June 27, 2005: Gundam SEED Destiny

I am a lot less dissatisfied with Athrun's defection in episode 36 of Gundam SEED Destiny than I thought I'd be. This is largely because Meyrin's role as his accomplice was very well done, and because they at least established that he didn't have a choice in the matter. (I.e., Gil and Rey had already decided that Athrun wasn't going to further their cause, and had sent goons to take him into custody.) The plot had been hinting at Athrun's defection for quite some time, and the previews from episode 35 (as well as the title of episode 36 itself) revealed that Athrun was, in fact, going to defect from ZAFT—for the second time. Sigh.

Athrun defects the hard way.

As well as it was done, it's still a stupid plot development. What was the point of having him rejoin ZAFT twenty episodes ago? He did essentially NOTHING in all that time except sulk. He didn't provide any real guidance or mentoring to Shinn. He wasn't effective in combat (spending most of his time transforming his mobile suit and dodging while occasionally firing off a disabling shot). All he did was mope in his quarters with the lights out. He didn't even have the decency to put the wood to Lunamaria. At the very least he should have cheated on Cagalli, even though it wouldn't even have counted because their relationship is just as dead as her character. No, no, Cagalli isn't dead dead, but she is dead to me. Destiny Cagalli is not the same Cagalli as the one from the first season—not by a long shot.

Meyrin and Athrun make a break for it.

So now Athrun gets to go back to playing second fiddle with the hippie pacifists on Archangel. What a waste of 20 episodes of opportunity.

At least the defection was a star-making vehicle for Meyrin. Always in the background, Meyrin had a pretty unimportant role until this point. Aside from announcing stuff over the PA every once in a while, and being her sister's understudy in Athrun's harem (although in more of a pity fuck capacity than a moon eyes one), she didn't do much in the show except buy lots of shampoo, not visit Lunamaria when she was in the infirmary, and worry that she might be getting fat.

Athrun makes a mental note to drop his briefcase again at his earliest opportunity.

Her role assisting Athrun in episode 36 hopefully changes all this, as it really gave her a chance to strip shine. Too bad it's a cinch now that one of the Hawke sisters will die. I mean, that is kinda the rule, isn't it? I hope one or both of the Hawke sisters and Athrun at least give Cagalli something to get upset about before that happens.

July 06, 2005: Gundam SEED Destiny

"Squinty displeasure will keep my minions in line."

You know, I'm still not convinced that Durandal's intentions are sinister. Sure, he has a single-minded way of looking at things, but his goals appear to comport with his rhetoric. Quite frankly, Rey seems to be the one with a hidden agenda.

"Ramius has things under control. Time for more onsen!"

I love how they showed Cagalli in episode 37 for no reason at all. Oh, you're still around? Still doing absolutely nothing? Well, keep it up; you're doing a bang-up job of being worthless. See you next week. Needs more Naomi Shindoh characters whispering, "Kiyohime," and then utterly trashing the joint.

"Say, you know what will help? Obsessively fixating on one of your sister's old belongings. And the oral-type sex."

Oh, and Lunamaria + Shinn? Worst idea of the season. Worse than making Shinn's last girlfriend a severely overclocked Chii, worse than making Kira Yamato the first cousin to Jesus Christ in pilot form, and even worse than Cagalli stroking off Jona in the limousine. What in Hell was that all about?

"I need a lamp, but I blew all my money on Cagalli's ring. What was I thinking?"

In other news, for all the sulking in the dark Athrun has done this season, he could have at least passed the time constructing more Haroes and Toriis—better Haroes, and faster Toriies—Infinite Torii, with THRUST VECTORING. And we all know Lunamaria would have creamed her black panties something fierce if Athrun had built her a Haro. The guy needs to learn how to make better use of his spare time.

July 20, 2005: Gundam SEED Destiny 38 & 39

Lunamaria throws her life away.

Lunamaria...NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!

I hope to God this is just a ploy to make it easier to kill him later. Is it too late to bring Stellar back from the dead or introduce a Mayu clone for Shinn to obsess over?

Neo convalesces.

Why is Neo still in a hospital bed? Man, naturals heal freakin' slow. If they just need to keep him confined, they should just tie him to the mast.

Athrun convalesces.

"Oh, right...THE RING. I remember you now." That talk with Cagalli in episode 39 was the longest conversation they had all season. Unfortunately, it also revealed why they used Meyrin instead of Lunamaria to save Athrun's ass: No threat to the Athrun/Cagalli relationship, which may have been a good idea last season, but isn't anything I give a damn about now.

At least Athrun remembered to ask in episode 38 shortly after waking up if Meyrin was okay. Someone was going to have to throw him back into the ocean if he had forgotten.

CON: Tried to commit genocide. PRO: Responsible cat owner.

You can tell Djibril is important because he bums around in his pajamas at all times.

Strike Freedom? Stupidly powerful. Kira is like one of those RPG characters that has been leveled-up beyond all reason. He even has the fabled Ring of D.M.'s Grace. At least Strike Rouge got ripped to shreds. I always hated that thing. Kira should have at least been forced to fight with the pink on. I didn't know you could turn that crap off. That makes Strike Rouge even more retarded than it already was.

Seriously, though, what's left after Strike Freedom? Now, if they want to give one of the characters a more powerful giant robot during the rumored third season, they're going to have to squeeze Meyrin into a Buster Machine. Actually, I'd watch that in a heartbeat.

November 10, 2005: Gundam SEED Destiny

I caught up and finished Gundam SEED Destiny. Holy bat crap. So many problems.

I won't harp on them all, because (1) many people surely have done so already and it would be redundant for me to pile on in such an untimely manner, and (2) it's a cartoon designed to sell toys to children.

Okay, I'll pick on one of them because it involves Cagalli and I've enjoyed picking on Cagalli this season. Yeah, I know, she was a cool character during the first season of Gundam SEED, but no amount of last-minute posturing can redeem her character in Destiny. Season two Cagalli sucks.

Anyway, I was saying, you know Cagalli's Bling Gundam? The one that went to Neo, err...Mu? Why in damnation did it have funnels? Did her dad just think it would be bitchin' to have funnels on the Bling Gundam? Or are they suggesting that Cagalli is actually a Newtype? A real shitty Newtype.

To be fair, I didn't hate the ending of Gundam SEED Destiny. Those last nine or so episodes involved all manner of reactions:

• HOLY AWESOME.
• HOLY CLIP SHOWS, guys.
• HOLY WHAT IN HELL?
• HOLY AWESOME, YO.
• Holy ha ha, yeah, right.

And it went on like that. Actually, I should add a lot more "HOLY CLIP SHOWS" in there to be accurate.

Athrun, Kira, Meyrin, and Lacus go to the mall.

For the record, I did enjoy the double-dating dress-up episode where flunkies from Soldats tried to kill Lacus again. Good times.

March 04, 2006: Gundam SEED.

You know, I'm pretty glad to hear they're reportedly making a third season of Gundam SEED. It's worth it for the chance to get another Nami Tamaki ED or two alone.