Apr 7, 2021
ZZ, or Double Zeta, is (in)famous for being rather humorus and light-weighted, especially compared to bleak Zeta.
Spoilers for Zeta below etc.
For some context, the series went though many changes during production. Initially, it was meant to be Zeta's second season (to be honest, it sounds like a much better option); keep in mind that Kamille wasn't in comatose until ZZ, in the Zeta ending he seemed to have his memories erased instead.
One thing that didn't make it into the final cut was return of Char Aznable, whom we seen in both openings and who was supposed to play much bigger role. Then, however,
...
the movie - Char's Countterack - was greenlighted and he was reduced to once being mentioned near the end of ZZ.
About the actual show itself.
For me, the first few episodes were kinda a pain a to go through; there wasn't any actual story, just main characters trying to steal the Zeta Gundam, until Bright makes them into Argama's crew since he doesn't have any pilots (Fa got nerfed and can't pilot at all for some reasons).
After that, the actual plot begins, however it was only after about dozen of episodes that I actually started to enjoy the show. Suddenly the tone changed with episodes 20-21, and ZZ was actually getting better and better up to EP36.
After that, however, while the rather serious tone remains, ZZ became rather messy. It felt that some arcs were out of nowhere, and some of the cast started acting out of character.
For last ten episodes, there are arcs that feel unnecessary and prolonged; the finale itself is an "okay, I guess". Again, some characters act ooc, some are totally changed, etc.
While some characters lost their lives, their deaths were mostly silly and instead of getting sad, I was getting confused by how they even died.
As for the cast themselves, the new one initially wasn't really likeable. Actually, I was rooting for the antagonist, the Neo Zeon commander, as he was more sympathetic. Of course, Judau, the protagonist, grows up and has some development, but it felt rather forced, with his character changing seemingly between episodes.
There's no actual growth for the rest of the cast either; Beecha and Elle get some lines at the end of the show to make them look like they developted, and Roux doesn't really need to change at all. Some other characters, like Iino and Mondo are just there. I don't really get where they were going with Chara and Mashymre, but in the end they felt underutilised/unnecessary as well.
Of course, there are also characters that shine, like fan-favourite Puru(s), or the antagonist, Haman Karn.
Animation is still good, especially if you consider the show's age; however, there are lots of reused animations (especially of mechas' transformations, looking at you Gundam ZZ), it feels like Zeta had higher production value.
I liked music in ZZ, it is worth mentioning that there was a lot of soundtracks from Zeta too; however, there's this one song with high-pitched sound that's way too loud and will probably catch you off-guard.
Is the Gundam ZZ worth watching? It's not as bad as some people say, but it's definitely a weaker entry of Universal Century; however, there's still a lot of important stuff going on, and if you plan to watch the whole UC, it's better to not to skip the show. While Sunrise isn't really too fond of ZZ, with Zeta New Translation contradicting it, events and characters in it are still reflected up to Unicorn.
While a not-the-best Gundam anime, it's still good anime overall.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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