novan wrote:I know exactly what you mean about Linebarrles. The first part I could not stand him and just want to beat some sense into him. I didn't like him then and I didn't really care him through out the rest of the series even though his character did have development. Pretty much going from a power hungry, incredbily misguided sense of justice to a less power hungry better sense of justice. Yeah not a whole lot now that I think about it. The only thing that really kept me watching was the other funny and ridicullous characters. They were far more interesting then the main two and very funny to watch. And for gundam wing it's cool. As I look back it's not as grand as I remembered it as kid. There are far better ones that I've come to like over the years. One of them being the 8th MS Team.
I found out that I actually still have Linebarrels on my HDD. I'll try to give it another go, since I really didn't make it as far into the series as I had previously thought. Although, I'm seriously thinking about just skipping to the point where he joins JUDA.
GUNDAM WING RANT!!!
As for Gundam Wing, I didn't always dislike it. There was a time where I thought it was pretty cool(1997-2000). To be honest, the series has extremely good use of music. The music was great and really got you pumped during the action scenes. As a kid, this is probably what blinded me to how one dimensional the characters were, and how things in the series just didn't make sense. Zechs is really my favorite character in the series, because he is one of the few characters with any character to him. Now, I think it is safe to assume that Duo is the favorite character/pilot for most people. This is probably because he has character to him, and isn't: an emotionless robot, who is always trying to kill himself, a misogynist Chineses teenager who always wants to fight people, another emotionless robot, who is a pierrot/clown, or a soft spoken homosexu- I mean, dude surrounded by his all male posse. Hardly any of the main pilots develop as characters. I think that maybe Wu Fei doesn't hate women in the end, but I'm not really sure. Quatre is still the same guy as he was in the beginning. The same goes for Trowa, but I guess he gets a girlfriend. Heero, I don't know; maybe he doesn't like trying to kill himself or Relena. Also, Relena is the most boring female protagonist in any Gundam Series.
The mecha designs were always a plus in my view, for Wing. I have always loved the OZ mobile suits more than the actual Gundams though. I don't know, seeing division of specialty in units really puts a smile on my face. What doesn't put a smile on my face is seeing what can arguably be the strongest weapon ever in a Gundam series, in the hands of the main character in the first episode. Gigantic beam cannon. This thing can completely disintegrate 2 Aries units in one shot? What stops it from simply blow enormous holes in the Earth's surface? This was a bad idea. I think the writers realized that too, seeing as Heero doesn't stay in possession of Wing for like 80%(At least less than half) of the series. All the other Gundams had limitations. Heavy Arms would always run out of ammo, DeathScythe only had one ranged weapon, Shen Long didn't have a true ranged weapon(flame thrower and extendable arm), and SandRock was just terrible. I couldn't stand it when the enemy mobile suits(Taurus/Virgo?) got the beam shields. When they start dominating the Earth Force's mobile suits, I just stop caring. I know the real conflict is between them and the Gundams, but it's just a big downer. I didn't feel this upset when I saw the beam shields in F91 or Victory, because those shields didn't cover the entire body, and became disabled in close quarters. What really pissed me off was when the enemy units started to be unmanned mobile suits. Awful, it doesn't even feel satisfying to see them get destroyed. It's not like I like to see people die, but I just get the feeling that they can just pump out another mobile suit to replace the one that was just destroyed like it was nothing.
Things that don't make sense.
-Zechs immediately knows what a Gundam is in the first episode. How does he know what it is? None had existed before, so where does he get this information from? He simply knows so that the audience is told what Heero's mobile suit is. As if we didn't know.
-Quatre lands on Earth. Where does his mobile suit posse come from? Did they come with him on the meteor? It looked the same size as all the rest of them, so that's probably not true. So were they developed on Earth in like a secret factory or something? If so, then why not just build SandRock on Earth and fly Quatre to Earth on a shuttle? Maybe the Gundanium(worst contribution to the Gundam universe ever) was only on the colony. Although, if there was a secret factory that could produce mobile suits, why not just create an army of them and take the Earth forces by surprise?
-Heero must secretly be Superman. I really don't understand how a person can survive falling out of a building after being shot the day before(I might be wrong, but I think Duo shoots him the arm?), and still be well enough to run away. Or when he survives that explosion when he was really close to the mobile suit he self destructed. This isn't as big a deal to me, it is anime after all.
-Trowa wasn't the intended pilot for Heavy Arms, but seems to be an expert pilot anyway. I guess expert pilot is an overstatement. All he does is really just walk around and shoot things all day. Maybe he read the manual on his way to Earth.
This was only from what I remembered and the first 5 episodes. But really, it's only a cartoon, so who really cares?
RANT COMPLETE.
08th MS Team was a great show. I absolutely love mecha anime where the mecha are semi-slow and clunky, like Votoms. It just gives off a sense of realism to the show. While when I watch something like 00 or Seed(later half) I do feel the improbability of their movements. The characters were likable and you really start to care for them as the series progresses. We see Shiro grow from a rookie to quite the capable pilot and leader. I also like that excluding the first episode, the entire series takes place on Earth, with an atmosphere. Even though it was cool to see him shoot down the custom Zaku with a Ball. I still need to watch the movie that came out for 08th MS Team. I think it's supposed to take place between when Shiro gets shot down and when he gets the Ez8.
novan wrote:Ha ha ha yeah. For strike witches if you don't try and comprehend how everything works and why it works that way it is a fun series. Unlike me trying to get a grasp on it all. It's just the first time I watched it I had no idea what I was getting into and didn't expect it. I never heard of it and just found it on hulu. Read the description and it sounded really interesting and then pow. But yes I agree with you it's a fun series. I didn't know they were based of real people. Huh that's really interesting.
Yeah, I can see where you can become blindsided if you didn't know what you were in for before watching. The series has its fun moments, but for the most part tries to stay on the series side when dealing with the neuroi. The way season one ended, I thought that was the end of the series. So it really surprised me that they made a season two. I really should finish season two, but I have a bad habit of not wanting to finish series that I like, because I get a little heartbroken when they end. I don't know, I'm just weird like that. Maybe the series lives on in my heart, even thought I know that it has already ended in my head.
satomihidee wrote:If you like fan service, Mayo Chiki is a good bet.
My friend is crazy about this series. I think it's his favorite this season, that or Usagi Drops. I think I'll pass on it for now. Rou Kyuu Bu! is more or less my fanservice this season. Oh yeah, elementary school girls playing basketball. That's where it's at. LoL, just kidding. But I do enjoy the show. It seems a little unrealistic, so I imagine that the main character is in college instead and perhaps they are in middle school or high school. Yuru Yuri is also fun to watch.
On a more serious note, I just started watching the Break Blade/Broken Blade movie/OVA series. I couldn't find a trailer so the opening will have to do. The 6th(last) movie recently came out, so I feel I can finally start watching it. I am a real sucker for mecha anime that is still hand drawn and not CG crap.
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