nickh46 wrote:
Post subject: Re: The Official Gundam The Origin Anime Thread Mk I Reply with quote
nickh46 wrote:
I'm wondering whether naming the cat Lucifer is a deliberate homage to Cinderella, the antagonist's main cat was named Lucifer as well.
That's true. I'd forgotten, having not seen that particular movie in ages.
Then of course we have the whole little witchling outfit for Artesia, plus the fact that her father had Messianic delusions.
Could just be another biblical reference, and a strange one at that.
The creators must be allowed their little jokes, not to mention the viewers, like my friends speaking of "Sayla's Delivery Service".
So. Anyone care to explain what exactly becomes of Astraia?
It was a terrible case of plot disease, man, just terrible. Or maybe she caught some of that lead poisoning that seems to afflict Mr. Putin's critics.
EDIT: That board game (is it called Gou or something like that?) was just creepy with how it dramatized putting down a game piece. Great way to make Ghiren scarier already. Plus he figures out what dear little sister was up to aaaall along.
Symbolism! And wholly character relevant too.
I do believe that the fanon conceit that Saslo was on good terms with Gihren will have to be corrected....not that Gihren ever seemed to be buddy-buddy with anyone....
Sayla's voice actress did a great job with the role and easily stirred up tears for my girlfriend and I when it came to her talking to Astraia.
That's classic UC, tugging on the heartstrings like a stuck door. Megumi Han (Artesia's seiyuu) comes by it as a fine tradition; her mother Keiko Han was the seiyuu for Lalah Sune.
Char came off really well, legitimately creepy as a child, but not completely unfeeling.
I didn't see Cassovel as being creepy, he was however by contemporary standards unusually articulate and emphatic for a boy-child still in smart pants. A look at Disney TV & Nickelodeon programming by contrast shows just how dumbed-down the characterization for children has gotten in the USA. (In respect, much of the young protagonist characterizations in the 21st century anime haven't been so strong either.) Young Cassovel is a throwback to the young protagonists of classic "boy's stories", and he is his father's son...to a point. But know we know he came by his mother complex honestly.
Gihren's introduction was really good, rather than just talking about how smart he is, we even get glimpses of this (Such as him playing Go in his down time.) Kycillia was very interesting, much moreso than I remember her being in MSG, and I enjoyed her forceful personality. Dozle comes across as a giant softie, doing things when told to, but obviously still having qualms with it
The classic concept of "show don't tell" is well expressed in
Gundam the Origin, and it translates into the anime quite nicely. Part of the fun of the pre-MSG storyline is showing everyone before they got to their original iconic anime starting points, and this is particularly true for the Zabi family, who didn't get much screen time to explain themselves. However, the origin story here catches the Zabi brood at the start of their respective development into their 0079 selves: Gihren the cold manipulator-manager, Kycilia the woman in a man's world, Dozzel the loyal Munster, and Garma the cute afterthought.
Ramba Ral and Hamon both were very awesome as well, having very good comedic moments while still being badasses.
I would definitely watch a spinoff series based on these two.
Jimba Ral as the paranoid codger was interesting because even though he's somewhat right, he still comes across as a bit crazy.
Is it really paranoia if you know "they" really are out to get you? Still, it was both amusing & bemusing to watch Jinba Ral take himself completely out of the political equation. Part of the Zabis' seemingly irresistible rise to power was the complete lack of any meaningful political opposition, and
Gundam the Origin sets that at the very beginning of the Principality of Zeon. (Screw any intermediary process, Munzo republic to Zeon revolutionary dictatorship, get it going now!) The Zabis quickly moved to fill the political vacuum caused by Zeon Zum Daikun's death while everyone else was saying "what next" and any sense of a true republican governing body seems to have halted right there. The Federation at Dakar was obviously well behind the curve to the point of irrelevance, except for providing a symbol of oppression for popular resentment.
"I am fire. I am death. I am Hashmal."
"Discontent is the first step in the progress for a man or a nation." - Oscar Wilde
