Gundam Seed

[The Doctor]

You know, I loved watching Gundam SEED. But this past Friday, I was watching it, and I had had it. It seems like no matter what anime I watch, there's ALWAYS an anti-war stance on...EVERYTHING. Mind, not that Hollywood is any different, but I guess with all the stuff I've viewed from Holly land added to anime, something snapped.

Frankly, I'm tired of this 100% pacifist attitude Gundam has. We should all lay down our arms and bounce around in peace and harmony as the doves frolic about in the air.

....yeah right. Back in the REAL world, if the good guy drops his gun or sword and extends the hand of friendship to the raping, pillaging, and blood-thirsty bad guy, that same hand will get chopped off and he'll feed on the good guy's charred corpse. Sometimes, the only option available to you is to make it impossible for the bad guy to do harm to anyone anymore, to knock the sword out of his hand. Then, you can talk peace.

But this viewpoint that laying down our arms will miraculously inspire a desire on the other side to pursue peace with us is ludicrous. There are some enemies that only understand a sword and see peace proposals as an opportunity to gain the upper hand. See Neville Chamberlain vs. Hitler.

Phew....well, got that off my chest. I feel better now.

[Jeikobu]

Anime doesn't have to be like the world. It's an escape from reality. I love it when the anti-war themes are preached, because war SUCKS. Just because so many things in real life are bad deosn't mean fiction has to be also.

[The Doctor]

It doesn't have to be totally like real life, but it's dangerous to teach a message that so does not work in real life.

[Arnobius]

How far have you gotten into it? Where I am, the main chara have reached the point that they see some things are worth fighting & dying for.

Gundam Wing was terrible, but this one (Seed) is probably the best since the first.

[Joshua Christopher]

G Gundam was the best. Anything by Yasuhiro Imagawa is the best.

[Neo3DGfx]

IMHO, Gundam Seed has much less "total-pacifizim" than Gundam Wing.

Gundam Seed shows that it's OK to fight for your country, protecting your friends, etc. War is bloody, ugly, but sometimes necessary.

PLANT was attacked by the EA with the destruction of Junius 7. (Albiet it was not meant to be a nuclear strike. Blue Cosmos switched the warheads.)
The military wing of PLANT, ZAFT, rightfuly retaliated. But eventauly, extreme factions on both sides took over, and now the are both "bad guys".

Orb shows that peace without the power to protect the peace is not true peace. (Or something like that. (The first episodes of Gundam Seed Destiny goes into that in more detail.))

It shows that sometimes, one person dying now might prevent more people from dying later on. [spoiler]Like Chairman Zala.[/spoiler] But that also brings up soooo many debatable topics. [spoiler]Except that it seems that GENESIS, CYCLOPS, and nukes are always looked down uppon.[/spoiler]

I think it reflects some of the changes in society since the end of the Clinton Years, and 9/11.

EDIT:

Anime doesn't have to be like the world. It's an escape from reality. I love it when the anti-war themes are preached, because war SUCKS. Just because so many things in real life are bad deosn't mean fiction has to be also.

Sounds alot like what people were saying about the Star Wars novels. But then Vector Prime changed everything. "Why did they have to kill a main charicter! Star Wars was my escape from the real world." Stuff like that.

I personaly like fiction that reflectes the real world much better than those that do not. It gives it more realisim/beliveability.

[Jeikobu]

I like realism, but not everything has to be the same. And sometimes, as mentioned, war is necessary, but it's never good.

[Godly Paladin]

I'm not going to go into the statement that Gundam Wing was terrible...

I think most of the anti-war anime themes are the result of the Japanese pacifist mindset. Ever since the nuclear bombing in WWII they have adopted a very anti-war philosophy that spills over into anime.

War, on the up close level of squad combat, IS horrible. But it is at times extremely necessary, and God does not frown on all warfare. (Ancient Israel fought countless battles at the Lord's direction.)

[Jeikobu]

I think most of the anti-war anime themes are the result of the Japanese pacifist mindset. Ever since the nuclear bombing in WWII they have adopted a very anti-war philosophy that spills over into anime.

I certainly can't blame them though.

[Jhack82]

i've seen up to eps 30, and eps thirty definitely showed the horrendous side of war. in war, people die. So far, its been a great series. i can understand one definitely not appreciating war at all especially in Japan. Seed has not been overly pacific though. it does have blatant warhawks present and they seem to drive most confrontations but you also have people like athrun and kira who are trying to protect what they hold dear. they are making immense sacrifices so that others that they care of do not have too. at least that is how i see it. War, hate and love are so intermingled in humans psyche, motive becomes really important. this is what seperates those who moral from those who are not. Vol. 4 where kira goes against the desert tiger is awesome and really delves into this, but i do think there is a slight twist on this, a contortion i would say. but it is very hard to pin down. the whole my enemy is my friend is so hard to grasp in the mind, b/c so much of that is based on feeling. in fact, athrun and kira are somewhat reminiscient of David and jonathon from the bible.

mind you, i am agreeing that the anti-war is present, but they also make the war out to be started by biggots and solveable. war is not always like that and oin the archangel, for kira it is kill or be killed and i think its more a frustration that he cannot solve this problem no matter how well he pilots.

as was said earlier this is exponded even more in destiny which i highly recommend after you finish seed.

yeah, i hope i made a point .

jordan

[teigeki_calesa]

GSeed is the only Gundam series I ever liked, but sadly, most anime fans here in my place don't. They always compare it with Wing, saying that The people in Seed don't act like soldiers and they always put the blame of things on anybody, and its message is worsening the war between Israel and Palestine, or something like that. Whereas in Wing, the main charas act like what soldiers should be: without question,hesitation and blaming anyone. But they missed the point that the charas in Wing are TRAINED to be soldiers, while a number of those in Seed, including the hero, isn't. So they shouldn't complain on why Kira is a wimp. Yeah, as if emo charas=wimps.

[mitsuki lover]

The whole point of GS IMO is that war has a whole tends to be a meaningless tragedy where no-one wins and everyone looses something.
For example Flaye shouldn't have died.She shouldn't have even been
wearing a uniform.She should have lived a nice long life and have died in
bed at an advanced old age..say 90 or so..surrounded by her children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren.Instead she's killed when she's
barely 16 or 17 years old.
Another example is that ZAFT pilot who was the youngest of the Gundam
pilots.He shouldn't have even been ALLOWED in the military.Instead he should have been still practicing for his career as a concert pianist.
Lycus should not have been the leader of a resistance movement within
ZAFT..she should have been living the life of a somewhat spoiled but nonetheless innocent rich girl.War should have been totally unfamiliar for her.This is the lesson of GS.