The Gundam SEED DESTINY Remaster Thread Mk II

[ShadowCell]

new thread, thirty pages, don't be jerks, you know the drill.

The whole scene is oddly amusing because they seemingly didn't redo anything on Luna's side so it's like Athrun's room is a pocket dimension of better animation.

Luna herself is a big hypocrite. She constantly tries to gain favour by scolding Shinn but then talks smack to a superior officer over a gold digging relationship that is all in her head? The first half of the episode is like someone mistakenly submitted a harem comedy script. Half of Athrun's expressions even read as "Isn't this a sci-fi war drama?"

It's dissapointing they decided we needed HD nipples instead of the various other places that could have used redo, including Stellar's freak out.

Stellar herself continues to be the least sympathetic enemy girlfriend character. She's a brainwashed killing machine to the point she has no actual character. At least with the likes of Four there was a snarky personality and a crusade to get her memories back and even Loni was fighting for Zeon. Stellar is just kind of there which I suppose in a sense is pretty horrifying.

also, apropos of nothing, but HD Nipples would make a great rapper name. just saying.

[Soma Taozi]

I disagree with people's assumption that Stella is anything close to a girlfriend with Shinn. I understand there are shippers of StellaxShinn, but to me... he never really has shown any romantic attachment towards her. He defiantly feels protective of Stella and spends a lot of time with her later in the series...but I personally don't see any feelings there that can be taken as romantic (oooh he blushes because she is naked, who wouldn't?). I think simply because a pilot and has some intimate scenes with a girl...people immediately assume there is a pairing going on (hell in Seed, there are NeumanxNatarle simply because she HANDS HIM A DRINK).

If anything, Stella is more like a replacement sister for Shinn (which is SO healthy). He sees her as someone a little like him, someone who lost people in the war and is clearly deeply affected by it...I personally think that he tries so hard to protect Stella because he failed to protect his sister and family before. It makes sense, given how he reacts when she finally dies. Hell when she is in his arms and finally passes...we get a flashback to Shinn's family's death...which basically just spells out Shinn lost his metaphorical family again.

And you are right Hellcat, Stella is pretty much empty inside. I can see where the writers were going with her...but because they wanted to go that route...she comes off kind of grey. She has some cute moments, but she really isn't that deep of a character. However, we really haven't gotten a lot of time with her...and if I remember correctly there are some scenes down the road where you feel pretty badly for her. But I digress.

[HellCat]

HD Nipples cruises the hood with Noticeably B.N.C.

Shinn's ridiculously clingy with Stella right off the bat. He ends the episode shouting continued proclamations that they WILL see each other again from the back of a moving car, at a time when he has every reason to assume she's safe with her 'family'.

[Silver_August]

I'm in total agreement that Stella x Shinn is a result of stuff like the Openings or even just "boy meets girl + naked cave scene" (whicb btw mirrors *ripsoff* CagallixAthrun, even down to Stella oddly enough having the same colored panties o.O)

Really I immedatly saw based on the dialogue, seeing her in the same light as he saw his family, as a chance to not fail at protecting someone who he now cares about and who depends on him. If Bandai gave more money to this show, instead of replaying them being blown up, I wouldn't be surprised if we would have gotten a bit where Shinn's sister begs him to save her or something...because that's probably what goes through his head given how fast he jumps to this stranger to say "i will protect you"... he kind of reminds me of Flit...but then again those 2 had a number of parallels.

As far as her character goes... I kind of wish they handled her psychosis better, because it does kind of make her this...frail doll that has a hair trigger instead of someone with a fear...and the fact she does even STUPIDER things here....Stella I know your having a psychotic episode..but don't run INTO THE OCEAN, lordie.

And hey wait...no one to this point has caught what the gundam-jackers look like? ....there were no surveillance cameras in the hanger? no footage of them from any angles anywhere approaching the military base? ...no cameras IN the mobile suits?

[azrael]

Episode 22 is out. Usual round of clean-ups to the action.

Next week, Kira humiliates Earth and ZAFT. And we'll get to see the Ootori (Phoenix) pack. Just "see". IIRC, Strike Rouge gets little action in the next episode.

[Silver_August]

Ohhhhhhhhhboy! Episode 22...I actually remember this episode fondly because when I was a kid I'd have the 2nd half of this episode almost on loop when I was writing action scenes for my stories because I never had access to the OSTs...which is what I'd naturally reach for today.

Heine is still as great as I remember, celeb voice and this time he actually gets a character not just a guy we're supposed to feel bad for when he dies....oops.

...and how could I forget that Jonathan Rapist comes back and is still such a loaf of a military man as he would've been a wif-i mean husband, Neo is still great though, stupid retcon, stupid mask, stupid not being a clone aside, every time he speaks on screen it makes me smile.

Overall the framework of this episode was better too, talking AND action in the same ep! Even if it was a lot of stock footage and grunts getting sliced apart...its ok,

And of course...this is the point when Kira offically begins to steal the show...or does he?! Rewatching this show may open my eyes to how accurate this is....then again Strike Freedom IS on the title card for the next 2 openings so......yah scratch that, but yay! Strike Rouge! Sell me on that phoenix pack because my desire for you over the regular strike is fading slowly...

[Silver_August]

Episode 23 - AKa The Unicorn Episode 4 of Destiny, Gundam Porn Everywhere! And frankly I loved it.

The melodrama with Cagalli was great, basically interrupting this entire battle just to be out right ignored and just...I can honestly understand her relapsing into doing nothing....now no one got a successful SHOT on her but..hey, anime.

I jusut found the entire episode entertaining, Heine's moments of action were cool and actualyl made me appreciate how how the CE Gouf took all the classic elements of the Gouf and incoperated them pretty seamlessly, i.e a way to give it both the 5 barrel gun hand thing and the heat whip...and the sword.

Surprised Shinn didn't have more to say considering Freedom was running around on the batlte field... again, was this ever really his show? lol

Archangel just attacking both sides was nice, I dunno it was just cool seeing this battlefield intervention.

But deaaaar lord is Yuna nuts, like jeez he's hopped up on the crazy bills now...and I just wanna note, Orb's military budget DOES suck apparently, that or Phantom Pain has a great one - because while Neo got a nice (and easy to animate) cordless 90s phone for the bridge, Crazy Yuna had to stick to the coded. Budget cuts, ya know?

[monster]

now no one got a successful SHOT on her but..hey, anime.

Well, it's not like she can't defend herself.

Surprised Shinn didn't have more to say considering Freedom was running around on the batlte field... again

I don't see what else he can say at this point. It's a new experience for him.

[Silver_August]

Ohhhhh right, They've been trying to retcon that Freedom was the one that killed his parents...Okie sure but I still feel like he should react more to seeing one of the suits that was there at the scene when his life changed...not only there but also gunning down Orb suits (disarming them, but still).

Oh I also wanna mention...Heine's death seems severely understate...I know we're never going to hear the end of it in the future episodes but for this moment its like "Alright, I'm a skilled ace of FAITH, I'm going to fly directly in the line of fire of this charging gundam armed with beam blades which all things considered I should be able to pick up on radar but I don't cuz...mad" oh no he blows up! "MIGUELLLLL!! I-uh-er- I mean, HEINEEEE!" boom, smoke clears, ...the end? Eh...just felt understated to me.

Oh and I kind of feel bad for Ray, here we have a character who until now has not really shown...ANYTHING, hasn't even really hinted at much mystery beyond a connection to Neo that was alluded to...back in episode 4 and I believe briefly in the late teens? Anyways, here he is with Lunamaria, stuck being mobile cover fire on the ship. It seems like that's ALL they do in these action scenes...so at what point does he become interesting and worth caring about again? ...or at least show he's got enough skill that deserves to not have the same job as Ms. Hawke?

[iCards]

Ohhhhh right, They've been trying to retcon that Freedom was the one that killed his parents...Okie sure but I still feel like he should react more to seeing one of the suits that was there at the scene when his life changed...not only there but also gunning down Orb suits (disarming them, but still).

Oh I also wanna mention...Heine's death seems severely understate...I know we're never going to hear the end of it in the future episodes but for this moment its like "Alright, I'm a skilled ace of FAITH, I'm going to fly directly in the line of fire of this charging gundam armed with beam blades which all things considered I should be able to pick up on radar but I don't cuz...mad" oh no he blows up! "MIGUELLLLL!! I-uh-er- I mean, HEINEEEE!" boom, smoke clears, ...the end? Eh...just felt understated to me.

Oh and I kind of feel bad for Ray, here we have a character who until now has not really shown...ANYTHING, hasn't even really hinted at much mystery beyond a connection to Neo that was alluded to...back in episode 4 and I believe briefly in the late teens? Anyways, here he is with Lunamaria, stuck being mobile cover fire on the ship. It seems like that's ALL they do in these action scenes...so at what point does he become interesting and worth caring about again? ...or at least show he's got enough skill that deserves to not have the same job as Ms. Hawke?

Heine's death was more understated in the Remaster; in the original I think they gave a full body shot of him with a salute during the explosion. I believe Heine's general reason for character creation was meant to serve one of Athrun's arguments that Kira's group brought "chaos" to the battlefield, seeing as Heine got so pissed at the Freedom he totally forgot about the Gaia. Same could be said about Stella she didn't notice the Gouf till the last second.

Also, as much as people parody it Kira never yelled "STOP FIGHTING!!" Minerva's cannon aside, once Cagalli's attempts never took off and they were attacked he just MOPPED the Reef with everyone.

[Soma Taozi]

Ohhhhh right, They've been trying to retcon that Freedom was the one that killed his parents...Okie sure but I still feel like he should react more to seeing one of the suits that was there at the scene when his life changed...not only there but also gunning down Orb suits (disarming them, but still).

I wouldn't even say they have tried to retcon it at all...we have yet to see a flashback that takes the entire freedom out of it. Besides I disagree with the statement that the creators tried to do this in the first place...mostly because we are in the REMASTERED version now. We saw in Seed that the animators could change things to make it appear like Kira was LESS at fault. They had a perfect opportunity to do so at the start of the series by cutting out the Freedom entirely out of when it and the Calamity fired...but they didn't. They left it in as IS.

Besides I think everyone is looking at this from the viewers perspective. We as viewers know that Kira at least contributed to Shinn's parents deaths, but does Shinn? To him mobile suits were just flashing around the battlefield, shooting at everything. He was grabbing Mayu's cell when the explosion happened...so what DOES he know ANYWAY? Yes it would add some more drama if he recognized the Freedom from that battle, but he doesn't...

The Freedom is just a famous mobile suit to Shinn, nothing more. So the Freedom was at the battle of Orb...and Shinn was shocked by its sudden appearance. Do we really need more?

[Silver_August]

Well, at the very least it leads to a more interesting discussion about what Shinn thinks (as oppose to say...Flit and if he ever really got over Yurin..which went out the window in the last episode...lol).

Never the less my arguments more...aged then anything cause I'm speaking as someone who hasn't seen the series since its orginal run on YTV back in the day and Shinn's vendetta ...OH I just realized why I feel this vendetta - The opening, OP1 features an entire scene of Freedom and Impulse fighting LONG before they actually fight each other, showing the characters starring off, implying there IS this bitterness/desire to ...fight him.

Never the less, the series more and more seem to try and...cool this down I guess, but either way when he lost his parents he does end up looking up and seeing those mobile suits fighting so...I wouldn't be surprised if he just out right blamed them all and the hate on Freedom was the same reason he hates Orb, because it failed to protect his family. Eh, makes for good discussion, haha.

[monster]

Shinn never knew what caused the explosion that killed his family. His problem with the Freedom is entirely based on its interference.

[iCards]

Shinn's scream from the first scene was probably more anguish and shock than anything. I know when my Dad told me my grandmother had died I dropped the phone and screamed from the sudden shock. Shinn probably couldn't make out anything that went on around then.

[HellCat]

Fell behind, got caught up (aren't those lyrics to some emo rock song?)

I like the scene between Neo and the technicians. It doesn't smooth things over magically but it's nice to see that not everyone is James Bond villain wannabes like Djibril. What drives men to believe turning children into soldiers to this extreme is something they can support?

Speaking of Djibril, it's amusing to see the President mildly snark that he's pushed them into a war with a vague goal and no strategy. I know Djibril is supposed to be the current kingpin of LOGOS/Blue Cosmos but scenes like this just make you wonder why people are following him. He's like a child.

Heine's character seems to fall apart the moment he launches. I know the tense situation of war is different then casual safe times but for a guy who is pretty mellow and level headed the last 2-3 episodes, he's suddenly the typical hot headed pilot once he gets going. I'm glad they at least removed 'ghost Heine' saluting. Wonder why?

Kira is really lacking in character and comes off as dickish. I'm not sure if they meant it to come off as him being burnt out on war like Amuro in Zeta but the way he just seems to do things this time round...Made worse because the scene where he says Cagalli is useless can kind of be read as him working her up to give Lacus the ideal opening to push her in a desired direction. If you wanna.

[monster]

Kira is really lacking in character and comes off as dickish. I'm not sure if they meant it to come off as him being burnt out on war like Amuro in Zeta

I'm not sure what you mean, but I guess you could say that Kira is burnt out. Retiring at an orphanage at a young age would certainly give that impression. More specifically, Kira has had two years to reflect on his experiences in SEED and is now more used to deaths in battle.

That said, regarding his talk with Cagalli:

the scene where he says Cagalli is useless can kind of be read as him working her up to give Lacus the ideal opening to push her in a desired direction.

I see that scene the same as when Kira was mad at Cagalli for trying to attack the BuCUEs with no proper planning. He's just telling it like it is.

If you wanna.

But why would anyone? Unless they just don't like Kira and like to assume the worst regarding him.

[HellCat]

Your sister feels like crap. She's the leader of an entire nation and whilst not making the choices you agree with, she's crippled by the fear of what happened 2 years ago and of trying to avoid a repeat and live up to her adoptive father's legacy.

You stand across from her and, with no hint of emotion, bluntly criticise in a way that feels almost like she isn't there. Even when everyone else in the room seems to disagree you continue.

Seriously, it's like Kira had the emotion milked out of him unless he's talking to Lacus.

[monster]

The situation called for Kira to be serious and even a little stern. I don't see any problem with that. He's not really angry, sad or happy. Is he supposed to be excited?

[Silver_August]

OK! OOOOOOOOOOK!

FIRST we had Lunamaria's panties, THEN we had Meer's Nipples. Did the HD Remaster pay for Lacus' ass too?! Or was her butt always in the contract? Because OH. Dear. God I don't remember THAT part of the episode!

Well, as a Lacus fanboy I'm satisfied, but I think while the show's at it, it might as well throw in some fully detailed full frontal Stalla Nudity and just have Murrue's breasts jiggle consistently any time she's on screen - Of course I think we'd all prefer more Murrue fan service but hey we can't be greedy, this IS a classy show after all

In all seriousness though, started out as a pretty slow episode but worked its way to be pretty interesting with the melodrama and the cliffhanger that FINALLY gives Rey some bloody character.. of course having basically none up until now makes his reaction kind of lose a bit of weight when you watch this with the mindset of not knowing what happens later... but that setting just amused me because its like they walked into Batman TAS...nothing good can come from a setting with A BLOOD RED NIGHT SKY.

Also Lunamaria is a stalker, just that moment when she was watching Athrun from her hotel window, i snickered....then she follows him in a little helicopter thingy?! Ohhhhh man, first I wanna know where she got that and if its on the Minerva then why is something like this there?

I have to ask as well...did the archangel ALWAYS have a hot springs?!

And lastly...it amused me how the episode end on awkward silence in the wind.

Oh, and before I forget... Uzumi BBQ Count: 3

[HellCat]

"Get out of their, Luna In A Tiny Spy Plane, your work is done. Return to base!"

I'm amused that Shinn considers operations away from piloting MS to be beneath him. Look, pal, in any other Gundam-verse you'd be seeing that kind of action constantly.
Given what's come since, the whole Rey plot of this episode reminds me of Al requesting a mission for the HRL super soldier colony.

I know some people dislike it but I was always glad this episode suggests there is no 'romance' between Miri and Dearka. She was pining for Tolle, he felt guilty and stepped up to defend her and the ship. With what's soon to come I'm surprised Destiny managed to avoid the 21st century Sunrise mecha romance curse on that one.

I still hate the random Japanese cultural elements added to the Archangel. I sure hope they drain those baths outside of combat time.