VFTF1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Bleh I like the way the crew looks just fine in MSG. Those character designs (in that pic) are aweful... or at least they are bad re-interpretations... I have nothing against their looks. My problem is that Amuro is a boring character and the ending is convoluted...but I wrote a lot about that above... But..no. Don't like those designs. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gubaba Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Bleh I like the way the crew looks just fine in MSG. Those character designs (in that pic) are aweful... or at least they are bad re-interpretations... I have nothing against their looks. My problem is that Amuro is a boring character and the ending is convoluted...but I wrote a lot about that above... But..no. Don't like those designs. Pete Really? I always thought the "For the Barrel" designs looked cool. I think Frau and Sayla especially look pretty great. Ah well. Oh, and I wanted to say...re: your comment about getting into Gundam being daunting. I can't really fathom how anyone "gets into" Gundam these days. When I got into it, it was easy. There was the original series (and movies) and there was Zeta. Double Zeta was just starting. Now, it's all so tangled and complicated that I'm amazed anyone gets into it at all...especially the U.C. stuff (which of course I think is the best). In other words, I salute your tenacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Well, I think that perhaps Bandai's models help in this regard. No matter how tangled and complex the shows - the models keep getting better and better, and it's really only a matter of time before someone who has started building them gets a little bit interested in the actual shows. That said, I will admit that it would be really tough to be consistent and watch everything. I feel compelled to pick and choose - and not just because of the sheer volume, but because I am drawn to certain things more and others less. SEED and Igloo put me to sleep. MSG was ok. Turn-A looks great (besides, I always thought the Turn-A-Gundam design was the best of them all)... But if I were really tanacious, I'd go through all of it from start to finish instead of hopping around Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob joe mac Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I as well applaud your efforts to try to get into gundam I originally was introduced through Gundam Wing/0080/0083/08th MS and the Super robot war games and from there it was alot of researching before I had the slightest of understanding between the time lines and merging time lines and what was a OVA of what and what was a independent show and what was a direct sequel VFTF1 - You didn't like Igloo? I personally thought it was the best and most interesting gundam thing to come out in the past decade, it broke nearly every single gundam cliche ever. First no gundams... second no 10-15 year old pilots and 3rd the more realistic they tried to portray everything. Oh well to each their own. As for your Turn-A experience I don't remember there being to many fights in the show overall so maybe I need to re-watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 BJM: Re: Igloo... the Igloo that I watched was about a Zeon pilot and a Zeon crew trying to shoot down launching Fed ships... I think it was igloo. It was kind of boring and I don't like CGI people... but also...I didn't have a clue what any of it was about since I hadn't seen MSG so didn't even really understand who or what Zeon was...who the Feds were etc... As to Turn-A... I just watched episode 8 again - having seen it two years or so ago alone without any prior knowledge of Gundam or of Turn-A... Now...watching it in sequence - it's such a powerful episode. A great great episode. Love it. Oh well... off I go to panel line my Turn-A Gundam Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gubaba Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 BJM: Re: Igloo... the Igloo that I watched was about a Zeon pilot and a Zeon crew trying to shoot down launching Fed ships... I think it was igloo. It was kind of boring and I don't like CGI people... but also...I didn't have a clue what any of it was about since I hadn't seen MSG so didn't even really understand who or what Zeon was...who the Feds were etc... As to Turn-A... I just watched episode 8 again - having seen it two years or so ago alone without any prior knowledge of Gundam or of Turn-A... Now...watching it in sequence - it's such a powerful episode. A great great episode. Love it. Oh well... off I go to panel line my Turn-A Gundam Pete You might want to try Igloo again, since it doesn't really stand alone from MSG...it kind of assumes you've already seen it. Plus, do you know who wrote the series? The great HIROSHI OHNOGI! (Really! He did!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Plus, do you know who wrote the series? The great HIROSHI OHNOGI! (Really! He did!) I know him. He apparently also wrote a lot of Macross: Frontier. He's pretty cool. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 ZZZzzooooo.... More Turn-A-Gundam commentary! I am so definitely enjoying this more than MSG. Why, the only thing I find inferior in Turn-A compared with MSG is the pacing. Yes, I know, you're going to tell me that it's the other way around, that it was MSG where "nothing happened" for episode after episode while Turn-A Gundam moves with a brisk pace and the story "advances." I understand that - but I always prefered stories that didn't do much advancing, or rather did them in a way that was barely noticable. This is because the more smoothly a story "advances" the more I get the feeling that it IS a story rather than being fooled into feeling for the characters and their situations. Smoothly advancing stories tend to dilute the characters; not giving them time to mature. With MSG, the grinding pace allowed the characters to really sink in, and also allowed an attention to detail that is somewhat lacking in Turn-A Gundam. Now...granted...I'm only 12 episodes into Turn-A-Gundam..but a LOT has changed since the begining. I think the Moonrace and Diana-sama appeared way to quickly. Just as I think Turn-A-Gundam and then all the other mobile suits appeared way too quickly. This procession is almost reminiscent of Transformers, where Autobots and Decepticons would whilly nilly appear for no other reason than Hasbor was pimping them in a given year's assortment. And since the writers didn't have time to explain where someone came from, it was ignored, they appeared, shot stuff up and made sure to give their names and a short advert for what they could do... Now I fully grant that a saving grace here is the fact that Diana and Kiell's stories are compelling; the mystery of their looking alike, Diana's sensitivity and her....apparently crazy plan to switch places with Kiel...all of this is very moving. I loved the scene when Diana cried over the grave of Kiell's father. I loved the scene where Diana admired the sky from the cliff and said that she hoped all people of the Moonrace would be able too. I like the intensity of these girls. I naturally think Kiel is way way cuter. Diana looks like a carved chocolate figurine that someone got in their halloween stash last year...but...whatever... The thing is, I really like the situations that each episode sets up...but then we move too quickly out of one situation into another and it's like...aw...I already miss that old one... That said, on the plus side - the political teaching of the first 12 episodes is amusing, insofar as it basically tells us that the Emperor is always naked, particularly when the issue is war. Once the passions of conflict and the resulting deaths in families has been unleashed, then no amount of authority and top-down control will ever keep the passions of the people in check- people will do what they feel they must, and the fighting escalates. My FAVORITE part in the entire series is when the leader of the Ingless gets knocked down by that guy on the horse who says "your money is worthless!" It's great. The collapse of a state and its' paper money - all rendered useless in one fell swoop. An amazing site. I guess I was supposed to feel sorry for the guy there - but let's face it, he mainpulated Sochie's feelings of remorse after the death of her father, he keeps hitting on Kiel and I'm not blond so I don't like when blond guys in cartoons hit on chicks I like because I just can't identify with that, and he made Loran dress up as a girl, which in and of itself wouldn't have been bad if "Laura" even managed to look half decent. And no, I don't blame Kiell for it even though she was "in charge" of the wardrobe. Women are no good at dressing men up as women because heterosexual women don't find transvestites attractive and therefore really can't be too picky. Kiell was like...yeah...tee hee...let's have fun... but in the end...I think she doesn't have the talent to do justice to "Larua" - although...let's face it...Loren is no Alto. I mean - Alto has a far more feminine physique than Loran...Loran's just got long hair and that's it... I dunno...I just hated that whole "dress him up as a girl" scene and the whole idea was retarded. Harry really can't tell Loran and Laura apart? Then again - they can't tell Diana and Kiell apart either... Lots of swicherooing going on.... Hm... It's kind of wierd...I start this post off with lavish praise and then all I do is bitch for seven zillion paragraphs on what I don't like... But... I AM enjoying the show. Really. Great stuff Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 (edited) Tomino has always been one for rather restless narratives. MSG is actually a little bit of an exception...! Its almost like the guy can't bear not to have something happen... ("Dammit, Amuro, stop standing around moping! Don't you know theres a war on!" ). The Diana/Kiel thing does rely on a pretty huge coincidence (I can actually think of some explanations but they're right up there with Heisenberg Reality Compensators... ) but you tend to accept because... Turn-A is Indiana Jones with giant robots. If Indy can hide in a Nazi submarine for days without being detected, then I can also accept that two girls see pretty similar reflections in their mirrors. Edited September 27, 2009 by F-ZeroOne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Tomino has always been one for rather restless narratives. That's a good way of putting it. I guess it works, but it's really risky. Personally, I suppose I prefer the narrative that we get in Macross Frontier, where you can pretty well divide the series into comical/humor episodes, mecha porn episodes, character-driven personal story episodes....well.. at least more so than with Turn-A... in Turn-A... there is definitely this tension - everybody just wants to use their power in some way.... Oh well...off to watch episode 13! yay Kiel is great After enduring 40 some episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam with not one babe to drool over for the vast majority of episodes (although Sayla did become somewhat more attractive after she started piloting the G-Fighter instead of just standing around or making snide remarks in elevators...and of course there was the Zeon spy girl who I loved...)... Turn-A-Gundam finally gives me a girl I can bear watching. A fantastic start (bathing in the nude), great hair (unlike Diana-sama), traditional dress and demure lady-like manners, as well as an inner-strength and social intelligence. The perfect woman. Diana-sama, mind you, even when she's dressed up like Kiel, doesn't evoke the same affection as Kiel does in me. With Diana-sama, I feel like she is simply a very compassionate Monarch, and her personal life is really bound up in the life of her people. Kiel's life revolves more around her family and close friends - she has the simple country girl charm in her that I love Anyways, I am somewhat curious about Coran's knowing the word "Gundam" and what the "good old days" when Gundam would come out to you were.... was he alive during the "Dark History?" Did he fight some Gundams? Or ....did he actually read some books about it?? (hard to imagine, but stranger things have happened!) Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Sorry for the double post, but I just watched the next episode (12) and I have to contradict myself Now I really like Diana-sama too! And that closing scene with Loran sleeping on her lap and the Turn-A-Gundam in the background....so sweet... though the rainbow out of nowhere was bizzarre. It's almost like Tomino was saying "fine! sick and tired of death!? I'll give you a sweet love song, a tender scene and a rainbow!" And Corhan (is that his name)...didn't die.... How exactly is he able to pilot his mobile suit with the cockpit open and him standing up all the time anyways?... And Lili...I like her voice... and I like her reasons for becoming a spy .... Lord Ginford (spelling?) seems to have a mistress in every town Anyways...a nice and tender episode... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gui Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 (edited) Keep watching to know the tragedy behind the character of Diana: it'll make you understand why she looks like a compassionate monarch; actually, she didn't have the opportunity to become someone else... Yes, Coran lived during the Dark History, and fought a war where a Gundam brought chaos into Coran's side, that's why he recognizes the Turn A although I'm not sure it is this Gundam that he fought. As for his crazyness: he simply spent too much time in cold sleep, which is not good for neurons. But he's a very strong character because his personal tragedy holds in that he is outside of his time, yet he has to fight again but in a war which doesn't really concern him: it simply is the only thing he knows... Diana's tragedy is very similar to Coran's, at least to some extent Edited September 28, 2009 by Gui Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Oh...interesting... I guess I am assuming too much knowledge of these characters after only 12 episodes... I'll be going through the next episode tonight or tomorrow morning... then during the weekend a ton more hopefully... I get the feeling also, that Turn-A is very similar to Gurren Lagann in terms of the fighting - except it's more restrained. Gurren Lagann is no holds barred. These guys make just about as much noise as the teams in Gurren Lagann when blabbing about how they're gonna go fight...and then they go to it...but it quickly turns out that the fighting doesn't go all out. Not that this is a complaint, mind you... But just... I dunno... Oh - and Corhan as a character might get more interesting, but his mecha, and the mecha of Bobby and Jacob...(spelling?)... hm... not really liking those designs. In fact, I don't like any of the Mecha that the Moonrace use. Might I not be the only one, given that other that the Kapool and Turn-A-Gundam, we don't have ....any?...other Mecha in model form from this anime? Or am I missing something and someone is gonna whip out a link to show me all the cool stuff I could have ? Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heishiromitsurugi Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've been watching 20 episodes of Turn A Gundam and for some reason I never feel any rush to watch the next episode. Some of it might have something to do with the character animation which is lacking. For some people Mobile Suit Gundam might have too cartoony facial expressions but I prefer it over having no expressions at all and I really prefer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's character designs over Akira Yasuda's. The other thing that bugs me about Turn-A Gundam is that the dialogue feels sometimes very weird. When I re-watched Char's Counterattack it had some of the same problems, mainly too "subtle" character animation although I still liked it a lot as a whole. Maybe Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is the missing link as a character designer and the animation director who is largely to thank what I like about the first Gundam series and movies although I like the characterization and stories as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Oh - and Corhan as a character might get more interesting, but his mecha, and the mecha of Bobby and Jacob...(spelling?)... hm... not really liking those designs. In fact, I don't like any of the Mecha that the Moonrace use. Might I not be the only one, given that other that the Kapool and Turn-A-Gundam, we don't have ....any?...other Mecha in model form from this anime? Or am I missing something and someone is gonna whip out a link to show me all the cool stuff I could have ? Pete Nope. You can actually fit all the Turn-A merchandise ever released onto about two pages of A4 with room to spare - I have a Turn-A art book that actually does that! - though possibly now you could start a third page. Compare this with Gundam SEED, which when I last counted had over a hundred model kits available. In fact, I would be interested to know if this has ever been the result of some sort of fan hate, Bandai vendetta or something else. I know what my reaction to Turn-A was when I first saw the designs, and I have a little idea what other Western fans thought when they saw the images, but I've also assumed rather than known what the Japanese fan reaction was... There were some model kits of the Sumo and Flat released, I seem to recall. I've always felt that the animators had trouble with Syd Meads designs. I recently received the Turn-X Robot Spirits toy; I've never really liked the design but I have the Turn-A ordered and its got to fight something, right? But those feelings instantly changed when I actually got it; its actually a very nice piece of work and very "Halo", especially the weapons rack on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob joe mac Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 To the people who mentioned the slow pacing and not feeling to urge to complete the series I personally thought it had one of the most powerful endings out of all the gundam series. Personally Turn A is in my top 3 favorite MSG series (other two being 0080 and Z) I don't know why but I just felt much more attached to the characters in the show and it always gave me this Miyazaki vibe with the quasi re-imagined industrial revolution with new tech and bi-planes galore at the beginning. Stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) So...I have watched two more episodes. I don't like how characters and mecha so convieniently just appear. This is one thing I enjoyed about MSG. Nothing was convenient. You'd think the White Base could just fly its' sorry butt to South America right away - but no - they had to treck across Asia, Africa and up to Ireland and then cross the Atlantic. I don't exactly remember WHY...but I'm sure it was something technical... In Turn-A Gundam - either the action of the series takes place in a really really small perimeter of territory - almost like a child's play room where all the "bases" are close enough to launch "zoom!" attacks across the carpet...or Mobile Suits are just that fast. I speak of course of Harry's appearance in the valley ditch where he fights those Zakus. He is the commander of the Royal Gaurd - yet he's not only away from the Queen (who is actually an imposter, but then again Harry can't even tell boys from girls, so we'll let that slide) - he's also all by himself... Then again - maybe I missed something because I was admiring the Zakus. Happy to see them "return." As for Gamin (name spelling?) ....well...hmm.... Diana is right - he's foolish and not as clever as his grandfather. He can't tell the Ladys from the Slurms (no, that's not the auto-censor, it's just me writing "slurm"). See - that red head is a slurm. And not because she's moonrace. No. You can tell from her breasts. They aren't firm, but rather they're juggly - not like ugly juggly, but kind of like "used car" juggly. Like the motor still runs, and generally the thing looks good and you can ride it - but you can tell it's not fresh off the assembly plant. Also - she has a tendency to show off her boobs and whisper into men's ears trying to convince them to do things that run contrary to their interest. Contrast this with the tenderness and romanticism of Diana - a Lady, and you get the picture. Gamin (or whatever his name is) is pretty dumb. Wanting to get to the Moon by joining Diana Counter is like wanting to tour Berlin by signing up to the Neo-Nazi party and asking them to organize a field trip for you. There's plenty better ways to go about it. But we'll let that slide. Clearly the "star" of the show has been Diana. I can't help but dislike her eye shadow when she's in her Queen get up. That and her ironed out hair. But as "Lady Kiel"...she's great...looks awesome and...heck...can't help but feel a pang of love for her... also, I do hope that her switching with Kiel is also a "clever" move (to use the term she used to describe Grandpa Gamin)... If she could comperehend a man's cleverness, then surely she herself is capable of it... I hope. So - she somewhat guaranteeing that the Moonrace will be restrained from using its' full power in the heat of passion by placing an Earth Girl in the place of the Queen - someone who will always act to protect Earth and its' people instinctively... That's a smart move. Meanwhile, she needs to learn about the prejudices of the Earth race in order to overcome them - thus spending time with them. Smart move. Shacking up with Gundam as your protector is also a decidely smart thing to do. Loran...Loran is way to nice...like almost naively nice... but then again, I guess that's kind of the key to being a Gundam pilot. I didn't like him taking a bath with the slurm. On that note - who is that red head chick anyways? I guess we're meant not to like her... but maybe she'll turn out likeable or at least interesting as time moves on... I've come to expect nothing being what is seems from this show... Anyways - yay to Zakus. Hope we see more mecha. What show is the slurm's pink mobile suit from? It kind of looks like a variation of a GM...? Pete Edited September 30, 2009 by VFTF1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Moving merilly along with Turn-A-Gundam, another fun filled review ...this time of Episode 15. First - I am not a big fan of what is known as "mecha porn," which, if I understand the term correctly, refers to scenes of giant robots and assorted vehicles trying to blow oneanother into smitherines. It's not that I'm somehow "against" these kind of scenes, nor do I have some "moral" objection to "violence" or anything of the sort. I'm just the kind of person who prefers to follow the trials of characters (and stare at cute anime girls) rather than watch machines blow one another up - as a general rule of thumb. That said, Given just how muted the mecha action is in Turn-A-Gundam, episode 15 was a breath of fresh air even for someone as "asexual" [in regards to mecha porn] as I am. And I truly am asexual in this department. I remember when episode 7 of Macross: Frontier aired, I couldn't help but watch the episode thinking "boom, boom, rat-tat-tat...when will this be over? I wanna find out if Alto chooses Ranka or Sheryl?" Turn-A-Gundam gave me roughly 14 episodes with very muted Mecha action, usually just limited to the White Doll facing down some WADS, bi-planes shooting up WADS, and Sid and his people getting excited about finding more "mechanical dolls" underground. But episode 15 delivers the kind of mecha battle that I recall from Mobile Suite Gundam - which had a lot of mecha battles that I enjoyed due to their focus on strategy and the constant presence of greusome death being associated with people piloting giant robots trying to kill oneanother.... On this note - I need to pause to explain myself, because I think I've yet again contradicted myself. How can I not like mecha porn, but enjoy Mobile Suite Gundam (original series), which is, in a big way, 46 episodes of non-stop mecha-porn? Well - I think MSG has a knack for tying the mecha porn titghtly with the plight of characters. See - in Macross Frontier, the war is something distant, or parallel with the lives of regular people and the life of a community that is not geared for war. In fact, this is a big Macross theme- that people and culture can live and flourish and war is this danger to culture that takes place "somewhere out there" and sometimes intrudes into the lives of characters. In this sense, it's possible, in Macross, to follow the lives of characters and not have Total War. In MSG, things are different. Non-military peaceful civilian culture is reduced to rubble from what we see. Yeah, they kind of hint at its' existence in the colonies, but when the One Year War gets in full swing, it pretty much obliterates everything in its' path and people either join a side and the military or become beggers. Heck, when Rambl Rah and his people stopped at that tavern, the owner was told to "cook whatever you have for 14 people" - clearly implying that restaurants and taverns aren't even able to have proper menus or specialize in certain cuisine - they buy what food they can depending on chance, and prepare what they can for whoever happens to trickle their way. The people living on White Base, no matter what their past civilian lives or desires, were forced to live in a state of War. Civilians wanting to return home to Earth rebelled often against Bright, as if under the naive impression that if they just got off of White Base, there was some peaceful "home" they could return to - but it was all an illusion. War, death and destruction were everywhere - even in Amuro's house. Now, this kind of context makes the whole story all the more interesting, and makes it a struggle for a character with a moral conscious to retain some of his humanity. The basic human things; love, envy, a desire for revenge, friendship - all of these still exist - it's just in the context of Total War, intergalactic warfare and warfare using Mobile Suites. In that kind of context - mecha porn is fine. It's kind of to be expected - and Tomino handles it perfectly because it is woven very well into the thread of the story. It's not - as it was in Episode 7 of Frontier - a "dedicated episode" or "ok - now we're going to show you the Mecha in action" Frontier was in that sense forgivable because it was trying to be an homage while also telling a story. The story ran through all the episodes, but each episode needed to have a special flavor that paid tribute to some element of Macross. MSG had no such requirements inherent in it. So that's why I like the mecha porn in MSG - it's not gratuitous. In Turn-A-Gundam, it's not only not gratuitous - it's hardly ever there at all. And so the battle in episode 15 really had me cheering for the gift of an episode of action, explosions and death. It's too bad about Will - but like Diana said - he wasn't clever. He let himself be manipulated by juggly boobs and then actually though that he could win a battle using a pink mecha. Yeah - right. No - but seriously - the battle was well done. I liked how Sochie apparently doesn't understand the concept of a Missile Launcher which is why she apparently feels compelled to through the missiles in Turn-A's chest. Fun. Good thinking. The Zakus and the Kapools really look good together, and I love that one Zaku commander... But why do they call themselves the Suicide Squadron? They don't actually use kamikaze attacks...although I guess using Zakus - probably the "oldest" mobile suits in terms of armor and weaponry against contemporary MSs is...well...kind of suicidal I hope Sochie has a learning moment seeing Will's dead arms. Good stuff. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 More Turn-A-Gundam ramblings! Not so happy today... First of all...people need to let me know in advance when I'm about to stumble on "to sum up" episodes. I hate those. The only one that did it well was the one in Macross Frontier. All the rest SUCK. They are a complete waste of time if you're watching these in rapid sequence like me. I understand that if new episodes are shown once a week on TV, then this is necessary...but I totally have no use for it. Too bad I only realized this once I downloaded it. Although...then again - I didn't actually watch it all the way through. At first, I though Loran would tell us about the Dark History...but it seems he was just re-telling what we'd already seen. Anything worthwhile in that episode - or can I just delete it so it doesn't take up disk space? Onwards to episode 17.... Wrestless narative is one thing - but this episode just explodes in terms of how many times the "plot" twists and turns into insignificance... Oh no! A rain storm! Will you help me Colonel? Stop touching her hand I'm jealous! Give me those letters girl! I want to be a baker I hate my life Look it's my sister and she'll sleep with us if we kill Diana! Oh the rain has stopped Now it's a hurricane! I need to go outside to talk to the people! No wait! Now I need to be seen running away as danger appears! My sister has juggly boobs and she'll live with us! I have a Mobile suit but I don't have anything to eat! I need to talk to Harry! You need to talk to Diana even though I'm right here! I need to talk to Diana! You can't talk to Diana! Where did the girl with the juggly boobs go? Maybe I'm being unfair...I realize the sequencing was not as bad as the above "summary" - maybe I just had a bad night... but this episode was just a bit off for my taste because it tried to do too much. I liked the previous episodes for focusing so much on Diana. Before that I liked the focus being on Loran and his secret of being from the Moonrace. But this episode looks like it's on crack. It has shades of everything but really adds nothing. The main point of the plot? That Kiel-as-Diana sent out an invitation letter about the founding of a new state. How did any of the characters advance here? Heck! Even the mecha battle was random. Stop! Where are these trucks going! If you want to pass, be a man and wrestle naked with me on the ground! That's basically how one can sum up this episode's battle.... Thumbs down. Hope the next episode picks up... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-ZeroOne Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 More Turn-A-Gundam ramblings! Not so happy today... Hope the next episode picks up... Pete If the next episode is the one I think it is, then it might just be the single best individual episode of anything Tominos ever done. So, possibly then. Also, I have seen recap episodes done well - Patlabor on TVs actually manages to be one of the funniest episodes of the entire series - but the trouble always is never knowing whether theres going to be something worthwhile during it or whether you should just skip to the end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heishiromitsurugi Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Now that I have seen Mobile Suit Gundam tv series I can definetely say it's worth viewing even if you've already seen the compilation movies. In the newtype scenes the series has better instrumental music but in the scene when Amuro and his mother see each other the last time and when White Base is leaving whilst sand is blowing has much more beautiful music. I really don't like G-Armor and I'm really happy it was edited out from the movies. Much of the character development makes more sense in the series than in the movies and I think it's maybe better that the newtype concept was really introduced much later than in the movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Turn-A-Gundam reviews - continued. Episodes 18 and 19 today. Good and good. I was bummed by episode 16 (review snore) and didn't like 17 (a mess), but 18 and 19 picked up the slack nicely. 18. So - first of all. I'm a big fan of the juxtaposition that Kiel-as-Diana made in her speech - she will not declare a state, and then she reassures Harry by saying that they will conduct themselves with dignity and honor. See - it's a wonderful wonderful brilliant lesson. This is because a state is effectively a form of coerced dignity and honor that has nothing to do with conduct. A state is dignified and honorable by definition, independent of conduct. That is the whole point of dressing it up in pomp and making a "formal" declaration of the thing - namely to try and create the illusion of something dignified and honorable. Naturally, because the thing is merely a formal type of dignity and honor, it actually has very little true dignity and honor. Kiel-as-Diana prefers conducting herself with dignity and honor to making a state. There are many excellent historical and philosophical theories that get wonderfully summed up by this scene - and it is indeed one of my favorites. My NEXT favorite scene is Diana-as-Kiel doing the laundry. Man - she just gets hotter and hotter. And there's nothing better than seeing a hot woman in traditional southern dress doing a guy's laundry. Hell - that's just beautiful. Now a not so favorite scene - JugglyBoobs' assasination attempt... she is able to kill trained soldiers (even sober ones) and dissapear like a ninja...but Kiel-as-Diana defeats her with a notebook. Not really the most convincing scene. Also - what kind of an assasin yammers on and on and on instead of just shooting? Again I had vibes of Transformers here... "Hah hah hah! Now, Optimus Prime - I finally have you! So, instead of blowing your head off, I'll first take you to my secret base where I will show you how my secret plan is going - a secret you otherwise would not have learned...then I'll keep you alive to gloat about my secret just long enough for your minions to rescue you and you to be freed of imprisonment and defeat me! Curses!" ... You know the story...The bad guy always has to give a long, long, loooooonnngg speech before killing the good guy - and in the meantime, the good guy manages to get out of the jam. So... this scene was contrived. I was actually expecting Kiel-as-Diana to be assasinated. In fact - as much as I love Kiel - I think the story would have been better off if she were assasinated. There is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT in introducing the jugglyboobs assasin sub-plot only for her to end up being a total lame red-herring. Like..here's a new threat...NOT. So... what's the point then? To illustrate that there are malcontents on the moon who don't want to go back to Earth? First - who's forcing them? Second, there must have been a better way to illustrate this point - like for example a news briefing showing protests, demonstrations and what not on the moon with people refusing to go or refusing to pay taxes to fund the Queen's elaborate recolonization of Earth etc etc. It's these kind of lapses in literary judgement that weaken the plot - seriously. This was just a bad bad bad sub-plot; its' point could have been achieved much better. Maybe if we had more slurmy sex scenes than zero with Jugglyboobs - then that would have justified it. But as such - we get no fan service from Jugglyboobs (beyond her jugglyboobs) and really no good contribution to the plot. Bad. 19. This episode was great. The galloop going through the desert was reminiscent of White Base's plight. And Sochie...there's nothing worse than a jealous little girl with a vendetta who isn't afraid to die. But I guess I understand her. She's very young and her dad was taken away from her. It's only natural she reacts this way. Still - Why doesn't anybody try to talk to her? I mean...yeah...she gets hints...I guess that's good...nobody reprimands her too much...and I guess there's not much that can be done... But...ok - I guess it's a good character arc. Hmm... Oh - and the chief engineer - Whore. I love that. "Mr. Whore - can you tell me how this works?" Wonderful Just one of those silly things to smurk at. Anyways - Diana-as-Kiel doing laundry: pure gold So hot! Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Valkyrie Posted October 10, 2009 Author Share Posted October 10, 2009 MSG00 SE DVD/BR this fall, including a teaser for the upcoming movie, http://www.gundam00.net/product/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heishiromitsurugi Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Just yesterday I watched again the first episode of Zeta Gundam and this time the WTF? scenes made me laugh instead of just confused. It feels weird that the coach/teacher just hits Kamille and then he just keeps running like nothing ever happened. Then of course the scene where he hits Jerid because he said Kamille is a girl's name hit the jack pot. IIRC there were lots of similar moments. Maybe he really is an autistic child like he claimed in one episode. I think I'm going to re-watch the whole series but the first time I saw it I was a bit disappointed half way the series. MSG doesn't have as many WTF? moments and I liked that the only really evil characters were Gihren and possibly M'Quve but in Zeta Gundam almost all the Titans were complete monsters and I really preferred Amuro to Kamille as the main protagonist. Besides that, MSG had a clear plot that could be easily followed whereas Zeta Gundam felt like compulsory space fight after another, which especially after Macross felt a bit old fashioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFTF1 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Got around to watching another episode of Turn-A-Gundam. Not bad, not terrible, but not good or even midly nice either. I would call Anus' Attack forgettable if not for...well..Anus. I don't like manly women, but I guess it's sweet that she at least had a husband once and has a nice daughter and it's true that she's passionate about the land and knowledgable. It's also another good learning moment for Diana-Sama. I'm not quite sure what to make of the Hippie brigade, aptly called the Red Brigade (although I wonder why...sine there's nothing red about them other than the fact that they're hippies, and even that's just a stereotype)... But.. over all this episode is just way too much sentimental slop. And the fighting is kind of getting pointless. It's like... in MSG, at least the idea was that Zeon was chasing the White Base, which was an experimental ship with a super power mobile suite - the experimental Gundam - which turned out to be very powerful and thus is was kind of like going after a big fish. That was most of the series, before Lala and Loony (aka the Newtype mumbo jumbo) and that was interesting. Here, it seems that the biggest problem is that the chain of command in both Moonrace and Militia factions is totally broken. Somebody's always going out to sortie without asking permission, and the Militia leaders seem bent on digging up more mechanical dolls to strengthen their "negotiating position"... The problem with this silly tripe is that if the Moonrace was intent on destroying the Earth race, there would never have been ANY negotiations. Even "now" with the White Doll and other MSs of the Militia, Moonrace could probably vaporize all resistance if it wanted to. Yet they keep showing restraint and trying to negotiate a treaty. Also - what happened with Gamin's two years of radio communication - I mean - did that not bear ANY fruit? Lots of plot holes here. The plot holes are easily overlooked when we focus on Diana-Sama in a hot souther belle outfit being sexy. But when the focus shifts to old women named Anus who own donkeys - I start thinking about all the plot holes. This show is uneven. Some great episodes and some not so great. But I don't want to be too harsh on Anus. She is very brave and determined and has a lot of spirit. I just think that they intentionally overdid her screeching voice and that kind of made her less gentle than I would like a lady to be... Oh well. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugundamII Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I need to vent SO here goes It took me a whole month to track down english subs for MS 08th Team in avi format I loved it ! Im really into gundam now Now i want to find MS IGLOO and Zeta 2009 and dammit i cant find english avi sub files There is either mkv which plays all choppy on my vlc player or its in spanish subs!!! Please help What can i use to play MKV files that isnt choppy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 How old/powerful is your PC? MKVs often boil down to raw processor power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nugundamII Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 How old/powerful is your PC? MKVs often boil down to raw processor power desk top 1.7 with 4 gigs of ram laptops 1.7 with 2 gigs of ram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugimon Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 desk top 1.7 with 4 gigs of ram laptops 1.7 with 2 gigs of ram yeah, that's not really going to work out for mkv, especially if you're trying to play "HD" content. A decent minimum spec would be a 2.0 ghz dual core. You can try making sure you have the latest codecs (try running only one package and not a bunch of packages like divx and CCCP for instance) or different players. I like media player classic but I've had instances where one player would stutter during playback when another would not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heishiromitsurugi Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I just watched Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and although I liked the character and mecha design and action and I understood what it was going for I really didn't get into the main characters. I think Al, despite the family and school problems, felt a bit too eager to please the Zeon soldiers. I still think the first Gundam is both the best Gundam series but also the best series directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kung flu Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I just watched Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and although I liked the character and mecha design and action and I understood what it was going for I really didn't get into the main characters. I think Al, despite the family and school problems, felt a bit too eager to please the Zeon soldiers. I still think the first Gundam is both the best Gundam series but also the best series directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Al is just a small boy he doesn't understand what war/politics is until the very end. Helping the Zeon was like a game for him, but through them and christina, his perception of the war becomes more real and less of a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellow Yellow Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 (edited) I need to vent SO here goes It took me a whole month to track down english subs for MS 08th Team in avi format I loved it ! Im really into gundam now Now i want to find MS IGLOO and Zeta 2009 and dammit i cant find english avi sub files There is either mkv which plays all choppy on my vlc player or its in spanish subs!!! Please help What can i use to play MKV files that isnt choppy I'd give The KMPlayer a try. It worked for me. Just choose the low performance option so it runs on slower machines during initial setup. You can use either CCCP codecs or The KMPlayer's internal codecs. Edited October 15, 2009 by Mellow Yellow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlightman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I need to vent SO here goes It took me a whole month to track down english subs for MS 08th Team in avi format I loved it ! Im really into gundam now Now i want to find MS IGLOO and Zeta 2009 and dammit i cant find english avi sub files There is either mkv which plays all choppy on my vlc player or its in spanish subs!!! Please help What can i use to play MKV files that isnt choppy Buy the DVDs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heishiromitsurugi Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Al is just a small boy he doesn't understand what war/politics is until the very end. Helping the Zeon was like a game for him, but through them and christina, his perception of the war becomes more real and less of a game. Yeah, but it's just one of those series that I get but don't really feel, if you know what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VF-19 Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Finished watching all three Igloo series, and I gotta say, despite the weird facial expressions at times, I really liked it (using anime facial expressions on realistic looking faces was, well weird). Especially the final battle at Odessa in Igloo 2. Those Guntank prototypes need a model. Now. Oh, and I finally found out what my HTPC (recycled Athlon 3700 single core) couldn't do. 1080p video with a FLAC soundtrack. Stutter central. I might send the parts of my current PC over to it when I upgrade some time next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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