Gundam 00 S2 Episode 4, plus tl;dr crackpot theories and rants that have resulted from a month of hard speculation
Someone's getting laid tonight.
This episode sucked. Well, okay, it wasn’t THAT bad, but still nowhere near as awesome as the first three. The only thing that saved it was the awesome action near the end (fuck yes not-Graham, you are the best weeaboo ever).
I think it was mainly that the whole thing was Celestial Soap Opera for the first half of the episode, and most of it was incredibly unnecessary. We had the drama with Lyle kissing Feldt, Sumeragi and Allelujah getting drunk and angsting, and then Setsuna and Marina being all “OH HA HA LOOK AT US BEING ALL PLATONIC AND STUFF”. Which meant that poor Tieria missed out, of course, seeing as his “love interest” has spent the last four years drifting aimlessly through outer space as a corpse. In face, the lack of Tieria coupled with the absence of 00’s ritual Weekly Dose of Ribbons + Regene ™ also sucked… although I guess it’s not that bad compared to how much Allelujah was pushed into the background (or was just completely absent) during the actual important parts of season one. Isn’t it sad, Wufe– er, Allelujah?
To be honest, though, I actually like Al a lot more now despite the fact that his more interesting personality “died” in last season’s finale. The flashback of him and Marie at the start of the episode was actually kind of cute in a creepy, sad way. The way that he was talking to the seemingly comatose Marie as her voice echoed in his head raises the possibility that Marie as a seperate entity does not exist, and was quite literally just a voice in Allelujah’s head that functioned as part of the precursor to the breakdown and division of his psyche… this could probably help to highlight just how fucked up Al is, AND could tie into the snippet from the official novels that mentioned Marie being a “beacon of hope” for all the other children at the research center, as she could perhaps exist as an implant inside all of their heads. The way that she told Allelujah to be grateful for his life (seriously, why would Marie be HAPPY about her vegetative state? She also seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole fact that she couldn’t even see Al) as it is makes me think that this was done to keep their spirits high and stop them from rebelling. However… thinking back to the previous episode where Soma responds to the name of “Marie Parfacy” somewhat debunks this whole thing. Although… the visions she had were of only Allelujah calling her Marie, so I guess that theory could still stand. Probably won’t happen though, haha…
Personally, I just don’t want Al to accidentally hit Soma’s reset button and turn her personality into something that resembles a post-memory-wiped C.C. Eugh. *shudders* In any case, I doubt “Marie” would exactly accept the mass murderer who killed hundreds of innocent children similar to Marie by choice.
Allelujah and Sumeragi as drinking buddies again after four years was adorable. The scene where she gave him a drink on his 20th birthday all the way back in season one (and he wonders why she’s so addicted to something bitter, to which she replies that he may some day understand) makes it look like Al’s truly following in her drunken, stumbling footsteps. I’m sure it won’t be hard for him to get the crippling depression part down pat.
So we finally got to see the kiss that everyone was shitting bricks over, and it turns out that we all overreacted, as the Lyle/Feldt ship has well and truly sunk (thank fucking GOD). Amazingly enough, I actually like Lyle a lot more now, despite predicting that I’d hate him more after episode 4. I also appreciate Sunrise for the way they’re handling his character so far; he’s not a complete copy of his brother, but at the same time it’s not as though he’s Neil’s evil twin or anything as cheesy. While he shows personality traits similar to Neil’s, Lyle’s got an agenda of his own (with his loyalty lying first and foremost withing Kataron), and is trying to distance himself from the other members of Celestial Being, a far cry from the support figure that the first Lockon Stratos was. He’s still largely a mystery, though, and I am very interested in seeing how it all plays out in the end. I’m guessing that he may form some sort of close bond with Tieria, as he’s the only one who is adamant about the fact that Lyle and Neil and two separate people and doesn’t treat him as he did Neil. It’d be interesting if this time, however, it is Tieria who impacts Lockon… although I can’t really see Lyle ever developing the same feelings for him that Tieria had for Neil. But hey, you never know. Sunrise like the gay.
……
… whatever, I’m not even going to comment on this.
Hmm. Is it just me or is all the dialogue between Marina and Jihad-kun becoming increasingly repetitive? The whole “reason to fight” thing, while being a theme crucial to the entire plot, was already feeling overused, and it of course did not help that it was what this episode was centered around. Personality-wise, they’re both not exactly colourful; Setsuna is a man of few words who’s lost his sense of direction in life, and Marina is filled with just as much despair, helplessness and SERIOUS BUSINESS. I did giggle when they quickly denied Mileina’s “womanly intuition” in deadpan unison; in many other animu series it would have been accompanied with profuse blushing and awkward stuttering, but of course, Setsuna and Marina are SERIOUS BUSINESS, even when she later on oh-so-platonically asks him to come back to Azadistan with her. Honestly, though… Marina returning to her country would truly be a stupid move, and Gundam 00 is a series where silly idealism does not act as suitable plot armour. We saw just how far Marina’s pacifistic views got her, although Azadistan was pretty much fucked even before she came into power.
This episode also helped reinforce my love for Shirin Bakhtiar, the most underrated character in the entire show. I loved her in the first season when she acted as Marina’s strong and politically savvy royal advisor, whilst still maintaining the friendship they had before Marina came to power (I really loved how she’d often kick Marina up the butt and tell her to stop being naive, and I feel that her absence hasn’t exactly been beneficial to Marina, who had even been doing time before Celestial Being busted her out). Shirin’s line at the end of this episode – “I am now a member of Kataron; a woman who shouts her objections about the methods of the Earth Federation” – was really quite powerful, and I anticipate further coverage of Marina and Shirin’s reunion now that we know why the latter abandoned her post.
WHY WAS THIS PART SO SHORT ARRRGHGHGHGHH. While the debut of Sir Weeaboo and Soma’s custom suits was fantastic, the action felt very rushed. This episode as a whole suffered from poor pacing.
Also, lol at Louise inheriting the collective wealth of all her dead and extremely rich extended family and donating most of it to the production of something that gets blown up about two minutes after its first appearance. Blargh. I really want Louise to kick some ass soon… and I also anticipate the reunion of Saji and Louise, although there’s no way I can see that ending well.
(Picture of Ian is unrelated but I put it there because he’s awesome.)
Oh, and the new Lindt guy sucks and I hope Kati gives both him and Captain Fatass hell. Fuck yes Kati.
.. and fuck yes yandere Billy. I sense a Nice Boat end.
No Special Weekly Innovator Dose made me a sad panda, but it looks like we’ll be getting plenty of that next episode; the shot of someone coming down the stairs seems to hint that they’ll be introducing a new one, too, and Regene looks pissed as fuck.
**TOTALLY IRRELEVANT MAD SPECULATION TIME**
Aeolia Schenberg is an Innovator. Seriously, there’s no way he could have died so easily, especially at the hands of a character as shitty as Alejandro. Also, it would make sense if he somehow “uploaded” his brain into another body à la Ghost In The Shell. My money’s on Regene being Aeolia– IMO, there’s been a bit of foreshadowing (such as the snide comment he made about Ribbons not being aware of the Twin Drive system despite being able to access Veda up to level 7, and the way he was looking down at him from the balcony), and I’m sure it’s significant that his “double” was selected to be a Gundam Meister. Also, he’s voiced by Romi Paku. /flawless logic
I also predict that the lavender-haired Innovator will also play a somewhat vital role. Not only is he shown with Tieria and Regene in the OP and ED sequences, but he also seems to be missing his twin (despite the twin having been shown in season one… seriously, where the fuck did he go?).
Also next episode we have Saji driving a jeep, Saji getting some lessons from Sergei on how to be awesome, Bushido Bob being a weeaboo, Marina looking oddly happy, and what appears to be Azadistan being bombed. Looks like we may see the return of Ali… now all that’s left is for Patrick to make an appearance and we’re all set.
Oh yeah, and the art quality was also shit in this episode. So much QUALITY, especially from Feldt.
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PS: Sorry for all the tl;dr, but this post is the result of literally a whole month’s worth of perusing crack theories on /m/ and just constantly reading into things too much.
PPS: Billy is Nina Purpleton. *crosses fingers*
PPPS: Needs more batshit Nena.
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