Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007–2009) User Reviews (6)

Under-rated series, do not miss!

[AxelCaedus · 9/10 · 2 May 2011]

I recently watched the English dub version of this series on SyFy, and I was blown away!

Let me start by saying that I have no familiarity with any of the earlier Gundam series, or that much anime in general.

First off, a lot of people called this series slow and boring. DO NOT LISTEN. The first few episodes are building up the story for the later episodes, which will have you on the edge of your seat at the end of almost every episode! It especially picks up at the second season with some epic battle scenes and some tension-building political and economic dilemmas.

I did have a few problems with it though. For one, a few of the characters came across as whiny and annoying, namely Saji, Allelujah, and Feldt, although this might be because it was the dubbed version.

Also, although the last 10 or so episodes were incredible, it became increasingly hard to discern which Gundam was which, especially in the finale. I had hardly no idea who was still alive until the "epilogue" scenes.

And, oh yeah, the animation? Absolutely astounding. Probably the best I've ever seen.

Don't pass this great anime up. You won't regret it!

This is one of the worthiest additions to the Gundam Franchise ever!

[Sabre_Wolf · 7/10 · 18 April 2013]

Well one thing's for sure this is far better then Gundam Wing which was my first taste of the Gundam franchise. Because Gundam 00 has a very gripping storyline and better characters Also they did a good job with the technologies of the time that Gundam 00 is set in particularly those of mobile suits and especially the Gundam's. Also it does touch issues that are relevant today in its stories and things that can happen now and might still happen in the future at least in my humble opinion.

Overall this is a well animated and well written masterpiece of Japanese Anime and one of the worthiest additions to the Gundam Franchise there is.

Far Better Then Most of the Gundam series.

[sicundercover · 9/10 · 21 July 2012]

I held off watching this one due to the sour reviews in the Anime community. I was first introduced to Gundam through Gundam Wing and later watch Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) at the request of friends.

I've watched almost all of the Gundam series at this point and found many of them to lack the depth of Wing, 0079 was great the last few episodes but you had to watch so many to get to that depth.

Unlike the others Gundam 00 gets right to it and much like Gundam Wing it deals with plots inside of plots and the endless back and forth the tides of war cut. Its truly astounding animation coupled with its story puts it up there with the top Animes for me.

I didn't give it a ten because for me 10 is a mark of perfection.

Great show, but sad it ended so soon

[mbh42498 · 9/10 · 20 January 2013]

I was able to find this show online, and its a very interesting anime, better than dragon ball z which is just a bunch of fighting, but even that isn't terrible, and yugioh which just is about some crazy people who think cards will bring about the end of the world. Gundam 00 revolves around the twistedness in the world, our world, just a few hundred years in the future of transformers, clones, and zords. Since it is about war, there are many characters deaths, antagonists and protagonists, not mentioning who though.

The main point of the show takes place in the future where the people there have built giant robotic suits capable of making some transformers cower in fear. It is kinda like voltron force. Anyway, the world is twisted and these people called Celestial Being are trying to rid the world of hate and terrorism with their methods. It does seem a little hypocritical, but it is understood later on that their mission is true in a way, that the world is corrupt. It is also mentioned plenty of times that one of the pilots a part of Celestial Being was a child soldier for a terrorism group at one point, so knowing that does add to his character. Each of the main protagonists apart of whole organization do state their reasons for fighting. One is to avenge the death of his family from terrorists, another is to find out who he is. I'm intrigued how the show progresses. It does make me want to dump on a video of star trek and give it the finger by how much better the series is.

Morals of the series include much, much of how you can and can't purify a world from hate, but also love is a visible thing in this show. At times, its clear that some characters do show feelings for each other, and what does make the show more special is the sort of West Side Story drama between two characters, and the death of another lover.

Then there are scenes of scrap metal flying and explosions in just about every episode for those who are interested in that kind of stuff. It is definitely pleasing to the action fans. Boom, Bam, Boom.

As you might know already, the original show is all Japanese, which was translated and voiced over to make this American, much like power rangers. The intro and the ending, as well as some names of places that appear on the bottom of the screen like svu. Since I bring up the intro, most of them are pretty good, since there are only 4 throughout the series. The first is kinda does seem fitting for a show like this, serious, not really crazy rock or too energetic. The second is more energetic and does include more rock. The third is my favorite, but not really the most suitable for the show. Then the last is my least favorite, just sounds weird. the order of themes are Daybreak's Bell, Ash like snow, Hakanaku mo towa no kanashi, and i don't know the last theme.

Overall, the show is something interesting to watch in spare time. It's a good show that makes you ask what you're supposed to watch next.

Exciting, Mature and Grounded

[ayonijaprithuvainya · 9/10 · 28 November 2019]

It can sometimes take itself a bit too seriously but this is arguably one of the most mature and grounded entries in the Gundam franchise, by popular anime standards. If you are fascinated by mechs, but are turned off by anime tropes, this one is a very good place to start.

It has a large Game-of-Throne-esque collection of grown-up characters, often with dubious moralities and oblique agendas, and with believable personalities (again, by popular anime standards) and flaws.

The setting is essentially the same as our world, but a few decades into the future. Many of the real world issues of today are mirrored in this show, such as religious and racial conflicts, war-profiteering, absolutism, child-soldiers, and the core question of using violence as a means to achieve peace. It also delves into some classic Japanese concepts such as the meaning of honour for a warrior.

The plot is relatively easy to follow, and technology depicted in the show seems grounded. A visionary scientist sets in motion a shadowy anti-war organisation made up of small set of superlative war-machines called Gundams (hitherto unknown in this world), driven by a hand-picked group of pilots and an elite supporting crew. Their goal is to put a stop to military conflicts across the world, ironically, through military interventions of their own, planned by a semi-sentient AI. Of course, the interventions, while initially successful, have unintended consequences as the rest of the world comes up with desperate measures to make up for the technical superiority of the Gundams. The objectives of the organisation turns out to be not as transparent as it seemed, even to its members, with hidden forces at play with their own agendas.

As a mech enthusiast, I was mightily impressed with the mech designs in this show. They are the right mix of style and plausibility, and often exemplify pure mechanical joy of putting things together or taking things apart.

The animation style is absolutely superb, and the soundtrack is memorable. What more is there to say! Highly recommended. Would love to see this story revisited in the future, or adapted to other media.

The best Gundam after the very first one of the saga

[fornlike · 9/10 · 3 September 2023]

I haven't looked yet the latest Gundam series, the recent Hathaway films; I only saw Gundam Thunderbolt once but I watched all the other anime at least twice, just to be sure of what I saw. And of all of them, the one that amazed me the most was undoubtedly Gundam 00. It's clear that if we have to rank all the Gundams, the very first series must be in first place for a whole bunch of obvious reasons (well thought out despite some lapses in taste, well-constructed characters, innovative story, surprising action, etc.) but just after that it is necessary to place Gundam 00 and not Zeta (too disorderly, very poorly constructed dramatization...), and no SEED and SEED Destiny because both have lower drawing quality than Gundam 00 as well as too many very disrespectful absurdities in the dramatization (major story inconsistencies, many characters surviving terrible explosions...).

Gundam 00 has the same flaw as all ambitious cinematographic works (animated or not): Very good ideas at the base, but numerous flaws in their implementation. Gundam 00 is, however, the series which contains the fewest errors, the one which expresses the most seriousness in the work and also the one which has the most incredible soundtrack there is; just the very first opening theme. What an irresistible diamond! I have listened to millions of drum games but never have I been so transported by the playing of a drummer (Not even Dave Weckl in Festival de ritmo). The first time I watched the series I was so happy that I went to the reviews hoping to find out that it had won many awards. To my great surprise I discovered that another anime had been preferred: Code Geass. I was sure that it was abnormal, so I obtained Code Geass which I followed once (recognizing the quality of the work) then a second time several months later where I was able to clearly see its defaults. Where Gundam 00 beats Code Geass is in the message. Code Geass has a real inconsistency and a real sickening side while Gundam conveys an extremely beautiful, strong and useful message, capped off by a film that makes much more sense than people think. Although there are several subjects that were unfinished, the final message is truly grandiose and the film explains for example why Setsuna became so special, why the GN particles are so special and why Aeolia Schenberg is a particularly important character. His speech against science and humanity is so relevant that it transcends the realm of cinema and is of profound importance to the current state of our world.

Gundam 00 is a major work thanks to its soundtrack, its ambition, its message, its discourse on the hyper underestimated drama of fear, the beauty of the Gundams, the quality of the animation, the design of the characters, the dialogues, the architectural richness, its profusion of very high quality characters (Aeolia Schenberg, Setsuna F. Seiei, Lockon Stratos, Allelujah Haptism, Marie Parfasi, Tieria Erde, Sumeragi Lee Noriega, Shirin Bakhtiar, Klaus Grado, Ali al-Saachez , Graham Aker, Billy Katagiri, Ralph Eifman, Saji Crossroad, Louise Halevy, Sergei Smirnov, Hank Hercules, Kati Mannequin and even Marina Ismail). Characters all of great value. Some have suffered enormously, they carry a terribly heavy burden, but what makes them deeply endearing is the intelligence with which they have chosen to overcome their suffering (Aeolia, Setsuna,...). And others are important because they embody unbalanced people who, like many people today, have forgotten; Graham, for example, has forgotten that what matters is not Bushido as interpreted by his masters but Life itself; Ali al-Saachez forgot that when we neglect the great principles of life, we end up merging with pure evil and there is nothing worse than that. This last fact is particularly important because it is the path taken for a long time by several big fortunes in this world, like this rich American forty-year-old (I think) who injects himself with the plasma of his 17 year old son to resist the effects of time. Brief ! Gundam 00 is an underrated work whose value can only be seen by people who can open their minds. It is by far the richest Gundam whose only opponent is none other than the very first serie of that great saga. It is simply a masterpiece.