Change Your Image
danmanultra
Reviews
One Piece: Wan pîsu (1999)
A great anime!
One Piece is epic, epic fun. Everything is big, loud, and exciting, but not without the finer details.
The world of One Piece is truly a unique one, and we get to discover just how amazing it is with the awesome Straw Hat crew. Every character in the crew stands out with bold personalities and detailed and interesting back stories.
The show has so many facets: amazing fight scenes, adventure, "magic" and mystery, character drama, political and social intrigue, and a wacky, over the top sense of humor. This is one of the few shows out there where I can really say I laughed and I cried. Laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
Kidô senshi Gundam Seed (2002)
Drags for about forty episodes, finally gets decent too late.
The last ten episodes are good. Freedom and Justice are sweet Gundams. With that said, SEED is not the best Gundam series or the best alternate universe series. The Cosmic Era actually has some good ideas, such as Coordinators, some of their technology, anti-ship swords, and other random things. But as a show, it is just poorly executed.
Characters: Kira is apparently a god. Because he can literally beat anyone without even a single scratch. I like it when the main guy's a good pilot, but even the legendary Amuro took his fair share of beatings. Then you have characters like Athrun who do nothing but stutter for half the series until he becomes a "good guy". Then he can kick all kinds of rear. Cagalli never grows up, Le Cruset never becomes more than a one dimensional villain, and the King of Orb sacrifices himself for almost no reason at all. Fllay sort of developed over time, but than she was removed from the main cast for many episodes, until she showed up again just to get blown up. In the end, these characters are very stagnant, something no good Gundam show should be guilty of.
Mecha: Some designs, such as Freedom, Justice, and the Providence are pretty cool. But most of the designs are just underused, seemingly created to sell more model kits. And I do not welcome Zoids.
Plot: The first bunch of episodes basically ripped off MS Gundam, without the cool White Base crew. Then it got horrendously bogged down by flashback after flashback. I kind of wish I could have just watched the last ten episodes only, but only for the cool fights.
Conclusion: Poor excuse for a Gundam series, and poor excuse for an anime series in general. Too bad.
Kidô butoden ji Gandamu (1994)
G Gundam is good kung-fu series.
G Gundam is different from other Gundam series. And that's just one reason why I like it so much. Much like a good kung-fu movie, G Gundam has great fight scenes, endearing characters, brilliantly despicable villains, and cheesiness.
Characters: I find each character unique from each other, and generally just fun. Domon has a great a terrible drive to achieve his goals, while Rain patiently stays by his side helping him in every way possible. Each fighter Domon encounters has their own drives to, and its when these goals collide that the show gets real interesting. Almost the whole show could is about conflicting desires how each character has to find the strength to fight for it. Thus every character is a strong personality. Plus Master Asia is an awesome villain.
Mecha: Truly unique and quirky designs, with the main mecha being especially impressive. Each has its own special abilities that reflect the personality of its user to great effect. The Dark Gundam might just be the most unique Gundam design ever. The Gundam fights are also amazing, rivaling some of the best action anime.
Plot: Though not obvious at first, a strong plot runs underneath the first bunch of episodes, finally coming right into the forefront. Though the show starts as a simple tournament, it evolves into a huge confrontation with the very mecha incarnation of evil.
Conclusion: A fun and deceptively plot heavy story, with strong character and mecha designs.
Shin kidô senki Gundam W (1995)
Entertaining, but shallow compared to other Gundam series.
Gundam Wing is a fun show. I appreciate it for getting me into Gundam and anime in general. However, after watching its predecessors, such as Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and even G Gundam, I find Wing to be Gundam Lite.
Characters: An aspect long held by Gundam is to have their characters thrust into difficulties and grow into maturity. This does not happen in Wing. Heero is top dog at the beginning, and he's top dog at the end. Personalities do not change, growth is never achieved. The best character is Zechs, who is for all intents and purposes a hero throughout most of the series. But suddenly the series betrays him and turns him into a villain for no apparent reason.
Mecha: Wing has great suit designs. The Gundams are super cool, with the Epyon being my favorite. I even consider a few of the OZ suit designs to be on par with some of the classic Zeon suits. But sweet suit designs doesn't quite save the series from boring characters.
Conclusion: In the end, Wing has cool fight scenes, though riddled with recycled animation, but shallow plot and character development. Enjoyable, but not moving like previous Gundam outings.