Gundam 00 — Episode 25

Gundam 00

This is the last episode of the first season, something which I did not realize until halfway through the episode. The ending is rushed as expected and I think that it’s worse than Sunrise’s usual standard. Still, maybe season two will be better? At the very least it will have some funkier spacesuit designs.

Summary

Everyone dies, or at least appears to die.

Gundam 00
Gone in 60 seconds

Gundam 00
“Pikapi…”

Gundam 00
He sees dead people

Alejandro is betrayed by Libonze, the real super villain. Graham and Setsuna fight to the “death”. A destroyed Exia floats in space with Earth as its backdrop while Marina cries over a letter Setsuna sent her before he sortied.

Gundam 00
Gay harem

Three years later, the United Nations is officially renamed the Earth Federation (I kid you not). And one year after that, the Earth Federation Peacekeeping Force is formed and the various national armed forces are slowly dismantled and integrated into a joint command. Their mobile suits look suspiciously like Knightmare Frames

Gundam 00
Uh… All hail Britannia?

Saji is now working in space and a few other familiar characters make short appearances in the last few scenes of the episode.

Gundam 00

The namesake of the entire series, 00 Gundam, makes a short five-second cameo right at the very end.

Gundam 00

Critique

There are a lot of things wrong with how the ending played out, but I shall just focus on the most jarring bit: Graham.

Immediately after Setsuna defeats Alejandro’s bling machine with Exia, Graham comes flying in with his GN Flag looking for a fight. After some clichéd and completely nonsensical smack talking, the fight ends in a draw as both Exia and the Flag are destroyed.

Gundam 00
“I am Sunrise’s bitch.”

I don’t personally like Graham much, but this rushed battle really cheapens his entire existence. Having waited for so many episodes and bore the pain of losing two of his close friends, all Graham gets is a short quickie which the scriptwriters forcefully squeezed into the last episode.

We all know that the plot calls for Exia to be destroyed so that Setsuna can embark on a journey of recovery and eventually obtain a much cooler Gundam. But it doesn’t have to be Graham. Setsuna could’ve drawn with Alejandro instead.

And what exactly is the point of getting Graham to make a short appearance in the last episode just to “die” in a spectacular explosion of GN particles?

Gundam 00
Darth Veda

Sunrise needed a masked man. Oh for the love of…

Screencaps

Gundam 00
Ha/Allelujah’s secret overpower move: using both eyes simultaneously

Gundam 00

Gundam 00

Gundam 00

Gundam 00
Mecha guro

Gundam 00
“I don’t know what I should do in such situations…”

Gundam 00
“Why don’t you try smiling?”

Gundam 00
Plamo coming soon

Gundam 00

Gundam 00
Plamo coming soon

Gundam 00

Gundam 00
Oh Marina, you silly paedophile

Gundam 00
Tieria MkII?

Gundam 00

Gundam 00
The first Gundam

Gundam 00
This was a triumph / I’m making a note here…

I’m guessing the Earth Federation will be opposed by a group of smaller nations who do not wish to give up their sovereignty? They can even call themselves Zeon if they want…

On another note, I am so tempted to upgrade to the newly-released WordPress 2.5, but I fear for the many plugins that my template relies on…

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117 Responses to Gundam 00 — Episode 25

  1. Alyse says:

    oh, and I forgot to say, cute random icon thingies.

  2. Bulletcatcher says:

    Yeah, it did seem pretty rushed and the plot just went everywhere as soon as Graham flew in to save the day. The most interesting part for me was the epilogue. I take it that 00 Gundam will take a role similar to Wing Zero in Gundam Wing. Maybe Tieria, if that’s actually who Regene is, will hop into a mobile suit of mass destruction and reawaken his Virtue skills. Maybe Allelujah will come to battle with his Millennium Eye to see into the Earth’s Federation’s hand. Maybe Setsuna lives and will steal 00 Gundam.

    Lots of opportunity and different paths to take for season 2. Let’s just hope Sunrise doesn’t fuck up and has it so that the second season makes up for the first. Don’t get me wrong, I like Gundam 00 so far, but it took a turn to inferiority as opposed to what it could’ve been.

  3. Chronolapse says:

    I think they should class the series under mild fan-boyism as well. “I am gundam… I am gundam… We are gundam! o.o” kinda fanboyish to me on setsuna’s part

  4. Shikamaru says:

    Kinda sad ali didnt died. Lockon was wasted without accomplishing anything.

  5. Heron says:

    I don’t know man, I kinda like the ending…then again I am a SEED and Wing fan…

    I do agree on the criticism on the politics part though, could have used more work. However it looks at issues we are sorta facing right now, even though what I can never get is how Southeast Asia got swept into the whole HRL thingy…

    I certainly wish Season 2 will rock more, there’s definitely a lack of story and I am eager to know more…

    And the funniest thing that struck me was that this looks like a prelude to the original Gundam…

    Love the O Gundam and looking forward to OO…-D

  6. haruruejutah says:

    Why stick at Zeon? AEUG is just as fitting.

  7. Tkpenalty says:

    lol. ALL HAIL BRITANNIA INDEED! For those GNX. I wouldnt be surprised if those things next to the GN drive capsule were rocket anchors, whoops i mean harkens.

    I liked this ep… at least it showed destruction instead of the constant half arsed bullshit. That should be tieria with an alias though, because he/she is wearing lockon’s hairstyle. Tieria is acting as a doctor to counter the red GN particles, using the green GN particles or something to heal those injuries, that may explain why he is next to Louise as well as the fact that hes wearing a EAF uniform.

    Anyway I’ll laugh if gundam 00 becomes Code geass and code geass becomes gundam 00. That will be one of the hugest stunts sunrise will pull off.

    Anyway since sunrise didnt design a good GN flag, time for me to design a better one >=(. Dammit… he was coughing blood because the flag hadnt been modified.

  8. DouG says:

    LOL @ “Pikapi..”

  9. allion says:

    @kamui
    DM is right, it was three years later that the UN became a Federation. Although the Peacekeeping Forces was launched 4 years later, but that was a year after the Earth Fedaration was made.

    About Gundam 00 being a prequel to the original UC era Gundam, let’s remember that we have Minovsky Particles in UC while we have GN particles in Gundam 00. The UC has a different story on why the mobile suits were created.

  10. saruto says:

    I just wanna see the O Gundam and OO in action togever!??

  11. allion says:

    I’ve noticed just now… Tieria is indeed wearing a uniform similar to the masked guy (Graham). Is that the Earth Federation uniform? The scene of Louise and Tieria (saying “hmph…”) seems to show that they don’t know each other and it just happened they were together (in an elevator it seems). So the rumor that they’re a patient-doctor pair must be definitely wrong.

  12. Eh says:

    GN Flag was amazing and more mecha should be designed with asymmetry in mind.

    Also, fun facts from elsewhere: the only date we have in UC with a weekday is Monday January 14th, UC 0080. Season 2 takes place in 2312 and the only year between 2385 and 2402 where January 14th lands on a Monday is 2391, which is 80 years after 2312.

    Also these random Tsukihime/FSN avatars are the best, who would actually want to sign up to change them?

  13. Dark Koji says:

    It’s finally over… at least for season 1. Pikapi…

    ^Now as Eh just mentioned, I am curious on what my random comment’s avatar will be. >_<;

  14. Dragoon says:

    It just struck me as odd, that after all that fighting with the big golden dish and its GN Field…. he remembers (after everyone is pretty much dead) that his sword was designed to rip through a GN Field?
    Mind you, good planning on CB’s part for seeing that they may well need a Gundam with the ability to get through the defences of another Gundam… just a shame it took the pilot so long to see it!

    And you thought Lockon was dead, so long as we have flash backs and little bits of wisdom he told them, he will always make a come back!!!!

    Aye the avatars are nice, i kind of like the chibi fate stay night characters that i keep seeing!

  15. ERrff...o_O says:

    ( ‘-‘) (._. ) (‘-‘ ) ( ._.) *sniff sniff*

  16. Flame says:

    Well in-conclusive ending to set up for a next season…

  17. blah says:

    Did nobody notice Patrick saluting them at the salutation scene? 22:46, I think.

  18. Arch says:

    is that louise behind tieria?

  19. allion says:

    @Blah
    Yeah, i noticed too, he’s standing behind Manequin.
    @Arch
    The hair clip shows she’s Louise.

    Yeah, nice avatars!

  20. HAVE says:

    ow, well, its seems Sunrise did make some plot&character revolution here, isn`t it, even the bad one…….
    can`t wait for the next season, next killing field i think……lol
    i think saji would piloting gn-00
    hey i`m look so cute in my avatar…..

  21. Alikuo says:

    the masked man looks alot like Graham…but then could it be Lockon??

  22. hi5peed2ron says:

    lol….i missed everything this weekend..

  23. Smellofevil says:

    man, I dont understand the critics…I like the series, but mayb thats because I dont really care about ripoffs and such and because I like flashy impossible to follow combat hehe

    Btw that dude behind Manequin most definitely isnt Patrick, and if it is they really screwed up the animations :P

  24. saruto says:

    I don’t think that’s Tieria guys. It’s his Innovator twin who happens to be a real girl this time around, lol.

  25. darkdestiny says:

    The Season 1 to Season 2 transition is gonna look like Gundam SEED combined with Zoids Chaotic Century/Guardian Force, now that the world is turning towards the path Aeolia wanted.

  26. cyo says:

    Ok i think i’m missing something…what is/are “Innovators” ?

  27. Owen S says:

    I upgraded to WordPress 2.5 with about 20 plugins active, 0 deactivated, and nothing went wrong or broke. This version changed way less stuff than going from 2.2 to 2.3 did.

  28. heavenANDhell says:

    That mask man!!!!!!!

    It’s Graham right?!?! (Is a rabid Graham fanboy XD)

    I hope Nena becomes useful in the second season. I can’t wait!

    Btw, isn’t my avatar from azumanga daioh?

    edit: Never mind it changed again XD

  29. Kyon says:

    I thought Trans-Am should have finished up all the GN particles for Exia after the fight with Alejandro ended?How does it have enough after Trans-am mode to fight and die together with Graham?

  30. Blake says:

    did anyone notice how the gn armour’s thrusting sound sounded a lot like the fuel rod cannon sound that the hunters make in halo? i just felt like pointing that out

  31. Derfeedude says:

    love gundam 00!!! LVE IT!

  32. random hero says:

    @ kyon

    once the GN particles stored up are expended during trans am mode, the gundam reverts back to it’s normal system, it can still move and etc, but it’s performance is lower than normal

    whats the bet that ali is gonna stir some shit up during season 2 so that he doesn’t end up out of a job?

  33. GoodasGone says:

    Ahhhhhh…why does new/returning Tieria have Lockon-esque hair? -_-‘ Over obsessed much? Just maybe.

    Felt like one of those things where you stare at it for its entire length speechless, and when it stops, it’s an “Uh What?..”

  34. Lsio says:

    are you going to do code geass R2 next?

  35. Allion says:

    REVELATIONS IN GUNDAM 00 SEASON 2:

    >Nena’s purple Haro was actually used by Alejandro Corner as a bugging device to spy on the Trinity. It will later be used by Almarck Livonse to his own advantage.

    >The Union colony (where Saji is working) will be a target of a terrorist attack in AD 2312. The Federation’s leader will be given emergency powers.

    >Tieria (Regene Legetta) will be working with the Federation.

    >Louise’s boyfriend (no longer Saji) is also working with the Federation. Her boyfriend looks very much like Lockon Stratos, which makes Regene constantly jealous of Louise.

  36. raulecruset says:

    Did setsuna die, never heard any anime killing of the maincharacter halfway the series,, i bet he was flying in that new gundam that saji saw. I bet that Saji will end up fighting louise..

    Setsuna must be alive becoz he still needs to kill ali sarches. Lockon failed to kill him. btw did Halleluya dissapear forever or does he come back..

    Lol all Hail Britannia

  37. GBABH says:

    whats with this Regene Legetta thing, who is it ?

  38. shaquille says:

    it was okay, atleast better than gundam seed

  39. ha says:

    Earth federation versus Innovator. that’s how i see it hahaha..

  40. Syndrome says:

    I have to agree with Dark Mirage about the episode feeling more rushed then your average Sunrise finales. Although I know this isn’t the end of the series I think there were some unnecessary things that could have been resolved next season rather than at the last minute. One of these was the sudden Graham/Setsuna minute long conflict which seemed to serve little reason other than casting a shadow on Setsunas fate. I guess these would also serve as device of which to created Graham into a Char-Clone.

    I don’t think the series was that bad all in all but it still wasn’t amazing. Then again we haven’t seen the series in its entirety so Its not exactly fair to pass judgment on it just yet.

    The one thing I am happy about is that we finally saw O Gundam again. Like I was talking about before, they seemed to just blow it off after the first episode. Hopefully we’ll find out more about its pilot and origins next season.

  41. So, Setsunas really dead? He’s the main character hes not supposed to die. If there is a season two, whos going to fight if most of the main characters are dead? Would somebody please explain to me why Gundam unit 00 looks just like RX-78-2 from mobile suit gundam?! Wow how original Sunrise, how original. I have to admit I watched the last episode on youtube and it’d be great if it had subtitles so that I new what exactly was going on. I’m still wondering tho, is there going to be a season two? If there is I’d love to see any new Gundams that are introduced. I’m wondering who will sing the opening and if it will be any good like the last two.

  42. Luminance says:

    If you’ve seen the episode, at the end you’ll get to see a brief glimpse of 00 Gundam. I think it looks A LOT like GAT X-105 Strike Gundam. For one, it’s got those vertical spikes on top of the Gundam’s Tiara thing. On it’s nose area, it also has those arrows going upwards. These features are not present in the first season of Gundam 00 Gundams….

  43. codename:v says:

    Are we seeing the Amuro-Char form rivalries all coming back in the 2nd season? For some reasons, Setsuna-Graham’s rivalry is obvious another Amuro-Char stints where the antigonist is always masked. Sheessh, when is Gundam going to put out that ‘masked guy’ crap permanently?

  44. jtstellar says:

    you know what i think with all the deaths? hah.
    they’re probably just flushing out the unpopular character because they probably got a lot of complaints already.. this series isn’t nearly as popular as the seed series. they do have a history of changing their characters.. or at least the focus of their characters.. like in the middle of a series after all. only this time they did it at the end of season one.. a kill button for all the unpopular characters!

  45. darkdestiny says:

    Luminance, fortunate that you catch the cameo scene. I only managed to catch it on Youtube. But it looks a lot like Exia, doesn’t it?

    But I feel the last battle is a bit too abrupt and rushed. Why let the camera roll while Exia got K.O. in his second consecutive fight? And come to think about the green-red explosion at the end of the fight, didn’t that mean that the GN Drive of Exia is the one that explode? I’m getting a bit of confused there…

  46. Shadow says:

    Hey guys, it’s been a while.

    “Earth federation versus Innovator. that’s how i see it hahaha..”

    Yes and no. Those two will square off for sure. But I don’t exactly see CB teaming up with Innovator. And we all know how much the Earth hates CB. So imho it’s going to be another multi-sided conflict. I agree completely that this season ending was rushed. I wonder how its gonna play out in season two, beyond the obvious factions warring with each other. Also, and i know its premature to ask this, but any news on when season 2 is going to come out?

    Lastly DM I ready your episode 24 blog, those cracks about Alejandro’s suit made me laugh.

  47. SpearHead says:

    Season 2 will air in October.

    Setsuna’s not dead, dude. He just passed out….
    Here’s my take:
    -Either Ian or Wang gets the O Gundam.
    -Nena gets the 00 Gundam.
    -Nena gets pwned by Graham(or Ali).
    -Setsuna goes bonkers and pilots the 00 Gundam.
    -Setsuna fights Graham, Alle comes to the rescue.(Provided that Kyrios got an overhaul)
    -Alle pwns Graham, Halle-style, Graham escapes.
    -Setsuna fights Ali, then Tieria comes to the rescue.
    -Tieria goes for the final blow, only to have his kill stolen by an unknown mobile suit.
    -Setsuna and Tieria watches over the horizon, and saw a familiar green Gundam shilloutte(spelling?) holding the GN Sniper Rifle—Cliffhangar (End of the 3/4 of the series)

    Cool Huh…? God knows what will happen to the O Gundam… Perhaps it’ll fight Ribbons’s Flying Head Of Doom and lose both it’s head and it’s left arm. Then in a desperate move, the O Gundam pulls a Final Shot and kills Ribbons. Only this time, the Flying Head of Doom won’t have the chance to fire back.

  48. Shadow says:

    Thankyou for telling me when its going to air. Also we know that Setsuna is alive (duh), but I doubt Graham is. First off it looks like Exia’s sword went through the cockpit, but even if it didn’t if you watch the episode again you’ll notice that after Graham says his last words you actually see the explosion in his cockpit. Even if he had survived the explosion his space suit would have been torn to shreds, no one could have survived that. As for Nena getting 00 I don’t know about that, but we’ll see. In all honesty I think Setsuna is still Exia’s pilot, unless he quit CB. The reason behind this is simple, CB recovered Exia, so they recovered him too. And he won’t go to another gundam, he’s way to attached to Exia for that.

  49. Enigma says:

    erm… isnt graham the dude wif the mask? DM has a picture above captioned “Darth Veda”… i think thats graham…

  50. Shadow says:

    Good point. Now that I look closer the hairstyle does look similar. It might be him, it might not. I’m not sure now, especially with Sunrise. Of course they would find an excuse to let someone who should have died live. So now that you point that out there is a good possibility that it is him. But what is with the mask?

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