Tag: Mobile Suit Gundam 00

AnimeNEXT 2008

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Hisui and Narutaki’s Saturday Schedule

New York Anime Festival Panel
Anime Dating Game (Cosplay)
ParaPara Dancing Workshop
Media Blasters
Gaijin in Japan
Anime and the Revolving Door of Culture Panel
Anime Recruitment

animnext 2008, death note, convention, con, anime, manga, cosplay

AnimeNEXT has been the convention to fill the void for the New York area since the death of BAAF (and now we have NYAF). So I have always had a fondness for it, for a small convention it has done pretty good for itself. I remember when it was still in the hotel that now houses MangaNEXT. But this year it just wasn’t quite up to the task, where are you Japanese industry guests? And you American industry?

I have always liked that AnimeNEXT was the good small local con. It’s big enough to get decent Japanese guests and a good selection of activities but small enough to really interact with the guest if you so choose. From what I can tell AnimeNEXT is not fully responsible for the lack of industry presence this year. Apparently the Japanese guests backed out at the last minute and they could not schedule new ones in time. I’m curious who they had coming. The American industry seems to be doing poorly enough that they are only focusing on major cons everyone has to attend and local cons that don’t require too much travel. Since Media Blasters and Del Rey Manga are local they showed up but for everyone else it was too much of a journey in these leans times.

As with most conventions, this one started out with a line. With all the horror stories about 6 hour line waits for registration I was a bit apprehensive. The line was no longer than normal, less than 30 minutes to get our tickets. And at least the line was in the shade and actually the weather on Saturday was really perfect for the event. Weather is extra important for NEXT because the convention is split into two buildings. I have always found this unfortunate but they really have no alternative, the convention center isn’t growing.

The line moved pretty quickly. If we had pre-registered we would have been done in seconds. I can’t say that we have ever had a problem at AnimeNEXT. For some reason anime conventions have yet to be as efficient as sci-fi/comic conventions. But I have been been lucky so far in avoiding major hassles. Also since they gave out the forms you had to fill out while you were waiting in line, it made everything run more smoothly. I have never had a big problem with the convention being split into two buildings. I definitely see how it can break the flow. But from what I saw, the cosplayers loved it because the strip between the two buildings was an active area of people hanging out. Ideally you have a situation like Otakon where the cosplay section is off to the side and the events are together in one continuous area. As you said though there really is no great solution without changing the venue.

GUNPLA, Kyrios, GUNDAM 00, Allelujah Haptism

However, we did miss the first panel we wanted to attend which was Tokyo Bound. I am always planning for my imaginary trip to Japan. So instead we headed for the dealer’s room because my next panel wasn’t for a while yet. Not too much to say about it, it was fine, good even. I found the two things I was looking for (doujin and a Kyrios 1/100 scale Gundam model) so I was pleased with the selection. There was no line for it which is indeed good management.

Gundam 00, figure, Sumeragi Lee Noriega, boobs Gundam 00, figure, Feldt Grace, loli

I myself picked up some pretty sweet Gundam 00 figures of Sumeragi and Feldt for under 20 dollars a piece so I was very happy. I was looking at a nice Kaleido-Ruby figure but was a tad overpriced and out of my spending range anyway. I was sad when I heard the doujinshi dealers missed getting their big shipment so they was less selection than we could have hoped for. They still had a good selection but I’m curious what they could have had. I almost got a very nice Phoenix Wright art book but neither me or my roommate decided to get it. Ah well, there is always Otakon.

Anime Dating Game is one of those things we went to expecting it to be really bad. Cosplayers pretending to be contestants on the dating game? But it wasn’t, it wasn’t great either, but it actually had potential. The cosplayers just needed more rehearsal but the audience was eating it up. The only other thing is you have to familiar with all the characters or it isn’t as funny. I felt like the guy playing Ace for One Piece was the most memorable and well done. He had perfect timing with his “I have a smokin’ hot body” comment.

The problem is that they tried to improvise when no body there was an improv actor. Improvisational comedy is hard for professional actors let alone random untrained cosplayers. The way to do a skit like that is to write out a script and rehearse it several times before the con. I think that way you can get some real gems. Despite my critique, the audience really loved it. I think that the Anime Dating Game is merely an idea that if pulled off with more preparation could be so very good.

ParaPara Dance Workshop was one of the highlights. None of us have done it before and we thought what the heck? We have no real qualms about embarrassing ourselves. The girls running it were enthusiastic and encouraging, so bravo to them! Though for newbies they went a little fast on the steps. I only started to catch on to one song by the end. I would like to see the panel be longer so we could go over the steps more times or cut it down to two songs instead of three. It was a lot of fun, I will definitely do it at the next con I go to. A workout at an anime convention, who knew?

Ever since my mother watch Super Gals she always asks if I go to the ParaPara demonstration at cons; my mom is an odd woman. Overall, it was fun and the instructors seemed to be having as good at time as the audience. We were rather tired after the workshop and we only had to do half as much as the girls on stage. I’m not sure they could have lasted another hour. I think that you are right in they should have only taught the dances for two songs and slowed it down a little. That ParaPara Paradise song was rather infectious. I kept singing it to myself the whole day. On a related note, I think more cons should shell out for ParaPara Paradise machines they could be the next DDR.

doujinshi, doujin, cloud, zac, yaoi, BL, final fantasy 7

Unfortunately, the Cutting Edge of J-music panel was canceled. Media Blasters, there isn’t much to say about it because they didn’t say much. Though I was glad to see some industry presence there. I know industry related stuff isn’t the biggest draw at cons so maybe it is just me feeling their absences but I was really disappointed. They don’t have to make announcement (we know they save them) but at least be there hyping stuff and giving out things. It is dark days!

The fact that Media Blasters ended their panel after a half an hour because they did not have much to say was a little bit frightening considering. I assume everyone is saving their big announcements for Anime Expo, San Diego Comic Con, and Otakon. I guess it is good that no one is over licensing themselves out of business, but it is a distinct sign that times are lean. I remember at previous AnimeNEXT conventions we would get one or two title announcements. Now we have almost no industry presence and no new news. With ADV’s current health I think it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

We did make our way to artist alley at some point. This was a completely new area for the convention, the parking lot under the hall. It was hot and sticky and smelly! There was no ventilation, awful. I don’t do well with heat and almost passed out in artist alley by the end of it. However the artists this year were great! And a lot of them too. I talked with two girls who work on show with Nickelodeon. One for a new show called Three Delivery and the other for Dancing Sushi. Their work was strong and playful, this snagged me and ended up being my only purchases from the alley.

dancing sushi, three delivery, kappa mikey, nickelodeon, nana

The stink of unwashed gamer and otaku was quite strong. I did see a group doing the Haruhi dance, the Lucky Star dance, and Caramelldansen down there. I can’t see why anyone would want to dance in that pit of stench but to each their own. I liked a lot of the artists this year. They had a good mixture of art styles. I really wanted a Saber in a suit picture from Fate/Zero or a picture of the Straw Hat Crew. But I forgot to bring reference materials. Oh well, another thing to do at Otakon.

Are you trying to make me jealous by constantly mentioning Otakon? Hum. One of the first panels I knew I wanted to attend was Gaijin in Japan. I am just uber curious about anything like this. The guy running it really seemed to know a lot, have good advice, and great stories. But the poor guy needed a longer panel or some serious time management. He barely got into the actual living and working in Japan part before it was over. I did get some good resources including the site Gaijin Pot, oddly enough Japan is in need of IT people! Of course that doesn’t help me much.

He did seem very knowledgeable and interesting so it was a shame his panel was not longer. I did like his section about the different dialects and certain speech patterns in Japan. Kansai-ben and Osaka-ben are things you always getting an inkling of in anime but never understand the full ramifications of on Japanese society. I was also interested to learn about the Japanese bus system and how it differs from the Japanese train system.

doujinshi, doujin, cloud, zac, yaoi, BL, final fantasy 7

I went to the Revolving Door panel alone but since it was run by the Bad Anime! Bad! guy I was assured that it would be interesting. It was basically a look into how Japan and America keep ping ponging influences on their media back and forth. One of their examples was how William Gibson wrote Neuromancer which heavily influenced Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the Shell and Megazone 23 in return heavily influenced The Matrix. The Matrix went on to pioneer bullet time which is used in anime. The panel was a constant stream of the back and forth between the two styles of media. Although the panelists had notes and the panel never dragged, it was run in a very conversational manner. The audience was encouraged to participate in the discussion while the panelists kept the conversation on track.

We ended the night on a high note with a panel of our own! Anime Recruitment strikes again! I am becoming less nervous as we continue to do these and one day I will be totally comfortable. I was surprised to have no tech problems, I really think that is a first. Plugged in the laptop and it was there on the screen, boom! And the panel proceeded with success. There wasn’t as many people as I was hoping for. I had forgotten that at smaller cons there are few attendees who don’t attend the masquerade. Whereas at something big, there are always lots of people about. But everyone who came seemed to leave with new knowledge. Also there were these great girls in the front row who were very excited. It was a lot of fun!

I think the panel went well and everyone got something from it. We did as well as we could with what we were given. It seemed like certain people in the audience got as many new shows to watch as they got shows to show other people. Those two girls in the front were writing notes constantly. There was one guy in the audience who was cosplaying Sean from Streetfighter who had a girlfriend that totally seemed to be dragged along to the con against her will. By the end of the panel she seemed interested in Monster and all the Satoshi Kon movies we mentioned. If nothing else it proves to me that our panel works.

AnimeNEXT was still fun, but it is hard not to have a good time with friends along. Also the convention was well run, although we are still waiting for our refund. The people running NEXT do a good job they just had some bad luck this year. And while I did attend some panels I never normally would have (even liked them) it doesn’t quite make up for it.

Gundam 00 Season 01, Don’t judge a series by its bishie character designs.

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In the future, the world has depleted almost all available fossil fuel reserves and the resulting energy crisis has led to the creation of gigantic solar collectors. These devices are set around the earth with three orbital elevators in place to service them. The countries of the world have divided themselves into three major factions each of which controls one of the orbital elevators. These world powers are now locked in a seemingly endless series of conflicts over control of these orbital elevators and the solar power that comes down from them.

Thanks to these new forms of energy, the Middle East has basically been rendered powerless creating a hot bed of turmoil. Also, the factions of countries controlling things aren’t very surprising. It is essentially the Americans and Japanese (the Union), the Russians and Chinese (the HRL), and the Europeans (AEU). It is a sad commentary to think 300 years in the future people are basically still fighting about the same things.

In response, a mysterious group know as Celestial Being has sprung up and is seemingly declaring war on war itself. With Mobile Suit technology far beyond that of any world power they intervene, they destroy anyone who would engage in armed conflict. They descend into the middle of any conflict and devastate both sides until they must stop fighting. Everyone wants the power of Celestial Being but no one seems to be able to muster the strength needed to stop or capture them. If anyone seems to be a threat to Celestial Being it is Celestial Being itself.

Everyone has some type of talented mobile suit pilot who might actually be formidable if they had the right equipment. Of course at the beginning Celestial Being has the element of shock, where no one has any idea what is going. But as the series progress the Gundam meisters get into some pretty close scrapes with their opponents. It really seems like only a matter of time before they can’t just slip by.

Gundam 00 is set in the Anno Domini era as opposed to the Universal Century like the original Gundam series, the Cosmic Era is Gundam Seed, or any of the other various time lines of other series. Since Anno Domini is the present I think this is meant to be the closest Gundam to real speculative future. Gundam 00 definitely deals with many more real life issues in a very clear manner than other Gundam series. I feel that other Gundam series deal with the horrors and sadness of war but they tend to do it on a very detached level. While not utterly gritty and down and dirty, it is the closest a Gundam series has ever gotten.

The thing about this series is it hits really close to home. Because of the issues it deals with and they way it is dealt with, it doesn’t seem like 300 years in the future, is seems just around the corner. Complete with never-ending conflicts over energy sources. It actually scares me, never have I watched a show like this and really felt like this is the world today. Bus bombings, attacks on civilians, war spilling over onto the innocent, and war-mongering are just a few of the real-life issues that come up. There is a lot of who is a terrorist, is Celestial Being one? What do you have to sacrifice for the greater good? Is there a good guy in this conflict? As the audience, it is interesting to be considering these things while watching a show.

This seems like an excellent show to write a scholarly paper on. I know there is some Gundam otaku working on one as we speak. Some clever history or sociology student can get a thesis out of Gundam 00.

I think we all have to admit that when the first trailer of this series came out everyone had a reaction to the character designs. These guys are far beyond the pretty of Gundam W, these are designs by a BL artist. It is so funny how things like this can color your reaction to a series. The girls in the series are gorgeous too, and each side has its bit of fan-service. I don’t think it is any less honest because of it. In fact, I find this series to be one of the most realistic and dark Gundam incantations.

All I remember were GUYS going crazy about how mad they were about all the girl in the series being fairly busty. Who knew that U.S. Gundam otaku were such prudes? Maybe they don’t want to admit they are secretly huge Loveless fans complete with cat ears. There were a few scenes of slight fan service and one or two “interesting” camera angels during the show but nothing gratuitous. I distinctly remember a scene in which the camera was clearly always centered on Sumeragi’s shapely bottom. But we got a decent amount of fan-service of the male Gundam meisters as well so everyone should be happy.

Our pilots (and other members) have all come to Celestial Being for various reason that we learn about as the series goes on. But you basically start to see the pattern of violence in their pasts thanks to war, corruption, and conflict and they want to stop that cycle. I’ll point out that the youngest is Setsuna at 16 but the rest are a little older, Allelujah at 19, and Lockon at 24. Tieria we don’t know about it although he definitely comes off as older. These varying ages seem to give some depth to their own inner turmoil and wisdom of the world.

To me Tieria does not come off as older as much as more of a jerk than anyone else. Something makes me want to punch Tieria Erde. As stated in our I Hate You Misa Misa article I don’t tend to develop strong diastase for characters but for some reason Tieria gets on my nerves. Something about his nasty attitude and “oh so mysterious” past really grinds my gears. Die Tieria! Die you nasty little male Rei!

Well, it is nice to not be the only one hating on characters! Although, in this series I don’t really have a undying desire to strangle anyone. But Tieria is not my favorite by a long shot, mostly because he is rather under developed and robotic. I took an immediate liking to Lockon and Allelujah. It was nice learning about all the other pilots and watching them move further away from the mold you think they are when the series begins. I was most happy about Setsuna because for the first ten episodes or so all I saw was Hiro Yui staring out at me. I think these comparisons are only natural because of the legacy of Gundam.

I think everyone took a liking to Lockon. He seems without a doubt the most human and easy going of the Gundam meisters. Alleujah gets a lot of development in the beginning and then sort of sticks the the background towards the middle. He gets some character development rather rapidly near the end as well. Setsuna starts off an a Hiro Yui clone but slowly starts to show that he has a soul and the ability to have emotions even if they are somewhat muted. His love story seems somewhat forced or at least a little bit rushed. I guess when you have a cast this big and so many major plot lines you sometimes have to cut corners.

One of the things I really loved about Gundam SEED was its strong female characters. And while I think they continue to create women like this in Gundam 00, I feel a lot of them get pushed the wayside instead of being fully realized yet. Sumeragi, who is the most developed female, is one of my favorite characters. She is a little older and has made a career as a tactical forecaster. She is also the in combat leader of our meisters. We know something serious happened in her past, my guess is some sort of miscalculation that cost a lot of innocent people their lives, and we know she is still punishing herself for it. Her strength and independence are only enhanced by her moments of vulnerability, like when she cries or when she needs a drink.

Sumeragi is undoubtedly one of the most developed characters who is not a Gundam meister. I’m sure that what ever that incident was in her past it will tie in with the main plot line eventually. I like Feldt but I feel they developed her just enough that you wanted to know more about her but not enough that you got a good feel of who she was. I assume we will be getting more of Wang Liu-Mei’s story and character in the next season. I think that the writers want you to be interested in Marina Ismail but I find her quite bland. Princess Princess just seems so generic and slightly moe. Maybe will we see her become more dynamic next season but right now she just comes off as a flat character. I am still waiting for a competent female pilot that is equal to the main male characters in piloting ability (that is not a horrible psycho bitch). Come on Feldt. Be the woman I know you can be! Be the pink haired Allenby Beardsley.

This series plot is really complex with a lot of players on the board. For a while it was hard to keep straight who was who and who they worked for and what they wanted. And the show is constantly giving you ten different peoples’ view of the situation. I really like this because it bring that “the whole world is involved with this” feel to it but it also makes it confusing at times. It is starting to solidify in my mind now but of course now there are traitors and the switching of side seems on the brink of happening.

There are distinctly characters who have very fluid allegiances and tend to back an idea more than any particular organization. Several characters switch sides, like in any Gundam series, but it seems more characters have secret agendas than normal. Even Celestial Being seems to have several layers and factions within it. From the beginning, they make it clear that the only person Ali Al-Saachez works for is Ali Al-Saachez. Of the three major powers I feel, I have the least idea of what the Advanced European Union is all about. They seem to have the fewest named characters and Patrick Colasour is practically a joke character. I did not have a hard time keeping up with who was who but I wish we had seen more of what defines each of the three major powers in the world.

Saji and Louisse are pretty far removed from the actually day to day battles (I doubt it will stay that way). But this adds a layer to the series that isn’t always done. They are just two kids going to school and dating but war destroys them anyway. Their story is really heart wrenching. I think all Gundam series what to show the terrible consequences of war but this small piece of this show does it quite poignantly.

Saji and Louisse are definitely not the same people they were at the beginning of the series that they are at the end. Both of them lose quite a bit during the first season and I don’t see their lives getting any better anytime soon. I also have a feeling that Saji and his sister being orphans is no simple coincidence. I think Saji’s parents death will eventually tie into the history of Celestial Being.

Clearly, we have rivals to our meisters (as the pilots are called) popping up giving us some great battles and interesting dialogue. We are graced with the charming Graham, captain of the flag pilots of the Union; and the very villainous Ali, a mercenary and self-proclaimed lover of war. Both of these guys add some much needed competition for our meisters.

Well there was one secret villain who I think we both thought was slightly over the top with his freaking golden gun and golden Gundam. Dorothy Catalonia and her freaky eyebrows would be proud. (BTW that is not a good thing.) In fact, I would go as far as to say it is if Dorothy Catalonia and Light Yagami had a child he would be equally megalomaniacal. I also got the feeling that Narutaki wanted to punch a certain female pilot squarely in the face until she stopped being a horrible character. But I think she was written to be such an easily hated character. Since not all the villains from the first season are coming back in the next season, I wonder how iconic the next batch of villains will be. Will we get the second coming of Char? Is it blasphemy to even suggest such a thing?

As per usual, no recent Gundam series would be completely without stellar opening and ending songs. I kind of come to expect this and I always look forward to who is going to do them. I can’t decide which opening I liked better. I love the L’arc-en-Ciel song more. But the actual opening for the Brilliant Green’s song is better, since the first opening looks like it is the Setsuna show and there are some other robot pilots hiding in the back room. I hope T.M.Revolution will do an opening for the next season!

All I want is more Feldt in the openings. Because in Season 2 she will be 18 so you don’t have to feel extremely dirty being attracted to her. I liked the first opening better overall but they were both very good. And you know in you heart you want Gackt to do the next opening. Dressed as Allelujah. In your bedroom.

Gundam 00 is the first Gundam series that is being split into two seasons. So for now we got 25 episodes and in the fall we will get the rest. Personally, I would like all of my Gundam in a row with small breaks here and there. However, I was pleased with the ending point of the first season. It was not a cliff-hanger and it was not in the middle of the action. The team of people making this really thought about how to make this season have closure but also leave you without all the answers. While speculation will certainly fly about what we see in the last few minutes of episode 25, we really have gotten the ending of part 1.

I know we have already started to throw around theories on the forums of how season 2 will start. The little epilogue shows enough of the surviving characters to really get us interested in what is going to happen in but not enough to be in any way conclusive. The ending is definitely decisive in terms of the overall main story arc but they leave enough things open to make a season 2. Certain characters fates are also ambiguous enough that I’m sure fans of them will be on the edge of their seats until next season.

Gundam 00 certainly doesn’t pull any punches, which is a bit refreshing. No one is safe from attack, death, or downfall. As the series goes it it pulls further and further away from the typical and kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. It certainly didn’t turn out predictable by any standards. It is really one of the best Gundam incantations in years.

It’s very true. About half way through the series they start killing off major characters left and right. You distinctly get the feeling that no one is safe and they don’t cheap out on it. So far when characters die they die no matter who they are. We have not had that many off screen “soap opera” deaths. I think this Gundam is one of the biggest departures from Gundam formula we have seen since they made G-Gundam but I think this departure really works. I wonder if this Gundam will revolutionize the mecha genre as much as the original Gundam did.

P.S. I think that Black Haro is the evil mastermind behind everything.

UPDATE: Gundam 00 is now licensed by Bandai!

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