Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer

When Gundam 00 finished its broadcast, I was quite excited to hear that there was going to be a film sequel to resolve the last part of Aeolia's plan mentioned in the TV series and that it would be the first Gundam iteration in the 30 years of its existence that would actually have aliens included in the story. A Wakening of the Trailblazer takes place 2 years after the end of season 2 where peace is slowly starting to come true with the A-Laws disbanded, but with the arrival of a bizarre alien life form called the ELS from a space ship sent to Jupiterover a hundred years ago, all hell breaks loose and Celestial Being must step in again to save humanity. Even with this basic plot, I was very excited to actually be able to see this film because I am a rather big fan of Gundam, but upon viewing it, I was both satisfied and disappointed at the same time. First the good. The animation looks very similar to the TV series(which isn't a bad thing) but it is of significantly higher quality and shows it off especially during the action sequences. Speaking of action, the movie is full of it. Almost the entire film consists of insane, fast paced mecha battles that made us watch 00 in the first place, you won't be disappointed. The opening scene of the film is hilarious and parodies the series along with making a tribute to the ever popular Gurren Lagann and somewhat referencing the battle of A Baoa Qu from the original Gundam. Also the mecha designs are still as unique as ever, I couldn't tell you how many times I geeked out whenever they started to show off the new Flag mobile suits(ie Braves). Now for the bad(and sadly there is a lot of it) The story is VERY generic and any actual plot movement is nonexistent. The only thing that really moves the film's plot is the arrival of the ELS and the constant jibber jabber that minor characters make about stopping them before they reach Earth. If there wasn't any of the fast paced fight scenes, I highly doubt anyone would have wanted to watch this film, there is no point to the story really. The ELS are fairly underwhelming as alien antagonists. Other mecha series such as Macross were able to successfully utilize aliens into the story by making them unique and interesting with a good backstory. Come on, how are 40 ft aliens who are afraid of affection and culture not interesting? Liquid metal aliens that are fleeing from their destroyed home planet simply doesn't cut it and their assimilation into vehicles on Earth are not frightening nor interesting, they're actually quite hilarious. The next major problem with the film was its handling of its characters. Several new characters are introduced to the film( ie Descartes Shaman and Meena Carmine) but add nothing to the story, it wouldn't make a difference if they didn't even appear at all. Shaman's character managed to disappoint me the most, as previews made him out to be a major character, instead he gets very little screen time and is there only to be cannonfodder. The returning characters also get very little screen time and most of their appearances are rather pointless, rendering them very one dimensional personalities. Saji and Louise were used in the TV series to show how ordinary people could get involved in conflicts that they don't think would affect them, but they don't serve any purpose in the film they're just there, much like Marina whose appearance seems even more pointless. I don't even know what their purpose was in being shown, despite the fact that they were there. These characters don't even progress any further in film or are the given any sort of epilogue at the end like in season 2, with the exception of a few characters in the last bonus scene. Besides all of my ramblings about how flawed Trailblazer is, the film is still very entertaining to watch because of its fast paced action sequences and high quality animation. You won't get much depth out of its non existent story and one dimensional characters, but if you want to watch giant robots blow the crap out of each other in fast paced battles, look no further. However, if you are somewhat of a perfectionist and wants to get the ultimate satisfaction out of watching the 00 series, ignore the film completely and just pretend the whole series concludes with season 2.

Like alot of other people who saw and enjoyed the TV Series, I was hyped up for this film. Although I did keep a few lingering doubts in my mind to make sure that the hype didn't ruin the film for me. Obviously being a movie, certain elements have to be condensed in order to function, so the question is: does Awakening of the Trailblazer serve as a fitting conclusion to Gundam 00? Well...Yes and no. Let's go over the main aspects of the story. This is the first entry in the franchise to introduce aliens, which is of course one of the film's biggestselling points. The ELS do make for interesting obstacles, as merely touching them can mean a slow painful death. Combined with the fact that they're literally everywhere on the battlefield adds a feeling of horror and suspense that (let's be honest here) is rarely seen in Gundam. For the most part the film does a good job at building up the ELS as a legit threat. However Gundam's strong point has always been about the characters being more interesting than the mechs they pilot, so sadly we don't get any bouts between main characters since all of humanity has banded together to go up against this alien menace. Not to mention, if you never saw the TV Series, then the presence of aliens in a Gundam-related work can be very jarring, since it's only hinted at in Season 2. However my biggest gripe overall is the way the film handles it's characters. There's virtually little character development. Again, watching the TV Series is essential since it's there that all the characters reach the peak of their development. Feldt is the only one who gets any sort of relevant change and she's not even a main character. Because there's little development, I couldn't help but question the presence of two of the new characters: Mena who looks and sounds like Nena Trinity (something which is never explained) mostly serves as Billy's new love interest and does provide us some info on the ELS, but not much else. And then there's Descartes Shaman. The trailers seemed to hype him up as the potential new rival to Celestial Being, and honestly he was the character I was most looking forward to since I always felt that 00's villains were lacking compared to antagonists of the past. Sadly Descartes is merely a throwaway character. Although I will give props to the film for redeeming Graham Aker. Thank God he dropped that whole Mr. Bushido nonsense. However for a sequel to be good it needs to properly re-establish the returning cast (assuming they do return), and the story needs to stand out without needing to rely on past sources. Don't believe me? Watch Terminator 2. In the end much of my enjoyment for the film's characters and story was mainly due to the fact that I liked the TV series and I wanted to see how it all ended. But if you never saw the series, you won't understand why there are aliens, and you won't understand the relationships of the characters or their motivations. From a visual standpoint, Trailblazer looks pretty good, but when you go back and watch the TV Series, it doesn't seem like that much of an improvement. Don't get me wrong, the animation is smoother and the art is fairly detailed, but it's not like in Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa where the already good visuals that the TV series boasted where upped two times over. Still the visuals don't disappoint, though I am still annoyed by the male characters looking effeminate. The mech designs is one area that will be hit or miss with some people. I do find the designs of the new Gundams fairly unique. They take some of the elements from their Season 1 predecessors (such as the vent-less mouths) while still retaining the bulkier look of their Season 2 predecessors. Though I do admit that the Zabanya (Lockon's new Gundam) does look goofy with those picket fences hanging on it's hips. The ELS on the other hand remind of the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Hm. No wonder they're intimidating. However as far as battles go, they're fast paced, explosive, and damn entertaining, but I was disappointed by the lack of screen time that two of the main Gundam's have in the film (not gonna say which ones. If you saw the movie, you know which ones I'm talking about). The 00 Raiser does appear again although I was disappointed by the way it's final moments were depicted. Much like the series, the music is pleasing to the ears. The opening song "Closed World" by the Back Horn does have some of that heavy dark mood that L'arc En Ciel's "Daybreak's Bell" opening had, but without any of the hopefulness, and comes off as more impending. The ending theme "Qualia" is performed by Uverworld, who sang Season 2's first opening song. Personally I wish they got L'arc back for the movie, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. Much of the background music is from the TV series, which is okay by me since they suit the scenes just right, and fit in with the tone of the film. In the end Gundam 00 Awakening of the Trailblazer does succeed in being an entertaining action film but it stumbles in doing so. From a thematic standpoint I was able to understand what Director Mizushima was trying to get across with the show's themes about ending war and understanding one another. These are themes that date back to the original Gundam series, and for the most part it deals with it in it's own way, but it didn't work for me until I sat down and thought about it. Because of that, I feel that the movie does get better with time, but then again that could just be me thinking too much about it. I liked the movie. It was fun, it was entertaining, but there were things about it that disappointed me. I'd say the film is on par with Gundam F91, but not as good as Char's Counterattack. Still if you liked the series, I say watch the film and decide for yourself.

To be very serious in reviewing this movie, I would say this is not at all a gundam series and that falls into several big problems that this series has. Art; 8 points Firstly, the art it is self is great, it is what you would be expecting out of a movie at this time from the Gundam anime industry. It represent a lot about how much the art has developed through time in the Gundam history. However, it is not the best art and graphic you can find from Gundam. Unicorn on the other hand is an OVA series yet, its attention to small detailsand effects are amazing and flawless. Therefore, in compare to an OVA airs about the same time that has better qualtiy overall, a movie has this level of art cannot receive its full marks. Sound: 8 points The sound effect is solid. It fits the movie really well. Characters: 5 points Even more new characters are being introduced and follow second season's fashion, they are underdeveloped. Some very great characters are presented heroicly but was given less attention; while other, included even some core characters, are being overexagereated in a very unrealistic way and could not resolves much about them granted extensive time spent on these characters overall. Story: 3 points The worst aspect of this movie is the story. There is no clash between ideals, the story is very cartoonish and lacks the freshness value that a movie should have had. the untolerable point of this movie is that it has more elements of a super robot movie than a Gundam. Many striking similarities to Fafner can be recognized. The movie has a increasing amount of meta-science elements that leads its collapse at the end due to its conflict with the logical based concept that has always been the core behind any great Gundam series. Enjoyment: 7 points The battles are great as akways but that all it has...again, there are 'supermans flying around destroying everything' to a point, it becomes very typical. Anyone that dislike beam spamming should be dissappointed watching this movie since this has 10 times more beam spamming than Seed or Destiny ever had and for 90% of the time the Gundams would flying around spaming fangs, bits and beams...again. The story is the crucial part to a Gundam movie or to any anime series overall since the art quality has been steadily improving in recent time while the level of depth to a story has been long given far less attention than it should really have. In addition, 'Awakening of the Trailblazer's failure to distinct itself as a Gundam series from the super robot series is perhaps its greatest weakness. Thus, overall, even the beautifully done animtion cannot covers for its easily recognizable weaknesses, so the overall score I can give ti tis 5, average. To sum up, the series has done very well in the first season but starts to decrease in quality over time while could not able to meet expectations from experienced old Gundam fans. If you are a new comer to Gundam and you prefer action rather story then 00 may not be a bad place to start with; however, it should be note that even if you watch 00, you can't obtain a throughout understanding of what a Gundam series should be as well as the greatness in the stories of many great old Gundam series. I would highly reccomend any UC series over 00

The fact that the score for this is 7.48 is incredibly misleading and I cannot fathom how it has a score that high. This movie is a 4 at best, its bad. How is it bad? Well... if you liked Gundam 00, imagine stripping it of all character development, all creativity, all plot, all suspense... and all sense, only to leave you with one of the dumbest premises/villains ever. Gray intergalactic blobs are attacking!! and the Gundam team needs to teach them the meaning of love and peace. No really... thats it. That is the entire plot of the movie. No, seriously... that really is it!It has nothing else building on the Gundam 00 series, just... intergalactic gray space blobs that can mimic and absorb matter and we need to not fight them and instead teach them love and peace. The animation was nothing to write home about for being a movie. I had seen about the same from the show. It was nice, clean, fluid and seizure inducing... just the way I like it. Music was just rehashed from the show, again, nothing to write home about. The voice acting was good. Voices stayed roughly the same from the show. In the original show, almost everything was cleaned up nicely. It left room for continuation but in a very narrow window. This movie should have gone back to Gundam basics. It is 4 years after the events of the show, the colonies that were in the series have come together to develop a government of the United Colonies. Unbeknownst to anyone, remnants of the A-Laws have infiltrated the colonies government's positions of power and have begun building mobile suits in secret. After 4 years and after amassing an army, they attack the Earth and destroy several cities and do some serious damage The gundam pilots, all having gone their separate ways after their time of peace must now be brought back together to fight this last battle for good. In the end you can have Setsune and the princess come together and he finds peace as the world finds peace. See? How hard was that? It may not be perfect but it is damn sure better than this! The ending I wont spoil, but really it too doesn't make any sense. It seems tacked on and weird. There were also a lot of scenes and character interactions that seemed important but were forgotten about and went nowhere. I miss the days of Gundam Wing, my friends. I really do... In conclusion, enjoy the series if you can... but skip this movie. Its not worth your time. You would have better luck watching something else. Virtus Signum gives this a 3/10.