durendal

Yes, old, but still epic to this day. You got to wonder how the Gundam franchise managed to survive for more than 30 years and still going strong.

Then please stop complaining. Sorry to say this bluntly, but I sometimes find your post to be quite offensive.

I don't have any. Perhaps you would like to post some yourself.

Hmm.... in a nutshell? I guess you could say political drama and personal tragedy with a slice of life. Of course one that involves giant robots. You don't need to watch all of the Gundam to get into the franchise as there are quite a few series which are independent of the other series. For starters, you might want to check out Gundam 00. It has only 2 seasons, is quite modern (actually the latest series), and you can watch it without any prior knowledge of the franchise since it is contained in its own universe. Additionally, all the good Gundam Series are somewhat old. Z Gundam came out in like 1988, so the quality of animation is very far from the current ones. That alone might discourage you from watching them. But if you're looking for great story like a Space Opera, gundam also caters to this as well. I think you may have caught what I would call anime addiction, as it looks like you are having withdrawal when you're not watching any series.

Last set for Kim Ha Yul:

More Kim Ha Yul:

Now more of Korean model Kim Ha Yul:

Last set of Xia Xiao Wei:

More Xia Xiao Wei:

More of Xia Xiao Wei:

I think it's about time I revived this thread. Here's some gratuitous images of Xia Xiao Wei:

Yup, that's that. Although I have to say that my opinions of the other Gundam shows are different most specifically the other non UC universe. Mainly because most of the non-UC universe borrows elements from the UC universe. Char Aznable, the main antagonist of the first Gundam series has spawned a lot of clones. Zech Marquise (Gundam Wing), Harry Ord (Turn A Gundam), Rau Le Crusset (Gundam Seed), Asthrun Zara (Gundam Seed Destiny, ala Quattro Vagina), Neo Roanoke (Gundam Seed Destiny, with the mask thing), Graham Acker (Gundam 00, again, the mask thing) and a lot of others I can't remember at the moment. And finally the first official Char Clone . Char has in fact become an icon in Japanese Culture, that anything marketed as Char's Custom "something" is always colored red and performs 3 times as normal. At one point in time, I even decided that I would name my kid "Char Casval". Also, aside from the ones mentioned by Mirabilis, there are other side stories that are similarly good. Although they are rarely animated due to them having a conflict on a smaller scale. Like Crossbone Gundam with is a continuation of Gundam F91, Sentinel Gundam which depicts another conflict in the same war as Z Gundam, and a lot of Side Stories that happened in the first Gundam series.

It's technically about everything. It's a story about a young teen protagonist struggling amidst a looming war. How he was a civilian caught up in a military operation and all the tragedies that befall an individual during times of war. Characters die unexpectedly like how in a real war would. There is no "they are the good guy so they will come out unscathed". The political machinations are also something to be fascinated about. The Titans, an elite military outfit of the Earth Federation is now abusing it's authority killing innocent just to capture rebels (how the Titans was formed was explained in a separate OVA, Stardust Memory), and they are being opposed by AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Group), which serves as a splinter group where the lead character reluctantly belongs to. And what is so good about this is that something happens in each episode. So the enitre 50 episodes has no fillers. It's not just about Gundams duking it out, it's about the personal challenges each individual faces when they prepare to go out to war. There are characters developments and there are lots of it. We see how Camille starts out as a childish teen into a matured ace pilot. Also, believe it or not, there was a character named Quattro Vagina! I kid you not. Well, at least that how it was spelled in other official sources.

This reminds me of a Poem that i once took to heart. And to quote: "Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream- For the soul is dead that slumbers, and things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! and the grave is not its goal, Dust thou art, to dust returnest was not spoken of the soul" -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You mean Matsu Takako? She wasn't in Yame Onna Kabe Onna. She was in Love Generation, Long Vacation and Hero. All those movies involved Takuya Kimura as the lead actor. And I can't believe that you didn't recognize Masaki Ito as Hermes. I mean I first saw Misaki Ito in Densha Otoko and she was carved into my memory, and every time I see her, I would go: "look, that's Hermes". Well, I do hope you'll like Hero. Fancy detective work for a Lawyer who didn't graduate from a university.

What do you mean? You mean Masaki Ito, the infamous "Kabe Onna"? She was Hermes in Densha Otoko *ding ding ding ding*. She was also Kyoko Otonashi in the live action special Maison Ikkoku. And I also seem to remember seeing her in Gokusen as one of the teachers. As for Kyoko Fukuda (Yama Onna), I have never heard of her before watching this series.

Igloo was ok. It's about a science officer from the Zeon. Nothing major in that series as it is just a side story. I'm surprised you didn't find 0083 interesting. 0083 is actually the reason why you have the Titans in Z Gundam. Even Gato's epic speech: "Solomon, I have returned!" was awe inspiring. I was actually rooting for the Delaz Fleet. Damn you Cima Garahau, you traitorous wench! *shakes fist* Z is personally one of my favorite UC storylines. I will warn you though, characters tends to die easily in this series. The series managed to capture the reality of war with the unexpected tragic loss of life among the crew members. Not to mention this is the only series that you will see Amuro and Char working together. Okay, I don't consider this a spoiler as we obviously know who Char is. A thick sunglass is not a disguise. By the way, if story is important to you, skip the Z movie as it changes the ending, thus invalidating the events in Gundam ZZ.

Movies based on books usually end up being a disaster, especially books that are not widely known. There are a few exceptions of course. But most of those movies are not up to par with their book counterpart. Perhaps I should try Ivanhoe or Oliver Twist. I have always been intrigued by classical novels. Funny story. We never had much book reading during elementary and high school. I started reading books by sheer accident. When I borrowed a book for a friend for their book report, my friend already had one. And since I didn't want to waste the book that I borrowed, I decided to read it instead. This book was Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I wasn't aware then that it has such a good story. And since then, I started reading more and more. Also, some of you may not be aware of this, but the Three Musketeers and Man in the Iron Mask is part of a bigger story. It spans 3 volumes by Alexander Dumas, with Three Musketeers being the first volume, Twenty years after as the second volume, and Vicomte de Bragelone: Ten years later as the third and final volume, in which Man in the Iron Mask was the last part of the third volume.

Oh no. I've seen Eragon and Brisngr on the shelves, but I don't think I ever remember seeing Eldest. Is Eldest the second book? If so, I might have difficulty finishing it since I don't know if I'll be able to get that book. I'm don't usually have any specific interest in the books that I read. As long as the author can keep me glued to the pages, then I'm sold to that author, pretty much like how Anne Rice got me glued to her work. I got bored with Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor, where I actually fell asleep reading it. Hence, I don't read any Tom Clancy.

Oh yes! Another victim caught facinated by the charms of the UC universe. After watching Gundam, continuity-wise, you should be watching 0083 Stardust Memory and then Z Gundam. But if you're only looking for the Amuro X Char angle then this is the recommended watching order: Gundam -> Z Gundam -> Char's Counterattack.

I liked the twilight series when it was just a book. After the movie, where it turned into a phonomena, I started leaning away from the series. In fact, I've already read all 4 books of the series even before they announced a movie for it, and I stopped on the second book because I was disappointed. Well, actually I hated the second book because I found the lead female protagonist to be so fickle minded. I'm currently searching for other books to read. I haven't had a good book in a long while now. My favorite classic has always been Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. The Gweneth paltrow movie didn't really do the book justice. Now I'm contemplating reading the Songs of the Seraphim series by Anne Rice or the Hunger Games trilogy of Suzanne Collins. I've always been intrigued by Eragon. How many books is in that series, and is it really good?

Hmm.... I forgot where I got that Tom Cruise thingy info. But when I was reading the later books, I always had Tom Cruise in mind. Perhaps that's the reason why I said that since I saw the movie before I read the book. Sorry about that. Anyway, good to know that you'll try to pick up the book. I always enjoyed the books of Anne Rice because of her writing style. And just don't grab the first 2 books. Be sure to get the Vampire Lestat and Queen of the dammed as the story of the two books are linked.

Hmm... good point. But there is still the issue of the CM reacting to the Zoacrystal. But I'm now more inclined to think that the Advents ran out with their tail between their legs, not because of the humans, but due to the possibility that Archanfel gets ahold of the G-unit. Human guyver is already powerful. A Guyver Zoanoid would increase that power multiple folds. I'm even scared to think what Archanfel would be capable of if he was given a G-unit. But what if Waferdanos chanced upon a G-unit? Would he be spewing uncontrollable bioboosted underlings? Though I am under the impression that the Zoacrystal is used as a limiter to him instead of an enhancer.

Sorry I can't help you with that. I'm not much into fantasy books, only Sci-fi like Dune and Lensman. As for Anne Rice, I think you should read it. The movie interview with a Vampire is done much better, but the book gives you a more detailed account of the story. Also, Interview of a Vampire only deals with Louie and how he encountered Lestat. It's a good prologue of a series. But the good stuff comes on the next book, The Vampire Lestat. Since the story is being told by Lestat himself and let's you see his actions behind what we see as monstrousity in the first book. Also, Anne Rice wrote the Vampire Chronicles with Tom Cruise in mind for the character Lestat. You can skip the first book and read The Vampire Lestat. That guys is a cool Vampire, and to be honest, if you pit Lestat and Edward Cullen against each other, Lestat can whip his ass even with both hands tied behind his back. Heck, Lestat was already a badass even before he became a vampire. Come to think of it, I now realized that Edward Cullen is a carbon copy of lesser quality of Lestat.

I find the thought that the advents not being aggressive counter to what they are experimenting on. I mean, why would they want to make an army of bioengineered species if not for aggressive reasons? But I do see your point about the base nature of the Advents. But I don't think that the zoalords, or rather, Archanfel to be aggressive in nature. The other zoalords may be, simply because they were part human to begin with, with the exception of Waferdanos, but then again, he was also part of the Advents experiments. But I see Archanfel as a gentle creature only forced to violence because of the situation.