Mobile Suit Gundam SEED | The Gundam Retrospective 

"Kira Yamato seemed like all his other friends." Yeah, he looked like all his other friends too.

I love the fact that alien fossils was discovered so alien life was confirmed is just a random footnote.

Just to note at 43:50 - these aren't painkillers. The Boosted are wired up on extremely powerful and highly addictive stimulants, alongside a regime of other drugs and special implants to make them temporarily superior to Coordinators. They aren't just in pain, they're in potentially lethal withdrawal. The main reason the Boosted are such non-characters is that they are exactly what they say they are; Biological CPU's. The only personality traits their creators/maintainers care about are ones that make them more violent and destructive.

As a wise man once said: "It takes more than pop idol, a twink, and 3 ships to end a war"

54:03 "OH MY GOD ENOUGH ALREADY!!!" Love the delivery of that line! Really sells how much Mu has had enough of Rau's BS at that point.

I feel like Kagali being Kira's sister was just a reference to Leia being Luke's sister in Star Wars as well as taking her out of the harem while explaining why they are friends but definitely not romantically interested in each other.

I actually really liked that Kira finished his character development 3/4 of the way through the series. It let us enjoy his 'perfect' form while the crew searched for a way to end the war for good.

The story is just very easy to relate to. 2 childhood friends finds themselves on the opposing sides of a war, and have to decide which is more important: Their friendship or their duty. Cosmic Era also has some unique technologies in the franchise

It's usually overlooked but I like how when Creuset starts using the DRAGOON bits, it cuts back to Mu using the gunbarrels in Mobius Zero and Creuset saying something to the effect of "Anything he can do, I can do better."

Having the Toonami promo as the intro was fucking beautiful 🤩 🙌

The astray spin off shows how Kira Jesus Yamato got out of the Strike via the slice/window Athrun made

a funny retcon: Murrue's silhouette used behind Kira in the opening is replaced in the HD remaster by Flay and Lacus, both foreshadowing their status as indicated love interest. As to why it was funny, by similar interpretation Murrue was being set up to be a primary love interest along with Cagalli, before the writers did a weird one-eighty and changed the target of love interest to Flay and later Lacus.

17:26 I suppose it depends on what you mean by "underrated", in general Lacus has pretty consistently been one of the most popular female Gundam characters of all time, especially in Japan. Also, the dub I watched as a young-un pronounced it "Lack-us", and thus so do I.

*Lacus* was a diabolical mastermind in her quest for power: had her two male stooges, Kira and Arthun, clearing out all her enemies till she ends up the leader of the Plants...

The setting, with assorted characters on a lone ship trying to reach a destination while being regularly attacked, is just so iconic and conducive to drama, I'm surprised the series hasn't done it more often.

Gundam Seed was my introduction back into Gundam. (I think I was in middle school when Seed came out) And I can see why Kira is called Kira Jesus Yamoto because well he's broken! And the drama in this show is better than Soap Operas or Twilight.

The ending really brought forth the question of "What does it take to end a war?" One would say; "If both sides wish for peace and set aside their hatred." While that sounds optimistic and preferrable, in reality it may end up with a different mindset: Warfare is nothing but a means of negotiation between states. Wars break out even when there is no hatred. Territory, resources, or interest that you are determined to own. Even ideology, religion, and pride. Wars are fought over those objectives all the time. Meaning that when those objectives are met, the war will end... That, or the war will end when the human cost outweighs the gains. Anger and hatred, are nothing than tools to tilt a war in your favour. (props to anyone who knows the reference)

Really interesting perspective. I'm glad you gave the series an even shake. It's got its share of issues, but it remains one of my favorites, and I think a lot of people attribute issues with Destiny onto SEED, never giving the original a chance. I thought I might share some of my own thoughts on some of your points. Kira isn't my favorite protagonist or my favorite SEED character, but I do appreciate what they tried to do with him. A kid finally breaking free of a world trapped between two sides and self-actualizing his own path works as both a coming of age story and a larger commentary on binary worldviews (which was very heavy in the early 2000s thanks to the war on terror). You noted that he stops being introspective after coming back in the Freedom, and I would agree and go further in saying that he kinda becomes a side character for a while. The series focuses on other people (mainly Athrun and Cagalli), and Kira mostly serves as someone for them and the rest of the cast to bounce off of. This means he himself stops being interesting for a while. I don't think the series meant for him to come off as perfect, since he eventually goes back to being conflicted at Mendel, but it really hurts that he stops being able to carry scenes or conversations effectively. It's particularly noticeable when he meets Andy again and their conversation is a very quick "I understand if you want to kill me" before Andy basically says "I don't hold a grudge." Kira had already come to peace with all the killing he had done up to that point, so he didn't really regress, but it would've been nice to see them have a real continuation of their conversation on the cycle of violence from before. Something about the Mendel reveal that I think merits some better explanation is that taken in context, Kira isn't really a Jesus figure. He's more a false idol. His father *intended* him to be one, but all he was really doing was satisfying his own desire for progress and success. Just in case anyone had any illusions, Rau lays it out straight that Kira was A) created out of gristly human experimentation, B) such an enchanting prospect that people will certainly want to do it all over again if they knew, and C) they already went through this with George Glenn (the first coordinator) and look how much violence and horror *that* caused. Kira was literally created on a factory line and is now basically a human weapon. Imagine what people will do with that knowledge. He torments Kira with this and Kira's eventual resolve isn't that his existence is somehow a blessing, but rather that it's ok for him to be alive, even if his life might be a curse. The boosted men are rather shallow characters, but the series is pretty aware of that. They're literally engineered to be psychopathic killing machines. I do actually like them because they can seriously endanger Kira and Athrun when they're not infighting and utterly dominate everyone else. It shows how depraved the war has gotten when one side's answer to nuclear power is drugged up supersoldiers and it's actually very effective. Sorry about how bad Clotho's "gamer" lines are. That's something the remaster dub did. Both the original Japanese and the Ocean dub were much more restrained. His original characterization is as a messed up kid who sees war as a game, not a internet gamer meme machine. He never once said "Noob." I'm glad you appreciate Lacus. I see a lot of people kinda shortchange her, but she's way smarter than people give her credit for. Once you know what to look for, you realize her intelligence and awareness were signaled early in the show. In the episode she's given back to ZAFT, Rau attempts to attack the Archangel during the truce, but Lacus immediately calls him on the line and threatens him if he does something dishonorable in front of the memorial representative (herself). She can slip into ditzy idol persona when she needs people's guards down, but when she needs to be forceful, she drops the act. There's so many little character moments that shine on repeated rewatches. Thanks for making this video and look forward to future stuff!

Gundam SEED was definitely one of those with a little of everything. Because of it, I can't say I hated it or loved it. However, I do remember that one scene where the Freedom was introduced and it is still one of my favorites. A lot of the music in the series is what makes it memorable. I struggle a little to build model kits, but I still love the ones from the SEED era. The Unicorns are 2nd and th Wing re-releases are a 3rd. I have a nice collection of Strikes/Freedoms. HG Freedom, HG Strike Freedom, MG Freedom 2.0, PG Strike Freedom, PG Strike Rogue, and PG Perfect Strike. I have a HG Destiny and an RG Force Impulse. I have a RG Freedom 2.0 and MGEX Strike Freedom coming in the next 2 weeks and I even preordered the Destiny Impulse.

Lacus Clyne is basically: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss

Some things I'd like to add to your retrospective is that the writing on Lacus is nearly sublime; being introduced as an airheaded pop-singing princess (looking at you disney and music industry) and then being revealed to be a brilliant and influential spokesperson advocating for peace and holding enough sway of soldiers to allow her through multiple defences and safeguards to the hanger where The Freedom was kept alluding to The Clyne Faction a few episodes prior to the proper reveal. Flay on the other hand; I had a totally different assumption for why she was transferred over from The Archangel, not only for propaganda but given what we learn about The Blue Cosmos Pilots in Seed Destiny about them being drugged-up, surgically enhanced and trained solely to be used as human weapons, I assumed that Flay would have been handed over to Blue Cosmos for the purpose of birthing/fostering more human weapons that would use her family name to bolster their status and be fast-tracked to active status within the military. Ands Kira; he does become rather infallible after receiving The Freedom but i rule that as him finally overcoming his ptsd arc, inability to come to terms with his bodycount, and the inner conflict he feels about fighting against other Coordinators (betraying his own kind as spoke of directly during Artemis Base) and becoming more resolved to fight without taking the lives of zaft/earth forces pilots.

I have a soft spot for characters like Flay and Yzak: people who bought into the cause because they're young, impressionable, and eventually hurt, but also don't really understand what their cause actually _does_ until they screw up BAD. Unfortunately, Seed tends to prefer adding in characters that don't have much reason to exist over developing the ones that might genuinely be interesting, which is how we got an antagonist who wants to nuke cities because mommy glared at him that one time. Gundam Seed seems to have a lot of elements that got transferred over to Gundam 00 though, so it's probably good that Seed was seen as a success despite its flaws.

Of course the voice actor for Rau Le Creuset is phenomenal. He's the voice of Griffith!!!

I’ve been binging all the retrospectives, so excited to watch this since SEED was my first series. Thank you for these!!

So fun fact Matt Hill Kira's first English VA would have the voice director kick him below the belt so he could be in real pain whenever Kira had to cry.

I just built and painted an EX model Moebius Zero a few weeks ago, one of my favorite MA designs ever. Honestly, SEED has some of the most awesome suit designs in the history of Gundam...

Was looking forward to this video and it did not disappoint. Seed was my first Gundam as well was one of my first anime that got me into anime, and while I am acutely aware of its many flaws I still have a big soft spot for this series. For the most part I don't take its faults too seriously and just have fun, laugh at the dumb stuff, and enjoy the OTT shenanigans. It was nice to see you give the series a fair shake instead of just mercilessly tearing it down as many have done ad infinitum. also the seed/destiny ost is absolute fire.

Ahh Igloo, my favorite part of the UC timeline! Ahh Ideon, the most "showed up and contributed nothing" series in SRW F Final and Alpha 3

Yes yes!!! This has made my week!! I have been sick at home with COVID. This gave me a lot of laughs and I'm still just barely half way through this video. I'm loving it thus far!!

9:41 Ayo, A Suikoden 2 Reference?!?? Man, I've been watching these Gundam retrospectives over the past weekend, but that alone is worth an instant subscription 😤👌

Here is a trivia related to the whole Kira's survival situation, and Astray ISNT a spin-off per se: Back in the days Sunrise was trying a "multimedia" approach with the show where it would, among other things, divide up important details like this into other media. And if you were in the environment back in the days, you would constantly be reminded through radio shows, magazines, VA interviews, staff interviews, booklets, and other peomotional materials that there are more to the story than the anime. The point is that u watch the show, and if u are curious as to how he survived, you can go get the manga tomorrow. The original Astray was always intended to be a companion piece with the anime; unlike other tie in mangas, the original Astray manga was serializing at the same time as the show. Pretty dumb idea all in all, and you can see that Sunrise never tried these multi-media projects again.

Gundam SEED Astray series provided some back explanation for most stuff not shown in the series. Aside from Rev Malchio, Lowe Guel from the Junk Guild has a hand in rescuing Kira. Unfortunately the series only had 2 OAV shorts existing aside from the manga and photobooks.

The series of all time, lads. Can't wait Oh yeah, they explain kira surviving the aegis bomb in the astray manga

He survived thanks to Lowe Guele in the manga. Apparently, Lowe used the Gerbera Straight to divert most of the force of the blast (Don't ask; even the characters in Seed Astray says he has the "Devil's Luck") and he took Kira to the Reverend's house. So yes, the infamous moment was explained in the manga. (Seed Destiny however, yeah..... you can blame that one on a combination of a writer's strike and control being relegated to a Kira fangirl)

Ocean dub does sound iffy at times but if nothing else, I think Rau's voice there fits him more than the new. It sounded sophisticated with an air of superiority which complemented his rants in the later episodes.

This is so nostalgic. Thank you for taking extra time and care and making sure this retrospective was both as thoughtful and enjoyable as possible

Concerning Kiras survival another explanation I've heard is that he simply managed to climb out of the cockpit at the very last moment and was sent flying by the force of the explosion. Pick your poison I guess, but personally I think this one makes more sense. After all, it's not the first time a gundam pilot survived being at ground zero to an explosion followed by a stupidly fatal fall (I'm looking at you Hero Yuy!), but with Kira being a coordinator... I actually have an easier time buying that it's possible.

Been looking forward to this! These retrospectives are very enlightening for a new fan like me who jumped in with G Witch to learn where to go next, already seen 79, 8th MS, and Zeta thanks to you XD

You know it's a good day when Retcon puts out another episode of the gundam retrospective! And at an hour in length? I'm eating good tonight boi!

"He's the worst character in Gundam named Orga" *cuts to Dearka* I see what you did there! My favorite Char clone will probably always be Harry Ord, but Rau is pretty high up there.

Fun fact Rau Le creuset HD version dub actor is Kevin Collins who voiced Griffith from berserk

Note: The Gundam SEED movie is *STILL IN PRODUCTION!!* The 20th anniversary, "Project Ignited", confirmed this.

People dont give the remaster dub enough credit, it is one of the best gundam dubs to date

I’ve been WAITING for this one. My fav Gundam since it aired

Awesome review. I had tried finding the original dub of Rau's rant recently because I loved his maniacal raving and was curious how the new one handled it, so I'm glad that it's good.

I generally agree with your assessment, SEED is not some unmissable classic but if you're in the mood for some fun and frenetic mech battles and aren't too turned off by the melodrama there's is enough done well to recommend it to new viewers. My own issue with SEED I think stems from Destiny. I just can't partition SEED from Destiny in my head. Destiny wasn't simply flawed or disappointing, it revealed and exacerbated all the issues implicit to SEED. Kira's one-note messianic characterization and how every character in his orbit is gradually overshadowed by him, the increasing levels of moustache-twirling evil by the setting's factions, the multiple levels of fanservice, and the excessiveness of literally everything ever. It started in SEED and definitely begins to stack up in Destiny, and it ultimately all works together to push me out of the Cosmic Era.

My personal favorite Gundam series. I've watched the original and the remastered, old dub and new dub and in Japanese. Personally I do like the old dub better. Name pronunciations really stroke a cord with me in the new one... especially when you listen to how names are pronounced in the Japanese version. This series also has my favorite Gundam the Freedom, favorite Gundam pilot Athrun and best girl Lacus. Looking forward to hearing your opinion on Destiny... it's... ahh... yeah..............................................

Let's go! I've been so ready for this retrospective! 💜

SEED is my first exposure to Gundam and it was aired although a bit later in mu country after Japan. It uses 0079 as base and go its own way later on. Call me crazy but, after few rewatches, Flay grew up on me. IMO, she's one of the best written character in the series. Her dynamics with Kira interest me more than Kira with Lacus. She's a spoiled child whose father never got to spend time with her properly especially during a war where everyone's busy and her mother passed away before the series proper and she's the only child. Her conversation with Natarle in the Dominion showed her character progression. She even shown concerned earlier when ask about Kira's whereabouts after the deadly duel with Athrun and doesn't want to be separated from the rest of Archangel crew in Alaska. Episode 15 of remaster is my favourite. Btw, Athrun, Lacus and Flay have something in common: their respective mothers died before the story starts and their respective fathers are higher ups of their respective governments except Cagalli because Uzumi isn't her biological and she and Kira were raised separately as protection. Kira was adopted by his uncle and his aunt, Caridad, which is Via, KnC's biological mother's younger sister. No, Via isn't a cold hearted mother as she begs Ulen, her husband and KnC's biological father to give Kira back when he took him out of her womb and put him into the artificial womb in order to create the perfect Coordinator. Another interesting thing is PLANTs, unlike Zeon is never occupied nor defeated. Technically the Coordinators already won by firing the GENESIS twice, once on the EA main fleet and another destroys the EA lunar base and with only one mass driver functioning in EA's hands, I doubt the victory is Earth's. To make matters worst, the Atlantic Federation (mighty USA stand-in. I mean, look at the Calamity, Forbidden and Raider, what are those reminded you of?) and the Eurasian Federation (Glorious mother Russia stand-in and the one who owns the fortress Artemis) are locked in a sort of Cold War situation long before the series start so EA is a fragile alliance that can shattered into pieces in any minute. Rau is an interesting one. Reason he wears the mask is who he is. He hate that face, the face of man who think he's rich enough to bribe the Grim Reaper and buy immortality. Cosmic Era questions humanity's quest for progress and its consequences. Rau is one of those consequence hence his nihilistic speech says it all about us. Btw he's also the one that able to troll Kira psychologically unlike a certain Rey. Cyclops system is no joke. EA used it TWICE. Once on the moon where Mu got the nickname Hawk of Endymion. The flaws are present and they should've keep the original Kira swing the sword into the Blitz in the remaster because that Kira is already a soldier and he just reacts accordingly to situation. Also, it's mind boggling how Cagalli, a Natural can have SEED mode. Wish the Astray girls live. Cagalli would be the commander type, sitting around planning, giving orders etc as that's how she raised in house of Attha. Ironically, the most radical anti-Coordinator nation, AF did had a Combat Coordinator program before they switch to the biological CPUs. It's long but it's my best thoughts on it. Edit: extras and probably some corrections *I get how Lowe saves Kira but it still doesn't add up, for me. Pause the scene and the Strike's phase shift armor and beam saber still active. Kira could have cut the remaining limbs, turn around the last moment and let the Aile pack and PSA absorbs the impact while said shutter activated. Also, the Aegis explosion is way too powerful as if as it's on reactor power. Either that or ZAFT found out a fail safe bomb is planted inside so it can be detonated should any pilots going rogue. *Lack of M1 Astray commander type. A commander variant is staple in Gundam so instead of Strike Rouge (Mu really need those spare parts), how about an Astray Commander? AI shouldn't be a new thing in Gundam, ALICE back in the 80's with Gundam Sentinel is an example. Not to mention Wing got Mobile Dolls. The BuCue, ZAFT would've turn it into a UGV and act as an attack dog and force multiplier for the Coordinators to make up for the lack of numbers. Cagalli would've benefit from such a prototype AI program in her unit to make up for her lack of experience and the Astray girls would've lived. Then there's educational background. Kira can build his own Gundam if he wants to and could develop an AI program for it or even remote control it. Cosmic Era got a ton of potential. If done right, it could've been the successor to UC.

I'm loving the new edit jokes. You've made me laugh with each one lol. The CoD one had me LMAO

FINALLY... Retcon is back & he brought a banger with him

I was waiting for this! I really enjoyed this so much! Gundam Seed is my favorite series overall, with my favorite character being Cagalli. It was really great to see how you fully enjoyed the series too!

Years after watching this show, i still remember how remarkable and truly outstanding rau lecruseit's dub va was. Especially in final episodes. Wow! That performance was jawdroppingly intense! Aside from him, lacus dub va was also so sweet and i loved the character even more.

I been waiting for you to do this one. Once again killing it with the toonami openings. Such great nostalgia

It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve watched Seed and Destiny. I remember the key bits but wanted a refresher before seeing freedom next month so I appreciate the videos.

Gundam SEED in an hour 04, and you haven't even touched SEED destiny yet. I am loving your channel.

Didn't know that Peter Cullen did a intro summarize of Gundam, it's so cool and fitting Also Murrue is the best Milf

I generally don't agree with people calling Kira a Mary Sue during the last ~15 eps - he may have renewed purpose and resolve, but he screws up real badly and loses a lot (including getting heavily damaged and almost dying/getting captured while distracted by Flay in the Escape Pod). Finding out that he's a product of extreme modification can't be good for his psyche, which only Lacus stabilizes him well enough to operate. Despite his efforts to stop the war, the war basically went to the logical conclusion and almost ended with Rau winning. Hardly anywhere near perfect. Frankly, a lot of the Jesus memes were retroactively applied after Destiny, which I definitely agree was a serious problem, and why I like rewatching SEED but not Destiny.

Really nice retrospective on pointing out the good and bad of the series. I am definitely looking forward to the next one! MSIGLOO is one of my favourites (despite the really bad facial expressions).

I just recently found your channel and I love your videos. I wanna say a huge thank you for adding footnotes for the songs you play during them.

Seed is a great ride, it has a lot of problems but it's one of my favorites. It my first Gundam and one of my favorite

thank youfor this! Seed was only the 2nd Gundam series that I ever saw, grabbing the Fan-Subs off of sharing sites during college. I absolutely Love Kira as a character, Idk why I do so much but He just really stuck a cord with me, the Freedom and its later upgrade are absolutely my favorites suits in all of Gundam so far ( I havent watched alot of the classics yet! I will be watching X on your recommend though!). I never thought that ANYTHING would replace the Deathscythe for me but there ya go LOL. For all of the ridiculousness of Seed Destiny and the fact that the main character just is dismissed and Athrun and Kira get center stage again, I still find it pretty enjoyable, even if its just to exist to let Kira be even more awesome! I really could care less, just give me more of him being the savior of the battlefield in his Angel of a Gundam!!

I can't unhear Optimus prime explaining who Kira is

I swear anytime Kira brings out the knives someone dies. He should’ve use it more lol.

Nice retrospective! I'm a little sad though that you didn't talk too much about the music from the series -which I think is stellar and really elevates it overall.

Oh s*** here we go again the K drama of the Gundam series lol 😂

I like the injection of your humor into the series overview! Really enjoyed this one despite not being a huge fan of SEED.

gundam seed is my goddamn childhood, i just actually finished watching it a few years ago after not having the full volume, i love gundam seed

Out of all the Gundam stuff I’ve been watching, I ruled out two from the equation: Gundam AGE since it just looked uninteresting, and SEED, since the first critique I heard about it was from Woolie on the Super Best Friendscast roasting the series for its terribleness. It also just looks super unappealing to me in the visuals department. I get that it’s their first time using digital animation but it still looks… ehhh. Here’s hoping you’ll notice this TED talk of mine and that I’ll pick up on some positive things from your video! Because I haven’t started it yet. Thanks for continuing this retrospective!

I was never able to get into SEED, I remember all of my friends being head over heels for it and I legit tried to see why. All I could really like was the suit designs, they were neat. Thanks for the video though! Keep up the good work!

ONE OF THE BEST RETROSPECTIVE CHANNEL.VERY EXCTED TO THE COMING GUNDAM SERIES AND OTHER ANIME.TOP NOTCH RESEARCH AND NARRATIONS

Seed seemed so controversial at the time but, now AGE, Iron Blood Orphans and maybe Witch of Mercury might be even more conversational depending on who you ask, things keep evolving I suppose. But no matter how much changes...Kira still annoys me at times, most of that's not till Destiny though. Wait...the new dub really calls Lacus like...Lacoos or something? WTF? BUT...with Flay I mean...at least she is not Katejina I guess.

In terms of animation SEED really looks weird, due to it being the first Gundam show digitally colored, there's some impressive sequences, but there's also tons of recycled shots/animations, even moreso than in previous shows. Not to mention that Hisashi Hirai's artstyle looks worse than it did in Infinite Ryvius, don't know if his designs look better in Fafner. It's kind of interesting how SEED kind of started a some sort of golden age for Sunrise mecha shows in the 2000s, at least commercially and in popularity, alongside Code Geass and Gundam 00

The recent Seed Movie trailer has me rewatching this. I just gotta say, loving the choice of music used in your narration background. The Front Mission games' OST especially.

Love your edits / skits you put in

Gundam X they were never on either side so they weren't splitting off. Wing having thr Gundam Pilots bounce around after they were ordered to stand down by Dr. 0, and the re-founding of the Sanc Kingdom, and the Peacemillion kinda work for that. Honestly Aeug would ALMOST count as this, espescially when the Gundam Team steal the Nahel Argama in ZZ but not quite.

All you have to know about the ocean dub is that kira was voiced by ed from ed, edd, and Eddy.

Loving the jokes that you're adding to these reviews! Looking forward to more of these in the future.

Fantastic editing! I'm stoked about MS Igloo!

There definitely isn’t a website called wcostream with all the gundam animes new and old as well as most other shows. They even have a mashed up dub version of destiny HD which is actually surprisingly good if you are into that kinda thing.

Another series that does the outro song over an ending of a episode really well is Iron Blooded Orphans IMO especially season 1

Extremely well reviewed and edited! Thoroughly enjoyed that. Subbed 👍

I loved Seed and Destiny, they may get some deserved hate, but ive watched the whole thing start to finish several times and itss definately my favorite series after anything UC, lol.

When i started watching Seed i had literally 0 Expectations, it was just the thing i could watch at that time (thanks C virus) But i ended having a Blast, personally i have no problem with reused animation, and the music..I knew Seed had Bangers as Op/Ed but the OST is so criminally good. Easily the most fun i've had watching a full gundam series (40+) Watched the entire thing in 1 week, including Destiny and Stargazer and honestly? Seed gets too much hate and it does NOT deserve it As always, thanks for the video, really looking forward to MS Igloo

Zaft is not a dictatorship or one party it has a parliament and a presidential council so they are more similar to Switzerland

One year for my birthday we played a drinking game where you take a drink every time Mr Freeze makes a cold pun. I was asleep before the halfway point

Randomly came across one of your videos and now I'm hooked. Also the music is a nice touch as a gamer born in the early 90s. Armored Core?! Legend of Dragoon?!! Bringing in the classics. Keep up the great work!

SEED was actually my first Gundam series. I still think it has a lot of good ideas, a lot of good aesthetic designs. It is a weird show though, that often just feels... awkward. My favorite thing about SEED (only slightly above the Gundam fighting game adaptation of the series I owned as a child for my GBA) was sparking a lifelong love of all the Gundam series. Even the less good ones.

To me it feels like the visual quality of the remaster is a bit all over the place, most of the budget went to the fan service. As for the audio, the quality may be better, but some lines were changed, which has an effect on the characters. For example, in the remaster when Kira finds that the Strike is only equipped with knives at the beginning, he is like "here we go!" while charges in. Originally he was in shock, like "this is all?!" If you want to see the original, I think your best bet is torrent. Also, after Destiny, there are two things you absolutely need to watch: Stargazer, which is a spinoff OVA series, and Cross Ange, which is a... tangent? It was made by the people behind Seed and is also kind of a parody of it. The cast includes an abrasive tomboy princess with short blonde hair, a bitch with long red hair, a guy who is immune to explosions and a blonde psycho behind all of it. And a lot of Seed references. And even more fan service.

Funny you mention how good the animation got during Kira and Athrun's final battle with one other. In the original release, all the most savage bits of Strike and Aegis tearing strips out of each other were simply still frames. The special edition movies actually animated those scenes and then the remaster used those (far more impactful) cuts.

Long day at work but seeing Retcon uploaded made it worth it

I think Seed was ok, it was destiny that was the problem. Then we went to astray and stargazer. While I have not seen astray, I did see stargazer and loved it.

48:08 Waltfeld's wife/girlfriend/Hamon equivalent DID die though.

Man, that Toonami bumper made that show look way better than it is.

Awesome! This was a great retrospective, thank you for all your awesome work! And then there’s Destiny. Looking forward to your review. Assuming you make it through it 😂

(Spoiler) Do you want to know how Kira survived blast nuke: go watch manga Gundam Seed Astray re:master.

For as much guff as SeeD gets (and will only get more as you move onto Destiny), I will *always* go to bat for the Mobile Suit designs (except for Providence Gundam. That one just plain looks silly). Theres something about their sharper jet-like angles (alongside stuff like the Packs) that makes them stand out amongst AU suits.

Looking forward to your take on the Unicorn show. :) These retrospectives are great.

By the way Kira getting out of the strike during his battle with the Aegis is explained in the Gundam Seed of astray manga and the Gundam Seed manga adaptation, though they are each explained slightly differently. Either the protagonist of Gundam seed astray deflected most of the blast using his own gundam's weapon and then pulled Kira from the cockpit before the seat and controls started burning or Kira crawled out through the damaged cockpit door and got to a far enough distance where the explosion only pushed him back. In either case he's brought two Reverend malkio by the protagonist of Gundam seed astray and he takes him to the plants from there.

If I'm not mistaken the Rau VA from the dub you showed also played Griffith in Berserk