double-oh gundam, episodes 1-2
5 Nov 2007 12:24 amRather than get behind on this (and since Shinsen just released their versions of 2 & 3), I'll go ahead and complete this lazy day's spamming routine with a rough overview and only marginally thoughtful critique of the series so far. All quotes are now from Shinsen's version, though I refer to Conclave-Mendoi or Nyoro/ZC for additional insight as needed.
ETA: Mal made a comment about seeing doubts among the pilots, and in the first two episodes, the most striking example of doubt (possibly) is from the 24-yr old tactical analyst/forecaster, Sumeragi. She shows up in the first episode drinking (and I believe it's Shinsen who adds "alcohol" as clarification to a comment made by one of the tactical operators -- "You're drinking!?" Sumeragi brushes it off, saying her work (forecasting) is done, and the mission's begun, so she's just on the maindeck to watch. Later, we see Sumeragi again, this time listening to the broadcast -- and with another bottle in her hand, even as a second (empty/dribbling) one floats past.
Also, when Erde returns from a mission in ep3, she invites him for a drink (though being all-work and no-play, he turns her down to do maintenance). If anything, she seems to have the strongest doubts about the 'rightness' of such a hardline defense, and it's her actions -- along with Haptism and Stratos -- that have me wondering whether some of them aren't in CB not because they necessarily want to be, but because they're unable to get out (or maybe have nowhere to go if they do).
Keep in mind, this is the director from FmA, so we at least know the guy has seen tight, character-controlled & -propelled storytelling. He may be minorly tied down by Sunrise's overall tropes for Gundam, but within that framework, the majority of fanficcers have often known there were ways to tell a more character-truthful story and keep much of the significant events intact. Given the strength & power of his previous outing, I retain hope that he'll find a way to kick out the Gundam-ruts and push the story into showing more of the human impact.
These things get a bit long when I'm writing them, so I'll continue the over-thinking in another post, in the next day or two. I hope to catch up before anyone subs ep4, though. Bad enough I'm so far behind on W, but perhaps I'll start over at ep18 on that one, just to be able to compare the shifts in political views. Hrm.
ETA: Mal made a comment about seeing doubts among the pilots, and in the first two episodes, the most striking example of doubt (possibly) is from the 24-yr old tactical analyst/forecaster, Sumeragi. She shows up in the first episode drinking (and I believe it's Shinsen who adds "alcohol" as clarification to a comment made by one of the tactical operators -- "You're drinking!?" Sumeragi brushes it off, saying her work (forecasting) is done, and the mission's begun, so she's just on the maindeck to watch. Later, we see Sumeragi again, this time listening to the broadcast -- and with another bottle in her hand, even as a second (empty/dribbling) one floats past.
Also, when Erde returns from a mission in ep3, she invites him for a drink (though being all-work and no-play, he turns her down to do maintenance). If anything, she seems to have the strongest doubts about the 'rightness' of such a hardline defense, and it's her actions -- along with Haptism and Stratos -- that have me wondering whether some of them aren't in CB not because they necessarily want to be, but because they're unable to get out (or maybe have nowhere to go if they do).
Keep in mind, this is the director from FmA, so we at least know the guy has seen tight, character-controlled & -propelled storytelling. He may be minorly tied down by Sunrise's overall tropes for Gundam, but within that framework, the majority of fanficcers have often known there were ways to tell a more character-truthful story and keep much of the significant events intact. Given the strength & power of his previous outing, I retain hope that he'll find a way to kick out the Gundam-ruts and push the story into showing more of the human impact.
These things get a bit long when I'm writing them, so I'll continue the over-thinking in another post, in the next day or two. I hope to catch up before anyone subs ep4, though. Bad enough I'm so far behind on W, but perhaps I'll start over at ep18 on that one, just to be able to compare the shifts in political views. Hrm.
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