Episode 1 – Celestial Being
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Exia, proceeding to eliminate target.
Questions of the Day:
1) Did any of the characters seen in this episode catch your eye in terms of who you want to see more of?
2) What do you think of Celestial Being's stated goal to end war by using violence?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
Additionally, for long-time fans of the franchise, please remember that this rewatch is only for 00, not any of the other shows. Assume that there are people in this rewatch who have not seen anything else Gundam, and tag your spoilers for those shows appropriately if something in 00 makes you want to talk about them.
by Shimmering-Sky
27 Comments
**Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed**
[Welcome, everyone!](#michaelwink)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 isn’t one of my *top* favorite AUs of the franchise, but I do still very much enjoy it ~~certainly far more than Gundam Build Divers that I had to do earlier this year lol~~, so here I am hosting one for it! I’m hoping we can all have a good time watching this together.
—
– [~~It’s not a Gundam anime without child soldiers in it.~~](https://i.imgur.com/4UeyiBe.png) [](#crazedlaugh)
– OP1, [Daybreak’s Bell](https://v.animethemes.moe/Gundam00-OP1.webm) by L’arc-en-Ciel, is a banger. Enough said. [](#listen)
– [That’s assuming the Enact doesn’t just get trashed.](https://i.imgur.com/771f0vp.png) [](#rinkek)
– [People who were in the Gundam Build Divers & Re:RISE section of my rewatch earlier this year should recognize this name and face.](https://i.imgur.com/aAnEWgy.png) [It’s *him.*](#gintamathispleasesme)
– [lol Graham pls that still doesn’t mean you should just take the man’s binoculars.](https://i.imgur.com/LL3mdJT.png) [](#azusalaugh)
– [It’s just built different.](https://i.imgur.com/RkUhOGg.png) [](#mugistronk)
– [Lockon hype!](https://i.imgur.com/2LafYqd.png) Ah, hearing him now hits different because I didn’t pay super close attention to most VAs back when I first watched this show. Now I know he’s voiced by Shinichiro Miki. [](#ilovethiskindofshit)
– [Ah, dude, you just jinxed it.](https://i.imgur.com/5GQND8N.png)
– [I really love Gundam’s insistence on having those moving panels/handles aboard crafts in zero gravity.](https://i.imgur.com/rIJYFeB.png) It’s a nice attention to detail for how people would get around.
– [Unshou Ishizuka’s voice though…](https://i.imgur.com/WBIlx45.png) [](#sadholo)
– [Oh boy.](https://i.imgur.com/gLJnxzu.png)
– [Fighting fire with fire, basically…](https://i.imgur.com/FBWYQur.png) [](#emiliaohdear)
– The ED, [Wana](https://v.animethemes.moe/Gundam00-ED1.webm) by The Back Horn, is… uh, honestly I think it’s my least-favorite from this series? It’s not bad, I just like the others more. The chorus for this one in particular is a bop. [](#pigeonbeats)
**First timer, subs**
I’ve been working my way thru Gundam ever since I joined this subreddit. Rewatching Wing on my own was supposed to be next, but I’m not missing my chance for Sky Gundam. I’m at 9.5/16 for the main series. I’m not even going to try to quantify all the movies, secondaries, one-offs, recompilations, spin-offs, parodies, and side material.
95% of what I know about 00 is from Sky’s Gunpla rewatch earlier this year, and I liked what I saw.
[Future Second **Favorite Gundam?**](#mugiwait)
* Oh look, we’re starting off with American style mechs. We could use more early style mechs.
* I say that and mecha Jesus immediately appears.
* I think I like this song? The visuals are fine, but they all seem very straight forward.
* [Cute Little **Bug Boi**](#neat)
* Solar power is an interesting choice for field operations. Maybe they mean fuel cells? You never can be 100% sure what they mean by it in Sci Fi.
* What air defense doing? How can you not secure your testing ground?
* [It’s The Guy! **From The Memes!**](#binoculars) Time to find out the “why”.
* Vibroblades are fun.
* Git gud, scrub. No Johns.
* More bug bois. Big beetle boi.
* Heck yeah, Ptolemy. Is the sister ship Seleucus?
* It’s five o’ clock somewhere in the world. Wait ten minutes and we’ll even be over it.
* [Zero G Cups](#vacationcup)
* That’s a big ass scope.
* Every time they say “AEU” all I can think is “Anti Earth Union Group”.
* Y’all really so busy you don’t think you need to check until your boss whips you?
* Who brought the space rookie along for the major event?
* This thing is more RCS thruster than mech.
* I really do like the look they’ve got for the older mechs.
* I’m not sure you needed to go Super Robot finisher for one mook.
* Well, this dude’s definitely giving off Zeon vibes.
* Why are you repeating yourself in a per-recorded message?
* This ED is certainly trying very hard.
**QotD:**
1) [I See You Fishin](#sassyimouto) But outside of that, none of the other cast has done much yet.
2) My last mecha rewatch had one of those. But in that, they were a traumatized, panicked teenager.
**First-Timer**
**Pre-Rewatch Thoughts**
I’m still slowly making my way through the Gundam entries I haven’t seen yet. After finishing up all of SEED, I decided to wait until this rewatch to get to Gundam 00. I’m excited now that we’re finally here.
Gundam 00 is one of the Gundam shows I am most curious about. I want to know about the protagonist of this show, Setsuna, because I heard that Setsuna Yuki from Love Live is named after him. I am curious to learn about who the heck Patrick Colasour is after seeing him show up everywhere in Build Divers. I know it has a movie sequel, which is unique for Gundam series. I swear I’ve heard people say it was influenced by the then-current events of the War on Terror, which I’m curious to see Gundam’s take on. I’ve also heard it praised quite frequently by others. So, I’m really looking forward to giving it a try.
**On today’s episode of Gundam:** I know that this is going to be a proper Gundam show when child soldiers show up almost immediately. Child soldiers are one of the time-honored traditions of Gundam stories.
– Child soldiers within the first couple of seconds. This is well and truly a Gundam show. [](#binoculars)
– Saying that those who die in battle will surely be with God? Oh yeah, this is already appropriately Gundam.
– A child soldier having to fight with just a rifle against a large armored mobile suit is a pretty clear metaphor for guerrilla fighters taking on things like tanks, helicopters, and planes.
– [It’s a Gundam!](#awe) In any universe, the Gundam will always be quite overpowered.
– Pretty good OP. The song especially is quite catchy. [](#listen)
– Ooh, an orbital elevator! The only other time I can recall seeing one in Gundam is G-Reco. I think they’re a good sci-fi concept. [](#neat)
– I notice that the year is A.D. 2307. I know that Gundam 00 takes place in Anno Domini, which is the basis of the current Common Era. It’s unique having a Gundam series on the same calendar as the one we use in the real world.
– A solar-powered mobile suit? Neat idea. [](#schemingsaten)
– Oh boy, this is already a lot of acronyms. I love it when Gundam throws this stuff at me, but it does take some getting used to. [](#spinning)
– There’s the Gundam. And that’s presumably Setsuna piloting it, the same child soldier as before. So why is he after the Enact? [](#csikon)
– Oh shit, is that Patrick Colasour in that mobile suit! We get to meet him already!?! [](#slightoverreaction)
– Vibroblades! I love that sci-fi weapon! [](#woo)
– Patrick says he’s won 2,000 mock battles, but has he ever won a real battle? [](#pointandlaugh)
– The Gundam literally has “Gundam” printed on its forehead? That’s the kind of absurdity I love. [](#kukuku)
– Alright, so Setsuna and all these others are part of Celestial Being. I assume we’ll learn what that is soon enough. [](#mugiwait)
– This Kyrios looks like it will transform. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a mobile suit with a transformation function like that.
– Ooh, I like the girl in the Chinese dress. She looks great in it. [](#neat)
– [HARO!!!](#grandhype)
– Wow, the sniper is named Lockon Stratos. I’d think that’s absurd enough to be a proper Gundam name. [](#kotohoops)
– I’ve seen this name “Human Reform League” appear a couple of times now related to the orbital stations. Are they going to be the [UC Gundam] >!Newtype!< or [Gundam SEED] >!Coordinator!< equivalent of this series? [](#rengethink)
– Huh, the girl in the Chinese dress seems awfully well-informed about what’s going on. [](#harukathink)
– The Virtue is quite a chonky looking Gundam.
– I keep forgetting that each Gundam AU show from the 90’s and 00’s I’ve seen has introduced multiple Gundams within the very first episode. I’m always blindsided by how many there are, when I really shouldn’t be.
– Wow, this guy looks like if Admiral Delaz from 0083 dressed like a supervillain.
– Celestial Being’s goal is to eliminate all warfare in the world, huh? That certainly is an interesting goal for an independent group like theirs.
– Celestial Being sure are brave. They’ve essentially declared they will attack anyone they think is doing war stuff.
– I’m glad characters are already pointing out the inherent contradiction here: the plan is to use warfare to get rid of warfare.
– I like that the members of Celestial Being all have differing reactions to this announcement. Some are grim. Some look excited. Lockon has a particularly good reaction that seems to be: “We’re really doing this, huh?” like he’s surprised they made it this far.
– The ED is also a good song. The lead-in especially got me hooked pretty instantly. [](#listen)
**Continued Below**
**Episode 1 (first timer)**
A post-1980s Gundam? I have seen surprisingly little of these. And not UC to boot? On the one hand, all of this makes me skeptical. I like the gritty origins of MSG and the setup of the UC world. On the other hand, Turn A is my favorite Gundam series [Turn A]>!and while it is technically UC, it sure does not feel like it.!< So I’ll give it a try to find out whether I’ll like it or not. In either case, I already have two other rewatches lined up that I want to start soon, so I might be less involved than usual here.
**Episode thoughts**
* Child soldiers? Holy war? – crapsack world from second one.
* Angel from the sky – Gundam.
* OP: Our child protagonist will grow up to be our MC? The music sounds like it will grow on me. Pre-moe era character models, too.
* Orbital elevator!
* “Dispersion of GN particles” – This Gundam’s version of ~~magic pixie dust~~Minovsky particles?
* “This will increase the value of the Enact” – doubt.
* Maybe he was talking about scrap value …
[](#yuishrug)
* “Gundam” – The Gundam is actually just named Gundam? Or is it Exia? In either case, we hark close to the original MSG Gundam design, which means it looks pretty toy-like.
* “Celestial being transport ship” – Uhhhhh.
[](#curious)
* Hallelujah? Kyrios? – I sense a pattern in these names.
* Orbital elevator! – I hope you will be around for longer than the next 2 minutes.
[](#spooked)
* “Gundam Meisters” – hmmm.
* Airplane mecha – they look funny.
* Hello Haro!
* Sniping from the ground – no respect for the 1v3.
* “Well, then just crash into them. You’ll get a two rank promotion!”
[](#laughter)
* Zero-grav transportation!
[](#utahapraises)
* From the ceremony hall, it looks like they have no artificial gravity.
* I was right to worry about the orbital elevator.
* “Preparing to destroy target” – That might have been overkill, Virtue.
* “The main objective is to eliminate is to eliminate acts of war from this world” – … and to do so, I will kill anybody who objects with my Vital Guarder! … Oh wait, wrong show.
* Union, reform league, AEU – looks like we have three major powers (outside of Celestial Being).
* The rest of the characters are not Ikumi stans.
* *We picked a fight with the entire world* cliff-hanger.
* ED: Faster than they usually are. No animation, though.
* Preview: Not sure if we are still in the era of preview spoilers, but it looks fishy to me.
An extremely solid setup episode. We see a ton of characters, the main factions, the Gundams, and even a hint at their technology. We’ll have to see later if the political setup makes sense. In terms of animation, I am a fan of the character models, but not a fan of the fight scenes.
**Rewatcher, First Time Sub**
Ok technically I watched the second season in JP but I saw the first season in dub (which is pretty good by the way) so now I’m watching the first season in Sub.
Anyway we are introduced to the Gundam Meisters of Celestial Being. In particular to Setsuna whom we get to see that shot of his backstory in the beginning. The final scene with Aeolia Schenberg’s message shows what Celestial Being is, an independent intervention force dedicated to ending conflict. Naturally this is enough to raise questions about the whole operation as we see several characters question it already.
There’s also interesting world building stuff already such as the space elevator, the mysterious musings of the characters, and the major politics that seem at play.
**Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister**
[These are definitely the words of someone trustworthy.](https://i.imgur.com/ynO6Vzf.jpeg)
[The angel descends.](https://i.imgur.com/Fw3wQ3x.jpeg)
[You](https://i.imgur.com/M1cY31F.jpeg) versus [the guy](https://i.imgur.com/EhwZTjI.jpeg) [he](https://i.imgur.com/ooZv2kF.jpeg) tells you not to worry about.
[This is my idiot son, Patrick.](https://i.imgur.com/AmGNjUc.jpeg)
[He’s experienced.](https://i.imgur.com/dBHnSeh.jpeg) [And employed!](https://i.imgur.com/jX3E50b.jpeg)
[I love Sumeragi.](https://i.imgur.com/8vKz9Sv.jpeg)
[English is used internationally for aerial communication.](https://i.imgur.com/hMbzBOJ.jpeg) That’s not a Gundam 00 thing, that’s true to life.
[That’s cold.](https://i.imgur.com/XJUR2UJ.jpeg)
[Look at this absolute unit.](https://i.imgur.com/vWFCAY9.jpeg)
[Quite the bold statement, let’s see how it pans out.](https://i.imgur.com/62nfqJo.jpeg)
**Rewatcher, Subbed**
Pre-Episode/Show Thoughts: While it was a number of years after its original airing that I watched Gundam 00 for the first time it immediately jumped up to one of my favorite Gundam shows and I’d say is a coin flip between this and Gundam IBO for what I’d consider the best “Alternative Universe” Gundam show. This will be at least my fourth or fifth time watching it with the last time I watched it being in 2021 or 2020 I believe. While both the sub and the dub are strong, I’m going with the sub this time simply because the show has a number of actors I’m a big fan of and want to rehear them again. Couldn’t be more hyped to dive into this show again with the ability to discuss with everyone.
***
**[Quid’s Non-Spoiler Character Chart](https://i.imgur.com/yrJtrdM.jpeg)** – First time I’ve done a character chart for a rewatch in over two and a half years (last time was Kyousougiga, which I’ll admit beyond having pairs of characters with the same name didn’t really need one…). This will be my fifth time doing it for a Gundam show though (Victory, G-Reco, Turn A and IBO were the priors), and holy crap is this a show that needs it. This show has such an unbelievable amount of characters and factions that I can’t believe I made it through the show the first time without one.
This is going to be as non-spoiler as possible throughout the show; characters won’t appear in it until they appear in the show and I will not use images/screenshots from any future episodes. The only caveat I will say is that because this show has so many names and factions I will name characters or identify what faction they appear in even if the episode itself isn’t super obvious with it. But I do promise I will not do this in any spoilerific way. If I’m providing a character’s name or where they belong its because it isn’t really a spoiler to reveal it. If the show does make an effort of purposely hiding a character’s name or faction to the point that revealing it would be a spoiler I will be sure to not reveal too much in the chart.
A number of characters appear on screen ever so briefly in this episode and not always in a close up or at a good angle so I can see myself swapping a lot of these images out for better ones once I can. Especially the Celestial Being bridge crew and the politicians.
Anyway, hope this is helpful to first timers, Beyond the first episode which tends to be a monstrous effort to put together, I do enjoy doing these.
***
Episode thoughts (written last Monday night):
Watching this episode six days before the rewatch officially starts, which I pretty much never do, but need to have as much time as I can get to start up the character chart! I’m anticipating 20 – 25 characters minimum to first appear in this episode…
So those of us who were part of the recent Now and Then, Here and There rewatch probably sighed with relief that our days of watching an anime about child soldiers was at an end. Instead we get it in the opening scene of 00. Granted child soldiers are practically always an aspect of Gundam shows but it tends to not be as serious in tone as what we have here.
Chibi Setsuna is part of a religious conflict yet doesn’t believe in God himself.
All hail Go… I mean Gundam!
Not my favorite OP of the show, but it is a pretty good one…
Solar powered mobile suits! Cool stuff. But will it be negatively affected out in space?
[Gundam 00]>!So Billy references that the Enact is just a Flag unit with different exterior parts, don’t we find much later in the show (maybe even in the last episode or two) that Graham’s all powerful mobile suit is basically set up the exact same way?!<
Oh wow, Patrick was able to hear them criticizing the Enact from that far off? LoL.
Already time for that part of a Gundam show when the first Gundam shows up and the status quo military guys are totally bewildered about it.
My first thought when the guy pulled out the cell phone was that he was gonna take a photo of the Gundam, but I guess this is before the cell phone photo was all the rage, or the technology was good enough for that matter much.
This Gundam has no chance against the almighty Patrick Colasour, the ace of the AEU! [Gundam 00]>!And if not already readily apparant in this episode, a character incredibly easy to dunk on.!<
“I’ve never lost a mock battle” Have you ever participated in a non-mock battle?
2,000 mock battles! Patrick’s a pro! …at them. Doesn’t stop him from getting beat for real in about 20 seconds.
Will these jets actually stand a better chance against the Gundam than the mighty Patrick Colasour? Or are they just to observe?
Sumeragi getting wasted while on the bridge during an important mission, their debut mission, lol. Easy way to establish one of her character traits right off the bat.
Cool design for the Ptolemaios. They are thankfully not simply aping the White Base design for this show.
Yes, we actually have a character called Allelujah. One of the great things about 00 is it goes all in in terms of giving us crazy Tomino-esque character names, even if its a non-Tomino show.
Kyrios seems quite inspired by the Zeta Gundam at least with its flight design.
The whole orbital elevator concept is a cool one, with this I believe being the first Gundam show to actually explore the topic (one is also used in Gundam Reconguista in G if I remember correctly). Would be so cool to have one built in my lifetime but am not counting on it.
Those jet fighters better be careful with where they fire givin their orbital elevator is right there.
Lockon Stratos, a name even more in theme with what Tomino would do as its not just a name but also a descriptor. (see Shot Weapon, Carrying Cargo, Medick Helt, etc…)
Interesting helmet design for the Human Reform League pilots, presumably they’ve got a monitor in them or something?
Are these attackers even from Celestial Being? Is Kyrios here to join them? Or to fight them off?
Alright, its the latter. I gotta say, mighty convenient for them to show up now. Didn’t Wang know what was gonna happen? So I figure there was some collusion here?
Virtue’s got one of the bulkiest looking designs you’ll see on a Gundam. I think to Argo’s Bolt Gundam in G, but I think this tops even that.
Kyrios and Virtue are heroes to the Human Reform League!
Uh oh, mysterious bald guy!
The only way to stop war… is war! Will Celestial Being’s mission be similar to [Gundam Wing]>!The whole concept in Gundam Wing of how if they have such a massive terrible war that it will incentivize humanity to never go to war again? Hopefully 00 doesn’t contradict itself immediately with an OVA like Wing did…!<.
Good to know that good ol’ Haro is around even in an AU show! Although early AU Gundam shows avoided using him I think by this point they were totally fine with him being in AU shows; I think he was also in Gundam Seed/Destiny.
Yeah, this opening episode ended up slamming us with a lot of characters, I think every character in the OP aside from one.
My recollection is that there’s at least one really good ED in 00, but at least the first one I don’t like anywhere as much as the OP.
First Timer FYI: Although we don’t get it in this episode, eventually we hit a point with 00 where practically every episode has stuff that appears after the credits, but before the episode preview. Someone who remembers better than I can probably confirm more details (maybe its just a season 2 thing) but if you’re one who skips the previews, be cautious about checking out when the ED starts every episode as you may miss some things.
***
**Quid’s Voice Actor of the Day**
I plan to tackle one character a day with this, focusing on both their original Japanese voice and the English dub, both of which I find to be quite good. Today I’ll be focusing on **Setsuna F. Seiei**, who is voiced in Japanese by **Mamoru Miyano**. This is his second Gundam role, with him also having voiced Shams Couza in Gundam Seed Stargazer. A prolific voice actor, I’ve heard in many lead roles including Light in Death Note, Kiba in Wolf’s Rain, Takuto in Star Driver and Rintaro in Steins Gate. Other major roles I’ve heard him in include Tusk in Cross Ange, Masaomi Kida in Durarara!, Kento Miura in Kimi ni Todoke and H-neun in Valvrave.
Setsuna’s English voice actor is **Brad Swaile**. By the time Gundam 00 was dubbed, he had already played major roles in a ton of Gundam shows, premiering as Quatre Reberba Winner in Gundam Wing, but also voicing Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam and Char’s Counterattack, Dearka Elsman in Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny and Auel Neider in Gundam Seed Destiny. Swaile has returned to voice many of these characters in Gundam video games as well. He also was Light’s English dub actor in Death Note.
**First Timer – sub**
Over a year ago I watched the first four episodes of this while sick. And I realized a day or two later that I had no idea who any of the characters were, what any of the groups actually stood for, or what had even happened in those four episodes. I meant to come back to it a month or two later and rewatch when my head was clearer, and then… never did.
So here I am again, still a first timer after all, in another Gundam rewatch hosted by Sky, my sixth Gundam overall, wondering how well my headachy head is going to hold up this time. Notes should help hahaha
[](#vashheadscratch)
Now that I’ve finished the first episode again, ah yes, lots and lots and lots of faces.
And boo for all the pilots being men
Pettiness aside, its certainly the most hands off of all the Gundam first episodes I’ve seen. Plenty of action, lots of faction lines, and a manifesto of our main group – one that effectively declares themselves a third-party “nuke”. But not all that much characterization or worldbuilding yet.
And it’s an interesting position for the main group to be in, especially given that we specifically retain a Japanese setting while doing so. It takes deterrence theory and broadens the concept of it to be all encompassing. It’s not quite mutually assured destruction, which is the end result of deterrence specially because of nukes, as it’s not promising both sides will be destroyed, but it is taking the idea of a “defensive” side out of war by blindly opposing aggression. It’s far too early to speak on it further, but the other characters pointing out the paradox in it makes me hopefully the show may explore the inherent “wrongness” of the idea that parallels the Gundams as nukes being pointed at every nation on earth. And on top of that, because one side having nukes, or even the idea of nukes, never prompts all the other sides to quickly try and develop their own huh… history surely doesn’t have a huge precedent of that…
[](#nocomment)
Other then that not much to say. Blunt but well done parallel at the start with the discarded childs doll vs the machine still functioning with an arm torn off, though coming off the back of Now and Then Here and There it’s other scenes with child soliders were hardly affecting in comparison. And the introduction of Exia and Setsuna was well done at least, literally hijacking a stage to ensure maximum awareness in the industry who would be most able to judge the full power on display, rather than just claiming credit with civilians afterwards.
I really hope Mr Special dies. And quickly or else I’m gonna start getting real pissy every time he’s on screen, I can just tell already. Which is probably the point but fuck, does anime always have to be *so* good at inspiring instant hate at a character?
*A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 1:*
Hi there, everyone! It’s The_Draigg here, once again along for a Gundam series rewatch! Surprising, I know. You know, I did rewatch this series entirely with some friends earlier this year, so if anything, this is me doing a bit of a personal double-dip on Gundam 00. But hey, it’ll be fun! And for one note before we get started, I’ll be watching the English dubbed version of the series. I watched the subbed version earlier this year, so this’ll be a nice gear shift for me. So, with that said, let’s get started!
– A.D. 2301. Some things never change when it comes to war. In a war-torn desert battleground, a child soldier does their best to survive against enemy mobile suits shooting at him and his fellow soldiers, all while hearing how this war is justified in the name of God. However, the only salvation he finds here isn’t a good, but rather a mysterious new mobile suit coming down from the heavens wreathed in a green aura. There may be no God, but there certainly are saviors.
– MY WISHES OVER THEIR AIRSPACE! Man, Daybreak’s Bell is a banger. Such a strong first opening. Sometimes you just can’t beat L’arc En Ciel. And the thing is, this isn’t even the best opening for the show either, in my opinion. But it certainly does set a good precedent for all the absolutely brilliant OPs that Gundam 00 has.
– A.D. 2307. The Advanced European Union certainly is proud to show off their latest mobile suit, the Enact, since it’s their proof of concept of an MS that uses solar energy. This is absolutely done is a middle finger to the other power blocs like the Union of Solar Energy, but especially in the case the Human Reform League, since this announcement was just so coincidentally revealed on the anniversary of that nation completing their orbital elevator. At least the Union observers are just bemused at how it’s an obvious knock-off of their Flag line of MS.
– Talk about Gundam Exia absolutely stealing the show from the AEU though. That’s at least two shows that’ve been stolen now. And I don’t think you can top the Enact, piloted by the only very best Patrick Colasour, getting dunked on so thoroughly by the Exia. It wasn’t even a fight, it was just a flex for the Gundam.
– You know, Celestial Being seems cool to work for. You get a cool space ship like the Ptolemaios, you get cool Gundams, and you can even drink on the bridge while other people are working. Truly, this is the Gundam show faction that’s the most like a tech start-up.
– Gundam Kyrios! This Gundam is pretty sick too. It’s basically a more modernized take on the Zeta Gundam, except painted orange instead of blue. And for those reasons, it’s rad as fuck. Even cooler than Shin Matsunaga’s Zeta Gundam from UC Gundam side content, which is also an orange Zeta Gundam.
– Man, Gundam Dynames is cool too. You do have to admit that there’s something neat about a dedicated marksman Gundam. And now fitting that the pilot’s name is Lockon Stratos. Really, it’s a very on the nose name there. But if you’re familiar with Gundam already, you’d know that there’s way more absurdly on the nose or just plain weird names out there. Lockon Stratos is much tamer by comparison.
– Celestial Beings’ goals on this day are pretty varied. On Earth, Gundams Exia and Dynames are working to expose the hidden MS forces that the AEU have illegally stationed aboard their space elevator, while Gundams Kyrios and Virtue thwart a plot by terrorists to blow up the HRL’s space elevator during the anniversary ceremony using mobile suits. Despite how different those goals seem, they do have one common purpose: to enforce a fair and even peace. Nobody is exempt, from lowly terrorists to national armies.
– Now that we’ve met the Gundams of this series, let me drop some fun trivia for you: they originally had different names earlier on in production. Gundams Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, and Virtue were originally going to be Gundams Pawn, Knight, Bishop, and Rook respectively. There were a lot of chess motifs that were present in earlier story drafts that were removed by the time the anime actually got made.
– And so, Celestial Being reveals themselves and their goals to the world. According to the words of the video they released, it’s simple. They’re an armed organization dedicating themselves to intervening in any armed conflicts around the globe, whether at the hands of terrorists, corporations, nations, or power blocs. If anyone threatens war, they’ll be put down with extreme prejudice using Gundams. In doing so, they’ll be ensuring a peaceful world, all at the point of their weapons. Using war to eliminate war, it’s ironic isn’t it?
– As expected, reactions around the world are mixed. The AEU could only be bothered to have half of their council show up to view the announcement, the Union and HRL are watching closely, and certain people in important positions have been awaiting for this kind of day to arrive. And yet, others are shocked and doubtful at the idea behind Celestial Being’s goal. After all, using war to eliminate war is an inherent contradiction, isn’t it? Is such a thing even truly possible?
– While I do like Daybreak’s Bell as the OP, I can’t really say much if the same for Wana, the ED. I mean, it’s fine, it’s what you’d expect from a show made in the late 2000s. But there are much better ones coming later on, so this one isn’t exactly high on my list in terms of both the song and the visuals.
**First Timer – Sub**
Does this show have a dub? I didn’t see one on Crunchyroll, but I wasn’t exactly looking. (I have now looked, Crunchy is sub-only)
Anyway! The very first scene is…a religious war involving child soldiers firing on mecha. Well. That’s a promising start…and then there’s a Gundam with obvious angel imagery.
Looks like the kid is our protagonist. Or one of them, at least.
I was worried that Skydive Gundam was showing up specifically to kick-start a war, but no, it’s militaristic grandstanding with the goal of preventing war. As is the intervention at the space elevator. They have a very lofty and commendable goal…but I can’t help feeling they have not thought this through. The only way you can stop *everyone* from going to war is by being the single scariest arsehole on or off the planet, and even then that just means #2 and #3 on the scary list will gang up on you.
Still, these guys definitely have the skills to walk the walk. A sniper who can shoot off individual wings on enemy aircraft while they’re in flight? That’s impressive. And I note every attack on the defending planes/mecha was calculated to avoid killing pilots, while the terrorists got no such consideration.
I liked the little detail of that one soldier saying he’s only had 120 hours of training in space. 120 hours of training for a highly skilled job is *nothing*, that would legitimately be ‘I am a complete n00b’-tier for space combat.
All in all this episode definitely has my interest, and there’s another detail that’s cinched it.
*Celestial Being*. Holy magikarp on a pogostick, I know those guys! I know that ship! They were in Super Robot Wars V! I mean, I’m *still* completely lost because I remember almost nothing about their backstories, but I wasn’t expecting to know *anything* from this show.
first timer who [has control](https://imgur.com/nFf4eA6)
Ok so what I gather is 10 years ago, the war between AEU/Union came to an end by the introduction of a savior. The rest of the world bought it and that led to the introduction of a sham middle org, the Human Reform League. Setsuna and other war orphans dont believe in this savior, since it could have came earlier – they are out to become the real saviors.
There seems to be a large tech gap, maybe promoting inequality between earth/space. The first tower made 10 years ago gave some power (a sham) the second tower just now finished is for more of a sham.
Why would there need to be a physical tower plug when solar energy exists other than the space side being much further behind.
Celestial Being seems pretty evil, I suppose the meisters are being used. Need to meet whoever Sumeragi is (maybe thats the Char guy) to see where that is going. They got ahold of GN (Gundam neutrons?) which is the superior tech, even though they are based in space.
also high ponytail and MSWAD ace are fucking
___
[i really like this thing](https://imgur.com/MwE5Fqb)
are we going to be wrestling with our relationship with God over the course of this series [](#concealedexcitement)
oh i think ive heard this OP before, its a bop [](#pigeonbeats)
[Tifa?](https://imgur.com/fES5AoV ) [](#whathaveidone)
[big boy hours](https://imgur.com/ww230pP)
AEU not AUEG
[already so many sick mechs](https://imgur.com/a2bJjvh)
Enact and its solar powered, is that why its green?
[](#schemingsaten) [naruhodo](https://imgur.com/Iq0NCut)
[alcoholic oneesan kancho](https://imgur.com/Qp4hrL3 ) of course
[new borjarno dropped](https://imgur.com/D49rfpw)
#Gundam Meisters of Celestial Being
Lockon Stratos what a name
JNN news IS THAT JAPAN?? IN MY GUNDAM??? [](#maxshock)
[least Char coded character](https://imgur.com/Q8YF9xi) although hopefully more like Treize
**First Timer**
If there’s something I love, it’s a good old cold open, and this episode certainly delivers in that regard, holy war, tons of dead bodies, child soldiers, the vibe this show will go for is immediately clear and it makes for a strong opening sequence.
[Daybreak’s Bell](#pigeonbeats)
God I love L’Arc-en-Ciel, they’re like the perfect 2000’s opening band in my mind, also regardless of if they end being relevant, I quite like the lyrics for this op, some really cool lines in there.
[You just know this guy is immediately going to lose
](https://imgur.com/a/LeJMCRY)
[](#azusalaugh)
This episode really just throws you into the deep, I honestly feel like I’ll have to rewatch it again for tomorrow, it feels like there’s just a ton of information being sneakily delivered here, although I’m assuming this was intentionally in medias res, again just to really make the feel of the show clear and more importantly start introducing our main cast while hyping up their Gundams.
And hype the Gundams up it does! I mean, how can you not get hyped at all these sick looking giant robots, just really cool designs, they’re also obviously rather dominant right now compared to rest of the mobile suits, which again, helps makes really cool, Give me more of those Gundam face shots!
[](#rengehype)
Interested in seeing what Celestial Being’s deal is, saying “end war or we will go to war with you” is a pretty bold and well, [contradictory](https://imgur.com/a/syJf1dj), statement.
From the glimpses we got of everyone, the voice cast also seems to be *really* stacked here, I hear some of my favorites in there so that should be something to look forward to.
This episode went by super fast honestly, the only Gundam I’ve watched until now is WFM last year (which I really liked), so I’m super excited in seeing what else this franchise has to offer, From I’d heard of it before, and especially from what I saw this episode, this show should totally be my jam!
[](#mugiwait)
**First Timer**
I have a little experience with Gundam, having participated off-and-on in the 2021 OG rewatch and seen G-Witch, Turn A, 08th MS Team, and the G-Reco movies on my own time, but I’m still very much a newbie considering the sheer amount of Gundam stuff out there. Gundam 00 has not been the highest on my priority list (that would be the rest of mainline UC, which I’ve been putting off for 3 years now), but it has a decent reputation (the people who like it seem to *really* like it, and the people who don’t seem more lukewarm than anything) and I wanted to get to it eventually, so here I am. I’ll be interested to see how it compares with what I’ve seen so far.
The first scene is some of the darkest first few minutes of a Gundam series I’ve seen; they’re certainly not wasting any time getting to the “war is hell” side of things. The rest of the episode keeps up the action constantly, with lots of names and places being thrown around that don’t mean much to me yet, but part of the fun of Gundam AUs is becoming familiar with all of that. If I understand correctly, the mobile suits that our main characters pilot are owned and deployed by Celestial Being, an organization bent on waging war on war (thankfully other characters have already pointed out the logical issues with openly declaring this). There’s definitely some interesting social commentary to be made with this premise, so I’m anxious to see what the show does with it. We haven’t seen much of our protagonist outside of the Gundam yet, but he appears to be an already experienced pilot, which is a nice change of pace when mecha MCs seem to practically trip and stumble into the cockpit by accident on the regular.
This show reminds me of how *good* 2000s anime can look at its best (I guess this is technically my first 2000s Gundam!). Sometimes I spend too much time in the early digipaint era and forget. Also I cannot overstate how much I absolutely *adore* the OP. Daybreak’s Bell is such a good song, and the visuals match up perfectly.
**00th Timer Locked On!**
I’ve heard lots of things about 00 before I got into it:
* Along with Turn A, it’s considered one of the best AU Gundam
* It’s got an ensemble with split focus between different factions (something I’m always on the lookout for)
* It’s a better Gundam Wing
* It stole Gintama’s budget [](#lolifightsback)
So in short: Unforgivable!!! is what I would’ve said for any other series, but Gintama makes its best jokes by tying together its shoe laces of a budget and sending them down the Sunrise coach to fish for coins, so we can roll with Love and Peace for now.
***
Now for the episode itself… the only name I remember so far is Lockon, so for everyone else, I’m going with their VAs/nicknames:
* It’s been a while since I heard a more muted Miyano, granted he does a good job with it too.
* Going against a Gundam while being proud that [you’ve never been in a real battle?](https://i.imgur.com/lKUqgK0.jpeg) This should be fun [](#serialkillerlaugh)
* Everytime I read AEU, I expect to hear it as “eyy – ii – yuu”, and instead it’s “eiyuu” or basically AU… [](#spinning)
* [Oh hey, Kintoki!](https://i.imgur.com/jm46rbq.jpeg) So from what I gather, this is much like 0079, a world where mechs have only been around for a bit (and in this case, they’ve only become meaningful in the last decade, after space became the new frontier). The Gundams are being thrown in as new weapon right here and now, to shake things up, and the world as a whole has to play catch up. Would that make Kintoki our Char…? I’ll wait until I see some masks.
* I don’t know who her VA is, but you know I’m always down for a [captain](https://i.imgur.com/bZW20iz.jpeg) running on ideals and alcohol [[](#democratee)](https://i.imgur.com/MOF7xpD.jpeg)
* [Yup, I’m gonna like this guy](https://i.imgur.com/cloqCQG.jpeg) – again, the keyword here is “maiden battle”, this world has seen war, but not full scale mech wars just yet, those guys are setting new ground. So funnily enough, Celestial Being trying force peace with superior weapons will only lead to an aggressive arms race between the different nations, which in turn will lead to wars on a much worse scale than the ones they’re trying to stop. Aren’t pure ideals fun? Now where did I put my popcorn? [](#popcorn2)
* For a guy pursuing peace, [he looks way too sinister](https://i.imgur.com/8mSRP3T.jpeg)
* [Kintoki is already calling out the issue I mentioned](https://i.imgur.com/iZBEznc.jpeg), we’re on the right track for a proper crash then.
***
>1) Did any of the characters seen in this episode catch your eye in terms of who you want to see more of?
The Captain, and Lockon, and Kintoki, and… ok, I think I’m liking the cast in general.
>2) What do you think of Celestial Being’s stated goal to end war by using violence?
It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes to crash [](#concealedexcitement)
**Rewatcher – Gundam 00 Ep1:**
Gundam 00 was one of the first Gundam series I watched. It has been a long time and I watched **a lot** of Gundam since then so it’ll be neat to revisit this series.
___
[Child soldiers!](#happyclap)
This brings me to a topic that’s been on my mind due to me rewatching first Gundam recently. Gundam is known for its child mecha pilots, but one overlooked aspect is its children guerilla fighters. That was something mentioned in the very first Gundam episode, but it is not that brought up much. Just a thing I picked up 00 incorporating more into its story right at the front.
00 also serves as one of my principal examples of my half-backed thesis of the Gundam franchise having an interest in the MENA region. It comes up a lot more than average anime. Many Gundams feature it as a location or having characters associated with it. 00 has a main character who is explicitly Kurdish.
Back to the main plot of the episode, episode 1 was Celestial Being’s grand introduction to the world. One thing that stuck out to me was the two showcases in the episode. On one side, we have CB committing an act of hostile terrorism by disrupting an AEU weapons showcase. With the other team, we have CD preventing violent terrorism by stopping an attack. ~~It is also kind of funny because if you take the two in conjecture, it sorta paints the AEU as the acceptable target of the episode.~~
Wow Cool Robot talk: 00 has some pretty nifty designs, especially for the non-Gundams. The [Enact](https://i.imgur.com/drX0XX1.png) features a lot of neat interesting shapes that are not super common in Gundam. Since Graham mentioned it, [Gundam 00:] >!This applies to the Union Flags too. 00’s plane MS are neat.!< The [HRL’s pilot suits](https://i.imgur.com/C7O2odu.png) are also pretty cool in a rustic way. Goes well with [their chunky box robots.](https://i.imgur.com/Th5nDcH.png)
Other assorted points:
* [There](https://i.imgur.com/p6o1Ukq.png) he it is. [It Patrick.](https://i.imgur.com/v0FzPuH.png) [](#absolutely)
* [Orbital Elevators](https://i.imgur.com/OYShCz7.png) are a staple of 00’s timeline setting. It’s the distinctive image of 00’s AD-verse. [Gundam 00:] >!Now thinking about it, 00 is a very Earth-based show. Don’t remember space colonies playing much into the show.!<
* Geh, [here goes the start of the word](https://i.imgur.com/2ycoAxG.png) I will always have difficulty spelling for 50 episodes + movie. [](#everythingisfine)
* The ED song just sorta ends.
First Timer, sub, going in blind.
Q1: The guy / kid from the intro is super interesting, I’m hoping for some kind of resistance story. I like the two guys in the last shot, sniper dude and possibly mc? The celestial beings announcement guy is also interesting, at first I thought he’s the main villain. But celestial beings are the good ones, aren’t they? 😉
Q2: Sounds pretty american to me and only works if Celestial Being’s have ultimate superior firepower. In this episode they only showed they’re really good but as sniper dude stated: They’re fighting the whole world now.
I’ve heard sometimes that Gundam should be nice but I didn’t look deeper into it.
All I knew that it’s mecha. And pew pew.
I do know Gurren Lagan and Code Geass and I fear that my previous knowledge of these makes me rate gundam lower because I guess it can’t be that epic (TTGL) or smart (CG).
Nevertheless, I’m looking for an easily consumable show at the moment and Gundam seems to fill that void pretty well although there’s already a lot going on in episode 1 regarding world building and political parties.
I loved the intro, the fight of david vs. goliath and then the messiah gundam coming from the sky. Lots of things that can be interpreted as religious symbolism.
Haha, that one green spot in front of the sky-needle thing looked a lot like “the line” was supposed to look.
I’m very interested how shallow or smart Gundam will be but if it stays on the level of the opening episode I’ll love it. That was a damn good first episode!
**Firsttimer**
Not gonna lie, this took a while to not be confusing [](#tiredaoi)
* Oh yeah, [childsoldiers](https://imgur.com/cKONrgZ) [](#bruh)
* Don’t think many of [them](https://imgur.com/xrwvUFb) made it so far though
* Wouldn’t be a Holy War without some Holy [War Crimes](https://imgur.com/NfLrP8D)
* [Orbital Laser](https://imgur.com/1OWYNAg)?
* Nope, [Gundam](https://imgur.com/xDquik1) desu!
* Ironically those ~~Plavski~~ Particles make it look like an [Angel](https://imgur.com/1ATdRDj)
* [Orbital Elevator](https://imgur.com/wxfaggK) [](#hypeeyes)
* He was a bit hard to recognise with the [helmet](https://imgur.com/dEFn0Jk), but it is indeed our boy [Patrick](https://imgur.com/SHtRV6N)
* [English](https://imgur.com/8GwoSrQ)
* I recognise [this](https://imgur.com/aJ7mSRv) from the unofficial 4 million subscriber quiz
* Wanna know more about [her](https://imgur.com/AhJXVPb) [](#ero)
* [Das](https://imgur.com/FP7X080) a big gun
* Ok, pretty sure I have an HG [Kyrios](https://imgur.com/mE1jo0Q) lying around somewhere, but the Delta Plus somewhat desillusioned me with transformable Gundams
* [This](https://imgur.com/H2eBnk6) looks like a fun Kit though
* And even though I didn’t like those turbines, the sword is kinda cool, and the [Lock On](https://imgur.com/reCs1m1) was cool as well
So, after that declaration at the end things cleared up a bit. There’s earth, there are many factions, each with their own motivations to kill people, and there are Celestial Beings who will bring Peace^^^TM
QotD
1) Girl in China Dress and maybe some of the Gundam Pilots
2) Probably wont work tbh Humans the choice to kill themself
**Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00**
Welcome, one and all, to a rewatch I’ve been eagerly awaiting for over a year now. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is a show I hold very, *very* near & dear to my heart, for reasons that’ll become apparent as this rewatch goes on. So without further ado, let’s get on with the show
—
And in the opening minutes, the tone is set as strongly as can be. It’s almost 300 years in the future & technology has advanced to the point that we’ve got giant fucking robots, and yet we’re still locked in the same cyclical vices. A ruined cityscape in a desert full of child soldiers fighting meaningless battles, all to the tune of a zealot delivering a spiel about slaughtering infidels in the name of god. In the timeless words of the Fallout franchise: “War… war never changes”
And what especially emphasizes the meaninglessness of it all is the little line the child soldier we follow delivers in the midst of the battle: [“In this world… there is no God.”](https://imgur.com/a/i2xc8Ws) Even whatever little higher ideal these children might have to fight for amidst the hopeless struggle is one he views as a lie. On this battlefield, just like any other, there’s no god-given meaning to struggle for, no values to aspire to, and no honor to be gained, just children stripped of their childhoods and their futures futilely struggling against the machines of war to which they are mere insects.
And then the angel descends. Words cannot describe how powerful I find [this image](https://imgur.com/a/0B7SyPa) to be. It’s salvation in hell, a god descending on a godless world, meaning & hope where once there was just monotonous despair. All those thoughts & feelings which the show immediately instills in the audience and are likely shard by Setsuna himself. It’s beautiful, awe inspiring, and is the perfect introduction to Celestial Being.
And then, after the OP, we cut to years later and get to see a different side to the world. The harsh nihilism of a real battlefield is traded out for the stakesless artificiality of a training ground, where Mobile Suits & their capacity for destruction are viewed not as sources of human misery, but as symbols of status on the international scene.
It’s here that the viewer is hit with a sudden barrage of setting info without all that much immediate context, which I know some found overwhelming or hard to understand, but I think the show provides just enough info in this scene to keep the viewer relatively informed on the stakes here: the AEU is lagging behind other countries in other fields, such as the development of the orbital elevators which are importantly placed across the episode, and is trying to compensate for that by developing state-of-the-art Mobile Suits.
But, of course, even if it’s only for show right now, a Mobile Suit is and always will be a tool for conflict, and so an angel descends once again to strike it down. There’s something so damn fascinating about how the first intervention was distant, quick, and dispassionate, while the second we see here was close range, a bit more drawn out, and consequently felt a bit more personal.
And a similar process is then repeated for the HRL Orbital Elevator, but now emphasizing them stopping a terrorist attack against it. The message is clear even before the worldwide message goes out: Celestial Being will not stand for warfare or the promotion thereof anywhere or in any form. The presentation of it all also just makes it all the more enthralling, the sheer weight given to Gundam Kyrios’ launch, for example, combined with the foreboding heavenly choir of Kenji Kawai’s score making for a brilliantly strong scene which feels like a god about to descend to Earth.
And then, of course, the message goes out across the world, and the scale which had already been carefully set up by the episode’s worldwide setting is blown out even further by all the perspectives we see watching it. All of it pretty definitively telling us that *we haven’t seen anything yet*.
**Odds & Ends**
– I love how, for as heavy with scale & world info as the episode is, it doesn’t quite forgo the subtle humanity needed to ground the world. The characterization of the child soldier in the first scene is an obvious case, but also the immediately shot-down self-importance of Patrick and the Ptolemaios’ captain being introduced as an alcoholic also stood out to me.
– All of the named Gundams so far are named after either the Bible or general angelic lore. As if the name Celestial Being wasn’t already heavy-handed enough.
– It is exceedingly notable from a meta perspective that, while all other mainline Gundam continuities use alternate calendar systems (Universal Century, Cosmic Era, Post Disaster, etc.), 00 is the only one which uses the traditional BC/AD calendar.
– A series centered on the concept of military interventionism as a way of ending war which also evokes conflict in the Middle East and was made at the height of the War on Terror? You think the series might be trying to say something about the state of geopolitics?
[](#thinkingtoohard)
—
**Spoiler/Rewatcher-Only Corner**
[Later in the series stuff]>!I can’t help but view the opening scene in a different light after how thoroughly Ribbons’ backstory and the course of Setsuna’s journey recontextualized it. The very blind admiration and assurance the 0 Gundam’s appearance instilled in us having also been the origin behind one of the greatest megalomaniacs the world would ever see. In a sense, even the symbol of hope which changed Setsuna’s life was a bit of a false idol that would only cause more war.!<
[cont]>!I love how many of the little character introductions across the episode reflect their depth & role in the story in a way that feels rewarding on rewatch. Sumeragi drinks on the job, but is also a brilliant tactical forecaster whose skill is emphasized across the episode & [has her own reservations about Celestial Being’s mission](https://imgur.com/a/Kd4Xxdm). Marina Ismail has just a few seconds to her name in this episode, but her concerned tone, the way she [questions the contradiction at the heart of Celestial Being](https://imgur.com/a/JlWSqjo), and her surroundings already feel like the show is subtly priming you for her role as the idealist in the face of CB’s actions. It’s all just really neat.!<
[cont]>!Building on what I said earlier about the difference between how different the 0 Gundam’s descent was vs how hands-on Setsuna’s approach was, I think there’s something intentional there. Ribbons was defined by how the distance between himself and the rest of humanity, made clear by how the 0 Gundam just floats over the battlefield this episode, turned him into the egocentric asshole with a god complex he was. With Setsuna, on the other hand, he’s placed on the same visual level as his opponents, framing him not as the distant god which inspired him, but as someone just like everyone else. It’s interesting to think about, anyway.!<
[cont]>!…how much of a sadist am I for the fact that my first thought upon seeing Saji & Louise was “I can’t wait to see you break all over again”? [](#serialkillerlaugh)!<
So, yeah, this was a damn fantastic first episode, and an amazing kick-off to my favorite series of all time
We are doing 00? I have so many opinions on this show you have no idea…
**First timer – Subs**
Have watched WFM and IBO. Liked the difference in style between those, so curious to see how this one goes. Will edit as the episode goes, as I was a bit late due to IRL
* I love the old 90s BGMs. reminds me of macross/robotech.
* Bro really shows up, destroys a moibile suit, and just leaves lmao. Peak
* Even the launch ramps n plane designs remind me of robotech stuff. Great memories of that
* Curious how many gundams there are. Looks like the sniper, the blue flagship one, and then the one that launched from space so far? Edit – add the Virtue with the omega cannon thingy
* Very curious to learn more about how this universe is set up, as the Gundams seem to be unknown tech, and it’s always very interesting how such high tech stuff is top secret.
* So this is the Setsuna I’ve seen memes of on r/Gundam. I will follow your character development with great interest
Overall interesting first episode. Curious how all the political seeds will grow over time. Also how the characters they focused on during the broadcast will interact throughout the story.
**First Timer**
[Damn, this is gritty](https://i.imgur.com/X3mkj0i.png)
[Oh, no downtime, just dropping (heh) right into the action](https://i.imgur.com/DIA7dNR.png)
[I am shocked to hear Hiroshi Kamiya’s voice come out of this character lol.](https://i.imgur.com/E8dxhpB.png) I’ve seen so much fanart of them that I always thought they were female.
[I feel like any other mecha anime would have this guy be the MC and have him randomly fall into a mech and join Celestial Being](https://i.imgur.com/tYi5T3q.png)
[Yeah, that sounds right](https://i.imgur.com/tYi5T3q.png)
[Ei Sei approves of this method](https://i.imgur.com/WCWI4MA.png)
Alright, I’m gonna watch this and come back here. I never got watch a Gundam episode, besides clips of fights from Iron Blooded Orphans on YouTube.
**First Timer, Subbed**
I’m a bit late today because I was busy at 6 and I accidentaly deleted my write up so I couldn’t just copy paste like I planned, but I quickly rewrote my thoughts and here they are:
First off, the opening is incredible. One of the reasons I wanted to watch 00 was because all of it’s openings are bangers. The ending was also great. It seemed really familiar. Is it a popular song? Or is does it just has a familiar sound?
The opening scene was intriguing and left me with a lot of questions (I can’t wait to learn about Setsuna’s backstory). Though, to be honest, the entire first episode was like that. It introduced a lot of characters, groups, etc. without going to deep into them yet. So I’m realy curious about everyone we’ve met so far. I want to learn more about what that aristocratic gathering was all about.
The animation in this episode was great, I loved the action scenes. The mech designs for Celestial Being’s mechs were particularly incredible. The mech in the opening seemed to be in a similar style? So we’ll see if that connects. The character designs are also pretty good, and give me Code Geass vibes.
Since this show takes place in AD, does that mean this is our timeline?
I don’t know if I’ll be commenting everyday in this rewatch, but I’ll try to be on time when I do from now on!
QOTD:
1. Definitely that woman in the qipao. Not only do I love her character design, but she was the chracter that intrigued me the most in seeing how she’s gonna play out in the grand scheme of the show.
2. This isn’t something that I think works. If you try to do something like this, you end up as an authoritarian figure that people end up revolting against violently. This has happened many times in real life on the country scale, where dictatorships and authoritarian leaderships have low crime rates in the country, but unhappy citizens that revolt in the end.
**Rewatcher**
My opinion of this show overall back when I first finished it was pretty negative, but it’s been long enough since then that I should be able to have completely new thoughts on it. Hopefully.
The rewatch came right on time too, I’m trying to watch most of the Gundam franchise and would’ve come back to this one eventually but this takes a load off of my watchlist. With G-Witch, 79 and its movies, Zeta and War in the Pocket already seen, I’ll be watching 00 alongside the latter half of ZZ, CCA, Stardust Memory and F91 if things go well, so this should be fun to watch alongside [](#mechablush)
**and now, to the episode itself**
Starting straight with child soldiers and into War is Hell territory, definitely sets the tone huh
I spent more than half of Zeta not remembering what AEUG stood for and forgetting half of the names, so it’s gonna take me a while to remember most of the acronyms and terms and stuff. And the whole AEU thing is going to be particularly confusing [](#spinning)
[very polite, very cool](https://i.imgur.com/MfWv5Wv.jpeg)
I don’t remember anything about Patrick, but he reminds me of Jerid and Guel except like, sillier. But normal silly, not Mashymre silly.
[Pretty sure this was one of the earliest chinese anime girls type characters I’ve seen](https://i.imgur.com/4la1xag.jpeg), along with Chun-Li and Meiling Li. I remember liking her immediately and it’s still the case here too.
All those ominous one-liners at the end are so funny, one old dude gets chuuni on TV and everyone just decides to play along [](#azusalaugh)
One thing that stands out, after having watched most of the main UC stuff + G-Witch, is how close the setting here feels to our present than their more obviously futuristic ones – the space elevators and space battles and giant mechs aside. It also aged a bit too well, in a *war never changes* way. Like, not sure if I’d want to to see a real life Celestial Being organization because, like, this isn’t an anime, but it’d be hard to not see them and their stated mission as a necessary evil at worst when, y’know…
Anyway, so far so good. I definitely remember largely enjoying the earlier episodes and it *is* very much a decently strong premiere, so it’s off to a good re:start [](#helmetbro)
**First-Timer (Sub)**
>showing new mobile suits in training exercise
[](#sleepingcutie)
>space elevator
[](#dekuhype)
Obviously there’s going to be more to the politics of the situations and all sorts of backroom machinations, so it’s hard to comment on anything plot related just yet.
Someone had told me this was very similar to Gundam WING in terms of setup, and boy, were they correct. But who will invite Setsuna to their birthday party?
[](#csikon)
Overall, my biggest takeaway is that whoever wrote this might just have wanted an excuse to use all the Westerns words they know. Hallelujah! Meister! Celestial! Lock-On!
QOTD:
1) The couple of dudes who were from another company watching the new mobile suit demo are the only seemingly main characters who do not reek of “I’m a whacky main character with a gimmick” energy, so them.
2) Obviously, it makes no sense, as several characters pointed out. The whole Celestial Being gimmick might suggest some religious elements to the ideas, so we’ll see where that goes.
[](#mugiwait)
First timer, dub.
Its honestly refreshing to hear Brad Swaile’s voice again after so many years since I heard him as Rock from Black Lagoon and Light Yagami from Death Note. It’s also interesting to see the main character he’s portraying in this show who sounds and acts more robotic and dead inside than other strictly-following-orders, ace pilots, like I.B.O’s Mikazuki Augus.
I swear if not for Fallout making it popular and probably patenting the term, you could basically start every Gundam project with a Narrator saying some shit “War. War Never Changes”
Anyways I enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to the next episode, but since I’m still forming opinions on everything and everyone else I’ll hold off on saying anything about them
Rewatcher (For Two Episodes)
So I’m new to this show but did in fact watch the first two episodes last year cuz the GundamInfo YT had been doing daily questions episode by episode for one of the others shows- one of the Build shows, iirc. Anyway they started doing 00 for a couple episodes and figured this was a good excuse to give it a shot- they stopped after 2 lol. I’m also fairly new to the Gundam series as a whole- I watched most of IBO and really liked it (fell off early S2 due to circumstances, should really go back and finish it), and I watched WfM and really liked it until I think it kinda flopped in the final stretch (genuinely believe it was planned for 52 episodes but had to wrap early). The rest is some very basic stuff I picked up from playing a pair bit of Gundam Evolution (RIP) and osmosis from a friend who REALLY loves G Gundam so I will definitely end up quoting that a couple times.
Watching IBO my first thought was “Damn this show focuses on child soldiers, that’s wild” and figured that was… mostly isolated, even though I know a lot of Gundam is technically about child soldiers (though I figured, foolishly, no more than most anime about teenagers pilotting mecha or what have you). And then 00 opens with ACTUAL 10-year olds firing AK-47’s at a Mobile Suit spouting oddly religion-fueled rhetoric and promptly getting mowed down offscreen. Wonderful.
I always find it interesting how Gundam likes to reuse some very core designs and imagery. Not only with a variant of ye olde OG Gundam appearing here, but it’s got the whole “green energy wings” thing going on reminiscient of the Turn A. I’ve heard they like to rehash a lot fo character ideas too, not the least of which is the whole “masked antagonist” trope originating with Char. It reminds me of the way Final Fantasy likes to rehash stuff, which I also really like.
How the FUCK does the Enact’s little spinny blade on its arm deflect bullets from gatling gun fire?
Exia’s giant arm blade is absolutely sick, and let me tell you- that thing was nasty in Gundam Evo in the hands of someone who knew how to play it well (which… was not me.).
I really like Kyrios being able to transform. Not an unheard of thing in Gundam as I understand (the Hellions do as well), but not a common one either. Probably just reminds me of Transformers which is why I like it so much.
Gundam Meisters is such a stupid fucking name lmao.
Fucking Dynames- another absolute menace in Evo. Love the large cyclopean eye it uses for sniping.
I like Virtue’s core serving to power its giant cannon.
Fun fact, the Gundams are all named after Greek words- Kyrios is Kurios, meaning God, lord, master, and sir. Dynames from Dunamis, meaning power or force. Exia from Exousia, meaning authority. And Virtue, which yes, is a Greek loan word.