for days.
Uploaded by: lilant74
Watching this series is like reading an awesome book. Love it! I love it so much that I’m currently rewatching the entire series after watching it the first time. It sparked my interest in the Gundam franchise. I’m planning on watching the old Gundam Wing next. I tried watching Gundam Age but it’s too kiddie for my taste right now. Perhaps when I’m in a different mood, I’ll watch it.
Are you a Gundam fan? If yes, which series is your favourite? Do you have any recommendations for a Gundam newbie like me?
Links:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Official Website (Japanese)
Recommended Product:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 RG 1/144 GN-001 Gundam Exia
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Glad you liked it! I’m more of a fan of the spin-off shows like 00, Wing and Seed myself as there isn’t as much historical background as in the main timeline, plus the suits are so much more creative (I’ve bought a lot of gunpla in the last few years, but only one is from the Universal Century)
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Oh my gosh, I think so too! Gundam fans recommend that I dive into series that are in U.C. timeline, but I’m honestly a little bit intimidated by them, so I’m just cautiously watching stand-alone Gundam series. I’m currently watching Wing and I’m almost finished. Another friend who’s also an aniblogger and a Gundam fan recommends Seed, so I’m going to watch that next. I’m also interested in the recent Iron-Blooded Orphans, but I hear that it got approved for season 2 so maybe it’s a good idea to just wait it out so I can marathon both seasons in one go.
How long have you been watching Gundam?
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I started with SEED about 4-5 years ago I think? I feel it’s a good introduction to the theme of the franchise for those who haven’t seen any Gundan before. I’ve also seen all of Wing and 00 (except for the movie, which wasn’t released in the UK) I’m currently waiting for the release of Turn-A and hoping and praying for G Gundan to be picked up too! The only U.C. I’ve seen are the movie versions of the original and F91. Once you’ve cut your teeth on a few more shows might I recommend Gundam Build Fighters? It’s got a totally different feel and if you like the creative suit designs you’ll love all the different customized versions the designers came up with!
I really want to see Iron-Blooded Orphans too! And AGE, and Reconguista in G, but I really want to watch them with my girlfriend and we have SOOOOO many old anime DVDs to get through this year!
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Actually I just started watching Seed about a couple of days ago. I see some similarities with 00, but not so much. I’m still about 15 episodes into it so I can’t say stuff with a lot of conviction until I watch a bit more. But I’m enjoying it so far. I’m watching the HD remastered version, and I must say that it’s a LOT better and smooth than the original version I watched on a trailer. Banzai technology!
Oh my gosh. I love the 00 film, Trailblazer. It’s so beautiful and I think a perfect conclusion to the 00 series.
Build Fighters is on my list, but when I read a bit of the blurb and the art, I think it’s a little bit kiddie for my taste at this moment. Same with AGE. I tried watching it, but it’s a lot more kid-friendly than the brutal and ultra-serious 00. Perhaps when my mood gets a little lighter, I’ll try watching Build Fighters and maybe try watching AGE again. After Seed, I’m planning on watching Unicorn. How about you? Which Gundam series are you going to watch?
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Unless part one of Turn-A gets released any time soon I expect Iron-Blooded Orphans will be our next one. I don’t know much about the premise, but the trailer I saw kind of reminded me of the opening scene of 00 (in a good way, of course!)
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You know, I’ve been a Gundam snob too, so hearing your success makes me want to start the franchise. It’s cool to hear that you dragged your dad and he seemed cool with it ^.^
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Yes! That would be awesome. I’m trying to watch other Gundam series right now. I want to assimilate myself more into the fandom, but there are so much series that it can get quite overwhelming and frankly intimidating. But well, my curiosity always wins. We’ll see. I hope that you get to watch some Gundam, too. Maybe you’ll enjoy it.
Well, yeah. I used to watch a lot of anime with my dad when I was a kid. His favourite is Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho. He’s actually stuck in that generation and isn’t really interested in any new anime, but he’ll watch some if I force him too and when he has some time to kill. It’s a bonding time. 😉
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Consider me added, even though I haven’t started yet XD And that’s cool, I watched Dragon Ball with my parents, too, though not Yu Yu Hakusho. My dad also prefers the old stuff, but he’ll jump when he hears about a new Ghibli film LOL Bonding time ~~
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Oooooh. That’s so nice. Sounds similar to my dad. I don’t think my dad is aware whether an anime film is by Studio Ghibli or not. Anyway, I’m glad that your relationship with your dad and anime is a bit similar to mine. Most of the people I encounter on the web are anime fans by themselves and don’t really share their passions with any family members, much less their parents. Cheers!
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I know! It’s somewhat hard for me to imagine enjoying anime and what it has to offer all by myself. But I suppose all we can do is pull those people into our community, ya know? Haha, cheers indeed!!
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I haven’t seen Gundam anime, but I might get to it in the future…
I don’t know what to think of it except for a lot of machines and fighting and old animation style
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Well, I was like you until last month. Maybe you can try Double 0. It has a more recent and really great animation, although expect a lot of fighting.
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I guess it will be put at the bottom of my to watch list for now.
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The bottom? Ahahaha. Oh well. Can’t blame you.
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yeah I have too much other things I want to watch first (but time)
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I’ve only recently discovered this blog, LOVE IT! You have to know how much I appreciate your translations for the DGS radio show (THANK YOU! Patiently waiting for future eps 🙂 ). Kamiya Hiroshi is my all-time fav seiyuu as well and it made me sad that I have zero interest in the Gundam world myself evev though HiroC is so into it. Your review of the show gives me courage to try the series again 😀
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Aw. That’s very sweet of you. Thank you very much! I appreciate it. And you’re welcome. I’m currently improving my past horrid translations, so it’s going to be slow work but don’t worry, I’m not planning on quitting soon. I’ll continue translating DGS, since I just love this insane radio show. I’m glad that my translations are helping fuel your DGS hunger. Cheers!
Ahaha. Go watch Double 0! I dropped it before, but look what happened to me when I braved it one more time. It’s now one of my favourite anime series ever. And Kamiya Hiroshi was great here. Thanks for dropping by. Keep on listening to DGS. Cheers!
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You’re most welcome! And oh I’m so glad you haven’t quit translating, I’ve been listening to the shows where you left off (81+) cause I just miss it so much and while I understand the gist of what they’re talking about, it’s so much better to have the translations with them. Looking forward to your future work. Gokurosama! 😀
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Thank you very much. My current progress is slow compared to last year, but we’ll get there. 😉
Keep on listening to DGS with the rest of us Dear Girls (and Dear Boys). Cheers!
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I’ve always been too intimidated to even try anything Gundam–there’s so much and it’s never made sense to me how it fits together! Does Double 0 seem complete and accessible enough by itself to be worth trying without any of the others, in your opinion?
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Oh my gosh. I know exactly how you feel. All the Gundam series feel so intimidating to newbies. I didn’t think I would ever be interested in a Gundam series if I hadn’t heard so many times from Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Daisuke from their radio show Dear Girl ~Stories~. So it’s mostly thanks to them that I actually fell in love with Double 0.
And yes, Double 0 has a different timeline from the other Gundam series. It’s very accessible on it’s own and you don’t need to watch other series to know what’s going on. That’s why I like it. Honestly, I LOVE it and it’s now one of my favourite series ever.
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Cool. Thank you. 🙂
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Gundam shows is usually military drama with some or a lot of people dying. If you like a very long series with continuity, the U.C. (universal century) is my recommendation for you. If you want to be serious with Gundam, then go with U.C. It goes like this:
Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile suit Zeta Gundam
Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam: Chars Counterattack
Mobile Suit F91
Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
Turn A Gundam
Outside of the U.C. timeline are the alternate reality timelines in which they still have Gundams but not related to the U.C. Most of them does not have sequels but not all of them, and are self contained series. Some of them are:
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
After War Gundam X
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny
Personally, I like Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team and Mobile Suit Victory Gundam because of the intense body bag count and different plot compared to the other U.C. Gundams.
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Oh wow. Thank you very much! This is very helpful. I’ll use this as reference when planning on my next Gundam series. You’re very knowledgeable about Gundam.
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I highly recommend the original Universal Century timeline: the first Gundam series may not have aged well in animation terms but in story and characterization it was brilliant. Gundam Zeta and Char’s Counterattack are still visually stunning. And try spinof OAVs War in the Pocket and 08th MS Team…
hen the latest Gundam Unicorn is very good, and Gundam the Origin has absolutely blown me away!
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08th MS Team and War in the Pocket are not spin-offs, they are side stories within Universal Century 0079.
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I’m hearing a lot of about this Universal Timeline stuff browsing through many Gundam forums. Is it the best among the series? Is that what it means?
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The name “Universal Century” just comes from the calendar system used in the original Gundam timeline. Being the original makes it the most influential, and it contains by far the most material so it’s arguably the largest and most developed timeline; whether it’s the best is more subjective and it’s not like the whole timeline is at the same level of quality anyway.
(War in the Pocket and 08th MS Team are both really good, short, and reasonably stand-alone, so I second those recommendations.)
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Oh, I see. Thanks for the information. I checked out Wikipedia and it has this list of Gundam series with the different timelines. It’s kind of confusing but I guess all I have to do is try to watch the series in the same timeline. Anyway, thanks again!
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It’s the original series from 1979 and it’s in-continuity sequels
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I have to admit I agree with shiroyuni when it comes to Double 0 but I’m glad you really liked it!
I have to admit that Gundam Wing is my favorite anime of all time so I’m totally biased when it comes to that anime. Gundam Seed + Destiny is amazing and I feel like it is meant to appeal to shojo and shonen fans since it has elements of both in there. G-Gundam had many issues but I didn’t take that anime too seriously and laughed a lot. Although, I have to admit that that one scene with Domon and Rain really made me lose respect for Domon and when Rain went back to him I lost a little respect for her too but ultimately love, friendship, and good win. Still debating about watching the new Orphans series. I don’t really know much about it.
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I really like Double 0. I know that other more knowledgeable and certified Gundam fans don’t like this as much as the other ones, but this is the first Gundam series that I finished. I watched Wing and Seed when I was a kid but I don’t remember them that much and I wasn’t interested in the Gundam franchise until this moment.
I’m planning on watching Gundam Wing next. I think I remember more of it than Seed, so perhaps I’ll have the same opinion as you when I’m done with it. Maybe not. We’ll see.
Anyway, thanks for dropping by and sharing your Gundam opinions. I really appreciate it. Now that my Gundam interest has been awakened, I have a lot of catching up to do. Cheers!
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I am a huge Gundam fan, but I have only watched Seed, Seed Destiny, and the original 1987 one. My alliance lies with Seed though 😀 I couldn’t really finish 00, because I couldn’t identify with the characters >< Its a pity because I believe its plot refers to a lot of terrorism and war going on in the 2008-9 period around the world, and also a pity because it had good art, a ton of bishies, and yes, a good seiyuu cast ><
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Oh my gosh. Seriously? You’ve watched the original one? That’s so cool. I’ve watched some Gundam Seed when I was kid and Gundam Wing, but I don’t remember much because I wasn’t that interested back then.
Aaaw. What episode were you when you dropped 00? Indeed, that’s one of the reasons why it was so difficult for me to watch more than one episode at a time during the first half of the series because it literally made my chest hurt watching the strong similarities to what’s going on in our real world.
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Yeah! In order to prove that I genuinely like the Gundam series and not just the teenage drama and complicated love triangles in Seed, I decided to give the 1987 one a try. And I did enjoy it, despite the old art and animation and all. Though I guess, Sunrise has always been ahead when it comes to mecha, and its quality is definitely better than some of the other studios producing anime of the same genre at the same time.
I dropped 00 in the middle of the second season I think? Because it was already 3/4 through the entire series but I had yet to grow any attachment to anything in particular in the story xD
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Oh wow. That’s some dedication. I don’t think I’ve reached your level yet when it comes to Gundam, although I’m hoping to be more assimilated in the fandom. After all, Double 0 is the technically the only series that I have under my Gundam belt. Not that impressive, but that’s going to change soon. 😉
Aaaw. Really? During that time, I already cried a number of times. 😦
Oh well. I guess you didn’t like Double 0 that much.
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Haha i wouldn’t think only one series of Gundam would get anybody to reach that level either. But the fandom is interesting at the very least.
Aww haha. Yeah unfortunately not I am afraid. I am not sure whether this means I am not a ‘true’ Gundam fan, but I need to watch more of it anyway to be able to reach a believable conclusion about that. 🙂
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Indeed. But I met a huge Gundam fan, a classmate when I took Japanese in university. Our classmates often tease him as a “Gundam Baka” but he seems proud of being called that. I couldn’t appreciate his vast knowledge of the franchise before because I was a Gundam snob during that time. Such a shame that it’s only now that I wish I can talk to him more now that I’ve come to like Gundam.
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I think its probably because it really takes effort to remember all the different machine models and the associated timelines with the Gundam universe. So I would probably respect that sort of dedication as well. xD You can always try to talk to him again …. is what I want to say, but I know its never easy to reach out to somebody from the past again. Oh well, even if your learning to appreciate Gundam comes later, its better late than never I guess 🙂
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I would like to watch some Gundam sometime. I love how Keroro from Keroro Gunsou/Sgt. Frog is so obsessed with Gundam models.
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Ahaha! You should try watching one of the series, although it’s presumptuous of me to say this since Double 0 is the only Gundam series that I’ve finished and liked.
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