Ranked #225

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Important: Forgive my english please. As a french person it's not very easy for me.

Zeta wasn't my first introduction to gundam as a tv serie, but when I sat down and watched the first episode, I already have the feeling that this serie was gonna be great. Boy, I was right!! Zeta Gundam kicks out seven years after the original story (I will not go far in the plot). A group under the Federation control, Titans, are created to hunt down Zeon remnants. They opressed the spacenoids and a rebel group rise to deliver the spacenoids from the opression. The AEUG was born.

Story: Although the story seems not necessarily interesting on paper, it surely the greatest story of the gundam serie. I respected Yoshiyuki Tomino for all his great work on the Gundam franchise. This story doesn't waste any episodes and the plot always moves. In the middle of the serie, they introduced a new group and although it changed the Grysp conflict, the final battle is still AEUG vs Titans not like an other show when it's evil organisation of the week (Gundam Wing).
So for the story, a solid 10/10

Art: It's 80's japanese art, so you like it or not. But Zeta broke the "gouffy" mechanical design that was the original gundam serie. A lot of mobile suit are awesome looking (Zeta Gundam, Gundam MK.II, Gabthley, Baund Doc, Byalant, Gaplant, Palace Athene, The O, Barzam, Marasai, Hambrabi and even the freaking Psyco Gundam MK.II).
Art: 9/10

Sound: The music has not necessarily the greatest sound system, but God the music is awesome!! There are some track that I have on my Ipod ( Into the gravity well, A crash!, Resonance and Fleet battle). Really an awesome soundtrack.
Sound: 10/10

Character: A large cast of characters that you hate (Katz) and love (Emma). The characters are more adults looking that the previous serie. I like almost every single character in the show, even if they are real bastards like Scirocco and Yazan. Haman Karn will be my favorite female character in the anime history. Emma was really likeable and a skill pilot in the same time. Kamille as a lead character was freakin' good. He had the good part of Amuro and not his bad part like "I don't want to pilot the Gundam anymore" and he had even enough of guts to punch Char twice if I remember correctly. Katz... watch the show and you will understand why I hate him.
Character: 10/10

Enjoyment: Wow!!! When you get into the story, you cannot stop watching it. Every episode is a rollercoaster ride and it's not the same rollercoaster each episode. Sometime the show is depressing (not like victory gundam although) and dark, but hey, for the best fortunately.
Enjoyment 9/10

Overall: You shall watch this show. There is no reason not to watch it except if... no there is no reason at all! It's not an obligation, but I recommanded to watch the first show to understand the situation a little bit. If you don't want to watch the first serie, it's not a major problem, but don't expect to understand everything. That's it for me, see you next time.
Overall: 10/10

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Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a show that did many things excellently and had the potential to be not just the best show in the Gundam metaseries but one of the pinnacles of anime in the 1980s. Zeta introduces many memorable and well fleshed-out original characters. Unfortunately, as the cast for the show began to bloat, many major and minor characters got lost in the shuffle and had their sub-plots resolve poorly. The handling of these characters and the plot particularly towards the end of the series are what keep this otherwise great anime from being one of the all-time classics.

Set some eight years after the end of Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam tells the story of a new conflict between the Earth and space with a new cast of characters. However, nearly everyone who survived the end of the original MSG makes an appearance in Zeta Gundam, with varying degrees of importance. Having seen the original show definitely helps a viewer understand those return characters better and why we should care about them. However, I believe it is also possible to see Zeta without having seen the original series and still be able to appreciate it.

Our main character is Kamille Biden, a rebellious and short-fused teenager who winds up joining a group of rebels looking to overthrow the government. Kamille is very sensitive about people saying he has a girl's name, so don't make fun of him for it. Kamille has to be one of the best main stars of a Gundam series, because he isn't just some generic leading man with a strong sense of justice, like we see in many series. His anger issues put him in many socially awkward situations, yet he still can care deeply about people around him. He fulfills a wish that many of us have, to take authority figures who are being jackasses and punch them in the face. He does it many times, and even if Kamille is something of a brat by acting that way, you can't help but applaud him. Over the course of the series, Kamille goes through many personal conflicts which make him grow as a person. He must decide what to fight for, how to save people close to him, and what it means to be a grown up. One of the running themes of Zeta is how war forces children into adults, and how if a soldier doesn't act like an adult, everyone is put in danger. I don't really do Kamille justice with my description, but he is a great, emotional character, much more relatable than Amuro who was kind of an all-around jerk.

Other characters besides Kamille get deep personal analysis over the course of the series. It's impossible not to get emotionally invested in many of these characters and their personal stories, which is why it's disappointing that many of them disappear without and proper resolution. Without giving away too much, there is one character who gets enough screen time in the first half of the series to almost qualify as a co-main character. A lot of time is spent on his personal growth and the relationships with the people around him and how they shape his personality and his motivation as a soldier. He also repeatedly states his grand goal in life, and if he did achieve that goal, it would have changed the entire outcome of the show in a major way. However, in the second half of the show, he barely appears and doesn't grow anymore as a character at all. Eventually, he makes his last appearance in the second to last episode, but all in all he ended up accomplishing nothing. Because he never did anything, he served almost no purpose in the show. All of the time spent building up his character was for nothing. It never went anywhere, and his primary goal was ignored entirely. (That paragraph was hard to write without giving spoilers)

Other characters also end up making a strong mark but then disappear for 20 or so episodes because the large cast has to battle for screentime. This not only made it hard to properly pace the sub-plots around these characters, but it made the show struggle to find its focus at times.

The art, at times, looks very stylish for an 80s anime. The OP in particular looks particularly stunning when compared to the original MSG. Some of the characters look better than others. The designs of the mobile suits set a new benchmark, one that other series have since met or exceeded, but they definitely look great for the mid-80s. I would say that towards the second half of the season, some of the pencilwork got a bit sloppy looking. I don't usually look out for that kind of stuff, but the decline in art quality at times was enough for me to notice it anyway.

Overall, the story of the Gryps conflict and the tremendous characters involved in it make this a show that any fans of dramatic anime should be able to appreciate. From just the first few episodes, Kamille is thrown into an emotional and tragic rollercoaster, and from that point you will be hooked. Along the way, you will be surprised and provoked by the actions taken by well-written characters like Reccoa Londe, Four Murasame, Char Aznable, Sarah Zabiarov, and others. Zeta is not just a show that is worthy of being part of the Gundam legacy; it heightens the reputation of Gundam as a serious war storytelling anime metaseries with its very existence. Just the plot and story are enough to make it a great show, but the mishandling of certain characters and an ending that is a slap in the face forces the finished product down a couple of notches. read more

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (A) – my favorite Gundam series. This direct sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam (0079) is a coming-of-age, giant/real robot masterpiece. Sure the show is old (I never got to watch it until the highly affordable 2 disc sets started coming out around 2005-06), but it can’t be punished for that.

The story is told well, with some primer not necessary, but very helpful to help understand whom some characters are and where they come from. Amazingly, for a series that spans 50 eps, they never let anything meander too long. It constantly changes and evolves as new characters are introduced or leave the show. The action is great and happens often with all the characters’ lives on the line. Honestly, you don’t know who is going to die or when.

It also has some of the best characters you’ll ever find in an anime. Kamille may be annoying, arrogant and whiny in the beginning, but he makes more progress during the series than you’ll ever see any character make in an anime. Scirocco and Haman also make up a memorable and legendary cast of characters. The Titans are the general antagonists of the series and they are on a whole other level of ruthlessness. Most terrorist groups wish they were this evil and powerful. This adds another dimension to the action, as often the horrible and disgusting things they do to win get you rooting even harder for the other side.

Any mecha series, especially one this long, needs great action. Zeta does not disappoint. The action is frequent and often edge of your seat. Once you finally learn that any of your favorite characters could go at anytime, it takes on a much more tense and suspenseful atmosphere. It is done very well considering the limitations at the time. The monster/mecha of the week formula that was so present in the shows of the era appears here as well. But it is not done in such an overtly gimmicky way as the original Gundam series.

The sound for the series is tough to judge, simply because the series is so old. And that may leave you a bit put off by the dated music. It certainly does fit the show. One of the more controversial things about the American release of the series is the opening theme. Apparently, they couldn’t use the original theme in the opening credits for whatever reason, so they used some background music from the original soundtrack. In my opinion, it fits the series far better than the original theme. But thankfully, it wasn’t thrown away and they still included the original opening in the main menu for each and every disc.

Perhaps, the most infamous thing about this series is its ending. This series is dark, dark, dark, often to the point where during a marathon viewing, (maybe 5 –10 episodes) you may have to take a break. And the ending tops it all. It may be the biggest cliffhanger and possibly the most shocking ending for an anime. I almost guarantee that this series will leave an impression on you.

Note: it was VERY difficult for me to review this series b/c it was one of the first anime I had seen from that era. So I base my review and my personal scores on my own experience and personal enjoyment. And not so much emphasis on the technical merits of the show. And finally, if you are viewing the series for the first time: "Avoid ending spoilers at all costs!"
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Even though this is a direct sequel to the first Gundam series, it primarily relies on a new cast of characters while other major characters like Amuro are now secondary and has a very small but significant appearance as well as Kai Shiden and Hayato Kobayashi. Despite this, little to no previous experience of the first Gundam series isn’t required to really follow the story though it is highly recommended to mostly understand Char or Quattro or whatever you want to call him. This series has a reputation amongst Gundam fans as being dark and gritty, and I can’t deny that. But I believe that whatever is presented should not be found offensive since there is meaning to what happens in this series and helps progress it, but I don’t think that this quality alone should define the series.

Camille in comparison to Amuro in the first series is more idealistic and wants to fight because he hates the Titans and somewhat out of spite of his home life, while with Amuro, he just felt forced into the situation. And I think this series was what also helped make Char more appealing to the hardcore Gundam fan base because of the use of his character and I think his role really reflects what people think of him in real life as well. The Titans, the main antagonists are despicable and truly people you can hate. In a lot of animes, there are time you can sympathize and relate to their main villains, while in this anime, you really can’t for the most part though there are some notable exemptions like Four Murasame.

Of course being a 1986 release, the quality of the animation won’t really be that appealing in a modern sense. Rather than pointing out the obvious, there are really little to no flaws with the design and execution of the battles. Granted the color schemes of some of the robots are very flash in a 1980s sense, but I felt with the recent release of the trilogy, it shows that the quality of the design is still timeless like how recent game releases based on the first Gundam still demonstrates this quality in relation to that series. The costumes aren’t as spandex looking like in the first one and are more loose and realistic to military code, and the frames of the majority of the new mobile suits presented are sleek, retro, articulate, and tight.

The designs of the mobile suits also perfectly reflect the nature of the battles being fast paced and agile which is very true with Char’s Hyaku-Shiki, a mobile suit that really compliments his piloting skills.

My only exposure to the dub to this day despite owning the DVDs is playing the English version of Gundam vs Zeta Gundam for the PlayStation 2. The dub was intolerable and none of the actors from the first season reprise their roles who I thought were good. That’s all I have to say the dub. The Japanese track as most anime elitists and fans would naturally of course say is much superior. Sorry to sound like that, but I just think that’s how it is. Characters from the first Gundam series who come back reprise their roles such as Ikeda Shuuichi as Char, Hirotaka Suzuoka as Captain Bright, and Furuya Tooru as Amuro. But for the new characters, there are some excellent additions. Narutards to casual fans and new fans of Naruto will probably enjoy the charismatic and captivating performances of Inoue Kazuhiko the voice of Kakashi as Jerrid and Ohtsuka Houchu the voice of Jiraiya as Yazan. Inoue still retains a youthful voice, but in comparison to his role of Kakashi he is more emotional and naïve. Ohtsuka’s voice is still recognizable but as Yazan he is very sadistic.

And last, I’ll address the voice of Camille, Tobita Nobuo, also the voice of Tomo from Fushigi Yuugi, Domon from Flame of Recca, and Uribatake from Nadesico, is very multi-talented in his own right. Even though he is more adult in those roles, in this one, he is convincing as a confused and enraged teenager in relation to his situations. Moving on, the music is very energetic and captivating in a 1980s sense. It captures a lot of its atmosphere of romance, war, and hope. I especially feel this with the 2nd opening theme, Mizu no hoshi he ai wo komete. The ending theme hoshi no zora believe is very campy cutsey but I think it’s used to wind the audience down after seeing something crazy in the series. I don’t know, but I like it. The movie trilogy relies of Gackt for their soundtrack. The songs are good, but I’m not a huge fan of Gackt personally. The background music is very intense and appropriate to the gritty atmosphere of the series, which you’ll have to hear to believe, or play the Gundam vs Zeta Gundam game itself which is also appropriately used.

As you can dispute on a certain number of Gundam series, fans will not only argue that this is the best Gundam series, but one of the best animes ever which is something I can personally agree with. I strongly suggest you watch the TV series over the movie trilogy which I personally found disappointing which is another discussion for another time. But anyway, I think the story is very captivating and comedy and romance is used when appropriate. You can really truly feel the characters. The designs and battle sequences are high octane and the music is just incredible.
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Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is, of course, the second installment in the Gundam franchise, so first off watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam beforehand. That should go without saying. Comparatively, this sequel not only lives up to its predecessor, but even surpasses it.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam's tale is set seven years in the future after its prequel, and quite a bit has happened since then. In the One Year War we watched a brutal war between the Earth Federation Forces and the Principality of Zeon. Now, we watch as a tyrannical sect of the Earth Federation, known as the Titans, and the Anti-Earth Union Group, a faction of rebels, duke it out. In the beginning of the series, we're sort of just quickly tossed into the middle of things, but as the story progresses things make more sense and it turns out fine.

Zeta's story is also a bit more mature, and becomes more developed than Mobile Suit Gundam's. There really is not a centralized antagonist, like Char in MSG. You could consider this a slight downfall, or perhaps even an improvement, because it's questionable whether or not Zeta would have felt a bit too dependent on the MSG story. So maybe you will feel like you're missing something, or you might be glad that it isn't just a rehash. But, as I was saying, the plot gets developed nicely as more obstacles, alliances, secrets, and politics are involved. Speaking of which, Zeta does an exceptional job at building up political battles, that aren't too simple, but that are still easily followable. Overall, Zeta tells a brilliant story that beats MSG's.

Now, here we go with the art and sound. My ratings on these are actually based on today's standards. If it was still the '80's, I'm positive the animation would be worthy of a perfect 10. But to still be given a 7 two decades later is remarkable. One aspect of the animation that I really liked was the nice use of camera splitting, for lack of a better name. It's something that isn't very popular in today's animation techniques I'd say. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when we have one image on the screen, and then part of it is split to display another image, or something pretty popular is when the screen is just cut in two with different images on top and bottom. Zeta definitely utilizes the best animation techniques available for its time.
Now, the sound is actually outstanding and very impressive. Most of the background tunes are made of magnificent orchestral pieces that capture perfect moods. The sound effects are of course a huge improvement from MSG, and they actually don't sound old at all or anything. The opening and ending themes are similar to the background music; really nicely made instrumental compositions. The voice acting is pretty much standard voice acting.

Now where to start with our Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam characters. This time the story follows a young man by the name of Kamille Bidan. He becomes a member of the AEUG aboard the Argama ship and is a valuable Gundam pilot. Like Amuro Ray, he is a Newtype. In the beginning he is somewhat of a whiny and foolish kid, but, no doubt about it, this boy suffers much more than Amuro did as an assortment of tragedies occur throughout the series. I'd say his character as the lead protagonist gets better developed than Amuro's as well. Speaking of Amuro, just about every character from the White Base crew have appearances. Some are more important than others, but it is nice seeing how the crew has all matured. Bright Noa and Char Aznable, better known as Quattro Bajeena in Zeta, are main characters as well, and Char himself gets much more developed as well. The characters of course deal with deaths, relationships, switching alliances, intense battles, and the like.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam absolutely does not disappoint in enjoyment. Every episode is action-packed with awesome mecha and space warfare. It is a superb and fun watch all the way through, and it totally lives up to the greatness of its prequel. It is a joy to follow and gets seriously epic at the right moments.

Overall, it is remarkable how well Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was pulled off after the spectacular Mobile Suit Gundam. Pulling off another marvelous show that not only lives up to, but surpasses the first is hard to do, but here it is incredibly done. read more

After I became addicted to the Gundam universe, there was one series I was dying to see next, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. This series was to original continuation of the Original Mobile Suit Gundam. The anime was made during the early 80's by the most famous anime director Yoshiyuki Tomino (who also Directed Mobile suit ZZ Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counter Attack, Brain Powered, Invincible Superman Zambot 3, and many more).

The story takes place seven years after the war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation. The Earth Federation creates a task force called the Titans to destroy any Zeonic remnants. But eventually the tyrannical Titans begin to take control of the colonies, thereby oppresing the Spacenoids once again. A rebel task force made of Earth Federation and Zeon members alike called the AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Government) assault the Titans in an attempt to stop the Titans once and for all.

Then comes in young Kamille Bidan, who hates the Titans and his father as well. He eventually meets Quattro Bejeena (aka Char Aznable) and helps him steal his father's prototype Gundam MK 2 series. Kamille becomes a member of the Argama crew and pilots the Gundam MK 2, to help the rebels. Eventually Kamille looses both his mother and father to the Titans and promises revenge for their deaths.

Kamille goes through many kinds of experiences and learns more of his Newtype abilities. He becomes rivials of the Titan ace pilot Jerid Messa, who wants to defeat Kamille very badly. Then falls in love with the Cyber Newtype Four Murasume. Also he encounters many of the old White Base crew members, such as Amuro Ray, Hayato Kobayashi, Kai Shiden, and much more. Then out of nowhere the mysterious Titan, Paptimus Scirocco, appears to show Kamille how a true Newtype fights. But that's not all. The remnats of Zeon begin to reappear once again......

The story is very good. It keeps in well conection of the previous Gundam show, and they explain more about the mysterious Newtype powers within this series. All in all, if you are a Gundam fan you should watch this. If you haven't watched the Original Gundam series, its truly not suggested you watch this, because you won't understand the story that much. But hey, Gundam is Gundam no matter how you look at it. read more

"Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam", the smash hit of 1984, was often seen as the better offspring of "Mobile Suit Gundam" which was cancelled in 1979. Having completed the series within a couple weeks time, I was able to assess the entire universe of Zeta following the one year war and can confidently say that while yes, the series expanded to major dramatic plateaus, astounding animation for its time, and compelling character development, that I missed the optimistic ideologies concerning war that were so evident in the original Mobile suit series. This fact compounded with many shortcomings made me a confused fan by then end of the series' run.

The evolution that takes place after the end of the one year war made for a compelling plot turn, that caused viewers to change their whole perspective on what "sides" in a conflict actually entail. I thought this was great, it made it more realistic and made the series much more original and compelling than it had been. The re introduction of Char Aznable as an essential freedom fighter only sealed the concept of what "good and evil" really is. His devotion to his responsibility throughout the series was extremely gratifying to see, and his mysterious fight with Haman Karn towards the end only made things seem more realistic! The good guy doesn't always win! That being said, the story engaged me in the beggining, but I felt as it progressed it was much to focused on Kamille's development. These Titans are attempting to bring martial law to the galaxy and make the one year war a big hypocritical mess, and everything is just "oh well Kamille is just so emotional and maturingm and such a great pilot". Unlike Amuro in the first season, I felt Kamille couldn't give a damn about the war effort. He doesn't seem to even remember his parents after they die, and continues to overlook the big pictures as time goes on! His ending seemed to prove some of his core integrity but I think they should have introduced that earlier. I guess this is sort of story/character combined, whatever. I enjoyed the powerful figures in the series, Scirocco was hilariously anime evil but still felt more genuine than Kamille, and Haman is one of my favorite characters ever now. She was so dedicated to the Zabi family and shunned her feelings and that came through in the LITTLE time she even had on the show! As for some of the lesser characters...I felt Amuro was portrayed as much less enthusiastic even after he "awakens" just to make Kamille more dominant and for the viewers not to realize how much more likeable Amuro was. Look, Kamille is a teenager I get that, I get that we are unpredictable and emotional and mature slow sometimes, but this kid for whatever reason did'nt seem to be genuine at all! Its like they wrote his "mature" lines with the implication that he knew he was being mature just to get his own way. Every time I saw him "grow" I just saw him get wiser and more coniving, not more sympathetic or enthusiastic for ending the war, (at least till the very end). I didn't really think the show touched on Sciroccos strange powers enough, and I felt that it spent too much time on pointless side characters at times. LIke AMUROS RANDOM GIRLFRIEND god that was the worst! And FOUR!!!?!?, she was like female Kamille, both hollow robots who yell alot about nothing, AND ROSAMMY holy crap what a pointless plot stretch!>!>!I liked how Fa's relationship with Kamille played out however that felt realistic in terms of mecha anime at least. I also enjoyed the sparks between Katz and sarah and Haman and Char. Sometimes the show got preachy and random with live but I saw what they were trying for. In all the beginning was interesting and original, then the middle got predictable with the chases back to back to back, and then the ending was great. One more thing about character and plot....JERID IS THE WORST FOIL TO THE MAIN CHARACTER EVER. Boring no beneficial development, and a pointless poinless foil to Kamille. Every time they were both on screen it was just back and forth "Jerid!!?!?" and then "Kamille!?!?!?" In the first series Char was the perfect foil because he was a paradox and SIMILIAR to Amuro. I guess my guilty pleasure would be the kid factor, I love that tradition of the random kids on the ship.

The Art for the series was remarkable, the space battles were intense and vivid. I regret some of the loops of animation in the series, I swear I saw the same "zaku getting blown up" images 20 times a show, but its understandable. The animation on this show could pass for a 90s show and it was phenominal. I wish they would show some more of the inner colonies(inside those cyllinders) however, that would added more depth to their color palettes instead of the mostly blacks(space) and reds(lasers) and silvers(inside ships). The mobile suits looked great and it was a relief to see the core fighter system gone.

This series was serious trouble in terms of sound. That dubbing was good for character voices but the timing in many integral scenes was tragically off. For example Fa would say "oh.......kamille" after just bumping into him for a second in the hall, leading the viewer to see deep love out a supposed nothing, I'd have more examples if I wrote them down. In these series if the timing for talking isn't natural its just that not natural and less dramatic!!?!? I kept feeling like thats why they kept explaining every plot point instead of just subtle language, because their timing was horrible! The viewer is reduced to a sponge absorbing everything they need to hear in terms of plot instead of being able to decipher themes on their own. I really really wish I enjoyed this series more, the ending battles were great, but I feel that the main characters growth really sucked the life out of the show. I like dark shows trust, me, and I liked how dark this show got, but Kamille didn't compliment that darkness, he made it disingenuous through his snoody nature, you know now that I think about it maybe the sound is what made him appear "snoody" to me instead of mature! I dunno....but both were off. This show turned Gundam into a more serious force in the anime world, and I agree that it should be a classic for that AND for changing the enthusiastic pace of the show to a somber one, however, lame subplots, bad characters, and awkward dialogue made this installment sub par and less engrossing as the first. Even with the great battles..

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Zeta Gundam (Zeta) is considered by many to be superior to the original, Mobile Suit Gundam (MSG) as well as being Tomino’s masterpiece. I decided to watch Zeta right after being disappointed by MSG. In particular, I was interested to see if Zeta would be as dark and realistic as many fans say. Like my previous MSG review I will judge Zeta by today’s narrative standards as well as ignoring art and sound in the overall grade.

First off let me talk about the technical aspects. Animation wise it is definitely one of the better animated series of the 1980’s. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality for a mid 80’s anime. Music used is more universal than that of MSG as they used many orchestra pieces, thus giving it an ‘era-less’ feel. However, the music is way too over done and in your face. Yes, we know this is supposed to be a sad scene, you don’t have to rub it in my face. With better animation, there should be some nice fast paced mecha action right? Well, they weren’t, many of the battles were very deliberate and slow. This confuses me to no end as to how the fight scenes were as slow and boring as MSG which aired 6 years before.

As for the story, Zeta suffers from the same problems as MSG. The episodes in Zeta are extremely standalone, build up, climax, and resolution all happen in one episode. So don’t expect cliffhangers and expect extremely disjointed episodes. Even in the 2nd to last episode there wasn’t any cliffhanger. The only thing keeping me going was the will to finish. In addition, I disliked how the new antagonists, the Titians, were depicted as too “black” or evil. Unlike, in MSG both sides are given screen time and both sides were extremely sympatric.

Now on to the characters, this is where Zeta loses most of its points. Kamille is what happens with you take all the bad parts of Amuro and amplify it several times over. If you thought that Shin from Gundam SEED Destiny was bad, then be glad you haven’t met Kamille. Kamille does whatever he wants with no concern for the greater good of the ship and people on the ship. Sure he’s a teenager, but someone that’s compromised the crew and ship so many times should never be in the cockpit of a Gundam, no matter how good of a pilot he may be. Not only is it him but, just about everyone seems to throw temper tantrums (except for Char and Amuro). The worst one would have to Katz, I swear I have never screamed at my monitor so much. In addition, the number of friends/lovers on opposing sides was way too high and becomes too hard to accept. Like with the whinny brats they over did it in this respects too. Zeta is filled with too much angst and not enough story or development to support it all. A real person has flaws, wants and desires, that is what makes us human. Zeta overdoes it in this regards by making them too selfish and flawed thus, makes the characters unrealistic and unlikable. I was literally screaming in joy near the end of the series when certain characters started to get killed off. However, I’ll have to give it to Zeta for not reverting to Char and Amuro as main characters as Gundam SEED Destiny did.

My last complaint, concerns the ending….what the hell was that!? I really can’t say much else without spoiling but it left me quite confused and dumfounded. I though they were going to continue the story in Gundam ZZ however, I heard it was very light in tone and inferior to Zeta Gundam.

Zeta Gundam suffers from the same problem as MSG in terms of episode continuity and pacing. The build up, climax and resolution all happen in one episode. It does feature some of the best animation of the 1980’s and very universal music albeit too overt. The characters in Zeta are filled with too much angst and there isn’t enough story or development to support it all. What makes it worst is that the characters are illogical and painful to watch. read more

Most of you who read this know the synopsis for the story, so I will skip that.
The only reason I didn't give this series 10 across the boards is because it is old. The artwork is amazing, don't get me wrong, but it is dated by most standards. However, this is a part of the charm of the series.

The plot twists, character developements, awesome and weird mobile suit designs, and general Gundam plot devices are what make this show as good as it is. The good guys and bad guys are not definate or clear cut (as they were more easily shown in Mobile Suit Gundam). There are people who are bad guys, or good guys, but many of the characters fall into both that neutral area and the grey area where they cross both boundaries.

After seeing the Mobile Suit Gundam movies, I wanted to see the sequel. I was not disappointed. Granted, this is a show that aired in the 1980's, but even by today's standards, the story, characters, and overall message still remain powerful. This show is dated in its artwork (all completely hand drawn with no computer help), and the music is also somewhat in the 80's mix of synthesizers and old fashioned Jpop. But these add to the feeling and charm, as mentioned before.

I rated this show very highly because I am a Gundam fan. I have seen many different shows in the Gundam universe, and seen much of what it is capable of. MSG: Zeta, the 2nd of the Gundam shows to air, is, despite it's age, a masterpiece of storytelling, and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who is either interested in the radical shift from the original Gundam to those who desire to see an amazing series that will offer fans and viewers alike an enjoyable experience. read more