With Heliopolis destroyed, Kira Yamato and his friends
are conscripted to join the depleted crew of the Alliance battleship, the
Archangel. As Kira questions whether or
not he can continue to pilot the Mobile Suit he has come to call “Gundam”, the
Archangel gains another new passenger: Lacus Clyne, daughter of one of the most
powerful members of ZAFT. As Kira and
Lacus begin to bond over recent experiences, Rau Le Cruset continues his
mission to seize the Archangel and the last of the five Mobile Suits from
Heliopolis. In the rapidly changing
battlefield of space, friendships are formed and tested and the battle is only
just beginning.
If the debut of Gundam Seed seemed very familiar, then
it’s sophomore outing proved this show might have potential to be a true
standout in the franchise. We’re a long
way from the One Year War now as we get to see both sides have their own shady
ways of doing business. Oh and there’s a
heaping helping dose of racism from the shows absolute worst character to show
that even in the future, all humans can be their own worst enemy. But we also got some good action, tragic
progression for Kira and company and the debut of the character who may or may
not be the breakout girl of Gundam Seed.
So let’s talk about Flay first. Of everyone in Kira’s crew from Heliopolis,
she’s the biggest problem child. She’s a
spoiled rich girl dating a mutual friend of Kira’s. Flay isn’t oblivious to the conflict but she
is the source of that aforementioned racism.
There’s zero reason to believe that all Coordinators are both evil AND
members of ZAFT. It’s a petty kind of
thinking, like saying every German was a Nazi during World War II. But Flay takes it a step farther, refusing to
take food to Lacus cause she didn’t want to risk touching her AND she was trash
talking Coordinators even when Kira was in the same room. And Flay sees no problem with this attitude
that humans as a species should have grown out of by this point in the
future. It doesn’t help her character
when she tries to use Lacus as a bargaining chip to save her father. Then when the poor guy gets taken out, she
blames Kira because why the hell not.
It’s one thing to grieve, it’s another to jump right to racist
accusations. I know, I know, people
react to death differently. But given
the look of dark intent on her face at the end of this set, I think Flay’s
going to be a bigger problem for everyone, more than any ZAFT hijacked Gundam.
On the opposite end of the spectrum we got introduced to
the aforementioned Lacus Clyne, daughter of one of ZAFT’s most prominent
members. For most of her time Lacus
was…an acquired taste. She’s a
songstress and a breath of carefree fresh air. There were times I questioned if
she even realized there is a war going on when everything is freaking out
around her. I almost took it so far as
to call Lacus the possible “Minmei” of Gundam Seed. But two things save her from that
judgement….actually three. The first is
her song: Quiet Night. I know that the
Seed era gets plenty of flack for focusing more on Jpop singles. I personally like the themes and insert songs
and Lacus’ music is definitely a reason why.
When the whole worlds going mad, her music does what anyone would want
it too, it soothes and tries to heal even in the face of Armageddon. I can see why this was approached again later
in Gundam 00 with Marina Ismael. The second
is Lacus suddenly dropping her “Pretty Princess” act and giving Rau Le Cruset
the order to not attack the Archangel after Kira gave her back to Athrun. The one brief exchange was enough to know
this girl only pretends to be a naieve figure but she is well aware of what’s
going on and she wont stand for violence if she can prevent it. The third is smaller but a rare moment of
levity: When Lacus stuff’s her epic gown into a space suit and it makes her
look pregnant. Sai’s reaction was great
but it was Athrun’s that stole the show.
He was like “WHOA IT HAS NOT BEEN THAT LONG SINCE WE LAST MET AND DID WE
HAVE SEX BACK THEN???!!!” all in one single dumbfounded look. Ok Lacus, you can stay.
The escape from the overconfident Artemis base was
spectacular and gave us a glimpse into the guys running the show on Earth. The Alliance big wigs that know Kira is a
Coordinator piloting their Gundam will not hesitate to force him to do their
bidding. They are desperate after all,
getting into the Mobile Suit game so late that the war might as well be lost to
them. The commanders of Artemis seemed
particularly slimy, I wasn’t sad to see them get blown up. Over on ZAFTs side, we got to meet Athrun’s
Dad and wow, he isn’t Father of the Year.
The only thing that stops him from being the Ghiren Zabi of this series
is it’s clear that his motivations for conquest of the Earth aren’t for
unlimited power, but for revenge. Oh
man, I almost forgot to talk about Junius Seven. Yeah, we got to pass through that graveyard
of tremendous sadness and Seed did not hold back on the horrific imagery of
bodies of all ages floating lifelessly in space. Learning that Athruns mom was among those
killed only strengthens the revenge angle Chairman Zala is taking and he wont
take peace for an answer. Earth must pay
and he wont let anything get in the way of that, even giving his son a loving
hug.
Gundam Seed certainly isn’t holding back the intensity as
it puts its cast through the ringer continuously and I don’t see things
lightening up anytime soon. Kira keeps
getting pushed and now there’s a girl on the Archangel who just lost her father
ready to snap and take matters into her own hands. All in all, this was a very strong second
outing for Seed, moving a bit away from its Gundam 0079 inspirations and
starting to do it’s own thing. We’ll see
if that momentum carries forward next time as Mobile Suit Gundam Seed continues
right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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