Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny ~upcoming stuff~

Originally Posted by jouhou

I see SEED Mode as something similar to New-Type.

Except that Newtypes didn't have a "mode". They were Newtypes all the time (state of being, rather than a mode). Morosawa wasn't much of a writer, so she and Fukuda never really bother explaining a lot of the stuff. It's similar to the "bio-sensor" in Zeta Gundam. Never explained, and written out of the Gundam continuity after Zeta and in the third Zeta movie (or at least, that's what I hear). That and Fukuda confirms that there are a couple of Newtypes left around the CE universe. Flaga being one, in particular. And apparently Kira, too, if Destiny is to be believed.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by ms-07

Coordinators are supposed to be the newtypes, except well there's millions of them rather than a handful.

Not really. The idea that Coordinators are supposed to be newtypes hearkens back to the idea of Enhanced Humans (or Cyber-Newtypes, if you prefer). Real Newtypes were different. Basically, Newtypes were supposed to be pretty much unstoppable if used in war. ZAFT is strong, but not unstoppable.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by hikarub

I still don't see how 3, 15-min, episodes are gonna do this show any justice....There's a lot of content in this series.....

What content?

They've developed these MS descriptions for Seed and Destiny, too, but didn't include them in the shows. Just the mobile suit content is almost entirely unimportant. The important characterizations can be explained in character dialogue in about 5 minutes. The unimportant characterizations have habitually been left out. So far, there is very little actual show content being described.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

While not complete, this is an intro to the wide world of Gundam. You will definitely want to check out some of the online guides and whatnot for the rest.

The original Mobile Suit Gundam series was set in the Universal Century (UC) calendar. The numbering more or less coincided with the actual calendar (First Gundam aired in like '78 or '79 and was set in UC 0079). Most Gundam series are set in the UC universe. This includes:

Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Mobile Suit ZZ (Double Zeta) Gundam
Char's Counterattack
V Gundam
F91 movie
08th MS team
MSG 0080: War in the Pocket
MSG 0083: Stardust Memory
etc

There are quite a few that I've left out, including other series/manga/novels/etc. At any rate, the first 4 on my list there were done by the creator of Gundam (Yoshiyuki Tomino) while many of the other UC works were done by other people. They have varying levels of quality (in writing, animation, whatever). Point is that most Gundam series/works are set in the UC universe. Gundam accounts for a serious chunk of Bandai's revenue/profits, and they'll be milking this puppy for a long time. Because of the long association with UC, Bandai is also trying to bring new fans into the UC universe (see new Zeta movies).

If you want to get into UC Gundam, start with the first series (Mobile Suit Gundam) and watch Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack. These will give you the "big" picture in terms of what's going on. Some of the other series/OVAs/movies (like 0083) are pretty good and other's (like ZZ) are not. Your mileage will vary. But these series will also give you the basic grounding for any Gundam series.

Around the mid '90s, 3 new Gundam series came out that were set in alternate universes. These were a mix of homages to the original series and bizarre new things. They all assumed a minimal amount of familiarity with the Gundam universe and can be watched independently.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam (FC universe "Future Century"?)
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (AC universe "After Colony")
Mobile Suit Gundam X (AW universe "After War")

Gundam Wing is more or less a re-telling of the original series. G Gundam is a "fighting" anime done with gundams, and Gundam X is more of a "what-if" version of the original series.

Tomino himself came back and did another Gundam series: Turn A Gundam. Though technically an alternate universe, it's hinted strongly that it was a way of tying all the previous series together. Turn A is set in the CC (correct century) universe set far in the future. This series can also be watched independently of the others.

Finally, we come to Gundam Seed. Seed is yet another alternate universe (CE, or Cosmic Era universe). It is basically the original series done over again with Bishounen characters and lots more gundams than the original series (which had 1). To be fair, a few new twists were added, but the basic plot flow is very similar to the original series. Seed can be watched independently of the others.

Gundam Seed Destiny is obviously a sequel to Seed. You will probably want to watch Seed before Destiny, though with all the flashbacks in Destiny (a theme common to the Fukuda, it seems), you might not be missing much. A sequel movie has been announced for the Seed universe.

And of course, Bandai will continuing putting out new stuff in the UC universe, like the MS IGLOO series.

That's a "brief" intro. There are definitely sites with as much (probably too much) information on Gundam as you could possibly want. I suggest starting with Wikipedia. Though there are some fanboy Wikipedia pages with false/misleading info, these are relatively few and getting fewer.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by lightgem

Thanks a bunch Hazelguy and Antibob ^_^, those are really informative. Despite the fact that everybody is so hyped about Seed Destiny, I guess I'll be watching the earlier series first. I love to put together Gundam models, I wanna know what I'm putting. Again guys, appreciate it.

I don't know if everybody is "hyped" about Destiny. It was really a disappointing series. Actually, it was flat-out bad unless you are some obsessed Seed fanboy.

Everybody is a little anxious, though, about the OVA (Stargazer) that's coming out over the next couple months. Definitely watch Seed first or the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

I was speaking idiomatically.