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June 29, 2005

Gundam Seed Destiny episode 36 (review)

I apologize for not having my usual slate of images. The page I normally pull from is running behind in terms of episodes.

This episode was ***FINALLY*** a moving point for Athrun. As a Kira fan, I've been generally happy with his development and Shinn's development, but Athrun has been kind of up and down. As one of the main characters from Seed, I expected his role to be pivotal from episode 1. And to some degree, he has been a pivotal character... with his piloting of the Gouf near the beginning to the arrival as a member of Faith. Originally, Athrun was the veteran figure with questions of his own that I expected.

Yet, his piloting skills have generally consisted of flying around yelling "Kira!" in battles and having hard times with bit pilots. His logic has been inconsistant in his internal conflicts with the way the war has been going: as a person who participated in the events of Jachin Due, he has been in a key position to see how the events of this time are so similar and different and to realize who is fighting for what. He has generally shown little sign of the skills that made him an ace in the previous war, and he has not used the influence he had with the other pilots and personnel to any great effect.

For that reason it was good to see Athrun grown a spine and ask questions of the chairman. It was clear to see from the beginning that Athrun was beginning to realize that the Chairman was not being completely honest and that Kira and the AA group might have good reasons for distrusting him.

It's also good to see that the Chairman realizes this and goes to work ensuring that Athrun is kept under wraps. Athrun is no dummy though, and he starts to attempt his escape. The discussion with Meer where Athrun tries to convince her that she will eventually be discarded/killed and she refuses to go was a sad one, one that I think will lead to tragedy for the faux Lacus.

The bit with Meyrin came out of nowhere. I realize that they had a few moments with her, but nothing that would make me think she would essentially turn on ZAFT. It will be interesting to see if she turns out to be a romantic interest, a good friend, or the next victim of a beam attack on the GOUF that Athrun is piloting.

The wording with Rey talking about Kira being alive was sort of nebulous. Because my Japanese skills are not up to snuff, I couldn't tell if he literally meant that he knew Kira was alive or rather that he was alive in Athrun's mind and heart and thus would never be expunged. If it is the former, this has interesting implications for the Newtype-Kira theory.

I guess the question will remain into next episode: will Shinn become a full pawn/pull an Anakin and fall under the Chairman's "spell" or will be be the good person he is capable of being. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I can see the former. This is what makes Destiny so interesting: we don't know what the Chairman is up to or even if he is "evil" per se, nor do we know who will turn out to be "bad" in the end. The Chairman can explain much of his actions reasonably, yet there is always a sort of bad taste-undercurrent to his actions.

Will Shinn/Rey shoot down Athrun? Will Athrun make it to Orb/Archangel? Will Meyrin survive through the next episode? I guess we'll have to see in episode 37.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2005

Gundam Seed Destiny episode 35 (review)

With about fifteen episodes to go, Destiny needs to start resolving who the final "enemy" will be. With the revelation of the identities of LOGOS, and the rise of ZAFT, it seems that the war is moving towards moving Chairman Dullindal's into the light. What is his true goal in this war? Does Blue Cosmos/LOGOS have more tricks up its sleeve?

The beginning of this episode resolved some of how Kira and the Archangel survived. I realize it's partially a plot device to destroy Freedom to move Kira towards Strike Freedom, but I appreciated small efforts like showing his hand on the shutoff for Freedom's nuclear reactor. We all knew Kira would survive, but it was also good to see some explanation on his survival and how they attempted to fool ZAFT into thinking they were destroyed. Of course, it's also good to see that Dullindal isn't an idiotic enemy who assumes that they are dead.

I can't say I really like Shinn still, and I'm really wondering if he's going to be some sort of Anakin Skywalker, with the potential for great good or evil. That's really the big question of Destiny: will he be an ally or enemy in the end?

Athrun's reaction to the apparent loss of Freedom and Archangel seemed fairly realistic, and his discussion with Shinn raised good points. Sometimes I feel like Athrun lies back too much when he should speak up for himself. This is one of the heroes of Jachin Due, and he sits back and takes it all. I'm hoping in the upcoming "Escape" episode, he lets his seed loose and puts up a good fight.

I also fid it amusing that Legend's callnumber is "666"... nothing like a hint of evil there for whoever ultimately ends up piloting it.

Seems there is also a plot in the air to get Lacus. I'd say chances of that look about nil again, seeing as how she's one of the most popular anime characters at present.

Overall, this was a catchup and reaction episode, not a lot of explanation. Looks like we'll get to find out what makes Athrun escape next week.

Posted by Drylnn at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2005

Howl's Moving Castle (Review)

A good review from EW-CNN
Disney's Website for Howl's Moving Castle
On Friday June 17th, I ended up seeing the newest film by Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Laputa, Kiki's Delivery Service), Howl's Moving Castle. I almost never miss a Miyazaki film. For those who don't know, he's been referred to as the "Walt Disney" of Japan, but most of the time I think Miyazaki's films are more clever and vibrant... for one, many of Disney's stories are based off known fairy tales, which Miyazaki's films are often straight from his imagination. In this case though, the story was from a kids' book which I haven't read. The irony of the comparison to Disney is that Disney has been the one bringing Miyazaki films to the U.S. The version in theaters was dubbed, which I usually abhor for anime, but most of the films brought by Disney have had very well done dubs.

The story is fairly simple. We open with a young girl named Sophie, in a town which is involved in a war. At this point, I should note that the "world" is sort of an alternative reality, based somewhere around the Industrial Revolution, where flying machines exist, although in a different form than that we are used to (this is not uncommon for Miyazaki films). Also in this world, wizards and witches exist as a normal part of life. It sounds strange as I tell it, but trust me, you get used to it quickly. Sophie works in a hat shop, and seems to live a fairly normal life. Stories are told in the town of a reclusive wizard named Howl, who traverses the countryside in a walking (yes, I kid you not, walking) castle. Well, as you may guess from the title, a chance encounter with Howl in the town results in a witch casting a curse upon Sophie, turning her into an old woman. One thing leads to another, and soon Sophie is aboard the strange castle to discover the secrets of Howl's home.

It was an interesting story that was developed fairly well. The characters of Turnip-Head and Calcifer (voiced by a surprisingly unannoying Billy Crystal) are very amusing, and most of the characters provide a lot for the story. The lone exception was the Prince of this country... I haven't read the original book, but he seemed rather... unnecessary. I'm also left with the question of who started the war that takes place and how it REALLY got started. The ending of the movie seems rather rushed and very conflicted... in the car on the way home, my friends and I talked about how it seemed like the writers thought "Well, we have to wrap this up in 15 min to be under 2 hours.... we better get down to it!" The story seemed a little forced at times as well... I really can't explain too much without giving away plot, but interactions between Howl and Sophie (the young version) seemed a bit... off. None of these problems really spoiled the movie though

Overall, the movie wasn't quite as good as Spirited Away. It's difficult to compare the two because they had such different "worlds" in them. I'm sure people will gloss over this movie. Especially people in Orlando, where the Sentinel, as usual, gave a movie I liked a subpar review.... what a shock. It's no surprise that everyone I know of considers any movie the Sentinel reviewers rate badly as a "must-see." Roger Moore's review seemed more a rant on anime than an actual review. It's a crime that he liked Steamboy better than the last two Miyazaki films. In any case, the audience at my showing was VERY entertained, and its probably more quality entertainment than you'll see with Batman Begins. Miyazaki films are usually what I used to introduce anime to my friends with, and this film should not disappoint.

Posted by Drylnn at 04:15 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2005

Gundam Seed Destiny (Overview)

It would be difficult to explain Gundam Seed Destiny without backtracking to explain Gundam Seed. As it's been too long to review each episode of Seed, this will be rough.

Gundam Seed is the first Gundam series that I've actually liked. Most of the popular ones, like Gundam Wing or others were less about the people and more about the mecha. There are exceptions to this "rule", but in general, the idea was to appeal more to fanboys with their love of robot-based anime.

I expected more of the same from Seed, but I was wrong. Sure, mecha play a critical role, but this series had far more character development than I expected.

In Seed (which occurs in a not too distant future), Earth is confronted with a problem we can relate to: genetic alteration. What began as the attempt to eliminate disease in children through genetics continued to changing traits (like hair color, gender) and then continued to other areas (intelligence, strength, speed). Two categories of people exist: Coordinators (the genetically altered) and Naturals (those who are not altered). Coordinators do things better than a Natural: they learn faster, can move faster, are physically superior. The first Coordinators were not raised openly, but their existance was later revealed. When revealed, the Earth nations reacted as you might expect: some countries were more tolerant, others outright banned the Coordinators and exiled them. A group similar to the Klu Klux Klan arose known as Blue Cosmos, which was dedicated to the idea of a "pure" humanity. Violence broke out in some areas, with hospitals that raised Coordinators being burned to the ground in some cases. For a while, Earth had these two groups in nervous harmony, however, as with any differences, distrust and misunderstanding led to hazings, discrimination, and eventually conflict.

The Coordinators moved into space onto a space station to avoid the conflict on the planet. This space station was known as PLANT. Both sides however were unable to let things lie as they were, and war quickly broke out. The nations on Earth launched a nuclear strike against Junius 7 (a coordinator colony). This incident would be known as the Bloody Valentine Tragedy. In response, ZAFT (the new Coordinator government) scattered N-jammer decices across the Earth's surface. These devices prevented nuclear devices from working, taking away the Naturals' most destructive weapons, and inadvertantly wreaking havoc on the economies and food supplies on Earth (side effect).

When Seed opens, we find our protagonist, Kira Yamato, on board a neutral space station. Kira is a young student (approx. 16-17 by my guess) who is unaware that he is also a Coordinator, having been raised among Naturals. By chance, when he was a boy, he met Athrun Zala, a young Coordinator who was on the same station as Kira for a time... they became best friends, but Athrun returned to PLANT with his father (who was the chairman of ZAFT's council at the time). On the day we join, it is discovered by ZAFT that this "neutral" colony is helping to create experimental war machines for the Earth Alliance. These machines, known as Mobile Suits (Gundams) could change the face of war for the Alliance, which has been steadily losing. ZAFT launches an attack to take the suits. Kira accidently ends up involved, as he is near one of the mobile suits. A woman pulls him towards one of the suits to save him when they are confronted by one of the attacking enemies. Kira realizes that this soldier is his old friend, Athrun Zala. To save the woman, Kira takes one of the mobile suits while the ZAFT agents (incl. Athrun) take the other 4, thus setting the stage for the conflict.

The series was an interesting look at a war where no one is overly wrong. We had to see a friend fighting his best friend and both sides trying to understand what is going on. Along the way, we introduce a huge amount of interesting characters, including Lacus Clyne, the daughter of the former ZAFT chairman and sort of a pop singer in ZAFT that is very popular) and Cagalli (daughter of the ruler of Orb, and by coincidence, Kira's twin sister). In the end, the war is ended at Jachin Due, and an uneasy peace is forged.

Gundam Seed Destiny continues two years later with the story of Shinn Asuka. Shinn's parents were killed in the first series in a battle at Orb (a neutral, technologically strong nation that was attacked by ZAFT late in the series). As a result, Shinn is very bitter towards war and the stuggle going on. A new Chairman has arisen at ZAFT, and he is building new mobile suits to prepare in case of any future conflict. As it turns out, Athrun Zala and Cagalli are visiting the ZAFT site on this day, when thieves steal the 3 newest mobile suits. Soon thereafter, Coordinator fundamentalists try to move an asteroid to collide with the Earth and wipe out all natural life in the name of Coordinators. As a result, the war between the EA and ZAFT begins again, and the characters from SEED begin to look for answers. We are also introduced to a number of new characters around Shinn: whereas SEED gave us an EA-Orb centered perspective on the war, Destiny focusses on the view of the second conflict from a ZAFT perspective.

Thus far, it's hard to say who the protagonist is. The show originally seemed to have a Shinn-centered plot movement, however, as the episodes have gone on, Kira seems to have more of a prominent role. I would have to say at this point (episode 34), there are really three protagonists: Shinn, Kira, and Athrun, with other characters playing important roles. The key thing is that there is once again no side that is fully right in this war, and the mecha really play a secondary role to character development. Who will be the "bad guy" in the end? Is there more genetic manipulation going on, this time by the Earth Alliance? What are the secrets of the Chairman of ZAFT? These are the sorts of questions that Destiny looks to answer.

You can't go wrong with this series, although you should probably watch SEED before you begin with this, or you'll be VERY confused.