Mobile Suit Gundam Seed

You have the power to make a difference, don't you? Then why not put it to good use? - Mu La Flaga

Status

Anime: complete. (50 episodes subbed.)

Thoughts

My personal unambiguous first in the world of anime, though the nostalgia factor most certainly does not apply to me, as I now regard this show with disdain. I don't hate it as vigorously as its sequel, Destiny, but neither do I like it as much, paradoxically speaking - more precisely, while I hate Seed less than Destiny, I also see less potential in the overall show, especially with regards to characterization.

The best example is Kira Yamato: he's not an interesting character at all; his character development (when he has it) is completely predictable, and while he's a sympathetic and, dare I say, cool pilot in the first half of the series (nice strategizing and all), once he gets the Freedom, all strategy (and consequently anything of interest) is thrown out the window in favor of ridiculous beam spamming (a trend that only gets worse in Destiny).

And there's not much in the plot, either. The prejudice and tension between Naturals and Coordinators is theoretically a good source of conflict, but I didn't care for Seed's approach to it, which in my view was standard and nothing out of the ordinary (exactly like Kira). A quick improvement I can suggest is to give the Archangel crew a bit more of a reaction to Kira - a bit more fear, maybe even slight resentment - and I'd be a lot more impressed. Having all the "good guys" come from Orb, a nation which is supposedly unique in its tolerant ways, does not sit well with me.