A date with Destiny

Sup,

First aired in 2005, 'Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Destiny' is the follow on series to the hugely popular, and truly awesome, 'Gundam: Seed'. It's not very good. It's what Joey was to Friends.

Now, before I go and completely trash this series I want to point out that I've sat through this 50 episode horror three times. The first time was back when it was released in 2004 when the fan subbed versions started hitting the internet. Back in 2004 I was hammered all the time but I seem to remember the series being pretty good, but maybe this was because I was hammered every day. My second outing with Destiny came a few years later when I bought a cheep fan subbed version from ebay. I was sober throughout. It wasn't quite what I remembered. At all. It was, in fact quite bad. And since then I've never really wanted to return to it.
Since my second date with Destiny my Gundam collection has grown considerably. It's always annoyed that I never got round to buying myself an official copy of Destiny, so the other week I spent a stupid amount of money on the Destiny box sets, parts one and two. This is the first time I've ever regretted buying something before I've left the shop. But never the less, my collection is nearing completion. All that remains is Igloo 2 and Gundam00 when it hits English shores.

In a previous post I remarked about the state of the FMA box sets and how freaking awesome they are and how Funimation went all out to make sure your money was well spent. Unfortunately I can't say the same for Beez Entertainment and the Destiny box sets.

Both boxes are pretty hefty things. Each contain five dvd's with five episodes each. Now, I've never had a box set quite like these. Every other box set I've ever had has either been a type of slip case that either covers the dvd case, or leaves the spine of the box showing, or it's been a box that unfolds on itself. The Destiny dvd box is like a little house. It's a box with a door, and a pretty feeble door at that. And the box is far too big for the dvd's, there's room for a book or episode guide or something but no. Nothing, just wasted space.
When I first saw the box in the shop a 'flyer' type thing in the shrink wrap says:

DVD Box Content -

• 5 DVD's with slipcases
• Detailed Characters and Mecha Files
• Textless opening and ending
• Beez Trailers
  

Got the dvd's, don't know what the slipcases are. I originally figured that the 'detailed character and mecha files' would be a book / brochure job, hence why the box was so big. Nope, they are just extras on the dvds. And I've looked at all these 'files' and believe me, they are not detailed. And plus, the boxes are so big they look out of place on the shelf.

But anyways, on to the series itself. I've been making notes throughout this third viewing. Here we go...

Set in C.E.73, Destiny picks up two years after the events of Gundam Seed. Episode one begins during the battle for Orb from 'Seed'. The Freedom Gundam is taking a part in this battle. We see the Freedom fire a shot which causes an explosion on a nearby hillside. On the hill, Shinn Asuka is fleeing the fight with his family. Stopping to fetch his sisters mobile phone, Shinn gets blown down the hill. His family are caught in the blast and die. He joins the military and becomes the pilot of the Impulse Gundam.

Two years later, Athrun, going under a stupid alias Alex Dino, and Cagalli as the representative of Orb are visiting Armoury One to meet with the Zaft forces chairman Durindal. Three 'extended', the Destiny equivalent of a cyber newtype, infiltrate the armoury and steel Zaft's three new Gundam units, the Giah, Chaos, and Abyss. Shinn jumps into the Impulse and bam, thats episode one in a nut shell. A promising first episode.
I don't really know where to start with this because there are so many points I want to cover but I guess I'll start with the mecha designs. The mecha in Destiny look really poor. Now, you can disagree with me if you want, but the Impulse and Destiny Gundam's hurts my eyes when I look at them. I mean, Impulse looks like a clown with all its changing colours, and Destiny looks like a really colourful bird. They just look silly. The Legend is the Providence, Strike-freedom is the Freedom with a bit of gold paint here and there. As for Athrun's mobile suit, the Infinite Justice, well they gave up designing that when they drew up the Aegis in Gundam Seed. I'm being quite serious, if you look at all Athrun's mobile suits from the start of Seed, them being the Aegis, Justice, Savior and finally the infinite Justice, they all look pretty much the same. And don't even get me started on the pink Zaku... Eugh...

MAQH has a full list of the Destiny mecha designs.

The only decent designs in the whole show are the suits that made cameo appearances from the original U.C. series, the Zaku, Gouf, and the Dom. In fact, the Gouf Ignited was probably the best design in the entire of the show. I really liked that suit.

The Gouf Ignited

One of the main things that annoyed me in this series is the amount of flashbacks used. Now, I'm more than happy for a flashback to be used if it's needed but holy hell, I've never seen so many flashbacks used in one series. I mean, in the episode where Stella dies I remember there being two flashbacks to things that had happened in that episode. I must of seen Cagalli's father burn to death at least ten times, and that happened in Seed, not Destiny. Really, I'm not stupid, and it's insulting to the viewer to have so many flashbacks. The whole show could easily have been cut by at least five episodes if they'd taken out all the pointless flashbacks.

And while I'm on about cutting down a few episodes, lets talk about stock footage. Stock footage, in my book, is footage that is used over and over to save time on animation and production. For example say, in Scooby Doo when the gang is always running down that same hallway every episode. Well, Destiny has stock footage, and they really over used it. For most of the show I felt like I was watching the same battle over and over, and I was more than sick of seeing the Impulse's launching sequence. Like every time the bloody thing launched. Core splendor, chest piece, leg piece... every time. In say, Victory Gundam, or Double Zeta, the transforming units let you sit through the same sequence a few times, but then they'd stop showing it to you, because you know what its going to do. And if they did need to show it you again, they'd never use the same stock footage.

And when did all the characters turn into whimps? At the end of Seed, Cagalli was kicking some serious ass in the Rouge. What, just because she's the representative of a nation she has to turn into a whimp? In nearly every scene she appeared in she was either being pushed around or she was crying. Captain Ramius seemed to be lacking her spine and the whole story between her and Mu just got stupid. MU DIED OK!! THE MAN DIED IN AN EXPLODING STRIKE GUNDAM!! (yeah, ok they went back and fixed the ending so it appears he survived, but instead of doing that, they should of just gotten some better writers for Destiny).

Cagalli about to whimp out

I don't know, this series has so much wrong with it. The dubbing in places is just awful and Arthur's stereotypical British accent pissed me right off. Every other episode seems to be a recap of something that happened the episode before, the characters never really seem to 'get going' and two of my favorite characters from Seed are barely even mentioned. What happened to you Yzak? Where were you Dearka? I constantly felt like the series was trying to pad itself out. Just putting on a fancy light show to detract from the fact that this series was quickly made to please the fans. It was like, all the things that were awesome in Seed, got way too over done in Destiny and because of that it made the show fall flat on its ass. Of course, the fact that the show had a shit story and it was constantly borrowing the good bits from other Gundam series (E.g. Shinn and Stella is for Destiny what Kamille and Four is to Zeta) didn't help it either. For me the plot was constantly darting all over the place, and I never really got a feel for who the main protagonist was ment to be. It's all over the place.

@SoulBroRyu, of MAHQ.net has this to say on Destiny:

"Gundam SEED Destiny is to Gundam SEED as Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen is to Transformers. So much potential. So much disappointment."

To be honest, Destiny has a promising start but if you're a Gundam hardcore then no, watch it once then just leave it be. Put it to one side and walk away.

@BenGP02

U.C. 0096 - The Year of the Unicorn

Sup,

When a movie adaptation of the Gundam Unicorn novels was announced earlier this year I nearly wet myself with excitement. Seriously. The 'light novel' series that has never seen western shores except through fans translations is finally making its way over here in winter of this year as a part of the 30th anniversary celebrations.

I don't know a great deal about Unicorn, other than it is set in Universal Century 0096, three years after the movie 'Char's Counterattack'.

A full list if the mobile suits and characters featured in the movie can be found here.

An English website dedicated to the Unicorn world can be found here. With summaries on the novels and character bio's, this website is pretty cool. It is, however, still in development.

As well as a few magazine scans of the mobile suits and the characters there is not much else out there except for these three little films. The first two are Japanese advertisements for the novels, but they show a small amount of animation, which I assume is from the movie. The third of these films is a 'Unicorn Preview' which shows stills that recap the history of the Universal Century from 0079 through to 0093. The last minute of this preview is full on Gundam Unicorn animation. Fuck me does it looks amazing. This baby is planned for a worldwide release too. I can not wait.

Advert #1


Advert #2


U.C. History / Unicorn Preview


@BenGP02

MS Gundam: Battlefield Report 0081

Sup,

Got a trailer here showing the soon to be released PS3 exclusive title 'Mobile Suit Gundam: Battlefield Record, U.C. 0081'. Announced ages ago, this title was originally thought to be another series and left fans dissapointed when it was announced as a PS3 exclusive, although I think that the announcement of the animated Gundam: Unicorn movie soon got rid of the disappointment. As with the statue in Obadia, Battlefield Record is to commemorate 30 years of the Gundam franchise.


Taking place two years after U.C. 0079 and the 'One Year War' of the original series, Battlefield Record will, as far as I can tell, see the Earth Federation squadron 'Phantom Sweep' facing off against the Zeon remnant force 'Invisible Knights'. Both sides will have a full cast of characters. Phantom Sweep is headed by commander Hughes Courand, who will also undoubtedly be out Gundam pilot, while the Invisible Knights have Erik Blanke, who I can see being an Anaval Gato type character from 0083.
I can tell that I'm going to like this game already as it will have a story that will follow on from the U.C. series and connect the gap between 0080 and 0083, in the same way that 'The Force Unleashed' bridged the gap between the old and new Star Wars sagas.

The main mobile suit for 0081 will be the RX-78-7, an upgraded version of the original RX-78-2 from the famed 0079. The design for the RX-78-7 is based on the RX-78-7 7th Gundam from MS-Variations original mech design series by mech artist Kunio Okawara.

The animation cut scenes seem to blend seamlessly with the CG game play and reminds me very much of the series MS: Gundam - The 8th MS Team, which was set during the one year war. Even though I don't yet own a PS3, this game looks amazing. As a Gundam fan I can't wait both for the story line, and to actually play it, although a western release date has yet to be announced.

Even if your not a Gundam fan, I think you'll agree that it looks pretty amazing. Heres the trailer.



@BenGP02

Real G - videos

Sup,

Right, unless anything else happens that is worth blogging, I'm gonna make this my last post on this subject. To read all my other posts regarding the Real-G project, click here.

A couple of videos here of the 1:1 scale RX-78-2 Gundam which has be erected in Obadia to mark the 30th anniversary of the popular anime series.

The first video shows some really nice close ups and was found at www.weirdasianews.com



The second video shows Gundam being 'powered up', as the movement of the head is tested along with the lights and sound effects.



And just for good measure, here are some amazing pictures which I found on www.pinktentacle.com but they can now be found all over the web.



The Real-G project, however over the top it might be, is awesome. It truly reflects just how much the Gundam franchise is adored by not only the Japanese, but by folks all over the world. Gundam isn't going anywhere anytime soon that is for sure. Anyways, we still got the 'UC0096 - Gundam Unicorn' movie out later this year, and next year we've got the 'Gundam 00' movie. Can't wait.

Thanks for reading

Follow me on Twitter! @BenGP02

Real G - 1:1 scale Gundam RX-78-2 finished

Sup,

Its been a while since I last blogged anything, probably because I've had nothing to blog about. But today is the day, finally, after months of waiting, that the giant 1:1 scale RX-78 Gundam has been completed.

Towering over the island of Obadia in Japan, Gundam reaches a staggering 59feet. I don't know if they'll have a grand unveiling, but eventually its head and arms will move, and mist will pour from the exhaust ports.

For those who don't know, the RX-78-2 Gundam is the original suit from the very first series way back in 1979. The RX-78-2 was piloted by the newtype Amuro Ray. Because of this suit and its pilot, the Earth Federation was able win the famed One Year War against the Principality of Zeon.

For my other post on 'Project Real G' click here.

All pictures are courtesy of dannychoo.com









To enlarge the pictures, just click on them!

For more fantastic, but copyrighted images, mainichi.jp is the place to go.

EDIT: NEW PICTURES - I can't get over the detail...






Follow me on Twitter! @BenGP02

Real G - latest pictures

Sup,

Here are the latest pictures of the Real G project development. Got a proper view of the chest piece and some nice close ups of the legs. It's gigantic. Can't wait for its completion.

The chest piece is twice the size of that van. It's a crazy kind of awesome. God bless Bandai!
For my other posts about the Real G project click here.

And don't forget, we still got the Gundam Unicorn to come. 2009 is a good year.

@BenGP02

Real G: Latest developments

Sup,

Just a quick post to update you all in the developments of the Real G project. For my last post about Real G, click here.

Real G is acctually starting to look fantastic. Both legs are now finished.





They've even started work on the arms!


Looks amazing. What a way to celebrate 30 years of Gundam. Genius.

BenGP02

Tomino interview and Duke Nukem: Forever gameplay footage!!!

Sup,

The beginnings of an interview with Yoshiyuki Tomino. Click here to view the full interview. You have to install some media player though, which sucks. I didn't bother watching the full thing, it's in Japanese, a language I don't speak and probably never will. That's why subtitles were invented, a thing that this clip is lacking. Cool though... If a subbed version comes around, which I doubt, I'll post it. Check out the Zaku2 stood next to the presenter - that's what I call awesome.


Watch Gundam SP part2: Tomino Yoshiyuki long interview in Anime | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

You remember Duke Nukem on DOS? Then Duke Nukem 3D by 3D Realms? Remember the announcement of Duke Nukem: Forever THIRTEEN YEARS AGO?!?!?!?!?! Well 3D Realms recently went bust, but this gameplay footage has been leaked. Take2 games currently hold the license to the franchise, so hopefully they'll carry on it's development. It acctually looks pretty good.



Twitter: @BenGP02

Project 'Real G' - this thing is huge

Sup Y'all,

A while back now it was announced that as a part of the Gundam 30th year celebrations, a gigantic 1:1 scale (59ft) model of the original RX-78-2 Gundam is going to be built on Odaiba Island in Japan. It is called the 'Real-G' project. The original concept art had me drooling.

Concept art

Now, a few months later, the project is well underway and it is truly MASSIVE. Why don't I live in Japan? Why God WHY!!!

The massive leg struts

Leg struts with armour

Chest plate

Gundam is also going to be sporting a 'Tokyo 2016' badge on its right shoulder to aid Tokyo in its bid to host the 2016 Olympic games. 'Real G' will be completed mid-July. It already looks awesome. I want one in my garden.Concept models with Olympic logo

@BenGP02 - Follow me on Twitter!

Pictures courtesy of www.akiba-station.com and www.bouncingredball.com

Repition is a good thing - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam2

Sup,

Right, so i'm about a week into Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 and admittedly i've not given it the attention that I should of. What! I've been busy... But somehow i've managed to squeeze a good few hours of game play into my hectic schedule and so far, so good. If you've not played it yet, there's a trailer here.


Yea, ok, so basically it's exactly the same as the first game, you take control of a mobile suit, button bash through hoards of enemy mobile suits and try to conquer the enemy 'fields' or zones. Complete whatever objectives the mission requires and defeat the boss suit to achieve a 'mission complete'.

The first game had its problems, and I was happy to find that they have been fixed. The short boost times have been extended, you can now jump higher and in a direction, combos are easier to pull off and link together and the levels are HUGE. Seriously, these levels are massive and the detail is pretty awesome. You can now also now customise your mobile suit by collecting parts acquired from defeating enemies.


One of the most noticeable change is the amount of playable characters and mobile suits available to use. Pilots and suits from First Gundam, Zeta, ZZ, Char's Counterattack, F91, V-Gundam, Turn A, Wing, and Seed Destiny, with probably more unlockables just made the game for me, and i'm only about 3 hours into it.

The suits and characters are awesome, but I don't think I could finish without mentioning the boss fights. The DW:G1 saw you fighting 'field commanders' who either came in the form of slightly tougher grunt suits, or an enemy character suit. DW:G2 has kept this as the standard 'boss' fight but now includes the gigantic 'mobile armour's'. So far I've only completed Amuro Ray's 'official mode' story line which follows the story of Amuro in the original 0079 series. I got to fight the 'Big Zam' mobile armour. Got my ass handed to me on a silver platter several times. Didn't care, I was fighting the Big Zam. The only other games I've fought the Big Zam in was 'Federation vs Zeon' on the PS2, and both the 'Battle Assault' games on the PSX. I've yet to meet the Psycho Gundam.



Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 is a re-release of DW:G1 but without the problems, and to be honest, the first game didn't have that many faults. This instalment looks and feels smoother and slicker. It's repetitive but hell, who cares! What game isn't? Only one complaint, where's the Japanese voice overs? The first game had them :(

Hack and slash gaming with Gundams, simple, addictive and fun. Plus, I bought a HDMI cable. EVERYTHING is sweeter in HD, even Gundam.


Thanks for reading. follow me on Twitter!
@BenGP02

Mobile Suit Gundam: 0079 - The One Year War

Sup,

There's alot to cover in 0079. Here goes...

"It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century, a half century has passed since the Earth began moving it burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised, and die. Nine months ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth called Side Three, proclaimed itself the Principality of Zeon and launched a war of Independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted over one month and saw both side loose half there respective populations. People were horrified by the indescribable atrocities committed in the name of independence. Eight months had passed since the rebellion had begun, they were at a stale mate."

And so begins the first ever episode of Mobile Suit Gundam.

So it's 1979 and kids are sat in front of their TV screens waiting to watch the latest mecha anime series. 1978 had been a home to series such as Battle of the Planets (Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman), Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and Daitarn 3, another mecha anime directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. Now it was 1979, and the age of the Gundam had arived.

The TV screen flickers to life, and we see a picture of the Earth being surrounded by a beam of light. We hear dark and brooding music begin and then... and then the most horrendous opening theme I have ever heard opens the show. If I hadn't seen other Gundam series before I watched 0079, I wouldn't of stuck with it. Ok, granted that it's the seventies, but it's no excuse for this. And it's one of those songs that plays games with you, you think it's finished but oh no, let's carry on with verse two.
Ok, yeah, I do think it's a cool opening, but only because it's stupidly retro and it's Gundam. I mean the pictures are fine, we're seeing different mechas, people jumping into core fighters, and waves of Zaku forces preparing to fight, but that song is just dreadful. It's the stuff that nightmares are made of.



You want to see how a 70's opening should be done? Check out Space Pirate Captain Harlock.

Ok, so the show opens with Zeon forces sneaking into the Side 7 colony and discovering an Earth Federation base. Along with the the base they also uncover the 'V-Project', the Earth Federation's top secret Mobile Suit (MS) project. The Zeon attack and 15 year colonist Amuro Ray takes it upon himself to jump into a MS and defend the colony. The MS he decides to take is the brand new weapon, Gundam. He defends the colony with the help of the Gundam's 'instruction manual' (a definite WTF! moment) - and due to his inexperience, he blows a hole in the side of the colony. He joins forces with the new Federation Battleship 'Whitebase' (which looks like a flying 2 car garage), and there you have it, Amuro Ray, a civilian with no MS piloting skills has become the soul pilot of the Federation's most powerful weapon.

The series basically follows the crew of the Whitebase and Amuro as they continue the struggle against the Zeon forces. Along the way Amuro must learn how to use both his Gundam and his 'Newtype' abilities. I'll get to what a Newtype is later.

Now as with nearly everything ever, and mecha anime is no exception, for every hero there is always 'the evil nemesis'. It's that old 'good verses evil' chestnut. The evil antagonistic force in 0079 is the tyrannical Zabi family headed by the super fat Degwin Zabi, a man who wants nothing more than independence for those who live in space, and so he declares war with his 'Nazi-like' Principality of Zeon.

The Zeon to Nazi hints are subtle, but they're there. The Zeon uniform is the most obvious. In one of Degwin's final scenes he refers to his eldest son, Ghiren, as a self styled Adolf Hitler. There are five main Zabi's: Degwin, Ghiren, Kacillia, Dozle and Garma. We also get a small glimpse of Minerva Zabi as a newly born baby. Minerva plays a large part in MS:Zeta Gundam and MS:ZZ Gundam.
The Zabi's are memorable, and I think they play there part as the 'big in your face' antagonists well. However compared to the series main antogonist, Char Aznable, the Zabi's are nothing.

Char Aznable is the most well known villain in the entire of the Gundam universe, and is most definitely my favorite character throughout the entire series. Char, unlike many of the characters in MS:G actually has a reason to fight. His real name is Casval Rem Deikun. Char Aznable is the alias he uses while in Zeon. His main goal is to over throw the Zabi's and get revenge for his father, the founder of the Zeon Empire, Zeon Zum Deikun, who was murdered by the Zabi's. He is also known among both the Zeon and Federation Forces as 'The Red Comet', on account of him being an ace pilot, and his MS are always painted red. This also reminds me of the whole Nazi thing, as in WW1 the Germans had an ace pilot nicknamed 'The Red Barron'.
Both Char and Amuro are 'Newtypes'. The next evolutionary step for humans. Basically a newtype can sense other Newtypes on the battlefield, and they have exceptional piloting and mechanic skills. As I said in my brief Gundam history, a Newtypes 'powers' work in a similar way to the force.
Also, Char takes a young apprentice named Lalah Sune under his wing. She is also a Newtype. While fighting in the Mobile Armor Elmeth against Amuro, she is killed. Both Amuro and Char become haunted by her spirit.


Ok, I feel like i'm starting to ramble. If you've seen the series you know just how massive is its, and how impossible it is to put it all in one blog, but i've managed to cover some of the main points and characters in this review. I can't even begin to try and summarise 43 episodes in one blog, it's impossible.
To summerise; Gundam: 0079 is an old school anmie. The story isn't perfect and the animation can look really dated at times. But with memorable characters, retro mecha and definite re-watchability, it's pretty awesome. If your new to Gundam then its a great starting place, if you can get over the 70's style animation, and the opening credits that is.

Score out of ten? 9/10 - It's the original Gundam series, nuff said. Not my favorite series, but in my top three Gundam shows.

Right, thats it for my first Gundam summary/review/overview. If you've bothered to read this far then cheers, thanks for reading. I don't know what the next review will be, but since I just got Dynasty warriors: Gundam 2, it might be that.

Thanks for reading
Follow me on twitter @BenGP02