AoD Review: Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Vol. #2 [Archive]

Chris Beveridge

02-07-2005, 10:41 AM

Review (http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/3886.php)

[ QUOTE ]
In Summary:
With another five episodes, we get things moving forward more with the plot but still not with the overall arc really kicking into gear yet. There's a lot of interesting things going on and focusing on Kamille shows just how much growing he has to do and how much hardening is left of him to take place in battle. With as large a cast as it is, almost every conversation has some little nugget that helps expand on things and with people like Emma learning more of what's been hidden from her due to her Titan membership we get to see just how much of a problem the Federation has become since the One Year War. While the show certainly hasn't hit its groove yet, it's providing me with a lot of entertaining episodes and all around good action and exposition.

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PsychoRabbitt

02-07-2005, 10:47 AM

People can bitch and moan about the lack of original OP and ED songs and the supposed dubtitling, but I just loved this show. Bandai did a great job on this set (even if they did make us tear our hair out getting there /images/graemlins/tongue.gif) and I applaud Jerry and the gang.

A- (not really into the meat and potatoes of the story yet, but still very good stuff) and positive for me. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

Njr Scrawl

02-07-2005, 11:05 AM

A+

I played my R2 op & ending at the start & end of each disc, skipping the interim ones. (This is not normal practice for me, & I resent having to do it though.)

Watching ZZ (still), I think that will be popular as well for mecha, & it has kinder characters. ZG is a very harsh story.

Hayate Kurogane

02-07-2005, 11:07 AM

Voted "B-" for this volume's content. Despite all the various issues that have been rehashed over and over by this point (several of which do bother me), I went into the show itself with some high expectations. I admit I fell for the hype, and there was just no way the show was going to live up to that, but I somehow expected it to anyway. So, the first volume was pretty underwhelming, but a pretty solid "C" for me (we didn't have the letter grades for the volume 1 review, but that's what it would've ended up being). The show from the first couple of episodes onwards is now sort of working its way up from there and establishing its own goods and bads in my mind on its own merits, and volume 2 was better than volume 1, hence the rising grade.

My biggest problem at this point in the show was (that's past tense since I'm beyond this point right now, but still not done just yet) that none of the characters were very compelling to me except for Char (who has charisma in spades), so it made it boring to watch. And I've made it clear previously that I fall into the camp of those who feel that Zeta just isn't a good war story in terms of scale and logistics, so there wasn't much appreciation in that sense either. The events on the Moon were more interesting to watch than the purely Argama-based stuff we'd seen up to that point, and I've always liked Bright so his arrival on the Argama caused my ears to perk up a bit. The next volume was better yet, but those reasons are left to the eventual volume 3 review.

HarlockHero

02-07-2005, 11:07 AM

My favorite bit from this whole volume is Lila's comment about what it means to be an Oldtype. Quattro's dialogue about what kind of man Char Aznable was is also highly memorable, quotable, and well-written. The excursion to Colony 30 is a rather big landmark in the series as well, and establishes the kind of gruesome actions that will dominate the latter episodes.

A, and a positive.

joelgundam01

02-07-2005, 11:09 AM

[ QUOTE ]
PsychoRabbitt said:
People can bitch and moan about the lack of original OP and ED songs and the supposed dubtitling, but I just loved this show. Bandai did a great job on this set (even if they did make us tear our hair out getting there /images/graemlins/tongue.gif) and I applaud Jerry and the gang.

A- (not really into the meat and potatoes of the story yet, but still very good stuff) and positive for me. /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif

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Ditto on both statements.

bender

02-07-2005, 11:09 AM

It's a great show, but the first couple of discs aren't the best of it. Overall, great stuff.

And I agree on the whole OP/ED song thing, it isn't really that much of a bother (I thought the original opening song was a bit poor myself, but then, what Gundam opening can possibly match Gundam ZZ's masterpiece /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif). I was glad to just get seeing the show at all. The glitch on disc 4 was still a mite trying all the same... but 'meh'.

One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

HarlockHero

02-07-2005, 11:10 AM

Ah, I almost forgot to mention another high-point of this disc: episode 10's arrival of THE MAN FROM JUPITER. /images/graemlins/noseblee.gif

Hayate Kurogane

02-07-2005, 11:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Fencedude

02-07-2005, 11:46 AM

Treiz

02-07-2005, 12:07 PM

The spacesuits are worse.

Njr Scrawl

02-07-2005, 12:44 PM

[ QUOTE ]
what Gundam opening can possibly match Gundam ZZ's masterpiece

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Presuming you mean the 1st opening, I agree entirely /images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif
Bought the ZZ twin CD set for that song (whose singer sounds like the MI male intros singer). ZZ's first opening animation has a high grin factor /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Zeta's openings are ho-hum. Real loss is its ending song, incidentally used as a scenario background j-pop song for the characters in ZZ ep.20.

Going back to ZG characters, Quattro never becomes more than a supporting character IMO. He is there like a rock backing up weaker personalities, but hardly ever takes stage centre. Throughout Zeta what does impress me is how cool headed he remains, the true professional. He would be out of place in ZZ.

Emma is the Misato/Haruka of ZG & is my favourite character.

Njr Scrawl

02-07-2005, 12:52 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its the kitschy early 80s. The influence of such movies as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" type uniforms.

Fa's mini? You gotta have fan service /images/graemlins/wink.gif Remember the "skants" worn by Deanna & Tasha in ST:TNG season 1? Blame Willam Ware Theiss (who was also costume designer for TOS).

Fencedude

02-07-2005, 01:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Njr Scrawl said:
[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its the kitschy early 80s. The influence of such movies as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" type uniforms.

Fa's mini? You gotta have fan service /images/graemlins/wink.gif Remember the "skants" worn by Deanna & Tasha in ST:TNG season 1? Blame Willam Ware Theiss (who was also costume designer for TOS).

[/ QUOTE ]

The funny thing about Fa's later outfit is that its basically exactly what Emma wears, but Emma is smart enough to wear leggings underneath, unlike Fa.

ic14

02-07-2005, 01:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
The funny thing about Fa's later outfit is that its basically exactly what Emma wears, but Emma is smart enough to wear leggings underneath, unlike Fa.

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And thats why Emma looks hotter..... /images/graemlins/shy10000.gif

The Pirate Queen

02-07-2005, 01:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
I went into the show itself with some high expectations. I admit I fell for the hype, and there was just no way the show was going to live up to that, but I somehow expected it to anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll just quote that bit, but you've done an admirable job of summing up my thoughts on the series. Good, but it has it's flaws.

Hayate Kurogane

02-07-2005, 01:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Dani said:
[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
I went into the show itself with some high expectations. I admit I fell for the hype, and there was just no way the show was going to live up to that, but I somehow expected it to anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll just quote that bit, but you've done an admirable job of summing up my thoughts on the series. Good, but it has it's flaws.

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, to clarify a bit, I'm not blaming the show at all for not living up to my expectations since it's obviously not the show's fault. The "C" grade I give to the first volume isn't like a "B" adjusted downwards by one grade because of disappointment or anything like that, and the same goes for my "B-" here.

Vicserr

02-07-2005, 01:58 PM

A+

Basically having Zeta Gundam on our shores for me overwhelms every other thing that this release has done wrong, as I've stated before Tomino takes his set-up seriously and this disc is full of set up and we get a whole lot of Lt. Quattro and Kamille get thrown into the mix of the war between the AEUG and the Titans and the upcoming mission<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>The attack on Jaburo</span>

NeoEra

02-07-2005, 02:33 PM

The setup is one of the things I really like about this series. Things happen in every episode but never quite too much to make me feel like the main characters are getting shafted (or that the wrong characters are being focused on) or too little to make it feel like they're spinning their wheels. I think that continues up through about the mid-20's.

RommieSG

02-07-2005, 02:36 PM

A+/Positive vote from me. I really enjoyed this series, and Vol. 2 started setting things up. Things start getting into gear after this volume. /images/graemlins/happy.gif

Rommie /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif

Njr Scrawl

02-07-2005, 02:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
[ QUOTE ]
Njr Scrawl said:
[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its the kitschy early 80s. The influence of such movies as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" type uniforms.

Fa's mini? You gotta have fan service /images/graemlins/wink.gif Remember the "skants" worn by Deanna & Tasha in ST:TNG season 1? Blame Willam Ware Theiss (who was also costume designer for TOS).

[/ QUOTE ]

The funny thing about Fa's later outfit is that its basically exactly what Emma wears, but Emma is smart enough to wear leggings underneath, unlike Fa.

[/ QUOTE ]

Its possibly to help highlight that Fa is younger/less mature than Emma. Emma would also look less authoritative if she had bare legs.
Emma (& Reccoa) also wears darker colours than Fa, which helps accentuate seniority.

The Pirate Queen

02-07-2005, 02:50 PM

Absolutely, it's a good, solid show - it just had a wee bit too much hype, and my expectations ended up way too high as a result.

Thanatos

02-07-2005, 03:26 PM

If I recall correctly, Chris, you aren't bothered much by the proto dubtitles?

I like the sound of the second opening, even though its lyricals are nonsensical poetry. Not a big fan of the first OP or the ending. ZZ's Anime Ja Nai makes me laugh because of "all the adults say "you watch too much anime" but I never, ever tell a lie." /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I really do think that Zeta Gundam is quite overhyped. It overshadows every mecha anime until Evangelion, but I think there are quite a lot of mecha shows from the 80s that are superior to Zeta, such as Dunbine, L-Gaim, Votoms, and Layzner.

In this volume of Zeta I didn't care much for the characters, except for Char, who has charm coming out the wazoo.

PsychoRabbitt

02-07-2005, 04:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't find it as questionable as what Fa wears later in the series.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's wrong with a skirt so short your ass shows every time you traverse the corridors? /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Quiddity

02-07-2005, 06:38 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Fencedude said:
[ QUOTE ]
Njr Scrawl said:
[ QUOTE ]
Sakura Shinguji said:
[ QUOTE ]
tengu said:
One thing though... Doesn't it seem as though Lieutenant Quattro Vageena's uniform is a tad inappropriate for a ranking military officer? He looks really camp.

[/ QUOTE ]

I blame the '80s.

That, or it's part of his disguise. "A man in such questionable vestments couldn't possibly be the Red Comet!" /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

No, its the kitschy early 80s. The influence of such movies as "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and "Star Trek:The Motion Picture" type uniforms.

Fa's mini? You gotta have fan service /images/graemlins/wink.gif Remember the "skants" worn by Deanna & Tasha in ST:TNG season 1? Blame Willam Ware Theiss (who was also costume designer for TOS).

[/ QUOTE ]

The funny thing about Fa's later outfit is that its basically exactly what Emma wears, but Emma is smart enough to wear leggings underneath, unlike Fa.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fa, Emma and Reccoa all have the same type of outfit(same style anyway, different colors) as seen here,
http://www.escaflowneonline.com/gundam/charencyc/group_aeug.html, its a standard female AEUG uniform I'd assume (although you wouldn't really expect the AEUG to have one, given the various range of clothes the characters wear). I don't remember Reccoa ever wearing that, but it is among my character lineart so I'd assume she wears it some point in the show.