Gundam Seed
Category:Gundam\nCategory:Anime
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (or "Gundam Seed") is an anime television series form
Japan. It has 50 episodes. It is a part of the
Gundam franchise that started in
1979.\nThe first episode of
Gundam Seed aired on
October 5,
2002. The last episode of
Gundam Seed aired on
September 27,
2003.
Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda (
Future Cyber Formula GPX and
Gear Fighter Dendoh), the series is set in an alternate universe to the original series, the
Cosmic Era universe. This series begins with a war between Earth and the colonies that is similar to the
One-Year War of the original Gundam series with elements from
Gundam Wing and
Gundam X. On one side is the Earth Alliance, and on the opposite is the space colonies that form
ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty). Mankind has evolved into new forms through genetic engineering, with normal humans known as 'Naturals' and the genetically altered known as '
Coordinators'. Like the original series,
ZAFT has a head start on mobile suit design, but the
Earth Alliance quickly catches up with its five prototype Gundams. With
ZAFT having stolen four of the prototypes, young pilot Kira Yamato takes the Strike Gundam and is forced to fight his old friend Athrun Zara. The series began broadcasting in Japan in October 2002 and is currently licensed by Bandai Visual. The
American edition is currently being broadcast on
Cartoon Network as of April 2004 on
Toonami.
Another element leftover from the most popular recent Gundam series (1994-5's
Shin Kidou Senki Gundam W) was the presence of five color-coded Gundams piloted by angst-ridden
bishounen. This made the series quite attractive to female fans, though to date SEEDslash is primarily concentrated among the ZAFT adversary characters, rather than among the
Archangel crew members.
On July 6, 2004, the sequel to
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED,
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, was announced after over a month of rumors; the series will start airing on Mainichi Broadcasting System in
October,
2004.
Cast & Crew
\nCast
\n*Athrun Zara - Ishida Akira \n*Cagalli Yula Athha - Shindou Naomi \n*Dearka Elthman - Sasanuma Akira \n*Flay Allster - Kuwashima Houko \n*Kira Yamato - Hoshi Souichirou \n*Lacus Clyne - Tanaka Rie \n*Murrue Ramius - Mitsuishi Kotono \n*Mu La Flaga - Koyasu Takehito \n*Natarle Badgiruel - Kuwashima Houko \n*Nicol Amarfi - Matsui Mami \n*Raw Le Crueset - Seki Toshihiko \n*Yzak Jule - Seki Tomokazu
English-language Cast
\n*Narrator - Alison Matthews\n*Kira - Matt Hill \n*Rau - Mark Oliver \n*Mu - Trevor Devall \n*Murrue - Lisa Anne Beley \n*Athrun - Sam Vincent\n*Cagalli - Vanessa Morley \n*Dearka - Brad Swaile \n*Miriallia - Anna Cummer \n*Tolle - Richard Cox \n*Flay, Birdy, Haro - Tabitha St. Germain \n*Sai - Bill Switzer \n*Kuzzey - Keith Miller\n*Natarle - Sarah Johns\n*Yzak - Michael Adamthwaite \n*Neumann - Philip Pacaud \n*Lacus - Chantal Strand \n*Nicol - Gabe Khouth \n*Chandra - Simon Hayama \n*Tonomura - Matt Smith \n*Pal - Brendan Van Wijk \n*Murdoch - Ward Perry \n*Siegel Clyne - Don Brown \n*Patrick Zala - Andrew Kavadas \n*Ades - Michael Dobson \n*Kisaka - Adam Henderson\n*Andy - Brian Drummond \n*Sutherland - Ron Halder\n*Azrael - Andrew Francis
Staff
\n*Director - Mitsuo Fukuda \n*Series Writer - Chiaki Morosawa\n*Character Design - Hisashi Hirai \n*Mecha Designer - Kunio Okawara & Kimitoshi Yamane\n*Music Composer - Toshihiko Sahashi
Characters
Archangel crew/Clyne Faction
\n*Kira Yamato - Protagonist who first pilots the Strike Gundam but later upgrades to Freedom Gundam. He has his "first time" with Flay and becomes her boyfriend for a time. He is also The Ultimate Coordinator created from a birthing lab.\n*Murrue Ramius - Captain of the Archangel and Flaga's love interest. Her old boyfriend was a mobile armor pilot who was killed in action. Captain Ramius is a stern but fair commanding officer who treats Kira Yamato as a younger brother.\n*Mu La Flaga - Top Newtype Mobile Armor pilot, later pilots a rebuilt Strike Gundam. He is Ariaga Flaga's son. Mu and his father's clone Raw Le Crueset are the last Newtypes in the world. Like Ramius, Mu treats Kira as a younger brother, taking the younger pilot frequently under his wing to teach him the finer points of piloting.\n*Miriallia Haw - Tolle's girlfriend who is in charge of communications in Archangel and later becomes friends with Deakka.\n*Kuzzey Buskirk - Part of Kira's group but later leaves Archangel when the Archangel crew defects to Orb.\n*Tolle Koenig - Miriallia's boyfriend and backup pilot for the Sky Grasper. He is later beheaded by Athrun while piloting the FX-550 Skygrasper.\n*Sai Argyle - Flay's boyfriend and Archangel crew member.\n*Dearka Elsman - Pilot of Buster Gundam and later befriends Miriallia and joins the Clyne Faction\n*Athrun Zala - Pilot of Aegis Gundam and upgrades to Justice Gundam after losing Aegis in a battle with Kira.\n*Cagalli Yula Athha - Daughter of the President of Orb also Kira's Natural twin sister. She later pilots Strike Rouge to support Athrun in the final battle. She also has the ability to go into SEED mode\n*Jackie Tonomura - Archangel's original crew member, in charge of CIC\n*Dalida Lolaha Chandra II - Archangel's original crew member, in charge of CIC\n*Romero Pal - Archangel's original crew member, first in charge of fire control, then CIC\n*Arnold Newmann - Archangel's original crew member, in charge of driving Archangel itself\n*Andrew Waltfeld - The "Desert Tiger" of ZAFT who pilots a LaGOWE. He is first believed to have been killed by Kira but survives the battle, losing an arm and an eye. He then goes on to become the captain of the Eternal\n*Kojiro Murdoch - Archangel's original crew member, a veteran mechanic
OMNI
\n*Natarle Badgiruel - Executive Officer of Archangel and later Captain of Dominion. She is later repeatedly shot by Azrael and dies when Dominion is destroyed from Archangel's beam attack. Badgiruel is a stern martinet who operates strictly by the book, even when it conflicts with Captain Ramius.\n*Crot Buer - Pilot of Raider Gundam and is addicted to performance enhancing drugs to have co-ordinator powers for a short period of time. He is later killed by a combined attack by Deakka and Yzak\n*Shani Andras - Pilot of Forbidden Gundam and is addicted to performance enhancing drugs to have co-ordinator powers for a short period of time. He is later killed by Yzak Jule\n*Orga Sabnak - Pilot of Calamity Gundam and is addicted to performance enhancing drugs to have co-ordinator powers for a short period of time. He is later killed by Athrun Zara\n*Murata Azrael - Leader of Blue Cosmos, an extreme right-wing group dedicated to destroying Coordinators for a "Blue and Pure Earth" and in charge of the new OMNI Gundam pilots. He tries to kill Natarle when she disobeys orders, and manages to kill Flaga. However, he is killed when Dominion is destroyed.\n*Flay Allster - Hates Coordinaters and gives herself to Kira. She later becomes La Crueset's prisoner and later escapes to become the Dominion's commucation officer. However, Flay returns to Archangel after being ordered to abandon ship by Nataru. She later dies when her escape pod is shot down by Le Crueset.
ZAFT
\n*Patrick Zara - Athrun's father and escalates the ZAFT-OMNI war in his quest to purge the world of Naturals. He believes Coordinators are the only Humans for the Cosmic Era. The war has also pushed him into extreme measures such as the use of the Neutron Jammer Cancellers, the creation of the Eternal, and the building of a superweapon called GENESIS. He is later shot by a dissenting soldier who objects to his plan to vaporize Earth\n*Sigel Clyne - The Chairman of the ZAFT council and father of Lacus Clyne. He is more moderate in seeking a peaceful solution to the war and doesn't have the hate most have towards naturals. Unfortunately, this had made him and his supporters the minority in the ZAFT council and he gets brutally gunned down by Patrick's minions searching for his daughter\n*Nicol Amalfi - Pilot of Blitz Gundam, he later gets killed by Kira. Has the worst last words in anime history ("Mother... my piano...")\n*Yzak Jule - Pilot of Duel Gundam, gets a scar on the forehead from Kira. He later joins Deakka to fight OMNI\n*Raw Le Creuset - A failed clone of Ariaga Flaga and is hellbent on destroying all of humanity. He is killed by Kira Yamato at the final battle. Raw and Ariaga's son Mu La Flaga are the last Newtypes in the world. Raw's surname means "Crucible" in French.\n*Lacus Clyne - Athrun's former fiancee. She is Anti-war and heads the Clyne faction of ZAFT after her father is gunned down by Patrick Zara. She has the ability to go into SEED mode\n*Miguel Aiman - A GINN pilot and dies in the third episode. He personifies the senseless casualties of war
Civilians/Other
\n*Uzumi Nara Athha - Leader of the Emirate of Orb; later commits suicide with the rest of Orb forces to stop OMNI from occupying their nation\n*George Glenn - Graduated from MIT, became an American Football star, served in the Air Force, develops PLANT as research labs and headed the Jupiter exploration project. He is the first Coordinator and gives away his genetic secret to the world; sowing the Coordinator-Natural rift
Mobile Suits
The name "Gundam" is never used in the series to identify any mobile suit; it is an acronym for two of the various Mobile Operating Systems used to run mobile suits, and Kira Yamato uses it to refer to his mobile suit until he's informed otherwise. The word "Gundam" is used in marketing copy and model kit/toy packaging to designate the "hero" mobile suits, as opposed to the normal "grunt" mobile suits.
Archangel Crew/Clyne Faction
\n*Buster (GAT-X103)- Retaken by The Earth Alliance Defectors and still piloted by Deakka\n*Strike/Strike Rouge (GAT-X105/MBF-02) - Destroyed by Aegis Gundam and rebuilt by Orb. Spare parts made to rebuild Strike are used to make Strike Rouge (designated MBF-02) which is piloted by Cagalli. Strike is piloted first by Kira Yamato, then Mu La Flaga. Cagalli's Strike Rouge remains mostly intact at the end of the series's final episode.\n*Freedom (ZGMF-X10A)- Nuclear-powered and has the N-Jammer Canceller. Freedom is severely damaged in Kira's battle with Rau Le Creuset.\n*Justice (ZGMF-X09A)- Nuclear-powered and has the N-Jammer Canceller. Athrun self destructs Justice to destroy Genesis\n*Mobius Zero (TS-MA2mod.00) - Flaga's custom mobile armor\n*Mistral (MAW-01) - A Standard mobile pod primarily used for colony defence. Cheap and easy to use
OMNI Enforcer
\nOMNI mobile suits have the designation GAT (Gressorial Armament Tactical). Experimental units in the series include the modifier of "X" before the unit designation number (example: GAT-X105 Strike Gundam) The word "Gressorial" means "adapted for walking." Mobile armors have the designation TS-MA (Tactical Striker - Mobile Armor).
OMNI's mobile suit operating system is designated "General Unilateral Neurolink Dispersive Autonomous Maneuver" (or "GUNDAM")
- Calamity (GAT-X131) - OMNI's New Gundam and has ability to transform into flight mode and later destroyed by Justice Gundam\n*Forbidden (GAT-X252) - OMNI's New Gundam and has the ability to transform into close-combat mode and is later destroyed by Duel Gundam\n*Raider (GAT-X370) - OMNI's New Gundam and has ability to use deflector shields and is later destroyed by both Duel and a damaged Buster\n*Strike Dagger (GAT-01) - Mass produced and simplified version of the Strike Gundam\n*Long Dagger (GAT-01D) - Mass produced and simplified version of Duel Gundam with Buster Gundam colors and weapons\n*Mobius (TS-MA2) - Earth's mobile armor\n*Sky Grasper (FX-550) - Support fighter capable to carrying and using strike's battle packs. Skygrasper unit #2 was an unlucky craft; in its brief life it was shot down twice and repaired both times before finally being destroyed.
ZAFT
ZAFT mobile suits have the following designations and meanings:
- ZGMF (Zero-Gravity Maneuver Fighter)\n*AMF (Airborne Maneuver Fighter)\n*TMF/S (Terrestrial Maneuver Fighter/Striker(?))\n*TMF/A (Terrestrial Maneuver Fighter/Assault(?))\n*UWMF/S (UnderWater Maneuver Fighter/Striker(?))\n*UMF (Underwater Maneuver Fighter)
When ZAFT builds three new mobile suits based on the captured mobile suits Buster, Duel, Aegis and Blitz, they designate the operating system for those suits "Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module" (or "GUNDAM").
- Duel (GAT-X102) - Gets upgraded with body armor, called the "Assault Shroud," after being cut down on its first battle with Strike\n*Blitz (GAT-X207) - Is the only Gundam with stealth capabilities; Destroyed by Strike Gundam\n*Aegis (GAT-X303) - Able to transform into mobile armor mode and equipped with devasting beam cannon. Destroyed by its self-destruct mode set by Athrun\n*Providence (ZGMF-X13A) - Another ZAFT Gundam containing the strengths of both Justice and Freedom and it is piloted by La Klueze; laster destroyed by Freedom\n*BuCUE (TMF/A-802) - Standard MS for desert warfare\n*LaGOWE (TMF/A-803) - Andy Waltfeld's customized BACOW MS; later destroyed by Strike\n*CGUE (ZGMF-515) - An upgraded version of the GINN\n*GINN (ZGMF-1017 GINN) - Standard ZAFT MS\n*GINN Reconnaissance (ZGMF-LRR704B) - A variation of the ZGMF-1017 GINN, designed for long range reconnaissance and search missions\n*GINN Orcher (TMF/S-3) - A variation of the ZGMF-1017 GINN, designed for use in desert environments and support ZAFT's TMF/A-802 BuCUE during combat\n*GINN WASP (UWMF/S-1) - Another variation of the ZGMF-1017 GINN, designed for use in aquatic environments\n*ZuOOT (TFA-2) - The TFA-2 ZuOOT was designed as a ground assault artillery unit that could transform into a tank\n*GOOhN (UMF-4A) A mobile suit designed for aquatic use\n*ZnO (UMF-5) A mobile suit designed for aquatic use\n*GuAIZ (ZGMF-600)- ZAFT's next generation mobile suits; a successor to the GINN series
Orb Union
\n*Gundam Astray (MBF-P01, MBF-P02, MBF-P03) - Featured in the Gundam Seed Astray side story series.\n*Astray (MBF-M1) - Orb's Standard MS and is featured in the second half of the series.\n*Strike Rouge (MBF-02) - Orb reconstruction of the Strike Gundam, with improvements to its Phase Shift Armor and power capacity. The red hue of the armor is due to the improvements made to the Phase Shift Armor.\nBattleships and Spacecraft
Earth Alliance/Archangel crew
\n*Archangel-class Battleship - Archangel, Dominion\n*Agamemmnon-class Battleship - Menelaos\n*250 meter Battleship\n*Sky Grasper - Support fighter can carry Strike Gundam's accessories\n*130 meter Escort Ship - Bernard, Law, Kassandros, Antigonos, Ptolemaios
ZAFT/PLANT/Clyne Faction
\n*Laurasia-class Mobile Suit carrying Frigate (FFM) - Vesalius\n*Nazca-class High-Speed Mobile Suit carrying Destroyer (DDMH) - Gamow\n*Bosugolof-class Submarine - Tsuigara.\n*Eternal-class mobile suit transport ship - Constructed to support Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam. For some unknowable reason, it's pink, despite being built as a warship.\n*Lesseps-class Land Battleship - A mobile giant goundbase, it moves quite fast using a snakelike "scale system"\n*MS Transport Ship\n*METEOR - Mobile suit weapons support system (Mobile suit Enhanced Tactical EnfOrceR).\n*GENESIS - ZAFT's superweapon; it is a nuclear-power weapon installed with a N-Jammer Canceller and Phase Shift. It has the ability to shoot a giant megabeam capable to scorching the entire surface of the earth.
Orb Union and Civilians
\n*Combat Helicopter\n*Aegis-class sea battleship \n*Izumo-class battleship Kusanagi - A modular ship, the prototype for the Archangel class.\n*Jupiter Exploration Ship (Civilians) - Piloted by George Glenn to explore deep space
See also
Preceded by: ∀ Gundam
Followed by: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
- Gundam Seed Episode 1 - FALSE PEACE\n* Gundam Seed Episode 2 - ITS NAME IS GUNDAM \n* Gundam Seed Episode 3 - COLLAPSING HOMELAND \n* Gundam Seed Episode 4 - SILENT RUN \n* Gundam Seed Episode 5 - PHASE SHIFT DOWN \n* Gundam Seed Episode 6 - THE VANISHING GUNDAM \n* Gundam Seed Episode 7 - THE SCAR OF SPACE \n* Gundam Seed Episode 8 - THE SONGSTRESS OF THE ENEMY \n* Gundam Seed Episode 9 - THE FADING LIGHT \n* Gundam Seed Episode 10 - CROSSROADS
External links
