Short Synopsis: Lyle tries to talk some sense into Anew
Episode Rating: 7,5/10 (Good)
I have a HUGE hate/love feeling about this episode. Some parts were really well done, excellent and points where things came together really nicely, while other parts were downright abysmal. Huge bad signs for the finale of this series. At this point, this series still has the potential for an excellent finale if it does everything right, but the potential for a trainwreck is just SO BIG. Agh!
But first the good part: Lyle vs. Anew. A bit cheesy perhaps, but Lyle’s attempts to get Anew back were surprisingly genuine. Anew’s death was very sympathetic, and I especially loved how Setsuna didn’t hesitate to kill his former friend. I’m surprised as well, but Setsuna has turned into a really nice main character: none of the problems I have with this show have to do with him.
But yeah, there was lots of bad stuff in this episode as well. the creators really did the seemingly impossible in this episode: they made the Saji vs Louise plot-line even MORE annoying: they introduced brainwashing! It’s like saying: we need drama! Let’s brainwash a bunch of people into doing bad stuff so that they won’t listen to people reasoning with them! The brainwashing effectively eliminates any form of free will, and turns the characters involved in brainless fighting machines. How the heck are they going to get good drama with that?!
And yeah, this episode pretty much hinted that the creators are going for an “everyone dies” ending. There are so many couples whose finale can resemble that of Anew so much that it’s going to surprise me a lot if half of the cast still alive in this episode doesn’t end up getting killed in some way. Anew’s death worked well, but if the creators are just going to repeat the same thing over and over again, the fun quickly dies. No pun intended, by the way.
Anew died… kinda sad, but this is Gundam after all. I had a feeling that this was going to happen when Lyle made his “I’m taking you back” speech, and at that point a storybook ending would have been way too cheesy.
I agree, Setsuna showed why he is the main man in this episode.
I don’t feel very sympathetic towards Anew’s death, mostly because I don’t feel like the relationship was developed enough for me to care, but Lyle’s acting was downright amazing in this episode, especially the voice acting. Top notch grieving and such there, man. (It did bother me a bit that he got shot without getting injured though?? Dunno.)
Good episode, sad that anew died, especially since Anew x Lockon was my favorite pairing in this series, but at least it was done well and i liked the ED insert at the end. I agree with the whole brainwashing thing and how it can be bad for the series, but hopefully the 00 or something will quickly provide a countermeasure to Ribbon’s brainwashing before it gets repetitive. However, the one thing im worried about is that the series only has 5 episodes left and it is still trying to develop some of the characters, while the main plot is in need of some serious development before the finale, specifically Aeolia’s plan for humanity. Hopefully the ending wont be rushed, i don’t want a repeat of Destiny
Well we all know Gundam shows save the deaths for the last few episodes and then pour it out in bulk. ^_^;
“huge bad signs” my ass. You seem to be the only one who thinks in that way and I’m happy this is the case. I wonder sometimes why the fuck you watch this anime? All I’ve been reading in your blog is BS after BS about this series. Fucking drop it already if you don’t like it. Stick with your 70s animes and leave this one alone. Your rating system is even more fucking stupid. How can you rate an episode if it is a set up for other episodes to come? Do you even know this is a series and not a stand alone episode? No, I don’t think your dysfunctional brain is capable of comprehending all these. I’m not even sure you read this section but if you do, your Gundam entries are joke, so are your fucking stupid thoughts about each episodes.
Multi: The same goes for you, of course. If you hate my entries so much, then why do you keep reading them? 😉
And yeah, the reason why I’m still covering this is because there was a lot of good stuff going on. This is a series with a lot to dislike, but also a lot to like.
Oh don’t worry about that buddy. This certainly was the last time I visited this web site. I have left you many messages and been reading your entries for more than 2 years now. Never, ever any of them (except in 2 occasions) made me this angry. To me it seems you just want to bitch about the series regardless of what happens in it. You know what, you are the greatest blogger in the universe; your vision of anime in general is undisputable among everyone. Now do me a favor and make you r own anime. I want to see what mess you’ll come up with. If you can do better than the creators THEN DO IT. Everybody can run a big mouth but when it comes to proving it, they fail miserably. Ah man you have no idea how fucking pissed off this entry made me. It sums up everything that I thought was wrong with this blog.
Since this is my last visit here, I guess I should say good luck but I really don’t want to see you succeed in what you’re doing here. Not that you need my wish anyways but I hope you come to realize what you’re watching is work of humans not gods, it has flaws and that is expected. Now go on and write whatever the hell you like in your blog. It’s your choice to begin with buy as a reader, this one was your worst work so far.
Good day.
I think the brainwashing of Louise started waaaay back in season 1 when we saw her together with Regene,so its not really sudden if you think about it.I think after getting hit by Nena’s GN beams,Louise have also started to mutate into an Innovator or something along that line.And Ribbons took interest in her and started his brainwashing from back then,shaping her new personality and ideals.
@Multi: woah… just, woah…
The anger, where the hell did all that come from?
I might not agree with all that’s said in the blog post, even though some points are valid (such as, brainwashing = bad etc.)
That doesnt induce me to go into nerdrage and flame people ^^
anyways, the episode was pretty good, far better than the last one which was the worst in the series thus far (hopefully the worst full stop) that I can remember…
Actually, I don’t see a single thing the saji-louise part of the series has brought. It’s only taken time from development from the other characters.
(sorry if this is completly nonsensical, but it’s kinda late here and i just threw it out there before going to sleep -.- )
Actually i think that what the saji x louise part of the series is trying to bring to the series is what the Lockon x Anew pairing brought to the series; that despite their differences, hatreds, and misunderstandings, people can learn to trust and love one another. IMO the Saji x Louise pairing is fine, but so far i like Lockon x Anew better, but I’ll save my final judgment for the end of the series.
(sorry if what i said was obvious, i just thought I’d throw it out there)
@multi
Kinda agree with you, this blog’s review on Episode 19 of Gundam 00 was anger inducing 🙂 but this blogger is entitled to his/her opinions so you should just voice your disagreement to the reviews in a more polite manner.
I kinda agreed with , Setsuna character did somehow able to express it’s maturity. he become the man now. However i’m afraid that his character would be like Kira Yamato from the GSD. For me, it quit nonsense entering the battle without any attention to kills others. As a result it become it weaknesses. Hopefully Setsuna wouldn’t end up like that. Just become mature and more realistic 😀
P/S: Anyway, you have made great commentaries about G00. Keep it up. 😀