Gundam 00 » Review

Disclaimer: The intention of this review is just to voice my personal opinion about a series. I am not trying to analyze it from an objective point of view. This is not to show how good or how bad an anime is. This is just to show how I feel about it. Also, this is not spoiler-free. Read at your own risk. To get a more accurate rating, lower my rate by 1. For example, if I give an aspect “9″, you should take it as “8″. The reason? I’ve been raised up to take that 8/10 is barely good and 7/10 is barely satisfactory, and I can’t force myself out of this system.

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This review covers both seasons. For First Season only, you can check it out. I know a new movie is coming up but the TV series is pretty much concluded. Please note that the score given here for First Season has been re-evaluated.

ANIMATION: 9/10 (S1: 8/10; S2: 9.5/10)

  • Animation: 9/10 (S1: 8.5/10; S2: 9/10)
  • Art: 8.5/10 (S1: 8/10; S2: 9/10)

Overall the animation is very well done, especial battle scene with few reused footage. Battle scenes were handled with variants and didn’t feel repeating. I like the art style and color scheme, especially in Second Season. I didn’t feel attracted at first but it grew on me as the characters did.

The production quality in First Season was a bit inconsistent (quality drop here and there) and was poorer than Second Season’s overall. It got much better in Second Season where the art was drawn with more details, more carefully and overall quality stayed more or less on the same level without big noticeable change in quality.

SOUND: 9.5/10 (S1: 9.5/10; S2: 9.5/10)

  • SFX: 9/10 (S1: 8.5 / 10; S2: 9/10)
  • Voice acting: 9/10 (S1: 9/10; S2: 8.5/10)
  • Theme songs: 9/10 (S1: 9.5/10; S2: 8.5/10)
  • Soundtracks: 10/10 (S1: 9/10; S2: 10/10)

You won’t really pay attention to SFX until you watch some lower-budget anime and realize that how much sound you can get from Gundam 00. The sound feels right and rich in term of ambiance and atmosphere. The best example should be the sound of rubbing clothes and hair when a character moves or the clicking sound of a gun.

Voice acting is done well. The voice actors manage to give life to the characters, especially the main ones. I deduced half point from Second Season because I felt that the voices were somewhat over-dramatized in some scenes and I wasn’t very fond of that.

In term of theme songs, First Season is better. In term of soundtracks, Second Season has no revival. I absolutely love the OPs (“DAYBREAK’S BELL” and “Ash Like Snow”) and ED1 (“Wana”) from First Season. ED2 (“Friends”") and insert song (“LOVE TODAY”) were good but can’t really be compared to the other three. Second Season’s main themes, in my opinion, are rather weak in term of flavors. The best one should be ED2 (“trust you”) followed closely by ED1 (“prototype”). The OPs (“Hakanaku mo Towa no Kanashi” and “Namida no Mukou”) are both unmemorable to me. On a better side, I love the two insert songs (“Unlimited Sky” and “TOMORROW”) used in Second Season and that kind of made up for the main themes.

Soundtracks. I loved First Season’s OST and didn’t think that Kenji Kawai could do a better job. And I was wrong. Second Seasons’ OST was even more awesome. The reason why First Season’s OST was rated 9 is because Second Season’s OST was rated 10 and it’s better than First Season’s (in short, it should be 10/10 for First Season and 12/10 for Second Season if I could) . The main highlight from First Season’s OST should be the sad sorrowful songs (“SETSUNA”, “MOTIF”, “REASON”, “MEMORY”) whereas the highlights from Second Season are battle themes (“00 GUNDAM”, “TAKE-OFF”, “0-RAISER”, “TRANS-AM RAISER”, “DECISIVE BATTLE”). What I find dissatisfied with the soundtrack is that sometimes the background music is barely audible (which is a pity because if it is, the mood would be lift up more). However, I still also realize that in battle scenes, we already have a rich layered SFX playing and it would mess thing up more if the music is just as loud as the SFX. In any cases, the soundtrack itself can stand well as an alone album. In short, I’m very pleased with what Kenji Kawai has done for Gundam 00.

STORY: 8/10 (S1: 8.5/10; S2: 7.5/10)

First Season’s story left much to desire and to be answered and the story had been very promising. Unfortunately, Second Season didn’t really meet my expectation. It’s not like it’s bad or something, it’s just that things went to a different direction that kind of throw me off balance. I still enjoyed the story very much, but overall it could be better. The basic idea is nice, but I don’t like the way they bluntly say about “understanding others” and other stuffs. There are also something left uncovered which I guess that’s what the movie is about.

CHARACTER: 8.5/10 (S1: 9/10; S2: 8/10)

Just like story, characterization kind of let me down in Second Season. I absolutely loved them in First Season but was somewhat distanced in Second Season. But the main point is that I still enjoyed their present and not a single one of character annoyed me. In that aspect, characters in Gundam 00 were handled well to me.

The other good thing is that I find the characters diversified and all has their own personality. They may be based on a typical stereo type at first but as they grow, you can see their personalities formed clearly. I don’t know if there will ever be a show that I love all main characters, content with supporting characters and hate none of them.

VALUE: 9/10

I think based on what I’ve said above, you can get the value yourself. Certain flaws are spotted after the show finished but overall you still have a lot of good things from it. Great animation, awesome music, decent plot, lovable characters.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10

Despite being dissatisfied here and there, I absolutely enjoyed this show. It’s my most favourite anime and I don’t think there will ever be one that can take the spot.

OVERALL: 9.5/10

I enjoy this series throughly, and I hope that you can too. Please check it out if my (long) review has somewhat appealed to you. You don’t need to be Gundam or mecha fan, as I’m not. Gundam 00 is enjoyable in more aspect than just big robots.