Episode 3 – The Changing World
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So, that's a Gundam.
Questions of the Day:
1) What do you think is going on with Celestial Being only making their move 200 years after Aeolia Schenberg died?
2) Place your bets. How long do you think it'll take Saji to find out he's neighbors with a member of Celestial Being?
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
25 Comments
**Rewatch Host Wishing Over This Airspace, subbed**
[Welcome back, everyone!](#michaelwink)
—
– [Oh god, Graham keeps track of star signs like he’s a high school girl.](https://i.imgur.com/o9A09qu.png) [](#crazedlaugh)
– [Props on Graham for getting at least *that* much out of their encounter.](https://i.imgur.com/Ng6wcOB.png)
– [I like everyone’s casual outfits.](https://i.imgur.com/jHYt0Ju.png) [](#neat)
– [*laughs in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds*](https://i.imgur.com/ra3ZQ2y.png) [](#azusalaugh) – Which reminds me of [the Setsuna & Yusei outfit swap fanart](https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/16520431) I found a while ago.
– [Later S1 spoilers]>!<
– [This is a *very* Char response](https://i.imgur.com/7jWSv58.png) to [this question.](https://i.imgur.com/JqdTppJ.png) [](#mug3)
– [Huh…](https://i.imgur.com/InBB9SF.png)
– [~~Okay but like… the people in the vicinity of that have *got* to now be having the high of their lives, right?~~](https://i.imgur.com/UyTdaHc.png) [](#harukathonk)
– [Setsuna managed to get grabbed twice in one episode, lol.](https://i.imgur.com/DjzHCzI.png)
– [Welp!](https://i.imgur.com/RQlJUtY.png)
– [Oho…](https://i.imgur.com/0g5Kl6Y.png)
– [ED lead-in!](#delighted)
**First-Timer**
**On today’s episode of Gundam:** An awkward conversation followed by hurrying inside is how many interactions with neighbors have gone in real life when living in apartment complexes. Though I highly doubt any of those neighbors were mecha pilots. Or at least, I hope they weren’t.
– [BEAM SABER!](#woo)
– “I could see his emotions in the movements of his mobile suits.” *This* is the sort of thing I love in mecha anime. The mecha acts as an extension of a character, their body, and their personality. And pilots can form connections with each other purely through their piloting without ever seeing each other or talking to each other. It’s such good stuff. [](#concealedexcitement)
– I hope that Gundam 00 continues to have the journalists be regular characters. Including the news and its coverage of events regularly could be a really nice perspective to add to the series.
– Makes sense the intel agencies also figured out about Aeolia pretty quickly too.
– That is a bold plan from the pilots, just sneaking the Gundams into the orbital elevators to transport them as luggage. It sounds more foolhardy than bold, honestly.
– So far I like Lockon the most out of the Gundam pilots. He seems like a fun guy and I can relate to his general attitude. Him buying milk for Setsuna was also a nice gesture.
– That detail about the ship not having much power on its own will definitely come up later. That was some foreshadowing in action.
– Tieria doesn’t like the surface? Was he a Spacenoid? [](#harukathink)
– An Anti-Gundam task force? That sounds fun. [](#squee)
– Oh shit, [the Troubles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles) are still ongoing in Ireland after 400 years in this world? [](#terror)
– Wow, Saji really doesn’t understand what Louise wanted from him. Louise turning around and telling him he’s supposed to chase after her was great, though. [](#azusalaugh)
– So that one guy is working with Celestial Being. He seems to be on good terms with Mei, at least.
– The main thing I know about the green-haired guy is that he shares the same VA with Amuro.
– I love the scenes of the various factions investigating the Gundams. I appreciate it when the enemy factions are presented as competent like this, doing everything they can to figure out how the Gundams work and who they are dealing with.
– Is Graham going to modify his mobile suit to be three times as fast and painted red? [](#curious)
– Mines in South Africa and drug cartels in South America. Gundam 00 continues to have selected topics that were extremely relevant.
– Good character detail with Lockon just wanting his enemies to disarm and run away rather than fight. He dislikes such an uneven matchup.
– Setsuna really dislikes being touched, even in mobile suit form.
– Interesting that the Gundams function as a power source for the ship.
– Ah, so that’s the connection. Saji’s older sister is the journalist. And they are both next-door neighbors to Setsuna. Now I see how it fits together. [](#hikariactually)
– Interesting that the Gundams seem to get an armistice in Northern Ireland. By 2007, the peace process in Northern Ireland was well under way. [The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Agreement) and [the peace process continued slowly and steadily from there.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_peace_process) Apparently the IRA had gone through the process of disarming by 2007 as well, so this is a rather topical choice for Gundam 00.
So far the evidence does indicate that Celestial Being are independent. Their weapons don’t match the manufacturing of any other country and the Gundams are so technologically beyond what any other country is capable of. Aeolia does seem to be the key to it all. Either he’s still alive via robotics or cloning or particles, or someone else has spent the past couple of centuries meticulously preparing for this operation.
I’m curious to learn more about the Gundam pilots because it seems they have differing levels of enthusiasm and commitment to the cause. Setsuna is rather robotic, saying that he will become the Gundam itself. He’s also determined to fight, probably because of his memories about just how awful war can get. Lockon’s commitment seems less all-encompassing. Lockon avoided direct combat this episode and tried to encourage his opponents to retreat so he didn’t need to fight them. Lockon seemed a bit surprised they were actually going through with the plan, like he couldn’t believe it was actually going through until it did. Allelujah made an interesting statement this episode that he was much more comfortable with missions like bombing the drug fields. Allelujah probably really is bothered by all the killing he’s done so far. He prefers missions where he doesn’t need to kill. Tieria doesn’t even like being on the Earth, so I wonder why he’d care about intervening in Earth’s conflicts in the first place. While there isn’t much to go on with the cast so far, I think there’s some potential for interesting exploration.
**QOTD**
1) There’s two possibilities. First, that Aeolia is still alive through some process of mad science. Second, that there’s some psychohistory stuff straight out of Foundation going on. Aeolia predicted hundreds of years into the future and is now having others play out his prediction.
2) That will be the mid-season twist.
**First timer, subs**
* Well, at least you found out about the beam saber.
* [Material Sciences](#funky)
* Yes, enemy pilots would never talk to each other, least of all in Gundam. [](#regretdecisions)
* How do you only remember the fame? What does that even mean?
* They’re just using public transportation? That seems so… back traceable.
* Going to Sri Lanka before meeting your boss? Where is this space elevator again?
* [Bureaucracy](#modsalute)
* My man, the troubles ended in 1998. We already gimped the Good Friday Agreement without it flaring up again. Stop trying to drum up terrorism’s greatest hits.
* History gives perspective. Without perspective, one is liable to be a fool.
* Bruh, she’s practically serving this to you on a silver platter.
* [Mech Development **And Analysis**](#drool) Please tell me this keeps up, this is like my mecha itch that I can never quite scratch.
* [Oh Thank God **It’s Not Apartheid**](#kaguyasigh)
* That’s not really addressing the underlying economic reasons for poppy farming.
* [The Wing Skirt](#azusalaugh)It reminds me of [this thing.](https://i.redd.it/yo81osxb4u161.jpg)
* No need to be so angry, he just wanted to get a little head.
* The mecha powering the ship it docks to is weird, and yet this is the second time it’s come up recently.
* Why would you use your real name?
**QotD:**
1) I’m guessing some combination of cyber-brain, and solar energy needing to develop enough for some end game part to work.
2) […Episode 14](#rengethink)
**Rewatcher, Sub-dam Meister**
[Every piece of information is valuable.](https://i.imgur.com/PkDwMru.jpeg)
[This sentence paints a dire picture, but we were much more optimistic in 2007.](https://i.imgur.com/AJcARNL.jpeg)
[Such a grumpy purple boi.](https://i.imgur.com/GBuWokf.jpeg)
[Yea, it also has to do with the British being assholes.](https://i.imgur.com/dYhqnkm.jpeg)
[Louise is willing to forgive Saji’s.. tendencies.](https://i.imgur.com/umZDWfn.jpeg) Lucky lad.
[Do you want to take that one again?](https://i.imgur.com/X2rgDrR.jpeg)
[This is how you can tell that Eifman isn’t proper military.](https://i.imgur.com/dRnOQMF.jpeg)
[You know what they say about old soldiers.](https://i.imgur.com/UCquwqN.jpeg) Setsuna really messed up by not just mercing Sergei.
[Small world.](https://i.imgur.com/sEfgOjL.jpeg)
Much like the conflict in Sri Lanka last episode, the [Real IRA](https://i.imgur.com/d6NsMQ7.jpeg) would cease activity in 2012. Which isn’t to say that there is not a successor (literally called the New IRA) but it’s something.
**Rewatcher, First Time Sub**
Some interesting revelations about Aeolia Schenberg. He’s been dead for a while and has no descendants but his only legacy is supposedly Celestial being which begs the leaders the question as we see that various factions want to know the angle here especially with task forces already being developed with Aker and Billy Katagiri on one and Sergei Smirnov on another. There’s also those small moments of Celestial being’s leadership like the scene with Wang Liu Mei and the red and green haired duo who have their own personal agenda.
In the meantime the Gundam Meisters continue their interventions in other countries which leads to the ends of some Troubles in Ireland. It at least shows that Celestial Being is making an impact on the global stage already.
Meanwhile Setsuna moves in next to Saji who of course remains unaware but it does put him closer to the story.
first timer who [has control](https://imgur.com/nFf4eA6)
Setsuna is a widdle guy
[LMAO](https://imgur.com/HWLW3GK) (also Ribbons is a guy?)
What a great neighboor getting Saji out of writing his report
**First Timer – sub**
It’s amazing what a difference it makes to the engagement I have with an episode when I can actually tell who is who
Setsuna getting milk because he’s so young and little did make me laugh, especially from the guy worrying later on about being a “bully” to the little mechs even as he was trying to just threaten them. Dude is trying so hard to be nice and is in such the wrong job for it
Setsuna being so surprised that his huge hit built up from a distance missed was also a nice touch that the blond guy also used that to evaluate his age, and it wasn’t just fancy animation for the sake of it. It was a short fight from what I expected it to be at the end of last episode, but we’re also still very firmly in the setup part of the show and for the most part it’s being handled well
Showcasing all three of earths political blocs at once is perhaps a little dry at points, and risks feeling redundant given how much of the same discoveries they’re covering, but I do feel like they’re doing a good job of using those scenes to showcase how they’re the same in some important ways and how they’re different. They could have just stuck with one making the discoveries and only introduced the others later for when they take different paths, if they do, but this balances the importance of them much better. I would like talk about this more but I honestly forget which bloc is which every time they’re on screen and who belongs to what (Quidd’s chart is blessed, but even that isn’t saving me so far), but suffice to say that the different focus on what Celestial Being means for them and how they’re tackling it so far feels well done. And it’s a much better benefit to the worldbuilding to showcase it this way rather than giving all of the blocs their own distinct scenes that don’t show any commonalities between them and may give emphasis on one or another when not intended
Of course Setsuna would happen to move in next to the awkward student boy, and *of course* his big sister would happen to be a reporter (whos design keeps reminding me of Android 18)
Had a little laugh about that one guy talking about how security was lax two hundred years ago as if they’re so much better now, only for the next scene to be how they snuck a whole damn Gundam into space without anyone noticing. Great security improvements dude! (I get one is data and the other is shipping, but it was still funny)
Similarly, we get T talking about how he hates the surface and just wanted to return to space while the others stay behind, while the scarred guy finds gravity reassuring. There’s a lot of small moments like that in the episode that serve to contrast Celestial Being against the Earth characters without actually alienating them as a completely foreign faction. This isn’t Earth vs Mars, with different views on natural or home or the future, it’s people who live outside the normal bounds of the same world
Watched “The Wind Shakes the Barely” the other night, which is about the wars in Ireland, so getting a reference to them again in this was a bit trippy. Perhaps more than the Tamil Tigers, which is more abstract for me despite my academic understanding of the conflict, the idea of the Ireland conflicts still continuing for hundreds more years seems both slightly more outlandish but also more relatable given the huge impact that continues to have despite currently being a non-violent conflict.
Can we just… not with the girl playing dump girl crush mind games? Please show please. I know anime as a whole is hardly the place to go if you don’t want sterotypes but not this one, I beg you. I hate it. Also No_Rex reminded me of Mai-Hime in yesterday’s discussion and now I’m thinking of how much I hate Shiho all over again
Music in this episode stood out to me a couple of times too, particularly the scene discussing the task force. So far the music had mostly been unnoticed by me so that’s a good sign
**First Timer**
[Can’t believe he hit him with “OMG I’m such a Virgo!”](https://imgur.com/a/p8yI6rA), now I’m wondering what Setsuna’s sign is and if they’re a good match…
[](#azusalaugh)
Looks like Graham is being setup as a rival character for Setsuna, he’s a fun dude and I like how [weirdly obsessive he is right now](https://imgur.com/a/7ktnr49), I was honestly expecting their fight to be a bit longer but Gundam too OP (and that’s what makes them so cool!).
Really interesting that the series references a ton of real world events and conflicts, even 300 years into the future humanity fights the same fights as it does today, war never changes and all that, it’s a fun piece of commentary that makes it much easier to get into the setting, also [this is certainly a statement](https://imgur.com/a/wQpaidT) considering the timeframe this show was made in.
I like Tieria’s design, well I like all of our mains so far but his is probably may favorite right now, he’s also voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya who happens to be my favorite VA so that’s a big plus.
[](#seasonallisten)
[Damn dude how do you mess up such an obvious advance this badly](https://imgur.com/a/mSIF8JD), at least she’s nice enough to let him he should be chasing her.
After his fight with Setsuna, Graham says [this line](https://imgur.com/a/0NiKOl1) and I think that it’s brought back in a really fun way later on in the episode as we really get to see the different personalities and approaches our Gundam Meisters have through their piloting.
Lockon is more composed, empathetic and relaxed, he tries to force the enemy to willingly give up, fights from afar and doesn’t seem very shaken up by all of this, Allelujah feels reluctant and prefers not to kill but ultimately he’s ready and devoted to do what must be done, Setsuna is young and aggressive, he fights at close range and doesn’t care about what happens to the enemy in front of him as long as he takes them out (probably taking out his anger at what reminds him of the past), he’s also obviously very attached to Exia, treating it as an extension of his body.
I *love* when shows do characterization through action like this.
[](#happyclap)
Hopefully we’ll get to learn more about the other Celestial Being members soon, since they all seem like a fun bunch, especially Liu Mei because I like her design lol.
[](#mugiwait)
[Another wild name](https://imgur.com/a/G8qDesT), [Girl](https://imgur.com/a/AnkXeOL) if only you knew who your next door neighbor is.
[](#pointandlaugh)
Looks like Celestial Being’s method is actually working for now but I’m guessing the big players on the world stage aren’t going to let that slide for long.
**00th Timer Searching for the One**
* [Is it fate that connected us or is it the smell of petrol leaking from your car?](https://i.imgur.com/oME7x1Y.jpeg) Probably the latter.
* Won’t be the last time today, [named characters are a lot harder to hit](https://i.imgur.com/czww40g.jpeg)
* I’ve said it before, but [Kintoki is easily the most interesting in the cast so far](https://i.imgur.com/IHEEmFG.jpeg), I look forward to how he’ll deal with the Gundams, I assume they’ll either steal one, or steal the particles it’s powered by to upgrade their own mechs.
* [That tracks…](https://i.imgur.com/jQoxYtt.jpeg)
* [Hahaha](https://i.imgur.com/DgjiFhI.jpeg) all the best boys are [fucking with Setsuna](https://i.imgur.com/zauTiMO.jpeg) today.
* [Have you read the script for the script for the show? I skimmed it. Am I in it? Vaguely](https://i.imgur.com/jeusMBU.jpeg)
* Saji is either trying his best to let her down nicely, or is as dense as they get, and considering he looks and sounds like a mid 2000s harem protag, I’m going with the latter. [Yup, dense it is](https://i.imgur.com/mpYVUEx.jpeg), the poor girl needs to play chess on both sides.
* Even today, Celestial Being still has some… [questionable members](https://i.imgur.com/Tiv0PcC.jpeg), thing is, the organisation is already splintering into branches, and I expect that to become more of an issue down the line (look, everyone who’s not a pilot needs a job to do, and betrayal pays well).
* [Vearn!](https://i.imgur.com/wvIUH6n.jpeg) That’s my beloved [environmental demon lord!](https://i.imgur.com/RXkIPCW.jpeg) [Dai] >!if only this show had a Koyasu!<
* The mechanical designers did a good job [showing just how different the technology on the two sides is](https://i.imgur.com/jw2tF6D.jpeg)
* Ah, so that’s how [Saji is connected to all this](https://i.imgur.com/gu8zuoS.jpeg), wait [his mom’s the reporter too?](https://i.imgur.com/XayXGRj.jpeg) This is becoming messy.
* My bet’s on his mom uncovering some Celestial Being dark secret
and being killed by the sinister old man’s faction.
* [Welp, we’ve done it folks, we’ve hit the positive high, it’s all downhill soon](https://i.imgur.com/ZYFBY02.jpeg) [](#watashiworried)
**Episode 3 (first timer)**
* “I am going to take a piece of you home with me” – At least you should be able to find a nice shield somewhere in the ocean afterwards.
* Not sure what the dates in that data file are, but if they all refer to dates he was alife at, he looks pretty good for somebody who was 86 back in 2101.
* “I am counting on you to look after space” – “space” is a pretty big place.
* Anti-Gundam Investigative Task force – a stroke of luck for NotChar.
* Northern Ireland after Sri Lanka? We are doing a speed run through intractable conflicts of the 2000s it seems.
* “Am I in it?” “Vaguely” – wrong answer, my dude.
[](#kyonfacepalm)
* “This is where you chase after me”
[](#azusalaugh)
* Mecha wings!
* There is an arm stuck to your face.
* Compared to the Gundams, the Ptolemaios is quite small. This is not White Base.
* “Space is so much better” *cut to space hottie* – the episode director know what they were doing here.
* “The world is changing” – but is it changing for the better?
Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, South Africa, we are doing a speed run here. Or rather, Celestial Being is doing one. Just keep in mind that speed runs are characterized by cutting corners wherever possible.
> Place your bets. How long do you think it’ll take Saji to find out he’s neighbors with a member of Celestial Being?
Longer than common sense would dictate.
**Rewatcher wondering what’s so solar about a solar reactor**
-—————————————————————————————
As a GN-powered unit, the Exia may outperform the Flag in nearly all aspects, but the Flag does have one thing over it: it’s faster in the air. And it’s not even red!
And Setsuna just tosses his shield into the ocean and forgets about it. It always bothers me when Gundam pilots just ditch their equipment and magically have a replacement by next episode. And it’s not like the Kyrios’ tail unit where it’s OK to drop because it contains no new technology: The Exia’s shield is capable of generating a GN Field over its surface. While there’s not much that can be done with it without GN particles, it’s still technically a piece of GN-related technology that they probably wouldn’t want falling into enemy hands.
[The beam saber!](https://i.imgur.com/ZW6waVj.png) The Exia actually carries four beam sabers, with two of them adjusted to have shorter dagger-like blades. The Union was also working on beam sabers, but only managed to cover a physical blade with plasma, which we see Graham’s Flag using here.
[Why do they not have chairs](https://i.imgur.com/bMVNllA.png)
[And of course Setsuna gets milk.](https://i.imgur.com/Wkllo3f.png) Note that the other guys aren’t even drinking alcohol. And even if they were, Allelujah is also under 20.
Do they have to smuggle their Gundams aboard the elevator every time they return to space? That feels… inconvenient. I suppose having their own launch vehicle would be far too easy to notice, and they probably have embedded CB agents to facilitate the smuggling, but it still feels a bit risky.
GN Drives are really hard to make. Really, *really* hard. As in, can’t even make them on this planet. Therefore, only five drives currently exist. Of course, the Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, and Virtue each have one. But there’s also, the 0 Gundam’s drive, which is currently in the possession of Celestial Being’s shadow support group, Fereshte. They use upgraded Type F versions of the prototypes of the main branch’s four Gundams (with the exception of the Plutone, which was used as little as possible and therefore not upgraded to Type-F), but as they only have the one drive, they’re forced to share it between all four of them and deploy only one at a time. For an organization attempting to take on the entire world, their numbers sure are limited!
Also, for some reason, they keep calling GN Drives “solar reactors” in dialogue, despite them having nothing to do with anything “solar”.
I like the contrast between [spacenoid Tieria](https://i.imgur.com/JTfVLkU.png) and [earthnoid Sergei](https://i.imgur.com/usJPRFh.png)
The Troubles lasted for 400 years? Didn’t that end in, like, the 90’s? At least the Sri Lanka conflict was still ongoing when the show aired!
[One of the funniest things about this show is their insistent enforcement of the legal drinking age.](https://i.imgur.com/UlnRVXz.png) Celestial Being may be terrorists, but they draw the line at underage drinking!
Boy, Ribbons sure sounds familiar. He’s voiced by Noboru Sogetsu, who is most definitely not Toru Furuya in a pair of sunglasses.
Already, the various factions are analyzing the Gundams and investigating the mysterious GN particles they use. And therein lies the problem with Celestial Being’s whole idea of keeping the peace by force. While they’re several times more powerful than anything that currently exists, all the enemies they just made won’t just lie down and accept they’ll get curbstomped if they ever cross them. No, they’re going to start looking for a way to fight back.
Another cool contrast between [Lockon](https://i.imgur.com/9CCp1r1.png) and [Allelujah](https://i.imgur.com/HHY4QHa.png)
[Tieren High Mobility Type](https://i.imgur.com/pW8MiB9.png)! Seriously, who looked at the heavy, clunky Tieren and thought “Yeah let’s make this thing fucking FLY”? Supposedly it’s wings aren’t for proper flight, only changing direction while hovering and gliding down from transport craft, but that sure didn’t stop Sergei from taking off! Still, it put up more of a fight against the Exia than Graham’s Flag did.
And of course Setsuna and Saji end up as neighbors. What is Setsuna even doing there, anyways?
And hey, it looks like Celestial Being’s crazy plan is actually working, at least on a small scale. Going to take a lot more to get the major superpowers under control, though.
-—————————————————————————————
Questions of the day:
* Probably took them that long to get so absurdly far ahead in tech! A perpetual motion machine ain’t the easiest thing to take from a theory to practical usage.
* Watch it take him all season.
*A Gundam Fan Rewatches Gundam 00 Episode 3:*
– Oh god, Graham talks about being a Virgo. Never fully trust someone who believes in astrology, especially in a setting that’s already in the middle of expanding into space. Man, if only he was talking about the Virgo mobile suits from Gundam Wing, that would be much cooler.
– A Flag’s rifle in exchange for a bit of paint scratched off of Gundam Exia is a fair trade, I guess. Given how absolutely nobody knows how a ton of highly advanced mobile suits could’ve gotten manufactured without any obvious leads, at least a paint sample is *something*. Pretty much any clue at this point is better than nothing for the power blocs.
– “Even if it’s a small clip, I want to see a Gundam!” That JNN news producer is channeling Gundam fans whenever they start browsing YouTube.
– From the way Kinue and others around the world are talking about Aeolia Schenberg, he’s basically this world’s version of Hari Seldon from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels. The comparison lines up pretty well: genius polymaths who set up a secret society as a contingency plan for humanity set to activate ages after his death. Although I guess one thing that Hari has over Aeolia is that he invented Psychohistory though.
– Fun fact: the milk that Lockon orders for Setsuna as a joke was available as a beverage at the Gundam Cafe. With ice cubes to chill it, of course.
– If only Colonel Smirnov bothered to look like 20 feet to his right while walking out of the orbital elevator terminal, he would’ve seen the Gundam Meisters the whole world has been puzzling over just walking out around the same time. Alas, they’re just ships passing in the night. So close, yet so far.
– I think after seeing that scene with Saji and Louise, we can probably accurately describe Saji as the most clueless and impotent man in a ten-mile radius. This man is the embodiment of spaghetti falling out of your pockets.
– Both the HRL and Union are pretty quick to pick up on the implications of what Celestial Being’s deal is already. The Kyrios’ disposable missile pod is made out of material lightweight materials and uses missiles that nobody else manufactures, and so far the prevailing guess is that the Gundams are so fast and powerful due to a solar power system that Aeolia Schenberg proposed centuries ago. And more importantly, Kyrios disposed of that missile pod because that’s technology that Celestial Being has no problem exposing to anyone tracking them. By implication, it means that their proprietary power system is way more of a closely held secret.
– You know, it’s nice that at least Celestial Being is undertaking interventions that aren’t exactly morally grey, like the civil war in South Africa or the conflict going on in Ceylon. I’m with Professor Eifman, if the Gundams are going to bomb drug farms owned by cartels, we should probably just stand aside let them do it. I don’t think a lot of people will complain there in terms of overall global impact.
– The colonel certainly isn’t someone to be messed with, since he was able to pull a fast one on Setsuna in melee range. He nearly ripped off Exia’s head, if it wasn’t for that beam saber cutting off that hand. The old bear still has plenty of fight in him, not to mention skill.
– How wacky, Setsuna is now Saji and Kinue’s neighbor! Talk about a coincidence, given how their stories are already indirectly weaving together. Surely we’ll only get the finest sitcom-like hijinks out of this. Sometimes, all you need in your life to inject some wild and wacky adventures into it is being neighbors with a terrorist(?) who pilots a giant robot.
– At least it seems like Celestial Being is having some tangible effect on the world already, with their presence successfully intimidating the Real IRA in Northern Ireland into disarming. It’s one step of many on their quest for world peace, but it’s at least something. So much for Saji and Louise’s term paper for their history class though, their professor really is going to have to change his plans for the course’s final.
**Rewatcher, Subbed**
**[Non-Spoiler Character Chart](https://i.imgur.com/Xc4L8vL.jpeg)**
So how will Graham do in combat in comparison to Patrick from 2 episodes ago? Being able to dodge an attack already makes him far superior it seems.
Our first beam saber appearance of the show… while I’m kinda on the fence as to what’s a better AU show, this or IBO, I will admit IBO has an advantage in that it doesn’t feature beam weaponry, making the combat much more interesting.
I didn’t notice this the last two episodes, but wow, the OP made me notice that Setsuna sure is short compared to his fellow Gundam Meisters.
Merely scraping off some paint from the Gundam may enable them to find it? Graham really has it over Patrick now.
Benefit of having a news reporter as part of your cast, she can research things and find some exposition for you…
LoL, milk for Setsuna. They really view him as the little brother of the Meisters, huh? He probably isn’t of drinking age yet, granted that doesn’t really make him unique among Gundam protagonists.
Pretty good idea to sneak their Gundams back to space via the orbital elevator; a lot more convenient than needing another large and noticable ship on Earth. Tieria gets to relax in this large seating area.
Graham gets to be part of an anti-Gundam Investigative Task Force? Probably a dream come true for him.
Saji is too aloof with his foreign exchange student girlfriend Louise!
Three episodes marks three separate outfits for Wang. World collide as Alejandro and Ribbons are also around.
Would have been funny if both Setsuna and Wang both were given milk this episode given their young age. Alas, lost opportunity…
So the Gundams have some sort of solar or light energy themselves…
Graham wants his Flag upgraded… alas he didn’t say make it three times faster or color it red…
The Dynamos isn’t just for sniping, it also gets by perfectly fine with a pistol.
So this time instead of simply attacking the military forces of both sides directly, they’re destroying the drugs so they have nothing to fight over. I think someone mentioned they should do something like this yesterday? The show’s already heard you.
First Graham, now Sergei’s gonna take on Exia directly as well. And he’s doing even better than Graham did!
Once again time for the beam sabre to come to the rescue.
Love that the hand is still attached to the Exia’s face after.
Kudos to Tieria for being able to hide such a massive Gundam the whole time.
And finally the reason why we’ve spent time with Saji in each episode so far… he’s the all important next door neighbor to Setsuna.
Did Celestial Being totally soil Saji and Louise’s homework assignment?
***
**Quid’s Voice Actor of the Day**
This time I’ll be covering Gundam Meister #3, **Allelujah Haptism**. He is voiced in Japanese by **Hiroyuki Yoshino**. Similar to Shinichiro Miki yesterday, I believe this to be his only Gundam role. Beyond this role I know him best as Franky in Spy X Family and the slimy Ozu in The Tatami Galaxy. I’ve also heard him as Mr. Constant Screw Up, Tarou in Shirobako, Firo Pirochainezo in Baccano!, Meow in Space Dandy, Inumuta in Kill la Kill, Yusuke Otamaya in Valvrave and Remi in Promare.
In English he is voiced by **Richard Ian Cox**, who in Gundam communities is best known for playing Kai Shiden in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Alas, based on various factors he didn’t reprise the role in Zeta Gundam or Gundam Unicorn. He also appears in Gundam Seed as Tolle Koenig and Shani Andras. Beyond his Gundam roles he’s probably most well known for voicing the titular character in Inu Yasha.
**Rewatcher – Gundam 00 Ep3:**
[**GRAHAM!**](https://imgur.com/KuZSsIH) Graham. Graham, you’re such a weirdo (*affectionate*). He outputs a weirdo energy on such a different frequency than other freaks in Gundam. You don’t see Char bring up how he is a Scorpio during one of his Charisms.
[](#laughter)
There is something fun to me how Tieria chooses to wear a pink cardigan while Allelujah dresses in black skin-tight clothes. Just the opposite vibes from the temperament they’ve shown on screen so far.
[There are two ways to take Setsuna’s milk](https://i.imgur.com/Z96KB5v.png) 1) Lockon is ordering a drink for the kid. 2) Lockon is ordering milk for the shorty. Both work.
I don’t know how much you can frame the two together, but I find it an interesting little bit to contrast [Tieria being more comfortable in space](https://i.imgur.com/hY32FPn.png) and then quickly following it with [the Colonel being a man of Earth.](https://i.imgur.com/MZf5zTg.png)
Of all the names so far, [Billy Katagiri](https://i.imgur.com/9ryyvHB.png) is actually the one I find most amusement with. Just a silly Billy daffodilly.
[Bringing up the Troubles in this show. Huh, interesting.](https://i.imgur.com/0BrI2zf.png)
[](#mug3)
[Saji dropping the ball on the biggest obvious pass from Louise.](https://i.imgur.com/Whp8GOg.png)
[Huh,](https://i.imgur.com/ZQ5sEvT.png) I never actually thought about the character ages much. For the record, the character profiles list her as 17. The only one I know off the top of my head is [Gundam 00:] >!Allelujah because he gets his 20th birthday in the show. (Also, Patrick being older than many of the old men of Gundam)!< Looking at some of these other ones for all the characters, [Gundam 00:] >!Feldt is 14 in S1 which makes her so baby. On the flip side, I refuse to accept Marina is in the same age bracket as Lockon and Sumeragi. No way. Yeah, older than Setsuna so like Allelujah’s bracket, but absolutely not this amount. [](#criticism) Patrick becoming Ramba Ral age is so funny and absolutely my picked-up canon.!< Man, anime, but especially Gundam ages can be wack sometimes.
There is something about Gundam’s relationship with BL I feel like you can argue with Graham. We can’t just keep saying [things like this](https://i.imgur.com/reEx0Xg.png) without sometimes thinking [?](#csikon)
This [flight mode](https://i.imgur.com/FMabMau.png) Tieren is a silly design to me. They just slapped wings onto the butt of boxiest heavy robot.
[](#kotohoops)
**First Timer**
I think this episode is my favorite so far; I do like the slower pace. We’re following the same pattern of Celestial Being getting involved in conflicts (that directly reference real-world ones) and the rest of the world reacting to it, but there *are* new developments with Graham and like. It feels like we’re still very much in the set-up phase of the story, but it doesn’t feel stagnant, if you know what I mean.
Saji and Louise bring in an interesting perspective as civilians; I really liked Louise’s comments on the news about Ireland at the end of the episode. It’s easy to think about history as an unchanging, far-removed set of facts, but in reality, situations (and perspectives on situations) constantly change right before our eyes, and the books have to change with them.
There’s still the question of Aeolia Schenberg and how he’s showing up on broadcast 200 years after his death. This being a sci-fi series, it’d be natural to think “clones” and leave it at that, but is this really the case? We haven’t seen him on screen in the present day yet (I only skimmed through EP 1-2 to check, so correct me if I’m wrong), so it’s possible that Celestial Being is using an old video message for the broadcast and applying the contents to their current, independent plans. Or he faked his death and has kept himself alive through sci-fi magic this entire time, or they found someone who just happens to look exactly like him … the possibilities are endless (though who am I kidding, it’s probably clones).
QotD:
1. See above.
2. This is an anime, so probably way longer than it should.
**Kidou Senshi Rewatcher 00**
And so we pick up right where we left off, with Graham proving that he’s something of a certified crazy person. Yeah, I’ll be upfront, I love Graham, and this episode is a bit of a sampling as to what I love about him. He’s reckless as all hell, what with charging right at a Gundam at the end of last episode/start of this episode & disregarding his own safety when requesting a tune-up for his Flag, and that combined with his ~~crush on~~ obsession with the Gundam and the way he takes so much of the clear danger he surrounds himself with in stride gives him such a charmingly brash aura that I can’t help but love.
Aside from characterizing Graham, though, the episode’s beginning also serves another purpose. As the Union proceeds to use the data Graham got from that encounter to analyze the Gundam, we now fully see the world transition from being in starstruck awe & confusion at Celestial Being to actively responding to them.
Said analysis also lets us get a bit of an understanding of the technology behind CB. The general concepts brought up here aren’t exactly new to the Gundam franchise (a special particle which powers most Mobile Suits while also interfering with detection & electronics is one of the franchises’ oldest worldbuilding concepts, since how else do you justify using giant fucking robots in a real combat setting?), but the tech being limited to just Celestial Being and given explicit emphasis through the other factions’ analysis of them rather than just being a background element that’s taken for granted gives it a kind of weight that it lacks in other Gundam shows.
On the other side of the coin that is the consequences of Celestial Being, this episode is also focused on letting us see the good that’s resulting from their actions. Where the first two episodes have focused on either their intentions or how they affected people on an individual level, this episode does start to drive home how they are starting to make a tangible positive impact on the world. Like, it’s hard to deny that killing drug dealers and putting a stop to the far future version of the Troubles is a bad thing, right?
**Odds & Ends**
– Lockon is great. I love the way his smooth, laid back demeanor contrasts with his more high-strung compatriots is just fun
– This was the episode when I first realized that Setsuna [is indeed a short boi](https://imgur.com/a/fIR6wHP)
– [Louise already capturing my heart.](https://imgur.com/a/P8gGnUG) Let’s just say she’s near the summit of my MAL faves for a reason. [](#nico-heart)
**First Timer – Sub**
Huh. Psycho villain guy was *really* over-confident. Bit of a let down after yesterday’s cliffhanger.
And I’m not too sure on how they expect *paint scrapings* to help them track down the Gundams.
Also, I am just as baffled about the guy who’s been dead for 200 years being in charge as the people in-universe. Hopefully that makes sense when it’s explained.
I do like the juxtaposition with the young(ish?) CB pilot being happy to go back to space, while the old military guy says Earth gravity is ‘comforting’. But on the flip side…
> In the Ulster region of Ireland, scattered terrorist activity has continued for almost four centuries.
Welp. Guess the Troubles are never going to end, according to Gundam. Except *not* because a Big Stick threatening to come down on their heads is apparently all that’s needed to stop the IRA? I’m not old enough to remember the Troubles myself, but that sounds like a very bad take.
Eh. Anime.
Celestial Being continues to be very morally dubious. Congratulations, you have successfully destroyed the ‘source of the war’…and left entire communities destitute, thereby exacerbating the problem instead of fixing it. This is why just smashing things doesn’t work, as the US learned repeatedly over the last 20-odd years.
I’m leaning more and more towards Celestial Being as *villain protagonists* at this point. Are we going to get any actual heroic characters? Maybe those teenagers once their plot gets going? We’ll see.
**Firsttimer** who managed to read like a third of yesterdays thread [](#tiredaoi)
* Wait, is he talking about his [zodiac sign](https://imgur.com/Inf6Bi5)? Are people still refferencing that stuff in 300 years?
* The [beam saber](https://imgur.com/EMXDmu2) is an elegant weapon
* What’s unsaid, [Graham is expandable](https://imgur.com/Ldya6fH) as well
* [That’s](https://imgur.com/EK5cG38) kinda gay?
* Yes Setsuna, drink your milk and you might become [swol](https://imgur.com/bnbXU9u) as well
* I saw mentions of it elsewhere, but [this Meister](https://imgur.com/9lzmpwV) is presenting surprisingly fem
* Kinda growing on [Louise](https://imgur.com/iJyLlkN), where is she [from](https://imgur.com/nNz7TmS) though? Also, the dude is an [idiot](https://imgur.com/7zMet7u)
* Gotta turn down the horny for [her](https://imgur.com/2f18ReT) a bit, not a worry, still got the captain
* Uhm, [phrasing](https://imgur.com/o3dd6cG)? Also, we never follow up on this…
* [That’s](https://imgur.com/hSRBHUH) not as strong as I thought tbh
* The [Doujins](https://imgur.com/Wr45y1T) are writing themself [](#fujostare)
* [Those](https://imgur.com/zKloBAv) are some cute mooks
* Also interesting, that they don’t follow [Tanyas example](https://imgur.com/apNTiAI)
* Kinda like [him](https://imgur.com/eKhDFzM) sounds like someone with an certain degree of honor who is ready to take responsibility
* What is this [suit](https://imgur.com/iBhGjor) though [](#pointandlaugh) though I’m kinda intrigued
* If it’s not an ethnic conflic, Setsuna only [maims](https://imgur.com/VvP6SYC)
* a [contrast](https://imgur.com/T3FdFMU) to the honorable guy from above
* There [she](https://imgur.com/ZwPBSor) is [](#feelingloved) [](#rum) What do you mean you don’t want to join her?
* Oh [that’s](https://imgur.com/pvQ0oGF) an spicy neighbor, and if I saw it right, the sister is the reporter who dug into the 200 year old scientist
QotD
* Some *really* sever production issues? Or maybe they are funded by compound interest
* I say until the halfway point
**First timer – Subs**
* i guess beam weaponry isnt common in this universe. makes sense with how gritty and ballistics-y everything is so far besides the gundams. I do like how he doesn’t even break out the beam saber that much though. Makes me wonder what else they’re keeping in reserve.
* how terrible is security that they can just use publlic resources to launch their Gundams back into space wtf
* Graham living a wet dream of Gundam simps. Not only scraping some paint, but he’s chasing em for work. It’ll be interesting to see how fanatical he gets about it later.
* More new faces at the bar. unless we saw them before and I missed something?
* Ah war on drugs of course.
* So is the lieutenant commander guy dead after that?
* How has nobody noticed the (unregistered) ship that houses all the gundams wandering around in space? Surely something that large and unregisted would get some attention.
* The leader kinda cute actually, even disregarding her bust. Surprised she’s so happy go lucky given the weight of what they do, and seems to care about the pilots a bit.
First timer, sub.
1) What do you think is going on with Celestial Being only making their move 200 years after Aeolia Schenberg died?
Theory 1: He’s an AI now and living on.
Theory 2: He found something to become immortal.
2) Place your bets. How long do you think it’ll take Saji to find out he’s neighbors with a member of Celestial Being?
I’d say not long because he’ll be super nosy.
Misc:
– I’m very excited for an antagonist / someone from celestial being being captured. At the moment they’re just OP…
– I do like the two tech guys. I can’t shake of they’ll switch sides to CB when the big enemy is coming.
– At the moment there’s way too much harmony in the celestial being team. Where’s the drama, baby?
– It’s so ironic their big advantage is light / solar technology while the tech is pretty underrated by society at the moment…
– yeah, lightsaber!
– So they’re sparing enemies that have given up. Phew.
– the concept of the space elevators is just hilariously great 😀
**First-Timer**
It’s all fun and games until Setsuna pulls out a lightsaber.
>”Why do we need a history credit when we’re engineering majors?”
Ah, good to see that sentiment still applies in the 24th century!
This was probably my favorite episode so far. Now that we’ve established a baseline level of background knowledge, I don’t need to worry so hard about absorbing every single piece of info all at once, and I can just enjoy it.
[Death Note] >!I get the feeling that a natural comparison will arise between the actions of Celestial Being and Kira in terms of their effect on global conflict. By Light’s account, Kira’s actions eradicated war on Earth within a few.years. I wonder how successful Celestial Being will be.!<
Questions of the day:
* I’m really not sure what the deal is there. Maybe that guy isn’t actually dead, and somehow they also have found the key to immortality? ~~Or maybe it’s an AI-generated deepfake?~~
* I think it will take a while, like 12 episodes or so. Further, I’ll speculate that [speculation] >!his mother will die in conflict with Celestial Being and that Setsuna will have some hand in it!<.
Pretty intense episode.
My favorite part is when Exia pulls the hand off its face and Setsuna is like:
“Don’t touch me”
Shows how strongly he identifies with the machine itself.
Another amazing part is when Graham explains that, no, they can’t hear each other talking 😂
First Timer From Here On
Damn bro’s quoting his fucking zodiac sign in combat, incredible.
The fact that this guy is so shocked that Exia can overpower him in a Flag when he saw how badly it fucked up the more advanced Enact is kinda funny. And then he gets his ass kicked to bad he’s cutting and running in a MINUTE.
I THOUGHT HE WAS GONNA TEAR OFF A CHUNK OF EXIA’S ARMOR BUT HE JUST GOT SOME PAINT, AND IT’S USEFUL LMAO
So are we to believe that living 200+ years is not that surprising in this age?
That goofy-ass flying Tieren lmao. For a brick, it flies pretty good.
I see- they must only have a limited number of drives to work with, and they have to power the Gundams as well as the ship’s ability to stay in orbit for extended periods. So does that mean that for the ship to continue functioning, they have to have one or more of the Gundams regularly return to space to dock with it?
Finally figured out why this show feels sorta weird to me- we don’t really have PoV of our protagonists, generally speaking. Usually you’d be presented with their PoV and most of the information they know to start, but here in 00 Celestial Being is a bit of an anomaly for both the rest of the world and the viewer, so while we get a few glimpses, rather than finding out what it is through Setsuna or the show expositing, it treats it as a sort of mystery element that we discover alongside the rest of the world in-universe. It’s very unusual, but it’s an interesting approach.
1. I’m guessing this guy had this plan in place long ago, but an undocumented descendant (maybe adopted) decided to take up the cause.
2. I’ll give it until like… Episode 10.
###First Timer
* [**Gundam Exia**](https://i.imgur.com/STc0XJZ.jpeg)
So based on [Graham Aker’s reaction to Exia’s beam saber](https://i.imgur.com/ppTD7s6.jpeg), I take it that energy weapons are rare in this universe. Or is it just beam sabers that are rare and energy weapons are more on the uncommon side? I can’t remember if I’ve seen any of the grunts in the last two episodes use any kind of beam weaponry at all.
[Uhhhh… what?](https://i.imgur.com/ZPSsFlx.jpeg) So the founder of Celestial Being was alive 200 years ago and they’re only making their move now? That’s interesting. To answer Sky’s first QotD, I’m going to guess that they’ve only made their move now because they’ve only recently perfected the Gundam technology. A bold move to record a video 200 years in advance though!
[Setsuna is that short?!](https://i.imgur.com/FH1EkKl.jpeg) I swear I thought he was taller! He looks like he’s about the same height as Heero or maybe even Mika! Definitely shorter than Suletta though. He’s definitely going to need that glass of milk Lockon ordered for him xD
[These two have been showing up for three episodes now.](https://i.imgur.com/ya7AO1J.jpeg) I wonder what their significance to the plot is. Are they supposed to be there to serve the civilian point of view of all these conflicts?
I love that they [recovered Kyrios’ bombing module.](https://i.imgur.com/ATPRc6I.jpeg) It’s really cool to see these engineers [trying to figure out the tech Celestial Being is using.](https://i.imgur.com/rPxjrcx.jpeg) Too bad they can’t get anything from it since it’s all independently developed by CB.
So we get to see Celestial Being doing a bit more peaceful operation by [disarming these worker units](https://i.imgur.com/yRyNAFK.jpeg) instead of blowing them up and [they’re even burning down an entire drug plant.](https://i.imgur.com/Nnjhxct.jpeg) They really do intend to intervene with all kinds of conflict.
[I’m not quite sure what Setsuna’s mission in Ceylon was though.](https://i.imgur.com/vaNbFOp.jpeg) They were just there like an episode ago. I thought the mission there was already complete. That dude in the Tieran [really thought he could take on Setsuna.](https://i.imgur.com/KhccGHr.jpeg) xD
[Well that finally explains why Saji is relevant!](https://i.imgur.com/YW0KyiK.jpeg) And to answer QotD#2, I’ll give it 5 episodes before he figures out that his neighbour is a member of Celestial Being.
[So terrorists are already laying announcing ceasefires](https://i.imgur.com/0Zi1LyZ.jpeg) in fear of being targeted next by Celestial Being. They’re actually doing something! Let’s see how long it will last though!
Yes, the Gundam has a beam saber.
How would they get their stuff in the orbital elevator?
So this guy is going to survey the damage.
And so we see who will likely be the main antagonists, at least for now.
The Troubles still haven’t ended?
Because apparently now everyone needs a “holistic education” and study a bit of everything.
Why am I getting a high school SoL rom-com in the middle of my Gundam show?
They ditched the missile launcher and didn’t recover it?
So what does he want to do to his Flag?
They’re already back deployed?
South Africa and South America?
And they’re back at Ceylon?
A Tieren? I’ve only heard negative things about that.
Oh, the Tieren is their LAM.
He’s good.
Surprise beam saber!
But not good enough.
And one more in space?
No, this one is just being recovered.
His neighbour is the school kid?
The IRA has stopped? Have pigs started flying too? Or has Hell frozen over?
Questions:
1. Maybe they were waiting for the Gundams to be made?
2. He’ll never find out.