Preview – Gundam 00 Season 2

I must have been living under a rock for the past few days or weeks (God I hope it isn’t months) to not have noticed the trailer for Gundam 00 Season 2! Also, this is a pretty straightforward fanboy rundown of my Season 2 expectations.

What really piqued my interest in Gundam 00 were the mecha designs. All Gundam plots are essentially the same, so if I wanted a (good) story I’d watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Imagine my disappointment when the 00 Gundam is finally unveiled – and shown to be completely unoriginal, decidedly hideous, and incapable of stirring feelings of anticipation for the new season.

The frame is a less-than-reworked Exia, which reflects either poor judgement from the design team or apathy from Sunrise, or both. The equipment shows no changes from Exia’s basic weaponry. A GN Sword (and possibly rifle) + shield attachment is mounted on the right forearm, and the left one will likely mount a larger shield. In other words, the 00 Gundam could have been named Exia 2. Or any variant of that.

It mounts two GN drives on the shoulders; saying that it looks awkward would be an understatement. I can already tell that the plamo version will have balance issues (not that I’ll buy one, since I still want a GN-X model).

The dual GN drives also suggests to me that the 00 Gundam is grossly overpowered, which is never good. I just hope that the Celestial Being pilots haven’t improved in skill, allowing for the impressions of balanced fights like those in Season 1.

Fanboy footnote: Ali al-Sarshes better have a nice custom suit (because he is made of awesome and win), and Marina Ismail ought to receive more screen time (because I like her character).