One thing I have to say for this series is that, as a whole, the cast is excellent. I was actually surprised by just how many of the main characters I ended up liking. Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, Captain Ramius, Mu La Flaga, Natarle Badgiruel, Rau Le Creuset, Yzak, Dearka, etc. This series is 50 episodes long and uses that to the fullest to flesh out almost every main character. One thing that I noticed is that a good number of the characters that appear at the story's start end up making it through to the very end, even if they end up dying in the last few episodes. This is different from a lot of series where you'll have a character play a role for an arc and then even if he lives he'll be pushed to the background afterwards. That doesn't happen here and it's primarily because of how the story is written, but more of that in the next section.
Kira Yamato, main character, isn't as bad as I remembered and I think what really killed him for me as a kid is the fact that he tends to cry a lot, which generally isn't something I want to see from my main characters on a regular basis. But put that aside and this is your typical kid who has a massive amount of responsibility placed on him, who has to deal with fighting against his own people basically, and really is trapped by the fact that due to his status as a Coordinator there are people he cares about on both sides of this conflict. He therefore HAS to fight in order to protect one side, but that naturally brings him into conflict with the other. The war going on is so far above his paygrade that he can't help but be caught up in it, having no control over anything that happens around him. The emotional moments in the series really hit the mark with this kid, his feelings of responsibility, his sorrow at being unable to save people, his vulnerability to Flay's manipulations, his growing coldness as he experiences more and more of war. His character development from naive newcomer to hardened soldier, to idealistic savior, is a good one. At the same time, he lacks the...charisma or that wow factor that other protagonists in this franchise has in my opinion. He's a good character, but not necessarily a great character. It's the writing, plot, and other characters that really builds the series up to be as good as it is. And being a Coordinator he's basically a born winner, with the ability to excel at everything in ways normal humans can't. This could have easily led to him being dislikable, as someone who never has any problems, but the situation's he's placed in avoid that and the immense amount of racism towards Coordinators makes it so that even having all of his talent still kind of sucks. He's kind of got a Superman thing going on, where he has these great abilities, but really just wants to be normal in a lot of ways. Throughout the series you'd be forgiven for wondering just why he's so special, why he's able to compete with and surpass other Coordinators, but of course it's revealed that he was meant to be the "Ultimate Coordinator". This idea of an ultimate type of being is nothing new in Gundam and they really don't do much with it, except to give our main character even more to angst about. It does explain, perhaps, why he's able to take on other Coordinators with more training and experience with him though.
If you mention Kira you have to mention Athrun. What's unique about this series is that their two storylines really take place side by side. I'm fairly certain that in almost every episode you get competing amounts of screen time for both of them. It's not like Naruto, where at some points you almost think Sasuke could be the main character because of all the attention he's getting, but Athrun's story is being told every step of the way with Kira's, and is really just as crucial to the series as Kira's is. I definitely like Athrun better as a character, even though Kira develops more. Having received the training to be a soldier beforehand, Athrun's a professional. He knows all about the military, the chain of command, ground and space combat, etc. And he serves as a constant reminder that, no matter what happens, Coordinators on the side of Zaft aren't evil by default. He serves as a good counter to Kira and they both play off of one another really well, starting miles apart, but slowly moving closer in ideology. In some ways Athrun's story is better than Kira's. He never doubts his place in things. He fully believes in and supports Zaft and Coordinators from the jump, whereas Kira starts off neutral and never really moves beyond that. He fights against Zaft, but he never trusts the Earth Alliance. Athrun therefore has to actually experience the realization that Zaft isn't necessarily the Big Good in the universe, that his father is a bastard, and that what he's been fighting for is wrong.
Similar to Rain over in G Gundam, Lacus is something of a let down as far as female characters go. She certainly doesn't revolve around the men in her life or anything, but outside of the pink hair I just really didn't find her to be that memorable. She's smart and has some strong opinion on things, but really keeps this facade going of being some innocent, ditzy girl for a good portion of the show. And while I think it's always clear there's more to her, it still annoyed me. Like one minute she's acting like some girl and the next she's trying to come through with some philosophical thought about the nature of humans and war, then she'll go right back to the innocent act again. It would probably work for me in a different series or genre, but I couldn't stand it here. Also, she seemingly organizes a rebellion out of thin air. I get that she was always a famous figure in her society, but you don't even see the organization of the rebellion. It's just suddenly, she's letting Kira take the Gundam Freedom, and then she has all these people working for her out of nowhere. Flay, her rival for Kira's affection I guess, is wasted in this series. Not to say that she's necessarily a better character than Lacus, I just mean that she good have done so much more, either for the good or the bad guys. Really they're another pair that counter one another. Lacus at least goes out of her way to get involved in the events and proves to be a powerful force in the series if nothing else. Flay is always reacting to things that happen around her and is little more than a bystander. This actually doesn't make any sense, because she's officially a soldier at one point. Yet she NEVER does a single thing on the Archangel. This blows my mind. Everyone else gets a role or takes on a role, except for her. It doesn't even matter whether she wants to or not, because she's, again, a soldier. Why is she not receiving orders just like the rest of the crew? It's like the older officers just forgot and I really think this hurts the story. Flay could have been a better character (Still a terrible person of course). Cagalli at least stands out here. I kind of think she's like a less refined version of Lacus, who never tries to hide who she is. She's get a bit of a tomboy thing going on, with a few people being surprised she's a girl at points (Despite her clearly feminine voice). She wants to fight alongside everyone else, actually does fight alongside everyone else, both in and outside a mobile suit. Unlike Lacus, she actually develops her leadership and commanding abilities over time. People seem to follow Lacus because she's famous, whereas I can see them following Cagalli not only because she's the Princess of Orb, but because she actually fights alongside soldiers, learns about different conflicts, and generally earns people's respect.
When it comes to females in this series though, all 3 of the above characters really don't matter in the face of Captain Ramius and Captain Badgiruel. Bruh, their relationship is ******* amazing. Now that I think about it, you have a lot of characters you can compare to one another in this series. Kira/Athrun, Lacus/Flay/Cagalli, Ramius/Badgiruel. This last one is easily my favorite. You've basically got a responsible authority figure who is forced into the position of Captain placed against the consumate professional. Realistically, Badgiruel would probably make the better Captain and both are clearly aware of this. They fight and challenge each other on a regular basis, arguing over the rightness of certain actions, yet a trust and respect really builds up there over the course of the series. Some of the best moments were just when the two of them were having a heated discussion over something and seeing the resentment between them build up as the series went on. At the same time, you never think one or the other is really in the wrong. You can understand the points of both. One of their final encounters, when Ramius admits her faults, thanking Badgiruel for all her help despite her differences, is so great because of everything that's happened between them beforehand and the fact the final fight see's them facing off one last time, this time from the same command position, but on different ships, is excellent. And let me not forget Mu La Flaga, easily one of the best supporting characters in this franchise. Technically in fact, he's ranked higher than both of the above women, but doesn't take the command position, because he's more suited to the battlefield. He knows his strength and focuses on it. I respect that. He's pragmatic, but grounded. He can tell Kira that he needs to stop whining and toughen up, while also being sympathetic to the kid's situation. And he's got his own blooming romance and his own rivalry to deal with. Though he's a kind of big brother/mentor to Kira, his life doesn't revolve around Kira's and really that's where this series excels. Again, I don't think Kira's great. Athrun is better, but also not amazing. Lacus and Flay aren't even good. But despite it all, this series handles the relationships between all of these characters on another level that you don't see in this franchise that often. So you can have Kira and Athrun, two good characters, give you a great relationship/dynamic. The sum really is better than the individual parts in this case.
killed
