I have never seen any of the previous Gundam shows, only played the video games. So Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is my first ever Gundam show and i have to say that 00 is very well made.
-Story
Basically the story revolves around the typical group of good-looking men using mobile suits who engage in any conflict and intervene it, and thus advance their cause. I didn't really expect much from this show, since i imagined that it's just about some bunch of giant robots fighting each other. Much to my surprise 00 is very psychological and actually involves a lot of politic and strategy.
To be honest, the story is very intriguing and exciting at first but then seems to lose its charm. It relies on action, the fighting, where the battles are won by overwhelming the other side with enormous force. This is repetitive, and the story progresses by repeating the same event. This is actually not a bad thing, but considering the lack of drama and where the show almost focuses entirely on the fighting, it really does feel repetitive. Of course there are some side stories to ease up the pace, but still in the end it all comes down to the fighting and winning by overpowering the other side, again, with some unknown ability or an unpredictable coincidence.
Sometimes the politics and problems feels very similar to our current real life affairs and just seem to be very realistic. But then again, the science in which where the gundams are easily repaired in space or how they could get from one place to another easily and a bunch of other stuff, is not fully explained.
Most successful shows are on top because they represented a strong sense of reality and an explanation that comes after it. Where every incident is acceptable to our senses and computes to our way of thinking. This is what 00 was lacking and is one of the reasons why it didn't reach the top.
But then again, this is just my opinion. A lot of people don't seem to really mind this.
Also 00 seems to have some side characters who are not exactly involved but gets way more screen time. Which is disturbing, since there are more important characters in the show that actually gets very little screen time. I'm guessing that what they're trying to do is show how things are like from a civilian point of view. Even so, it is very unnecessary and they could've used the screen time to add some drama or explain some past events -since only a few is actually explained- to optimize the story.
-Art
The art is great, in terms of a mecha anime. 00 portrays the fighting very clearly and it does seem very fluid. Each mobile suits are very detailed, not overly customized, and filled with vibrant colors that looks very lively. The same goes for the background. 00 brings different backgrounds with very detailed structure.
As for the characters, i'd say that sunrise has done a good job in giving a different look on each of the characters. They don't seem similar with the others, and there is a clear distinction between the main and the side characters. That being said, supposedly the characters are to come from different nationalities. This imbues another problem, it's kinda hard to determined the actual difference of where they are from. You can distinguish them from one another, but all of them look all the same. Without the flags telling us where they're from, one could get confused of which side is this character is on.
-Sound
I have no real complaints for the sound section, the Opening and Ending themes seem to really fit the show, especially Daybreak's Bell, since i'm a fan of L'Arc~en~Ciel.
And as you can see 00 hired a group of high class voice actors filling in their characters. And their voice just fits perfectly.
-Character
When i said that 00 is well made, it is probably because of the characters. This show presents a plenty of variety of characters. Each of the characters are unique in their own way. The main characters are crafted remarkably well with specific personality traits. They seem to resemble themselves in their own fashion.
All of them have a clear development, how each incident could change their way of thinking. It feels very human and not rushed. But in my opinion each of the main character's past is not equally explored and explained. Probably because this is the first season, still it gives the impression that 00 only cares about the 'main-main' character's past and doesn't seem to bother explaining the others ,particularly Tieria. Whether this is intentional -to make him seem more mysterious- is unclear.
-Enjoyment and Overall
I enjoyed 00 very much, it has a good story-line with a lot of different characters and an amazing art. Even so, i'm little skeptical about the story, so a 9 feels like it's to good but at the same time an 8 just doesn't suit 00.
For both fans or newcomers who have never seen any of the previous Gundam show and like mecha fighting shows like Code Geass/Gurenn, 00 is a great show to check out.
