20https://bestanimations.com/SignsShapes/Arrows/Left/leftarrow15.gif https://anilist.co/review/7572 This review contains spoilers for Gundam SEED Destiny Disclaimer: I watched the original SD edition of Gundam SEED Destiny as opposed to the updated HD remaster. There are significant differences between but Anilist generally doesnt have separate pages for rereleases so I must indicate the version here. 550https://geekspin.co/wpcontent/uploads/2019/09/gundamseeddestinynew.jpg Today Im reviewing one of the western Gundam fandoms most reviled shows No pressure right? I already gave my spiel on the nigh lack of consensus in the Gundam fandom. For context click on that back button or click herehttps://anilist.co/review/7572. That said I made a bit of a mistake. I claimed that unlike Gundam Wing in the western sphere Gundam SEED has hardly any defenders. After I finished SEED I looked more closely into its reception and realized that this wasnt true. While many do think SEEDs an awful showhttps://www..com/watch?v=xbvOCemhEuM it has a healthy number of fans including yours truly. In fact Ive encountered more SEED fans than Wing fans. Im a bit embarrassed at my mistake. That said theres a bit of truth to my perception of its reception. I also said that theres a clear consensus that the Gundam SEED is the worst Gundam series. This is undeniably true. While I was mistaken in thinking Gundam SEED was almost unanimously hated I was on the money in thinking that its series was the most hated. That hatred is due to its second entry and the show Ill be reviewing today: Gundam SEED Destiny. The Destiny hate is unquestionable and both those who love and loathe the original SEED seem to be in agreement that Destiny is the lesser of the two. It has been described as a trainwreck. Many claim that Destiny makes its predecessor worse simply by association. Given that I enjoyed SEED so much I wasnt enthused about watching its heavilycriticized sequel. But I remained optimistic. Id keep an open mind hoping that much like SEED the hate towards Destiny would be largely unfounded. Fifty episodes later Im here to report that the hate is largely founded. Its not great. Like at all. 520https://en.gundam.info/series/seeddestiny/wpcontent/uploads/sites/6/2015/01/storythumbSEEDDES36.jpg Dont get me wrong though Destiny certainly has its highpoints and I dont just mean technical throwtheshowabone concessions like well I suppose the OST wasnt terrible. For a while I thought the show might actually be good not great but good nonetheless. I worried that Id either have to put on performative ambivalence or accept the fact that I practically like everything. Unfortunately however the show begins to unravel come the secondhalf and never really becomes as good as its predecessor. Its certainly not what Zeta was to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. That said it didnt really infuriate me the way ZZ did either. The show leaves me feeling disappointed more than anything. Im wary of calling it a trainwreck and not just because I feel that word is over and misused. It just...isnt terrible? Its not good it very well might be bad but I still think its relatively watchable. Destiny has many many cracks but for all its faults it never quite falls apart. Gundam SEED Destiny picks up two years where Gundam SEED left off. During the climactic second battle of Jachin Due the Three Ships Alliance manages to defeat both Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces preventing them from carrying out their genocidal machinations. Despite this victory tensions have remained high between Coordinators and Naturals. Athrun under the pseudonym Alex Dino has worked diligently with Cagalli now named Chief Representative of Orb to foster peace between nations. Cagalli and Athrun find themselves visiting the PLANTs to meet with ZAFTs new leader Chairman Durandal. However before they can meet the new Gundams developed by ZAFT the Chaos the Abyss and the Gaia are stolen by Earth Alliance pilots. Athrun finds himself reentangled with ZAFT as he becomes acquainted with a new ace pilot Shinn Asuka pilot of the Impulse Gundam who has a bone to pick with Orb. Shinn and Athrun soon find themselves embroiled in a conflict that very well might spell the next war... 520https://i.pin.com/originals/aa/05/22/aa052298d6397347ac024ff5ff711ebc.gif As Ill describe soon Destiny has a lot of problems. So much so that by the end its easy to forget that the show has things going for it. As a technical throwtheshowabone concession Ill say that I suppose the OST wasnt terrible. I kid I kid. While none of Destinys OPs or EDs are as good as its predecessors with OP 4 being downright laughably bad sorry positive positive Im happy to say that the rest of the OST is great. Songs like Shuumatsuno Anjihttps://www..com/watch?v=H5jy239YwHs Sakebi to Gekitetsuhttps://www..com/watch?v=Dfbe1YdQOU Kantai Kousenhttps://www..com/watch?v=2pdAivK14Y and Yuki no Kakkuhttps://www..com/watch?v=ki1ZQswh2M are just a few of the amazing tracks of Destinyhttps://soundcloud.com/jesusyamato/sets/mobilesuitgundamseeddestinyosts. The OST isnt afraid to pull from various sources mixing boisterous horns fitting of an adventurous war story with electronic sounds that characterize this as sciencefiction. The soundtrack is one of the few great aspects of this show thanks to the work of returning composer Toshihiko Sahashi. I commend the showrunners for attempting to have multiple protagonists with their own POVs. They ultimately dont handle this well but if done correctly it could have been great. The showrunners very well could have just gone the easy route. It would have been simple enough to continue with the characters were used to or go the opposite route and throw a completely new cast into the mix with the original cast only making cameos. The simple solution was there but they didnt take it. Instead the show tried to show us different perspectives on the conflict showcasing how a difference in maturity and outlook can color an event. Illfated or not Ill at least praise them for taking a risk. We dont fault ambition here. 520https://i.ur.com/1qmZeYd.jpg My favorite aspect of Gundam SEED Destiny is the mecha element both in terms of design and combat. It took what SEED did which already left me gushing mind you and ramped it up to elevenhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UpToEleven. Much like its predecessor Destiny seems to take the design philosophy of morewhen it comes to Gundam and Gundamlike suits allowing for some more unique designs. This is probably exemplified by the main trio of antagonist mobile suits the Chaos the Abyss and the Gaia. As an aside can I just say how much I love the names? In fact I love the Cosmic Era Gundam names in general. Sure you could say theyre often edgy/overwrought but I just think theyre extremely cool and I love the fact that they make plain that a Gundam more than anything is a symbol. A mobile suit being a Gundam or not is ultimately arbitrary mobile suits are given the designation of Gundamto inspire hope and invoke fear. In short yes theyre cheesy but I love them for it. In terms of their actual design and function Chaos Abyss and Gaia are extremely striking. As theyre among the first mobile suits we see they perfectly set the stage for the mech design in general. The Abysshttps://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gundam/images/7/70/ZGMFX31SAbyssGundamFrontView.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110519073229 is a rare aquatic Gundam the Chaoshttps://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gundam/images/8/88/Zgmfx24s.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20201029044837 is absolutely armed to the teeth and the Gaiahttps://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gundam/images/6/60/ZGMFX88SGaiaGundamFrontView.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110315065256 is a transformable suit that can change into a doggyhttps://64.media.tumblr.com/44cb46911233f00f7a87a3fbc07a6c62/tumblro0onv7l7EM1qhoyl7o8500.gifv Even something as basic as their color schemes excite me: instead of the standard sparspangled Gundam color scheme the Abyss is navy blue the Chaos is navy and the Gaia is friggin black In the same episode were introduced to ZAFTs new grunt suits the Zaku Warriors. Zaku? As in the Zaku from the UC you ask? The very same I answer. Some may say its lazy especially as CE already has the Zakuinspired GINN but again my main defense is that I think its cool. I was also absolutely giddy that we get Gundamesque grunt suits via the Windam to my knowledge the only other show that has proper Gundam grunt suits is Victory Gundam with its Gunblaster and GunEZ. Of course Athruns suits are rad and Shinns Impulse has a neat gimmick. The Akatsuki and Destroy Gundam are pretty blatant expies of Zetas Hyaku Shiki and Psycho Gundam respectively but what can I say the originals are cool and these ones are cool too. Basically what Im saying is that I can go on about the Destiny suits all day and I cannot be trusted to not buy gunpla of all of them if theyre available. 520https://pa1.narvii.com/5813/b15bb66c3237d6d9a26a60cd7e6f5d1f01a6f38ehq.gif Even animation of the SD edition of Destiny is a marked improvement over the SEED. Perhaps its not quite stellar but I never quite remember it dipping into downright awful territory. The fights were choreographed well and I was always engaged with the battles. And the series has some amazing moments and setpieces. Destinys reentry might just be the best in the franchise with more stakes and a visually stunning aftermath. Kira rescuing Cagalli from her wedding with Yuna is silly and certainly has its problems but its a fun scene at the end of the day that sticks in my mind. Shinn laying waste to an Earth alliance battalion as he awakens his SEED factor for the first time is another very welldone scene. Like the mech design I can go on and on. There are good things to be found in Gundam SEED Destiny and theyre not very hidden. In fact for a decent portion of the run I didnt think that Gundam SEED Destiny was worth anything getting angry over. Sure it might not have been as good as its predecessor but it was fine at worse. I cant understand Destiny being called a trainwreck if you were in a trainwreck youd feel it. With Destiny if you close your eyes and turn your brain off its the type of show that can easily just flow past you. For most of its run the shows issues arent glaring and it does enough good to temper the bad. 520https://4.goodfon.com/original/600x1024/9/a4/arthasashihiraimobilesuitgundamcagalliyulaathhazhen.jpg Then the ending happens and you slowly begin to realize that perhaps the ride wasnt as smooth as you thought. It wasnt a trainwreck never a trainwreck but you start noticing that somethings wrong. The bumper might be gone the headlights and taillights broken the power steering shot the trunk and hood popped open hell maybe youre somehow missing a wheel. Point being that even if its easy enough to get through Destiny is a show that cracks the moment you start thinking about it. And after that first negative thought theres no stopping the snowball of criticism that follows. 520https://i.pin.com/736x/46/51/c4/4651c43d4c3ae3dabb2ca71f5e5e8cbd.jpg Again fulldisclosure that Im watching the SD version of Destiny. Ive been told the HD version improves the ending somewhat but I find it hard to imagine that the change is that meaningful even if its radical curing the symptom vs. the ailment and whatnot. With that out the way the ending is terrible. Its perhaps the worst ending of a Gundam show that Ive ever seen. I dislike ZZ and Gundam Build Divers a great deal more but I have to acknowledge that they at least stuck the landing even if their flights were largely unimpressive. The first problem is that the ending is extremely abrupt even by Gundam standards. We cant all have IronBlooded Orphans or Turn Aesque epilogues but the final acts curtains draw to a close as suddenly as they open and I have nary a sense of what it means for the characters. SEED also has a pretty quick conclusion but it feels there was a great deal of buildup to that one and it was a good wrapup for the characters. Here things happen so quickly that we dont really get to admire them the final battle is lackluster and the characters that play a part arent compelling. Adding insult to injury the ending borrows a lot from SEEDs both in content the Three Ship Alliance storming the enemy base and stopping a superweapon and style namely how abrupt it is that it feels like it lacks an identity of its own. How did we get here? For one Destinys ending highlights one of its biggest flaws: its characters. During the ending we see the conclusion of main character Shinn Asukas character arc. I use scare quotes because I feel like theres not much of an arc to be seen. 520https://pm1.narvii.com/7282/e93b86e394f2f7bc422e64e0559b12d72c2abb75r11280720v2hq.jpg One of the endings worse sins is its handling of its supposed main character Shinn. Believe it or not during the final episode Shinn largely takes a backseat in favor of series veterans Athrun and Kira. Theyre ultimately the ones that put an end to antagonist Chairman Durandals machinations. This is because Shinn ends up being something of a villain protagonist essentially becoming one of his righthand menhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon and opposing Athrun and Kira who aim to stop him. This would be interesting if it was handled well. Shinn is dispatched pretty damn easily to make way for Athrun and especially Kira to get the spotlight. He shows up again towards the end of the episode sobbing due to the death and destruction around him. In fact one of the final shots of the show is of him and Lunamaria looking at the exploding wreckage of Durandals base. This was an absolutely terrible decision. While the showrunners probably wanted to convey the toll the war had taken on Shinn it just reminds me how flat of a character he turned out to be. At the end of the day Shinn doesnt feel like a very realized character. He largely feels like the same person he does at the beginning of the story that he does at the end like any Gundam protagonist he witnesses bad things but he doesnt really seem to change from it. Sure he cries at the end and he might have felt conflicted before but that ultimately doesnt do much for the character when it doesnt affect his actions. No matter what happens Durandal and Rey will play him like a fiddle. Like I said its a show that I found fine to watch but upon seeing the conclusion of Shinns character I thought that was it? 550https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gundam/images/2/21/TheFinalPower.png/revision/latest?cb=20200525154940 Im fine with the Shinn being intended to be a dark foil the heroes but that doesnt feel quite right either. They dont feel like theyre on the same playing field because hes not playing with a full deck hes being manipulated by Durandal. I suppose that largely could be the point and Shinn shows a path Athrun could have fallen down if he didnt stop drinking the ZAFT KoolAid. This still doesnt feel quite right because even if hes not meant to have much agency he could at least have a character arc realizing he doesnt have said agency or willingly deciding to give up agency because its easier that way. 550https://i.pin.com/originals/61/e0/80/61e080045df44a5b03c089aee137d977.gif A lot of this could have been alleviated if Destiny actually committed to having Shinn as a main character. One of my praises is also my biggest critique of the show: the fact that multiple characters share the spotlight main characters. In concept this is a great idea. Hell even in execution Shinn and Athrun being main characters was largely fine but it all goes to shit when they toss Kira into the mix. At the end of the day with Shinn Athrun and Kira all desperately fighting for the spotlight none of them end up shining. Ive already talked about Shinn whos probably gotten the shortest end of the stick here. He never really gets a chance to be much more than whiny arrogant pilot. Shinns treatment feels particularly bad because he was edged out of his own damn show Even if Kira isnt great in Destiny hes at least has SEED. Shinn doesnt get that luxury. And I know theres a good story to be had with Shinn because Shinns seiyuu has gone on record to say that his portrayal in Super Robot Wars Z is what he signed on to Destiny thinking hed get to do. Ouch. In Destiny Kiras probably the worst handled of the main characters by a wide margin. If the show decides to focus on Kira to the detriment of Shinn then youd expect him to have his beliefs challenged. Youd expect him to do something anything to earn his place in the show. But no we pretty much just get Kira as he appears at the end of SEED and its boring given the possibilities for something else. The Three Ships alliance feels earned in SEED but here the Archangel seems to be always right because the show says so always standing in the way of a battle even if theres a clear aggressor. Sure its consistent but its boring. Theres a lot of wasted potential. The Archangel seems really really dumb if youre the one fighting it such as from Shinns perspective. The show could have really tapped into this wed just see the Archangel apparently getting in the way of a battle. Since wed just have Shinns perspective the Arcangel would be cast in a more ambiguous light. This extends to the ending too. It would be very unique and striking to just have a villainous perspective of an illfated battle. That would have been interesting. But no. We cant have that Kira Yamato cant be put in a bad light for a moment the showrunners exclaim. Lets just toss his perspective in here to set the record straight. It just feels like Destiny doesnt trust Shinn enough to be a main character. 520https://i.ur.com/azvRFVr.jpg Finally theres Athrun whos the best of the three. He was one of my favorite characters in SEED and he definitely is my favorite now. It helps that he actually has an arc meets roadblocks and has his beliefs questioned. The problem however is that this dynamism is largely achieved through reverting Athrun back to where he was at the start of SEED. Its a bit of an exaggeration circumstances have changed but his arc in Destiny mirrors his arc in SEED to a ridiculous degree. Many have gone as far as to say hes been subject to character assasination. Im not sure Id go that far but its still disappointing to see him hold the idiot ballhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall and decide to put faith in Durandal despite his shady practices. Maybe Im a bit more lenient because I can think of a way to spin Athrun largely falling in line with Durandal that makes sense for his character. Or maybe Im just lenient because if I had to go through three static main characters Id lose my mind. The cast as a whole isnt really compelling one of Lunamarias only defining traits is being a clingy jealous girlhttps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClingyJealousGirl Reys entire character is being Durandals taciturn yesman Meer could be interesting but is underused and her more interesting aspects are distilled into a single episode after she dies and Captain Talia Gladys ends up being a boring mix of the contradictory elements of Murrue and Lt. Badgirl Badgiruel disagreeing with some of the militarys orders but ultimately doing little to resist. 520https://practicaltyping.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/03/AthrunZala.jpg Stella and Shinn end up being a poor mans Kamille and Four with somehow less interaction. I still kind of liked it but it was definitely shallow. Speaking of which his relationship with Lunamaria comes out of nowhere. You can make a pretty big inference that shes essentially a replacement goldfish for Shinn but naturally the show doesnt really explore this. Gee it sure sounds like these new characters really suffer from not having enough time to develop huh? The villains are even more cartoonishly evil than last time Djibril is a cackling catpettinghttp://blog.jhiday.net/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/destinycatstroking.jpg madman while Yuna is an absolute coward and sycophant. I really dont care about them or their conflict as it just feels so unengaging due to how blackandwhite it is. Its a problem some had with SEED but cranked up to eleven. And I get it the only way that Durandal can be so unquestionably accepted by the populace is by making the other villains completely bonkers. That said it might have worked too well because Im not entirely sure whats wrong with Durandals plan besides his aggressive methods. Though thats possibly because like other things its not that welldefined in show. For crying out loud its been two shows and I cant exactly tell you what the SEED Factor is besides CEs equivalent to Newtypes. Much like Rau before theres more to characters such as Durandal Talia and Rey but theyre not explored sufficiently in the show itself. 550https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/3658/7324/01/07.jpg A major sticking point for fans is Mus return after being very obviously killed in the SD version of SEED. His survival was simple however. He was attacked with AntiFortress weaponry and hes not a fortress. Honestly my reaction isnt as visceral as other fans as I was more worried that Flay would come back. My initial reaction to the reveal was relief at Flays death sticking. While Im not angry at Mus return I am annoyed as it further trivializes death and sacrifice confirming many frankly unfounded if you ask me criticisms of the original show. I guess we get an unique Char clone I guess Its a more minor point but the drama that many hated in SEED is toned down here which is weird because youd think Shinn would be a treasure trove of drama. While some might welcome this change it ends up making the cast feel more stilted less organic than that of SEEDs. 520http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/cb20100813145230/gundam/images/thumb/8/89/Neo.mkv000594469.jpg/300pxNeo.mkv000594469.jpg Destiny ultimately takes a lot from SEED. Sometimes its things that worked before but not so much here because they feel rehashed. Other times its things that didnt work the first time that work even less here. To wit: the character designs were never stellar but Hisashi Hirai really stretches himself thin with a whole new cast of characters Lunamaria and her sister Meyrin look very similar to fellow redhead Flay. I really shouldnt be having trouble telling Athrun and Shinn apart but I do at times. Destiny like its predecessor contains a bit too many recaps. This is time that could be better spent actually exploring those characters I talked about. There are more death fakeouts from Kira and Athrun which become less and less effective and more and more annoying as time goes on because youve long since realized they can never die. I cant even go with the its important development for other characters justification because weve been here before. Destiny also cant let go of Rau who ends up being Rey? I guess? Somehow? Its dumb. As I said before I wouldnt call this show a trainwreck. Theres not really a crash theres not really a wreckage. Still theres something to be said about the fact that I wrote over 4000 words on this show. Its a show thats deceptively easy to get through but when you do youll have a million questions trying to piece exactly what went wrong. I honestly dont think I can recommend this show. As I said before there are some great aspects to Destiny but nothing that can justify the rest of the show. Even if it might seem fine while youre watching it the ending makes you realize just how much the show botched its execution. That said I still maintain that SEED is a great Gundam show. I dont think a sequel can tarnish an original and Destiny hasnt proved me wrong. SEED is a surprisingly good Gundam show...that just so happens to have a sequel thats one of the most mediocre Gundam shows. 5.6/10 D+ 520https://themagicrain.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/06/Mobile.Suit.Gundam.SEED.Destiny.full.4997.jpg