Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 S2 Part 2 Episodes 5-7


Friends and loved ones are reunited on the Ptolemaios but the scars from the last four years have yet to fully heal.  Arriving at Katharon’s middle eastern headquarters, Setsuna heads out to return Marina to her homeland while Saji tries to escape the conflict with disastrous results.  Meanwhile Alleluia is shot down along with Soma Peires, their mysterious past coming to the forefront in a tense standoff.  And while searching for him, Tierria comes face to face with Celestial Being’s true enemy and is forced to confront his own origins. 

So remember last review when I said Saji might be a handful this season…well wow did he frak things up big time.  Trying to escape the war and take a side of “It has nothing to do with me” he ended up getting captured and through that, A-Laws raided Kathraron in a mass slaughter.  Why is it that when the Automatons are unleashed the blood factor seems to go up?  Seriously, Gundam 00 can be bloody but this is a bit much.  Still, Saji’s probably now the most hated guy in the world right now.  And whoa talk about how far some characters have come as we saw Tierria slap him into place, throwing Saji’s “Im not involved philosophy” right back in his face.  It’s easy to want Saji gone for being an idiot but I think him sticking around with Celestial being is a good enough punishment.  Plus they don’t want to kill him unlike the A-Laws or Katharon if they found out Saji was the reason their base got destroyed.

It’s good to see that just because they’re with the A-Laws now, characters like Soma and Mannequin don’t approve of the actions the group is taking.  Rint is a douche and Andre is stuck with his order must be followed no matter what stance and Louise is…well kind of still trying to get her own crap sorted.  It was easy to think of Soma and Mannequin as antagonists in Season One because they stood against Celestial Being but they were never really evil to begin with, they were just trying to protect their comrades from terrorists.  Im wondering if Mannequin herself will become a source of great change within the A-Laws this season. 

Someone who wont be filling that role is Mr. Bushido, who smugly denies joining a fight just because and I kind you not what he says, “I don’t feel like it”…ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?  Graham’s always been a strange case and you all know my thoughts on him from Season One but he’s actually become worse and more intolerable than ever now.  He only wants to fight Setsuna on some sort of weirdly even playing field for what? Honor, revenge, his own freaking ego?  All three seem like viable reasons but it doesn’t make Graham, ahem Bushido…WHATEVER, any more likeable.  So while the A-Laws for the most part deserve what’s coming to them…it’s Graham I hopes get the biggest ass kick of all time by seasons end.

Soma’s storyline got some good time and even a possible conclusion to her Season One arc.  Sure her being connected to Alleluia felt sort of forced even if they were from the same place.  But honestly, her romance storyline wasn’t what interested me, it was her final meeting with Sergei (for now anyway Im sure).  Torn between his desire to see Soma happy and to protect her at all costs, the Wild Bear of Russia decided to let her go with Alleluia.  This wasn’t before Soma declared she would have loved to have been adopted by Sergei as his daughter…cue the awesome music and cue the flashbacks to Season One when they met and cue the tears…yeah even Alleluia and Soma kissing at the end couldn’t top that.

The intense and at time horrific action was notable but I really liked the character beats in this set of episodes, showing me what I learned from watching Gundam Wing years ago: that a show doesn’t have to survive based on how many giant robots blow up.  My favorite had to be Tierria jokingly goading Setsuna into maybe not coming back to Celestial Being when he set off to take Marina home.  Tierria obviously meant it as a joke but I get the feeling it might have been more.  His opinion of Setsuna has changed as have his own views of the world and humanity thanks to his time with the team.  If Setsuna did want to leave Celestial Being to help Marina, Tierria wouldn’t stop him, not out of spite but out of his friends well being.  Who would have thought Tierria would become one of my favorite characters on this show?

Now there’s just that matter of the appearance of an Innovator who looks suspiciously like Tierria popping up?  Are we about to learn more about where Tierria came from and how he could do all that Ghost in the Shell type digital access stuff from Season One?  Looks like we might find out next time.

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