The Official Anime & Manga Thread Vol: 三

[sreggie101]

So what is the number 1 Gundam series to start with?

depends on the timeline, the universal century is the main one and expands throughout many series, OVAs, and movie.

You might want to check out these series outside the UC timeline
G Gundam
Gundam Wing
Gundam 00
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans(2nd season currently airing)

As far as all the animated media of the UC, I'm gonna try to list them in chronological order of the timeline
MSG:Origins(currently airing, provides a lot of background info leading up to MSG)
Mobile Suit Gundam
0080:War in the Pocket
08th MS Team
Thunderbolt
0083:Stardust Memory
Zeta Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Char's Counterattack
Gundam Unicorn
F91
Victory Gundam

I might be missing a few...but those are the main ones

08th MS team was flames. i hear iron blood gundam is fire too


anyone check out kuromukuro on netlfix? saw first eps...mechas seem corny to me. but wanted to see if anyone watched more of it and what they thought?

 

[blakep267]

So what is the number 1 Gundam series to start with?

depends on the timeline, the universal century is the main one and expands throughout many series, OVAs, and movie.

You might want to check out these series outside the UC timeline
G Gundam
Gundam Wing
Gundam 00
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans(2nd season currently airing)

As far as all the animated media of the UC, I'm gonna try to list them in chronological order of the timeline
MSG:Origins(currently airing, provides a lot of background info leading up to MSG)
Mobile Suit Gundam
0080:War in the Pocket
08th MS Team
Thunderbolt
0083:Stardust Memory
Zeta Gundam
ZZ Gundam
Char's Counterattack
Gundam Unicorn
F91
Victory Gundam

I might be missing a few...but those are the main ones

08th MS team was flames. i hear iron blood gundam is fire too


anyone check out kuromukuro on netlfix? saw first eps...mechas seem corny to me. but wanted to see if anyone watched more of it and what they thought?

I watched about 6 episodes of kuromukuro but it's didn't really grab me. It just seemed average and not very interesting. It's a longer series so it may get better but it's like most of the Netflix anime. They all are kinda not that great besides 7 deadly sins ( in referring to the "Netflix original" anime that they bring over). I wasn't a fan of Knights of sidonia,Sinbad or Ajin

 

[Nawzlew]

Man been out of the anime game for so long.

What are the shows to watch nowadays? I've been hearing good things about Re:Zero and probably gonna pick up Food Wars. Anything else worth watching that came out in the past year or so?

 

[mikeeeeey]

Man been out of the anime game for so long.

What are the shows to watch nowadays? I've been hearing good things about Re:Zero and probably gonna pick up Food Wars. Anything else worth watching that came out in the past year or so?

Erased , my hero academia , gundam iron blooded orphans,mob psycho 100

 

[delete1234]

Man been out of the anime game for so long.

What are the shows to watch nowadays? I've been hearing good things about Re:Zero and probably gonna pick up Food Wars. Anything else worth watching that came out in the past year or so?

My hero academia
How to pick up girls in a dungeon
Gangsta
Tokyo ghoul
Psycho pass season 1

 

[dat dude chris]

I just watched Psycho Pass 2 the other day. Even tho it was missing a key person, it was still good. Got the movie on my other phone, gon watch it eventually lol

 

[mikeeeeey]

My hero academia
How to pick up girls in a dungeon
Gangsta
Tokyo ghoul
Psycho pass season 1

I Forgot about girls in a dungeon smh
(Weird saying out of context)

Never seen psycho pass I need to get on it I've only heard good things that and code geass

 

[ohokalright]

Glad gigguk made this video, Yuri on ice was a easy pass when I saw it on da fall season chart earlier this month but da first episode was

 

[memphissfinest]

SHELTER LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE REALLY GOOD.

 

[2sappy]

One Piece

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Sanji faking that backstab there. I cant wait to see how this will turn out.

 

[ohhboy]

Sanji gonna catch that work

 

[mikeeeeey]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Sanji was speaking TO luffy about the vinsmokes and not the other way around he knows they could both put hands (and feet) on all 4 of them but no way he just says that with no plan and gets his hands blown off and Zeff killed

 

[Based Jesus]

@Hand2HandKing   **** is getting real in Red Storm 

 

[jays25]

Opening

Alright then, lets get down to business (To defeat, the Huns. *Don't lie, you sang it in your head). Took me an extra week to finish this series, but that's what happens when you go a few days without wi-fi. Gundam Seed originally premiered in 2002 and over the years i've definitely trashed it enough times. But that's why it's always a good idea to go back and revisit something, whether it be a show, a game, or a book, in order to see if it really is as good or as bad as you remember. Nostalgia can be one hell of a thing after all. I was afraid of that with both Gundam Wing and G Gundam, that they wouldn't hold up to my childhood memories, but thankfully they did. After watching Gundam Seed again over 10 years later (Yikes), I can easily say that, while i'm sure I truly believed it was terrible when I first watched it, it is far better than I ever gave it credit for. Perhaps it's just being older and able to understand the show better or being able to pay more attention to certain things, or maybe even changing tastes, I really don't know. But I enjoyed this viewing of the show. Is it my favorite Gundam series? Hell no and i'd still need a detailed essay from anyone that said it was there's, of at least 5 pages (Side Note: Same goes for anyone that thinks Inuyasha is better than Yu Yu Hakusho. It's not, fight me if you disagree and get these hands). It's good though and let's get into why.

Characters

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

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.

Plot

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

So, however many years ago people discovered the ability to engineer humans and alter their genetics, gaining the ability to control traits that humans would possess, giving rise to Coordinators. These new beings are typically smarter, stronger, and faster than humans, also being able to heal at an accelerated rate and even immune to various illnesses. Of course a lot of humans weren't comfortable with and therefore decided to fight back against the new trend, killing various Coordinators and eventually leading the new humans to leave for space, where the main conflict continues between Coordinators in Zaft and the regular humans of the Earth Alliance. Obviously, this is nothing new in this franchise. We've seen this type of thing time and again, but I still never get tired of seeing the theme of racism tackled. I think a number of people would probably be turned off by how similar this series is to others that came before it, but that's not really a big deal for me. It's noticeable of course, but i'm cool with it.

Let me say one thing I noticed this time around that is terrible. Out of a series of 50 episodes, 5 episodes are recap episodes. These include episodes 14, 15, 26, 27, and 33. What the hell? Why would you ever need 2 recap episodes back to back? Having a different character go after past events doesn't somehow change those events. I've never seen anything like this in my life and it's already bad enough, because they reuse a good number of scenes anyways. 10% of your series just shouldn't be recap, plain and simple. You know what those episodes could have been used on? Expanding on certain characters like Flay or, more importantly, Mu La Flaga's father. Dude is long dead by the time the series starts, but is actually pivotal to the events, because Le Creuset is his clone, whose issues about wanting to kill everyone stems from Mu's father. Yet, Mu's father receives barely any mention in the series until like the last 5 episodes. That was a mistake, throwing him into the mix at the eleventh hour and it's really a shame, because Le Creuset is still a good character with an interesting plan.

I said before that characters that appear at the beginning stick around until the very end and this goes for the majority of heroes and villains as far as the main cast goes, leading to nearly everyone receiving development, which benefits the conflict as a whole. Humans on Earth think of Coordinators in Zaft as genetic monstrosities that shouldn't exist. Coordinators in turn argue that the humans look down on them, despite their superior abilities. Both sides have similar gripes against the other, which really just involve the idea that neither is able to see the other as anything other than different from themselves. Modified genetics or not, they're all still humans, who want to live in peace, but they don't believe it's possible. The cycle of revenge plays a huge role in the plot, with people on both sides taking part in terrible actions and killing one another, which leads to allies and friends suffering immenses grief, but fighting back all the harder. And for the soldiers at the bottom and on the front lines, they're equally justified in fighting. It's just their commanders who are out of line. Similar to After War Gundam X, this leads to the third party involved being the one in the right. First it's the neutral nation of Orb, but it eventually falls to the crew of the Archangel to take this position. The ship basically becomes a melting pot, holding people from the Earth Alliance, Orb, and Zaft, humans and Coordinators alike. They then have to fight against both sides at the end to find some kind of peace. And you know what? At the end of the story they really haven't managed to do it. They've stopped the final battle, the leaders of both sides are dead, but the question of what will happen now hangs in the air. This is a series where a sequel was absolutely necessary if you wanted to properly end the story.

For this series though, the buildup of Le Creuset's plan to kill everyone also reminds me of the Frost Brothers in After War. He's just such a better villain than either of them were, actually having the presence to pull off the role of a major villain properly. Despite being The Char of the series, he and Kira aren't rivals. They barely even interact in fact. He's the rival of Mu, which makes sense since he's the clone of Mu's father and all. So even while there are similarities between this series and others there are key differences here and there that change things. And the final ten episodes are amazing. The series kind of lags a little once the Archangel gets to Earth, but when they return to space and engage in the final three-way battle with Zaft and the Earth Alliance I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Designs

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Just like with After War Gundam X, I was really impressed with the first Gundam our main character used, but not to the point that I liked it better than his second one this time around. The thing about it is, the Strike isn't even all that amazing. Rather, I like it because of its armaments. It has a number of extra attachments that it can use for different types of combat and that was something interesting about this series. The Gundams by themselves were powerful, but they were always being fitted with new gear to help their performance or to give them more firepower. The Strike Gundam had the typical beam sabre and a rifle, but it also has an actual beam boomeraing, the large *** sword pictured in the gif above, which is actually used to take on ships, gatling guns, combat knives, boosters, etc. Pictured above in fact is what is technically known as the "Sword Strike Gundam". Mode changes of course are nothing new, but I just happened to like the mode changes in this series more than I did in others, such as AGE. With the latter, I never felt that some of the modes really got to shine or show their full potential. Because you have the Strike appearing in so many episodes here each mode gets to show off its stuff.

Then we've got the new guy, the Gundam Freedom. Physically, it looks cooler than the Strike and as you can see has way more firepower, which only increases during the final battle when it gets a few new attachments. For example, it gets a laser sword that allows it to cut a battleship in half. The Strike is a suit that can defeat a couple of opponents at a time, the Freedom can defeat waves of opponents at a time. Like the Freedom seems like the suit that could turn the course of a battle by itself. I mean, just look at the above gif and try to tell me that's not cool. Those are like 6 different weapons that are all a part of is STANDARD armaments. Don't get me wrong though, I still like the Strike's weapons too, but it can't carry as many at once.

There are also way more Gundams in this series than I remember. Just like Kira, Athrun uses 2 models, but his comrades each has his own Gundam as well (adding 3 more to the mix). Then the Earth Alliance develops another 3 models before the series end, with Le Creuset finally pulling yet another one out of who knows where for his final confrontation with Mu and Kira. Good stuff and i'll say that the development team did a great job when it came to giving most of them unique abilities. Athrun's can transform, Kira's has its different fighting modes, another can turn invisible, yet another is focused on long range combat, etc.

Conclusion

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

So, how is Gundam Seed when it's all said and done and how does it stack up to other entries in the franchise? I think it's similar to After War Gundam X, again, in this regard. Good, but not amazing. In fact, I kept debating with myself as I watched this again whether or not I liked it more than X. It's better in some ways and worse in others. The animation for one, is top notch. That's the one thing about this series i've always loved, being smooth and fluent. The soundtrack is also just as good. The character development and relationships in this series are all handled well, some of them being the best this franchise has given us. However, the fighting in this series was mostly just ok. It very rarely gave me that next level sense of aw that various past duels between pilots have. Athrun and Kira's final duel is one of the most emotionally charged moments in the series, but the duel itself still wasn't all that great and that really goes for fighting as a whole here. There are good moments, because the writing that builds up to them gives you anticipation, but the action itself, characters fighting back and forth, rarely ever wows you. This isn't to say it's bad, but there's nothing here on the level of Hero and Zechs dueling one last time on as the area around them explodes and they race to escape. Mu and Le Creuset are both great characters, with a great rivalry, but their fights are forgettable and the action is easily one of the weakest areas in the series. But, it's countered by good character development and relationships, good animation, good music, an intriguing plot that escalates as time goes on, and really can keep you entertained throughout its run. As I mentioned previously, there's a bit of a lag around halfway through and there are far too many recap episodes, but you can charge through it without too much issue. The recaps especially can just be skipped altogether. Though I like the Freedom more than the Strike, Kira probably used more tactics in the Strike than he did the Freedom, because of less firepower at his disposal. The series as a whole also gives you very clear reasons as to why the conflict is taking place, shows both sides as being flawed, while still not managing to get too preachy about any of it. So, in general, this series isn't bad. It's good, maybe even very good. But it's not amazing. It's not a Top 5 Gundam series in my opinion. Would I watch it again? Definitely, you wouldn't be wasting your time with this and i'll even say that this is actually a great series to give to someone to introduce them to the franchise, since it covers a lot of the highs that Gundam can offer, but there are just certain elements lacking here that keep it from moving further up in my ranking.

But, that's it for Gundam Seed. Hated it the first time around, liked it the second, and as with Wing and G i'm glad that I took this chance to watch it again and reevaluate my opinion on it. Next week, starting tomorrow in fact, is Gundam Seed Destiny. This is another series i've never seen before, so i'm interested to see how it is, especially this new main character.

 

[hand2handking]

has anyone seen the "i am a hero" movie? 

 

[Ube]

Has the Naruto anime ended yet? Is there more that they plan on adding besides the original ending? I've been really behind on the anime and I'd rather watch it all the way continuously instead of wishing week by week

 

[ohhboy]

Bungou Stray Dogs 

 

[ohokalright]

Doing yaself a great disservice if you've been sleeping on March Comes In Like A Lion.
Joint is on Crunchyroll so no excuses.

 

[blakep267]

Doing yaself a great disservice if you've been sleeping on March Comes In Like A Lion.
Joint is on Crunchyroll so no excuses.

It's a good show. I think I said it a few pages back but it sorta feel like how Kabaneri felt to attack on Titan. Heavily inspired by it but still it's own thing( kabaneri ended up sucking though)

 

[zs05wc]

I'm so lost with Tokyo Ghoul. Idk why I keep reading it.

 

[Chill Bill]

I'm so lost with Tokyo Ghoul. Idk why I keep reading it.

Same

Really had way to many characters getting involved in the story

I just skim through the chapters now and look for who I know.

 

[dipsetgeneral]

Is it just me or did Crucnhyroll remove "Fairy Tail" from the PS4 app and not the desktop/mobile website?

 

[zs05wc]

Same

Really had way to many characters getting involved in the story

I just skim through the chapters now and look for who I know.

I like the concept behind Tokyo Ghoul and I like the way it's drawn but there's too many people with too many thing going on that are too spread out.

 

[TXZ]

 

Doing yaself a great disservice if you've been sleeping on March Comes In Like A Lion.
Joint is on Crunchyroll so no excuses.

It's a good show. I think I said it a few pages back but it sorta feel like how Kabaneri felt to attack on Titan. Heavily inspired by it but still it's own thing( kabaneri ended up sucking though)

March Lion manga predates YLiA manga by a few years.

 

[c-lo rox]

Has the Naruto anime ended yet? Is there more that they plan on adding besides the original ending? I've been really behind on the anime and I'd rather watch it all the way continuously instead of wishing week by week

As far as where the manga left off it is over.  They are still making episodes though.  Not quite sure how far they are going to go.  Possibly show how the couples got together.  I'm not  a big reader of any manga so I'm usually behind on everything.