Gundam Seed Recommended

Publisher
BEEZ
Director
Mitsuo Fukuda
Production
Sotsu Agency, Sunrise
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
50 Episodes/25 Minutes Each
Year
2002

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Volume 4

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
20th Aug 05

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED one of the most popular Gundam spin-offs in recent years and one of the fastest to make it to the UK since it’s Japanese release. Set in the Cosmic Era an alternative universe to the majority of Gundam titles which is set in the Universal Century. Also, the Gundam’s themselves are slightly different using a system known as Phase Shift armour as apposed to being made out of a special metal.

The Archangel has landed on Earth, although in a desert behind enemy lines, Kira has managed to recover from his injuries suffered from falling through the Earth’s atmosphere in the Strike. However, before the Archangel can take off it come under attack by ZAFT officer Andrew Waltfeld also known as the “Desert Tiger” an expert in desert warfare. All seems lost, however a group of resistance fighters turn up to help, and one of them was a survivor of Heliopolis. Cagalli returns (the blonde girl from episode one) and she isn’t best pleased to see Kira again, especially when she finds him piloting the Strike. The Archangel and its crew work together with the resistance fighters; however, Sai feelings are confused over Flay and her obsession for Kira. The “Desert Tiger however does not give up so easily and attacks a town in order to draw out the resistance fighters and the Strike. The town is devastated and Kira decides to join with the resistance in order to get revenge on the “Desert Tiger”. Kira and Cagalli then journey to a town in search of the “Desert Tiger”, and accidentally run into him when eating kebabs (I’m not kidding), the whole thing ends up in a bit of a mess and Kira and Cagalli end up at the “Desert Tiger’s” humble abode. Meanwhile Sai decides the only way to get Flay back is to try to operate the Strike. Athrun returns home, he asks Lacus about Kira, and the ZAFT council get set to put their latest plans in operation.

The fourth volume certainly injects a bit of life into the series, with new faces such as Cagalli, the members of the resistance and the “Desert Tiger” offering us some fresh perspectives and insights into the war. Unfortunately, we don’t see anything of the stolen Gundams even thought two of the pilots are actually on Earth, which means we’re likely to see them in the next volume. Just short of halfway and SEED looks set to smash expectations.

Another top class volume, anyone looking for something new certainly won’t go wrong with this title.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English/Dutch/French Subtitles, English/Japanese 5.1 Dub, English/Japanese Stero Dub, Beez Trailers, Mechanical/Charcter files, Production Seketches, Clean Opening and Closing Animation.

Release information: Publisher: BEEZ Released: August 15th 2005 Classification: PG Running Time: 144mins

Notes: The extras on the region two DVDs are good compared to many other DVDs on the UK market. If it wasn't for a friend of mine having imported some of the Gundam SEED DVDs before they arrived in the UK then I would of said the extras are great, but the region one DVDs have a fair amount more on them and I can't help feel a little cheated. However this is just me and therefore shouldn't put you of of getting these fine DVDs

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 20th Aug 05

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