00 review + no more bleach
16 Oct 2007 01:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouGundam 00, second episode: some intriguing implications going on here. I remain hopeful that this means Sunrise is finally taking a different stance on its so-called heroes. That is, I'm trying (and failing) to recall a Gundam series that starts right off the bat with a stance that the Gundam pilots are wrong. I've seen (all of) F91, (some of) Turn-A, (all of) Wing, and (enough to get the premise of) Seed. In all cases, the Gundam pilots are heroes, fighting for right when no one else can; some may be misguided but they're all represented as pure of heart and intention, and almost always the underdogs. But the romanticizing of the kamikaze mindset is being reconsidered, it seems...
Quick review: in ep1, we meet the four (four!) pilots, and the Celestial Being (hereafter CB) organization made a broadcast saying they'd fight anyone who's fighting, until war is ended. Ahem. In this episode, the team makes its first strike, on a 300-yr racially-motivated warzone (this hits particular notes for Setsuna, with flashbacks to the Jihad-overtoned warzone of his childhood). The team and its strategic tactician, Sumeragi, seem aware this will cause both sides to hate them. Meanwhile, several journalists track down the identity of CB's spokesperson, who appears to be a man dead for two hundred years. This series also has the first mention that design, creation, and deployment of a Gundam (let alone four) is a seriously money-heavy investment, and determining who has that kind of cash may be the best trail for discovering who's behind CB.
What struck me most was two things: one, the pilot personalities are much subtler this time around (then again, we're meeting them as a team, if a team fighting outside the training box for the first time), but there are hints things are not all peachy among them. Haptism, in particular, is both cautious and somewhat recalcitrant; he cruises into the atmosphere while Erde plummets at top speed (Haptism's observation would probably be best represented in English slang as, "you've got some chutzpah," to the non-responding Erde.) Later, when Setsuna flips out on the battlefield and then zooms off on his own to return to base, Haptism asks, almost petulantly, why that kid's a gundam pilot (meister, in this series).
Erde, in contrast, is almost indignant in his protests. Before departure from the satellite-base, Sumeragi wishes them well, and Erde's almost stiff in his annoyed response -- something like, "I don't plan to anything less than the best." Imagine with slight offended tone, here. When Stratos says "do your best," at the mission's outset, again Erde seems to take it personally, with an "of course I'll do my best" kind of response (which seems to prompt a sort of rolled-eyes from Haptism). Stratos is definitely the eldest, most laid-back, and yet most expressive of the four, while Setsuna is, for lack of a better word, haunted.
And their tactician? An alcoholic. Okay, slight exaggeration, but in the first episode, when a phase begins, Sumeragi comes to the main deck with drink in hand. One of the navigators asks her about it, and she gives a flippant reply of her work/part being done. This time, not only is she drinking, but a second bottle is seen floating past, with only a few drops spilling out; it's as the team's next mission begins. Sumeragi seems aware of the same observation the journalists in the previous scene had made: that destroying both sides of the battlefield will only render both sides hating the Gundams as well as the other side.
(As a tactician, I'd expect her to see the ramifications, naturally, but it's curious to see that her quick moment implies her own doubt in CB's righteousness, and it makes me wonder why she'd be involved, then -- and makes me wonder, in hindsight, if her comment of "evil" wasn't directed at CB's broadcast, after all.)
In re Bleach: this is where I, with little regret and no less care, do hereby walk the everfrickin love away from Bleach. I am not d/ling, I am not watching, I am not burning, I am not saving, because I am disgusted.
Strong female characters, hunh? Well, yes; they seemed that way, first go-round. But let's revisit: in the first major arc, Rukia is arrested for breaking whatever arcane law and escorted back to shinigami-land by her disapproving elder brother. She makes no protest, accepts quietly that this is the law (however unfair), counsels Ichigo to stay there & not chase after her, and then she politely if forlornly waits in the big honkin' tower for someone to rescue her, for the ruling to be overturned, or for her own death.
La la la.
Skipping the filler-arc (which I skipped anyway, because watching the RK filler arc by accident was enough to teach me that when you hit "end of manga storyline, filler until manga gets ahead X number of episodes" that it's time to step away from the anime until it comes back to the manga line: it is always mediocre compared to the main/original/manga-visualized storyline)... this is the Arrancar storyline, which might have potential if not for the generous number of fillers interspersing the actuals, let alone the presence of hangers-on from the annoying fillers.
Apparently, it's not enough to show a team captain and a few almost-as-strong shinigami getting their asses kicked for us to believe that these arrancar present a major threat. That, alone, would make anyone think twice about having what it takes to take them on, but this is compounded by characters who seem to take this chance to doubt themselves out the wazoo: especially Ichigo and Orehime.
Sing along if you recognize the song, now that I'm at the chorus. With feeling. Here it comes...
So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling. We're just waitin' for it to come around, is what we're doing.
Quick review: in ep1, we meet the four (four!) pilots, and the Celestial Being (hereafter CB) organization made a broadcast saying they'd fight anyone who's fighting, until war is ended. Ahem. In this episode, the team makes its first strike, on a 300-yr racially-motivated warzone (this hits particular notes for Setsuna, with flashbacks to the Jihad-overtoned warzone of his childhood). The team and its strategic tactician, Sumeragi, seem aware this will cause both sides to hate them. Meanwhile, several journalists track down the identity of CB's spokesperson, who appears to be a man dead for two hundred years. This series also has the first mention that design, creation, and deployment of a Gundam (let alone four) is a seriously money-heavy investment, and determining who has that kind of cash may be the best trail for discovering who's behind CB.
What struck me most was two things: one, the pilot personalities are much subtler this time around (then again, we're meeting them as a team, if a team fighting outside the training box for the first time), but there are hints things are not all peachy among them. Haptism, in particular, is both cautious and somewhat recalcitrant; he cruises into the atmosphere while Erde plummets at top speed (Haptism's observation would probably be best represented in English slang as, "you've got some chutzpah," to the non-responding Erde.) Later, when Setsuna flips out on the battlefield and then zooms off on his own to return to base, Haptism asks, almost petulantly, why that kid's a gundam pilot (meister, in this series).
Erde, in contrast, is almost indignant in his protests. Before departure from the satellite-base, Sumeragi wishes them well, and Erde's almost stiff in his annoyed response -- something like, "I don't plan to anything less than the best." Imagine with slight offended tone, here. When Stratos says "do your best," at the mission's outset, again Erde seems to take it personally, with an "of course I'll do my best" kind of response (which seems to prompt a sort of rolled-eyes from Haptism). Stratos is definitely the eldest, most laid-back, and yet most expressive of the four, while Setsuna is, for lack of a better word, haunted.
And their tactician? An alcoholic. Okay, slight exaggeration, but in the first episode, when a phase begins, Sumeragi comes to the main deck with drink in hand. One of the navigators asks her about it, and she gives a flippant reply of her work/part being done. This time, not only is she drinking, but a second bottle is seen floating past, with only a few drops spilling out; it's as the team's next mission begins. Sumeragi seems aware of the same observation the journalists in the previous scene had made: that destroying both sides of the battlefield will only render both sides hating the Gundams as well as the other side.
(As a tactician, I'd expect her to see the ramifications, naturally, but it's curious to see that her quick moment implies her own doubt in CB's righteousness, and it makes me wonder why she'd be involved, then -- and makes me wonder, in hindsight, if her comment of "evil" wasn't directed at CB's broadcast, after all.)
In re Bleach: this is where I, with little regret and no less care, do hereby walk the everfrickin love away from Bleach. I am not d/ling, I am not watching, I am not burning, I am not saving, because I am disgusted.
Strong female characters, hunh? Well, yes; they seemed that way, first go-round. But let's revisit: in the first major arc, Rukia is arrested for breaking whatever arcane law and escorted back to shinigami-land by her disapproving elder brother. She makes no protest, accepts quietly that this is the law (however unfair), counsels Ichigo to stay there & not chase after her, and then she politely if forlornly waits in the big honkin' tower for someone to rescue her, for the ruling to be overturned, or for her own death.
La la la.
Skipping the filler-arc (which I skipped anyway, because watching the RK filler arc by accident was enough to teach me that when you hit "end of manga storyline, filler until manga gets ahead X number of episodes" that it's time to step away from the anime until it comes back to the manga line: it is always mediocre compared to the main/original/manga-visualized storyline)... this is the Arrancar storyline, which might have potential if not for the generous number of fillers interspersing the actuals, let alone the presence of hangers-on from the annoying fillers.
Apparently, it's not enough to show a team captain and a few almost-as-strong shinigami getting their asses kicked for us to believe that these arrancar present a major threat. That, alone, would make anyone think twice about having what it takes to take them on, but this is compounded by characters who seem to take this chance to doubt themselves out the wazoo: especially Ichigo and Orehime.
Sing along if you recognize the song, now that I'm at the chorus. With feeling. Here it comes...
That was horrible. If you want to end bad plot lines and stuff you got to sing loud. I've been watching this anime now for a hundred-plus episodes. I could sing the blues for another two hundred. I'm not proud... or tired.RukiaOrehime is doing her best to do what she can despitebeing trapped in failing gigailimited powers and uncertain heart, when she's tracked down and corralled byher captain-brotherone of the superpowerful bad guys. Without so much as a peep or more than the barest lip service paid to a protest,RukiaOrehime agrees to the terms and goes along docilely;Rukia'sOrehime's last words are even to Ichigo, wishing him the best before she dutifully heads on. Carried off tobig honking tower(no, wait, that's the same) big honkin' tower,RukiaOrehime is isolated and powerless, and ignorant of the dynamics that will keep her alive or kill her;RukiaOrehime spends long hours staring out the window, hoping things turn out well but not appearing to spare much thought for the rest of theScooby GangIchigogumi coming to rescue her and probably kick majorByakuyaGrimmjow ass at the same time...
So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part harmony and feeling. We're just waitin' for it to come around, is what we're doing.
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Date: 25 Oct 2007 04:36 pm (UTC)I wouldn't mind an entire filler arc (like the Blount arc, which always makes me think of, erm, those cheap-ass Philly cigars that kids buy for 45 cents, gut, and fill with pot, and that's just such a bizarre connection to Bleach, thanks) -- because at least with an entire arc, I could just skip it! But to insert random filler episodes here and there -- especially when the overall arc is supposedly ramping up to high pitch -- it's just annoying. It's like build, build, build, then abrupt free-fall into sillyness like cake-baking, and then I'm supposed to jump to building tension again?
It seems like Kubo does well with M/F dynamics that are somewhat teasing & competitive while supportive. Somewhere in there, too, he knows/knows-how to make women-characters strong. The problem, from what I can see, is that he doesn't seem comfortable with and/or isn't sure of whether in making the female characters strong that he's somehow weakened the male characters. (He needs to take a few lessons from Whedon, I think.) So instead, he gives us women characters with such great potential, like Orehime and Tatsuki, and then has to pretzel them into helplessness so the male characters (which, granted, are the focus in a shonen series like this, but still!) can then shine as the bestest, at whatever.
Hell, even the most diehard Bleach fan I know (Hayashi) commented after seeing the OVA -- okay, first she commented she was damn glad she didn't pay to see it while in Japan, because it would've been a huge waste of yen -- that at some point, please, could Byakuya not rescue Rukia?
(Hrm, more to say but I'll just post a new comment -- look for it on this channel! -- since it's comparing several series.)