STORY - The story follows the conflict between the alliance (humans) and ZAFT (Coordinators) and the protagonist, Kira Yamato, as he gets caught up in this conflict. If you're a long time Gundam fan, or if you have already watched Gundam 0079, then you'll notice that this show took a lot of reference from it. In fact, it is a rehash of the '79 show. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it takes those concepts and puts modern tropes and stereotypes that can be understood by the modern generation, but by some who does not like reuses, this can be very trippy.
The story also takes a lot of elements and stereotypes from space operas; elements of fantasy in the form of the Coordinators, overly dramatic romance and animation, space warfare (ofc), super plot-important protagonist, a deranged villain, and of course, the orchestral soundtrack accompanying every episode. I'm very stoked to see a lot of Star Wars influence (as if the main idea behind Rau le Creuset isn't already, if you know what I'm talking about), mainly with the music and themes of revolution and such mentioned above. I'll go ahead and warn you that this show talks about sensitive topics such as racism, politics, corruption, and unethical experimentation.
ART - The art was beautiful and pleasing. While there are parts where animations gets used over-and-over again and it can get really boring at times, the animators treated this project as art, and it ended with a very beautifully crafted art that is visually and aesthetically pleasing.
Kunio Okawara is back again on designing the mechas, except this time, instead of looking like giant bipedal war-tanks, all Mobile Suits on this show are almost like aircrafts. You can see a lot of inspiration with his previous works on Gundam X, especially with Freedom's wings looking a lot like Double X's 3 pairs of satellite wings on the back. Once again, the design is visually pleasing in the eyes of modern watchers, and I especially like how Strike's design took a lot of inspiration with RX-78-2 but in a more angular, sleek design.
SOUND - This is where the shows shines. If you've already heard Toshihiko Sahashi's previous works on Hunter x Hunter (1999), Magic Knight Rayearth and/or Saint Seiya, then you will know exactly what you're in for. Once again, the music helps in making it look and sound like a true space opera. Although, at times the music can sound a bit off and feel unedited, especially on some scenes with continuous fights.
CHARACTERS - The characters all started pretty straightforwardly and seemed one-dimensional (again, typical space opera). But as the show goes on, you'll start to see the dynamic between their character, their actions, and their outlook on the conflict. Alll the minor characters here started pretty bland, but some ended up very memorable. For simplicity's sake I'm only going to be listing the main characters who played a major role in the show.
KIRA YAMATO - The main protagonist. A pretty naive and stubborn person, but kind at heart. Despite being a coordinator, he lived among the humans on a neutral colony until it was attacked. The way he is handled in the story is pretty engaging, with how he slowly sees the world in a bigger picture, as well as taking lessons from it. Although I gotta say, his character development halfway through felt so abrupt, and it can be really odd.
ATHRUN ZALA - The deuteragonist of this show. During the airing of this show, friend-to-friend rivalries aren't uncommon, in fact it is a very popular trope back then. This show utilizes this trope, and it does it perfectly well. Unlike most of the shows that uses this trope, this doesn't have that hot-blooded protagonist x cold-blooded rival relationship, but instead presented a very solid relationship and the effects of war on it. Athrun is mature, reserved, and empathetic. He is a great contrary to Kira. Although because of his side on the war, it presents him as a rather skeptic. This can present problems in the latter story, as he is very laid back on his encounters with Kira, slowing down their development process, with his redemption arc only really lasting for about 15 minutes on one episode.
LACUS CLYNE - Lacus is another example of a space opera trope, a female character that only exists as a plot device to the characters rather than actually doing the action. I would not say that she's a bad character or bland, but she isn't really interesting. She only serves as both Kira and Athrun's motivations and development, but her "existence" also serves as a good contrast with the darkness and chaos going on throughout the war (with her songs) as well as a moral advice and inspiration to the characters.
OVERALL - This show surprised me, from what I thought was a trash of a show into something even greater than I expected. This goes to show how people pay little to no attention to the shows they are watching. Although I'd give some flaws a recognition that is rightfully worth showing, such as how some bits felt a bit too rushed once again with Kira's development and the ending which ended wayy too abruptly than what i would like it to be. I'd also say that Kira and Athrun's rivalry felt very underused throughout the show. I thought it was just because of the episode count, but I realized it's because of how the story was written. I am okay with skepticism, but instead of giving Athrun a lot of reasons to not fight Kira, give him reasons to scare or stray Kira away, either by fighting him head-on or pushing him away.
This is a pretty good show to watch for non-Gundam fans, or newcomers of the franchise. If you're a long-time watcher, i cannot really say exactly whether or not to recommend it as it may or may not appeal to your interests, but if it does then by all means, watch it. If not, then it's safe to say that you can avoid it and still not miss a major part of the franchise as it uses a lot of references to previous works.
