Short Synopsis: Allelujah is found and this episode shows how the Celestial Beings go and rescue him.
Highlights: Lots of different characters get a bit of development.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
We’re three episodes in, and I’ve got a huge question burning on my mind: what the heck happened to Ali al Sarshes!? I mean, he was a pretty big villain in the first season. I can’t just imagine how he would have suddenly decided to retire or something. I can understand how the guy wouldn’t have a big role in the past few episodes, but not even one shot of him?
In any case, in this episode it becomes clear why the creators went through such lengths of making Setsuna meet up Saji and Marina Ismael: so that he could pick both of them up in the second season. In this episode, it’s Marina’s turn, as it seems that she screwed up with her country, and coincidentally ended up in the same prison. While that’s a bit questionable, I’m interested in what the two of them will turn into once they’re pas their angst-phase. Right now, it’s pretty logical for them to be confused about Setsuna’s ideals and stuff, but it mustn’t take too long.
One major advantage of the second season over the first season is that the characters are already fleshed out in the second one. I remember how the characters spent a lot of time warming up to the viewer in the first season, and that’s one problem we don’t have here. I originally thought that the second season would introduce lots of new characters, but to my surprise, the amount of new characters has been really low. None of the major characters of the second season didn’t appear in the first, and the only important new ones that I could pinpoint were the new young crewmembers of the Celestial Being, probably to replace Liechty and the other one who died at the end of the first season. The other big advantage of this is of course that now, there are hardly any teenagers left in the series. Always a good thing. ^^;
It’s a bit cheap to replace the dead Lockon with his twin brother, to not anger the guy’s fans too much, but then again this IS Sunrise after all. I appreciate that the creators at least give a bit of effort into reviving their characters, and don’t let them just appear from out of nowhere. Lyle also adds an interesting element to the group dynamic of the Celestial Beings: he didn’t go through the same things as the others, so he isn’t on the same line as the others yet. My only real complaint is the following: how the heck did he know how to pilot a Gundam right off the start? I really would have preferred to see the guy train a bit more and get used to the controls.
Oh, and is it just me, or did this episode have a different ED than the previous two? The song still really isn’t to my tastes, but some of the artwork that appears in it is downright gorgeous.
(* Note to self: Gundam 00 continues with some new material after the ED. I usually skip that part to avoid the next-episode preview and potential spoilers, but that’s not something that should be done with this series. *)
Agreed on lockon piloting a gundam so soon, but i suppose in season 2 they didn’t want the pace to slow down by having him train. I suppose he could already know how to pilot a non gundam MS, and the operating system might not be too different.
I just hope lyle truly is developed as a different lockon (perhaps more loyal to Kataron than Celestial Being, etc) than Neil was. meh.
Of Note: Where were the Arios and Cherubim Gundams last week? Why couldn’t setsuna just piloted one of them rather than 00…wouldn’t that have been a less risky way to defend the ship? Surely he can pilot one of those at least decently, they can’t be that hard to pick up (especially if lockon picked it up that easily)
Also, Ali-Al-Saachez is in the Opening of the show, so i expect to see him soon enough. My bet is that he joined A-Laws since he needs armed conflict and i doubt PMCs are in business any more.
It reminds me of Touch, with the twin brother complex. I do think replacing lockon with his twin brother is a bit cheap.
i have a question: there is a character, i think it is a woman, who looks like tieria erde, just curly-haired. i dont know if she appeard also in the first season (my bad memory;;; )…
can anyone tell me who she is ^ ^;;
thanks~
i agree with you with lockon u_u
I think she appeared in the final episode of the first season somewhere. There’s still a whole mystery as to what she, Nena, Tieria and Rivonze are. They claim to be not human, but apart from that nothing much is known.
The purple woman is listed in the credits as regene regetta. She was in the end of the first season seen with Louise.
Who or what she is is another question.
Just as a sidenote, the word on the Gundam 00 LJ community is that Regene is actually a man (even if he is awfully androgynous). I’m not sure where this information originated, but it seems pretty certain.
Ah now that I seen the subbed version, it looks like Marina was imprisoned for having been in contact with Setsuna in the past rather than running her country poorly, and they seem to be shocked too at Lyle’s abilities, so that should be explained later on….hopefully…..also, it seem that Lyle never revealed his true identity to allelujah, I wonder if that’s gonna affect anything
Ali is a villain who is not that closely associated to the military aspect nor VEDA aspect of the series. While it would be nice to see some reaction from him towards Celestial Being’s return, it’s not something necessary story-wise yet.
And if you paid attention, the story clearly shows that Lockon 2.0 is clearly lying about having no experience piloting a MS. And he did go through some training as seen in the scene with Tieria, but he’s just hiding his abilities.
Yep, now that we see the sub, it’s clear that Lyle has been lying about his abilities to CB and is concealing at least his leaking of info to Kataron (though I doubt they’d mind).
And his actions toward Tieria aren’t like the original Lockon. The question is how far they develop this difference, but like i said, i think they are owed the benefit of the doubt.
I’m just waiting for Lyle to betray CB. The guy’s lying about his abilities, and I think Sumeragi’s suspicious from her view of the combat stats.
in the episode they do seem interested in why lyle can pilot as good as he could aswell
so it’s probably something they’ll expand upon in future episodes
My bet it’ll be fleshed-out together with the kataron’s history (spelling?)