"Kidô senshi Gundam Seed" (2002) TV series 2002-2003

Creators:

Yoshiyuki Tomino
Hajime Yatate

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

5 October 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In the end, there can be only one victor.

Plot:

The discovery of an advanced model of combat mecha on their space colony throws a young man and his friends into involvement in an interplanetary war as the crew of a powerful fighting ship.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Robot | Compassion | Genetic Engineering | Cult Favorite

Cast

 (Series Cast Summary - 73 of 101)

Ted Cole	...	Ray Yuki / ... (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Brian Dobson	...	Martin Dacosta (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Adam Henderson	...	Leodnir Kisaka (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Fred Henderson	...	Ulen Hibiki (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Jocelyne Loewen	...	Asagi Caldwell (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Alison Matthews	...	Ezalia Joule / ... (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Scott McNeil	...	Gerard Garcia / ... (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
John Novak	...	Uzumi Nara Athha (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Rebecca Shoicet	...	Mayura Labatt (50 episodes, 2002-2003)
Soichiro Hoshi	...	Kira Yamato (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Akira Ishida	...	Athrun Zala (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Naomi Shindô	...	Cagalli Yula Athha / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Kotono Mitsuishi	...	Murrue Ramius / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Rie Tanaka	...	Lacus Clyne (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Mwu La Fllaga (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Houko Kuwashima	...	Natarle Badgiruel / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Toshihiko Seki	...	Raww Le Kleuze / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Akira Sasanuma	...	Dearka Elthman / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Mami Matsui	...	Nicol Amarfi (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Takayuki Inoue	...	Tolle Koenig (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Megumi Toyoguchi	...	Miriallia Haww (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Yasuhiro Takato	...	Kuzzey Buskirk (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Tetsu Shiratori	...	Ssigh Argyle / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Takanori Nishikawa	...	Miguel Aiman (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Isshin Chiba	...	Arnold Neumann / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Yasuhiko Kawazu	...	Ades (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Shigeru Shibuya	...	Jackie Tonomura / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Michael Adamthwaite	...	Yzak Joule (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sharon Alexander	...	Erica Simmons (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Kinryû Arimoto	...	Patrick Zala (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Lisa Ann Beley	...	Eileen Canaver / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Don Brown	...	Sigel Clyne (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Trevor Devall	...	Mu La Flaga (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Michael Dobson	...	Fredrik Ades / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Brian Drummond	...	Andrew Waltfeld / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Andrew Francis	...	Muruta Azrael (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ron Halder	...	Sutherland (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Simon Hayama	...	Chandra (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Matt Hill	...	Kira Yamato (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Nobuyuki Hiyama	...	Muruta Azrael (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Jonathan Holmes	...	Marco Morassim (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Vivian Hsu	...	Aisha (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Minoru Inaba	...	William Sutherland (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Kikuko Inoue	...	Caridad Yamato (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sarah Johns	...	Juri Wu Nien / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Andrew Kavadas	...	Patrick Zala (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Gabe Khouth	...	Nicol Amarfi (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Masayo Kurata	...	Mayura Labatt (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sachi Matsumoto	...	Asagi Caldwell (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Keith William Miller	...	Kuzzey Buskirk / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Shunichi Miyamoto	...	Shani Andras (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Vanessa Morley	...	Cagalli Yula Athha (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Toshihiko Nakajima	...	Kojiro Murdock (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Tôru Ôkawa	...	Uzumi Nara Attha (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ryôtarô Okiayu	...	Andorew Waldfeld (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Mark Oliver	...	Rau Le Creuset (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Philip A. Pacaud	...	Neumann (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ward Perry	...	Kojiro Murdock (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Tony Sampson	...	Miguel Aiman (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Yuuko Satou	...	Juri Wu Nien (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Matt Smith	...	Jackie Tonomura / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Tabitha St. Germain	...	Birdy / ... (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Chantal Strand	...	Lacus Clyne (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Brad Swaile	...	Dearka Elsman (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Bill Switzer	...	Sai Argyle (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Katsumi Toriumi	...	Dalida Roe Laha Chandra II (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Andrew Toth	...	Clotho Buer (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Brendan Van Wijk	...	Pal (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sam Vincent	...	Athrun Zala (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Michiyo Yanagisawa	...	Erica Simmons (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Hiro Yuuki	...	Clotho Buer (48 episodes, 2002-2003)
Tomokazu Seki	...	Yzak Jule (45 episodes, 2002-2003)
Yôsuke Akimoto	...	Sigel Clyne (44 episodes, 2002-2003)

Also Known As:

Gundam Seed (International: English title) (short title)
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:25 min (50 episodes) | Japan:50 min (4 specials) | Japan:5 min (1 episode)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:PG (some episodes) | Canada:14+ (TV rating) | USA:TV-Y7 (cut version) | South Korea:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) (VHS/DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Canada:14

Company:

Sunrise

Trivia:

Cagalli, Fllay and Lacus, the three female leads of the series, only ever exchange 1 line of dialogue to each of the other two throughout the series' 50-episode run.

Quotes:

Natarle Badgiruel: In theses conditions, we hit our own machines too!
Muruta Azrael: Who cares if we hit our own machines? They have Trans-Phase armor, don't they?

Movie Connections:

Spin off Kidô senshi Gundam Seed MSV Astray (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Believe

Horrible "farmers" killed a potentially great "Seed".

Over-hyped, overly long, over-the-top and overboard in every single aspect.

The "seed" that would eventually sprout into "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed" had so much potential. It was produced from a pedigree of award winning repute, combining the successful elements from the previous Gundam series into one show.

-The familiar premise of the original Gundam 0079 following a rag tag bunch of refugees and military personnel in a ship. Among them is the main character who pilots the titular Gundam with uncanny know-how.

-The strong character drama and a fully developed romantic subplot of the OVAs like 0080, 0083 and 08th Ms team.

-Philosophical ramblings, catchy J-pop and beautifully attractive character designs from Gundam Wing

-Flashy mecha from G Gundam

-intense combat sequences of Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack.

My list could go on. They even threw in some 9/11 terrorist attack analogies and the ongoing debate on genetic engineering. Cool.So how did a show combining all the great elements of its predecessors turn out so flat and uninspired?

For starters, the "farmers" in charge of nurturing the seed into the full grown plant, aka the creative team, pushed those elements too far. For example, They wanted "character drama", and they pushed the "drama" to the point of absurdity where every episode would have at least one character breaking down into tears. After a while the "sadness" starts to feel "forced"; like the director is trying his darnedest to FORCE the audience to cry and feel sad for the characters short of sticking an onion into the viewers' eyes.

The characters are rather "give and take". You got some really likable ones in the form of Muu Laflagga and Athrun Zala, some stock one dimensional characters like Rau le Creuset(which BTW is a huge disappointment in the history of masked Gundam antagonists) and then you have the downright terrible characters like Fllay Alaster and Kira Yamato. The characters do develop but in a way that defies logic. I lose count of the many "huh?" moments in regard to the characters' courses of action. This show seems to sacrifice the political and philosophical aspects of a war story in order to tell a more character centered tale, which i found to be another huge disappointment. Too much "heart" and not enough "head".

Apparently their idea of "character development" is to put the characters into as many heartrendingly sad situations as possible. Once is great, twice is fine, three times is pushing it a little but every other episode is GOING OVERBOARD. Honestly, the only redeeming characters plots was the relationship between Muu Laflagga and Rau le creuset. I could have been entertained if the show focused on them but sadly, it chose to focus on others.

The designs for the characters also do not help much. It is like the designer picked out what he thought audience would regard as an attractive male and female face and then just switch the eyes and hair color around to create the different characters. Honestly, 90% of the teenage cast HAVE THE SAME FACE. Yes they look attractive, but they all look the same; like every teen in Gundam Seed underwent cosmetic surgery to have the same attractive face.

Created in 2002 by a veteran animation studio and drawn and colored digitally, one would think that more time and effort would go into the animation thanks to the cost and time saving convenience of doing the art via computer. But NO! Character movement is stiff, mecha hardly move as much as "float about in a cool pose", and the series is plagued by repeated scenes and overuse of stock footage. The art, though detailed, is covered in some of the most bright and gaudy looking colors ever seen in a mecha anime. Everything from the spaceships to the backgrounds and even the weapons of war is rendered in a cheerful pastel color palette that clashes jarringly with rather mature storyline and themes. The combat scenes seem more obsessed with giving flashy displays of power than actual combat.

BUT GUESS WHAT? The creative team apparently thinks that Teenagers seem to like all this stuff. Teenagers like overly sappy tear jerking drama. They go ape over their attractive character designs that they can fantasize over no matter how stale or derivative they are. Oh and they absolutely love flashy colorful things. Hence gundam seed's obsession in making its superficial features as attractive as ever and downplays the deeper aspects of storyline and underlying themes.

In the end, Gundam seed is like a plant that only produces beautiful lush leaves but no flowers or fruit at all. It is great to look at on a surface level but everything else gets buried under all the fluff. Your casual superficial teenage viewer would no doubt regard this as the best gundam series ever. There is even ample amounts of catchy J-pop to bob your head to.

I would have given the series only 5/10 but seeing as it was the first Gundam series i ever watched, an extra 1 point is in order. Just a grateful gesture to Gundam seed for showing me that there are better Gundam series out there.