Gundam 00 Episode 08

[masamuneehs]

Shinsen got it first this time
Shinsen Subs - Gundam00 - Episode 8 - avi (http://bt.shinsen-subs.org/%5BShinsen-Subs%5D_Kidou_Senshi_Gundam_00_-_08_%5BFC927CCB%5D.avi.torrent)

but I'll still wait for Mendoi-Conclave... Nothing against Shinsen, but I'm sticking with what's been best so far. And they haven't made us wait much...

[vejita613]

Okay...so now they have cloaking devices. Interesting....

[TheBladeChild]

That princess seems like shes more of a older sister to Setsuna then a future love interest. I kinda found it amusing that that Tieria just blew away that terrorist base with one shot. It was like Target found, firing, *boom everyone dies*, ok mission accomplished time to go home. And just when you thought that the bust size in this show cant get anymore out of control Sumaragi again never fails to surprise. Lockon being serious kinda felt weird. Anyway great episode.

[Yukimura]

Setsuna is such a retard, why has he been entrusted with a Gundam?! He's always leaving behind or wasting equipment, he has a knack for letting his personal feelings led him, and he can't keep a secret or use stealth at all. Tieria should have just shot him in the back.

Anyway, the CB management never seems phased by anything that gets thrown at them so maybe it's all been going according to their secret master plan, but what the heck is that plan? The terrorism thing got the international community to 'use' them, which I guess gives them some semblance of legitimacy in the eyes of the world governments but what could they hope to accomplish?

[shinta|hikari]

Did Setsuna give away his identity knowing she wont believe him? Or did he just act on impulse because he was pissed at the girl's ideals? Im leaning towards the second one, seeing as to how he reacted with his reunion just the previous episode.

[animus]

Next episode seems to be an interesting and would follow the usual Gundam small amount of powerful mobile suits versus impossible odds thing.

[Phoenix20578]

Next episode seems to be an interesting and would follow the usual Gundam small amount of powerful mobile suits versus impossible odds thing.

Well, thats always what Gundam was known for anyway. Only 8th MS team showed that some Gundam Pilots can be retards.

As for questioning Setsuna as a pilot, I'm having my doubts as well. He is far too unpredictable for a stealth mission like he got. Hence, getting caught stupidly, hence releving himself.

[Naruto_RNG]

I'm just getting tired of mission accomplished thing. Don't get me wrong love the plot and politics thats involved with this series, but it gets very annoying when ever the gundam shows up nottin can stand against it. Yes I know thats wut gundams usually are but thought it would be different in this one. As for setsuna his actions is like main character of GSD forgot his name (not kira lol) very stupid. Hopefully we get some better suit not gundam look alike but on par with them.

[Yukimura]

Bah, if people don't want Gundam staples like (Gundam >> *) they shouldn't bother with any new series that has Gundam in the title (except maybe 08th MS Team). If the producers made 00 too different from any of its other namesakes they'd lose a lot of the older fanbase that's come to expect certain things from the franchise. It's not like they're out to create some fantastic innovative piece of art, they're out to build on the Gundam franchise and reap profits from a younger generation while maintaining the interest of the older generation. Thus they are likely to keep taking the ideas of the older series, polishing them to resonate with today's younger audiences, modernizing the animation and spitting out things relatively predictable to a seasoned Gundam fan, but interesting to a new person in the same way the original (in this case Wing) was to people years ago.

But it is a tradition that eventually 'they' come up with something that can at least challenge the Gundams dominance, though the Gundams will of course be victorious in the end.

[Ryllharu]

Felt is really attached to Haro. Kind of...strangely so. I don't really know anything about Haro units, so maybe that's completely normal (even if it's not her Haro unit). Maybe this is the first one ever made in this timeline, or she had some involvement with this one's development.

Or maybe she's just a 14 year old girl who likes rotund and occasionally annoying robots.

[Darknodin]

personally, i felt this episode was not as well executed as the others. it was just... ok

[rockmanj]

Hmm...I was thinking about something. It seems at least half of the Gundam Meisters have serious mental problems...possibly 3 out of four; i.e. (Setsuna was a child soldier, claims 'he is gundam', Allelujah possibly has DID, Lockon apparently had heavy childhood trauma). And I'm sure there's something with Tiera (besides being a dick). I wouldn't be surprised if they were all escaped mental patients or something. Maybe that Haro keeps Duo...err Lockon in check or something.

[masamuneehs]

waited for mendoi's, so...

I liked some of it. The fact that the entire search for the terrorists was actually conducted in a very believable way (even if absurdly accelerated... it'd take months for all that stuff to come together) was something I liked, along with the conversation between Saji and his sister about CB's "true objective" and the common civilian's place in a world like this.

What I didn't like: Setsuna acting like a retard, useless fanservice, and the fact that the terrorist network had three freaking major bases. Everything realistic about terror networks went right out the door when that showed up...

Also, I realize the other countries (or at least the AEU) leaked the info about those bases so that CB could find them... but you'd think they'd have scrambled some of their own to at least show they too are trying to fight the terrorists. Or at least maybe send some observation drones to at least gather intel on CB some more...

Hallelujah's reaction to the girls' swimsuits... oh those yaoi prints are coming!

A primary love interest in a Gundam show that I don't despise? A political figure as the primary love interest in a Gundam show that I don't despise? (seriously though, I'm really liking the Azrdadwhaterstan's storyline, partly because the princess is just so genuine- and not a retard- and her subordinate seems to be pretty shrewd)

fucked up Gundam pilots isn't that strange, if you consider where CB would be recruiting them from (and that this show is almost Gundam Wing 2.0). It's strange enough, to me, that they have an ex-Union strategist (Sumeragi) with them and a HRL based intel/backer (Chinese girl)... I wouldn't really expect them to be recruiting from other countries' militaries... And you'd have to think that a child soldier, a terrorist attack orphan, and whatever exactly Tieria and Hallelujah's deals are, would make ideally motivated members. You can't expect them to be sane though.

I don't mind that the Gundams show up and wipe floor. That's why they're Gundams and every poor sap might as well be piloting a Pinto with wings. What I don't like is that each episode contains the closure of what would be impossibly complicated issues. You just don't hit three bases of a terrorist group and expect that to be the end.

Finally, I got the feeling that Felt made the Haro unit that Lockon has. How it got into his hands, I'm sure has something to do with him having no family...

[rockmanj]

Oh yea...I thought Setsuna was Malay, wasn't he? But I think he might be Iranian, as there was a territory in Iran with the name Azibakistan or whatever. IS he Malay, or did i miss something? Ahh...he was a Kurd, so he just might be Iranian.

[Rickbee]

Awsome episode

[Everon]

I thought it was a so-so episode. I'm annoyed that the writers knowledge about terrorism is completely backwards, but what are we to expect from 30 minutes of fanservice?

Maybe in the world of Gundam, its common that terrorists work in elaborately designed bases and a big "shoot me" sign out front.

I'm just waiting for the big punchline, because it obvious that CB has something else in store. That, and hopefully some decent fight scenes.

[Kraco]

Unless the Chinese chick intelligence service is busted in the next episode(s), this episode was as ridiculous as the previous ones. However, if the chick gets foreign agents (or HRL special forces) knocking her door, then I'll think this was a fine episode in retrospect. Because honestly she wouldn't have had that kind of access and wouldn't have received the extra intel as a "gift" unless the major intelligence services had a shadow agenda of tracking that information.

CB might have godly mechas due to Gundam traditions, that can't be helped, but if they also have a godly intelligence service compared to the agencies with hundreds of years of tradition of the major factions, then I can't help but wonder what manner of mushrooms the script writer was eating for breakfast.

Also, the princess should now be better off in her negotiations with the AEU (and the Finnish foreign minister, lol). She can give them the identity of one Gundam meister in exchange for some concretic help for her country! I guess her trip won't be a total waste of time, after all.

[TheBladeChild]

Also, the princess should now be better off in her negotiations with the AEU (and the Finnish foreign minister, lol). She can give them the identity of one Gundam meister in exchange for some concretic help for her country! I guess her trip won't be a total waste of time, after all.

She didnt seem to believe him when he told her that he was a Gundam meister. But ya, she now has another card for negotiations though I doubt she'll use it.

[Kraco]

Yeah... I'm also afraid she won't. After all, if she did, Tieria would probably finally snap for good and place a bullet into Setsuna's skull. And that would be bad. The overly unbalanced power distribution is the only thing I don't like in this series and so far Setsuna has been the only one trying to right that wrong with his idiocy. So, it would be bad if he was gone, because the CB would be even more powerful without him.

[shinta|hikari]

So I guess everyone thinks that Setsuna is the greatest idiot ever for revealing that he is a gundam meister. I would have hesitated to agree, until he jhad topop his face in front of the princess inside the plane again. Granted, he might not know she is there, but if he did, it is like confirming his identity.

Does the princess really not believe him? Or is she just in denial, thinking that the conflict from before (from which she feels guilt) is a key part of the current CB fiasco (which she despises)?

[Ryllharu]

If she was in denial of anything, it would be that he is from...whatever that region was called and is in CB. Earlier, she was discussing all manner of politics with her secretary Shirin, like everyone else they pondered using CB, and if they were righteous or not. Confirmation that he's from the extremist region that her country had a long-term conflict with, and eventually engulfed (think Tibet and China) is something she's very afraid of. It's like saying, "CB is certainly a confirmed terrorist organization, and they will definitely annihilate my country."

That of course, is outright confirmed by Setsuna, who says that if the current conflict in Azadistan doesn't end, CB will come. Knowing who he is and where exactly he's coming from makes Marina really worried. Disbelief that things could suddenly get so much worse for her country from a chance meeting on the street.


As for CB intelligence operations, I didn't think they were that unbelievable. CB is apparently an enormously funded organization, having the Gundams in the first place. They also operate through cells. We've only been familiar with military edge. The Meistars and the crew of the Ptolemaios. We've seen Alejandro (whatever the hell he does) and Liu-Mei (financial backer and apparently high in the inner administration). That's it. As Tieria pointed out, it's not for them to know what most of the others do. Classic cell organization.

Informants stay quiet and pass things on to Liu-Mei and she in turn suggests where a strike should be made. We've seen that Sumeragi, the head strategist, chooses what missions to go ahead with that provide the highest gain (or priority) for the lowest (or acceptable risk).

[shinta|hikari]

Makes sense. That makes the princess really weak though. Im not sure if I like it or not yet.

[Dark Dragon]

Another way to look at it.

Whoever chose Setsuna as the pilot for Exia already predicted that he is going to reveal the secret and chose him for that exact reason.

I have always believed that the CB play the role of a scapegoat and will eventually be the target of Earth hatred.

[Kraco]

As for CB intelligence operations, I didn't think they were that unbelievable. CB is apparently an enormously funded organization, having the Gundams in the first place. They also operate through cells.

Well, if we assume that's the case. However, that would also mean the major powers' intelligence agencies would have a long time ago been aware of them, probably much before the first public Gundam appearance. You can't have a vast, efficient and well funded organization and then just say it's also totally invisible. That would assume the traditional intelligence services would be much worse in the future than they are now, which is very doubtful because automated, electronic means become better all the time. Just look how quickly they revealed everything about that terrorist organization behind the low level bombings. That tells just how efficient the agencies are. It should be a piece of cake for them to find the CB.

[Ryllharu]

But that's the beauty of a cell organization like CB. Isolated agents scattered around nearly everywhere. You might find one, but since they may only know how to contact one or two others in the entire organization, there's never an idea of how big the organization they belong to really is, much less what it actually is called.

The terrorists were not a tightly guarded secret. Everyone knew where their old abandoned bases had been as soon as they found out who it was. CB has been planning their creation and first public appearances for apparently a century.

Granted, this is a Gundam series, so some suspension of disbelief is required.

[animus]

Wasn't it said that it was the Gundam that chose their meisters?

[TheBladeChild]

Wasn't it said that it was the Gundam that chose their meisters?

It was said that "Veda" chose the gundam meisters, but in Setsuna's case I think he believes that Exia chose him. Correct me if im wrong.

[masamuneehs]

Setsuna has spoken to the effect that he believes his Gundam "chose him"... then again, this was a child soldier who saw just about everyone he ever knew die... Add his religious fundamentalism to the mix, and you can see why him getting miraculously saved and then picked to pilot the Gundam as being a 'godly intervention'...

and, as far as the Arzadstan girl (Marina is her name?) is concerned: I'm pretty sure she was shocked into not believing Setsuna for several reasons. First, it would just be so potentially bad for one of the CB pilots to be from a people that you nearly wiped off the Earth years ago... Second, only the pilots who fought Setsuna had any idea that the Gundam pilots (or at least the Exia pilot) were so young, and this came as a genuine surprise to them. Third, it's just absurd to think he'd reveal himself like that.

I mean, you'd just have to be a rambling retard to go tell a nation's diplomat that you're part of CB... oh, wait...

as for what people say about CB being nicely split into cells: it seems that this is only true for their intelligence agents. We've yet to see exactly what Alejandro does, but Liu Mei has had contact with almost every facet of the organization so far (met all the pilots, met with the flagship head staff, arrived WITH parts for the Gundams, headed up intel gathering...) In a way, both her and Sumeragi (and probably Alejandro) would be the ones CB would have to protect the most, as the loss or capture of any one of them coule easily spell the doom of everyone in CB. Yet, we've seen that Liu Mei is a rather high profile person in the HRL (her being at the big party at the Pillar of Heaven), and that Sumeragi is at least infamously known by some in the Union for being involved in that mysterious 'incident'... the only guy who seems to be keeping his head down properly is Alejandro... and that's probably because he's busy sodomizing that green haired boy who's always with him...

[Buffalobiian]

It should be a piece of cake for them to find the CB.

Well, whether it was a piece of cake or not, we'll hopefully find out, but the HLR certainly find their flagship next ep. I'm not sure that it'll be that much of a pushover again, with just Lockon defending, from what we see, and the title "No one is omnipotent." They'll still win, seeing Lockon on the ground again from the preview, but it'll be a bit of a shock for the crew, it's probably their first attack, and the ship looks to have no offensive capabilities on it at all, save for the gundams.

You'd definitely have your doubts if someone you saved on the streets says to you "I am Gundam." You'd think he's a bit looney.(not wrong).

Marina is always discussing their energy issues with countries from the AEU. That rules out my initial guess that Setsuna and her were from or near the former Sri Lanka area.

[Kraco]

That rules out my initial guess that Setsuna and her were from or near the former Sri Lanka area.

The fact they spoke so feverishly of A god and the surroudings looked like desert with buildings like that were pretty sure signs of it being somewhere in the Middle East. I never understood that whole Sri Lanka guess at all...

[Buffalobiian]

The fact they spoke so feverishly of A god and the surroudings looked like desert with buildings like that were pretty sure signs of it being somewhere in the Middle East. I never understood that whole Sri Lanka guess at all...

I initially thought he was from there because of how he reacted in that intervention, and that the mobile suits from one side were the same model as the one that attacked him. But then I thought that it could have been the resemblance of the suits that set him off. That was my guess after watching ep2, and only ep2. I hadn't thought about the matter until he met Ali, and since I've thought he was from the Middle East. This ep just fortified that idea. I just thought I'd post that.

I'm still thinking about whether Setsuna is really wondering where Ali's God is, or if it's just sarcasm. He's clearly stated that he believes there is no god in this world, in ep 1 and this one, but that may only be to him. He may have truely believed that a god existed in Ali's world, and wondered where his beliefs lie now. Alternatively, he could have already known that Ali was just a mercenary, and that he's only in it for money. One thing I think is certain is that he's angry with Ali for tricking him into killing his parents since he's convinced there's no god.

[rockmanj]

The fact they spoke so feverishly of A god and the surroudings looked like desert with buildings like that were pretty sure signs of it being somewhere in the Middle East. I never understood that whole Sri Lanka guess at all...


I thought they were Sri Lankan too, but the places that they named as their homes were in the middle east, and also Setsuna is Kurdish, which should allay any other doubts about it.

[Ryllharu]

I was pretty sure the mobile suits from the first opening scene and Sri Lanka were a standard older model from the HRL. I believe both countries fall into (or very near) HRL territory.

[Kraco]

There's also no saying the major powers wouldn't sell the older models to (suitable) customers willing to pay for them. So, in that sense the parts of the world not belonging to the core powers most likely have a variable selection of mobile suits at their disposal - just like they do have a diverse selection of machines of war in our times.