Post by drowningwax on Mar 3, 2008 23:44:51 GMT -5
It's getting harder and harder for me to watch Gundam for the story. Honestly, my fan loyalty remains solely for the mono-eyed mecha. (Sadly, the ones in 00 kind of suck.)
My problem is a problem that a boatload of anime have these days - artificial angst.
And most of it stems from the original Gundam. In a time when every mecha pilot was a cocky womanizer or a self-sure hero... or a plucky little boy, it was NEW and invigorating to have an unexpected hero who didn't actually want to fight.
But now, every other show is like, "Oh, I have this TRAGIC story that makes me more emo than an emo kid, but somewhere around the 40th episode I'll have to face real loss and suddenly become a strong and endearing character." When the truth is, they don't have to be angstier than a 16 year-old gay boy living in Salt Lake City. (My gay friend thought that was a hilarious metaphor, for the record.)
I just... don't get it. I want to see real people. Garroad was awesome and his angst was minimal. Hell, he had a reason to be angsty - he was surrounded by newtypes. And he still beat the crap out of them.
That said, Gundam 00's take appears to be, "Well if ONE angsty teenager is cool, what if we had FOUR of them?"
The one thing that keeps it from being ruined is that while all of them are angsty, their combined angst is only just equal to Kira's. Which is almost redeemable.
I love some of the secondary characters though.
But yeah, still basically watching to see the references and allusions to past series. And because the psychopathic new pilots amuse me.
My problem is a problem that a boatload of anime have these days - artificial angst.
And most of it stems from the original Gundam. In a time when every mecha pilot was a cocky womanizer or a self-sure hero... or a plucky little boy, it was NEW and invigorating to have an unexpected hero who didn't actually want to fight.
But now, every other show is like, "Oh, I have this TRAGIC story that makes me more emo than an emo kid, but somewhere around the 40th episode I'll have to face real loss and suddenly become a strong and endearing character." When the truth is, they don't have to be angstier than a 16 year-old gay boy living in Salt Lake City. (My gay friend thought that was a hilarious metaphor, for the record.)
I just... don't get it. I want to see real people. Garroad was awesome and his angst was minimal. Hell, he had a reason to be angsty - he was surrounded by newtypes. And he still beat the crap out of them.
That said, Gundam 00's take appears to be, "Well if ONE angsty teenager is cool, what if we had FOUR of them?"
The one thing that keeps it from being ruined is that while all of them are angsty, their combined angst is only just equal to Kira's. Which is almost redeemable.
I love some of the secondary characters though.
But yeah, still basically watching to see the references and allusions to past series. And because the psychopathic new pilots amuse me.