James Boren wrote: > I am timidly optimistic about G00. The pictures of the mecha and > characters we've seen so far haven't excited me, but then they > haven't turned me off either. The plot about our heros stopping war > with force is unbelievably naive (the world has seen in Iraq how > futile it is impose peace with force of arms), so I have to conclude
But in the US the debate is far from over. There is a deep seated belief that the enlightened, i.e. the wealthiest and most technologically advanced, nation(s) can and should build the most advanced and fearsome weapons (including rocket-powered bionic arm or shape-shifting robot) in order to protect her own national interest and maintain world order. Actually, I argue your casual wording of "unbelievably naive" should brand you a "fringe extreme liberal leftist" label in most of US. When I first read that extended tag line I was also rolling my eyes, oh great it's Gundam Wing again. Are we getting into another "end all violence with violence" vs. Relena Peacecraft gambit again? > that our idealistic Gundam pilots are in for a severe case of > reality. The FMA director should be able to deliver a good story, > plus the soundtrack will be great with Kenji Kawai doing the music. > I'm not keen on the real world connections. I prefer the distance > that the UC, AC, FC, etc. years gave. There is no question Mizushima is going somewhere, perhaps a place a little bit forbidden until now. My guess is that he's decided subtlety is going into retirement along with Tomino. He wants to make a political statement with G00 and the "distance" offered by UC etc is too comfortable for the fans (not just Gundam fans, but also Star Trek, Star Wars etc) Projecting the current world balance of power, with only a bit of tweaking and equalization into 300 years forward is already a pretty strong statement. Giving the hero role to the Kurdish ethnic group is also a very clear message that he fully intend to do a full monty on current events. If the Cold War era gave us Mad Max, perhaps the "New Normalcy" is going to give us G00? Only... yikes has Mizushima bitten off more than he can chew? > Mecha specific impressions-- > The gundams are okay. I don't like the small yellow fins on either I don't like the designs and arts so far. But that's not saying much. In one of the interviews, (are you also catching up with 4 months worth of Gunota?) he said he will make the different mechas move and fight in very different styles. I look forward to that. > Regarding the characters, now that the female audience has become > important to Gundam I think we're stuck forever with the pretty boy > team-ups. I miss the days in the '80s when characters could be plain, > or eccentric, or even ugly looking. At least they would be To be fair, many characters from FMA can compare favorably to Yas's best works. > individuals instead of cookie-cutter, anime-styles. Ordinary Amuro > would never cut it as a Gundam pilot today. That's one thing I love > ... > I guess that's about it for the moment. What are your opinions? Ahh... one more... like Gundam Wing, no one will be complaining about the angstiness of the Gundam Meisters. -- Dr. Core -------------------------------------------------- The Gundam Mailing List MK-II [email protected] Archives: http://www.gundam.com/gml Help: Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this in the BODY: help list
