Gundam Seed Destiny

[Kali-chan]

What is Destiny like? I've seen Seed, and I enjoyed it. Is it true that Seed is the only Gundam series to have a direct sequel-Destiny? Any info on Destiny will be gladly appreciated. (including info on Dearka/Miriallia's relationship). Also, what's the big deal with Shinn? Thabks in advance!

[Vaikyuko]

SEED is not the first Gundam series to get a direct sequel - far from it. It is, however, the first alternate universe (ie, non Universal Century) to get a full TV sequel (the first one that received a sequel would be Wing, IIRC, with the film/OVA thing Endless Waltz). The first Gundam series to get a sequel would be the original. =p

DESTINY is a fifty-odd episode series that takes place a few years after the end of SEED. Shinn Asuka is the main character and in the beginning of the first episode, you see precisely what makes him how he is - unfortunately, he doesn't change throughout the entire series. Sure, there are developments that change things around a little, such as meeting new people and whatnot, but it doesn't really affect his character and he stagnates. On top of this unattractive quality, the writer and director (Chiaki Morosawa and Mitsuo Fukuda, respectively) basically decided to shunt him off to the side for most of DESTINY. The two that eclipse him almost entirely are Athrun and Kira, and even characters like Cagalli, Lacus, and Rey overshadow him at times, making it a very frustrating show to watch (since Shinn is proclaimed to be the main character, much to everyone's chagrin).

As for Dearka and Miriallia, they don't get much screentime, as opposed to the original - in fact, I hardly remember seeing them at all. Dearka was almost, if not, always with Yzak during the series and Miriallia makes an appearance later on, but neither one does anything of significance and their relationship is downplayed to the point of being nonexistent.

To give credit to DESTINY, it starts out decently strong, with the first thirty or so episodes getting increasingly lower in quality but still being fairly good to above par. After the thirty to thirty five mark, the quality takes a huge downturn and DESTINY becomes a trainwreck you can't help but watch. To give one example, a character who clearly could not have feasibly survived their death is shown to be piloting a grunt suit, only to die later in that episode. It's rather...pointless.I also recommend that when you get the final DVDs (because downloading licensed series is bad =p), you should watch the director's cut version of the final episode of DESTINY, as it adds a bit (and in Athrun's case, a very superfluous bit) that helps make it less of a horrid, cliche ending. DESTINY also has a good chunk of reused animation, but for the most part, it's decently animated. Character designs, as usual, leave a lot to be desired (Hisashi Hirai, I'm looking at you).

Hope that helps.

[Altema]

When you watch Destiny, you'll feel as if you are watching Seed but with different characters. What really hurt Destiny was the fact that it felt so recycled. The war and ideology behind the war is so similar to Seed. It felt like you were watching a fight between two old people get settled and 5 hrs later the two people are fighting again.

Also, as Trei said, Shinn is the main character, but when you watch Destiny, you won't feel that way. I felt like Athrun was the main character.

With nothing really new, except a new cast, Destiny didn't feel all that great. What was done for Seed was already done, and repeats never feel that great :(.Thats not to say it was a bad anime. I watched it for the action and for Kira pwnage, which there is plenty there.

I'm not sure if you've seen any episodes of Destiny, so I wonder why you ask "Whats the deal with Shinn?" He was on orb when Kira + Athrun fought Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider and his whole family was wiped out in a flash.

[master terrence]

Shinn is really arrogant, ignorant, and cocky. You'll probably hate him.


I really liked how stupid he was when:
he wants to kill Kira, because Kira killed a girl who KILLED AN ENTIRE ****ING CITY and who needed to be put out of her misery.
She levels the entire place, worst than when ORB was attacked.

Ridiculous, and Athrun didn't even bring up that idea (which he talked about with Gilbert), which he had gotten from Cagalli, "Someone's killed for killing another, but then that guy is killed for killing him!? How is that twisted kind of thinking ever gonna bring us peace?"

[Levon]

It can be pretty enjoyable at times, but its very flawed. Those damn flashbacks are annoying! Not a good sequel.

[Demonboy]

Shinn is really arrogant, ignorant, and cocky. You'll probably hate him.

I really liked how stupid he was when:
he wants to kill Kira, because Kira killed a girl who KILLED AN ENTIRE ****ING CITY and who needed to be put out of her misery.
She levels the entire place, worst than when ORB was attacked.

More to the point, he's like that for practically the whole series showing no sign of change.

[Altema]

There were like 6-7 flashbacks or episodes devoted to a character. Very annoying since all I wanted to see was mostly action :(

[Rahxephon91]

Great Gundam show up until the appearance of whatever that Freedom Gundam 2 thing was called.

I hate Kira.

[Kali-chan]

^ but Kira's a cool character!!!!
anyway... your entitled to your own opinion
I hope I can watch Destiny soon... to wrap up Gundam Seed...

[HitokiriShadow]

Kira was a good character in SEED. He was horrible in Destiny.

[Levon]

In Destiny they tried far too hard to make him so badass but it felt so fake.

[RyoTD]

In spite of the obvious problems with Shinn's character (or rather, the way he was eclipsed/not developed), I'd still pick him over Jesus Yamato any day.

[Kali-chan]

Kira was one of my fav characters... although I liked Dearka more... Go Dearka!!!!!!!!

[ShmooZeroOmega]

SEED Destiny is something like this...

You wake up one morning and go downstairs. Your dad hands a set of keys and says "your new car, son!" You scream ecstatically and run outside and there's a brand-new Porsche waiting in the driveway. You run outside and gaze upon your new beauty. Then your dad walks out. "Just a minute, son," he says. Out of nowhere, he pulls out a sledgehammer and brings it down upon the windshield of your new car, shattering it completely. He goes on to smash the exterior, destroying the perfection the car once had. He takes a cage filled with leather-eating rats and lets them loose inside the car. They go on to consume the interior. Your dad takes our his katana that he got from your next-door neighbor Hiroshi, and slashes the tires in a single, fluid motion. Then, to top it all off, he pulls a molotove cocktail out of his back pocket, lights it, opens up the hood, and tosses it in. The engine is burned up in the blaze. "Okay, son." You dad says with a smile. "Hop in."

That is what I felt like when I watched Destiny. The show is GREAT at first, wonderful, in fact. I thought to myself "this could be one of the best Gundam shows ever!" But around the time that Kira rears his ugly head, the show goes downhill, and it goes down fast.
The character development is godawful. Hell, I don't think one could say there's even ANY character development. Shinn remains the exact same character he was from beggining to end. He starts out as a character of promise- his flaws and shortcomings would have been intriguing to see overcame, but unfortunately, this never happens.
Of course, there's the battles, which start out fast-paced and interesting to watch. They too, go downhill, as they become boring retreads filled with spamming and stock footage.
The story is boring. "Oooh! Evil orginization controls the War!!! OOOOH!!!" No, please, not believable. Not to mention that the portrayl of the Earth Alliance is laughable. They're nothing but comic-book villains whose portrayl is a step backwards from the shades of gray portrayl of the two sides in the First Gundam.
My last point of complaint is one that encompasses all the points I made previously. The Three Ships Alliance. Holy crap on a crap sandwich, Whenever that dick Kira showed his face I groaned. Every last one of them is a self-righteous douchebag. "Dur! We gotta stop da war! Let's cut off people's arms and legs!" I got real sick of the untouchable Kira Yamato and his master Lacus really fast. Really, I think most fanfic authors could write better characters.

So in short, the series was a giant disappointment.

[Rahxephon91]

Gundam Seed starts of really well and has a lot of good ideas. Shinn is a character with great potential. He has a good back story and a good set-up for emotional conflict. He becomes a barking dog with Durandal as his master. He gets forced out of the main character slot by Kira who becomes a god. He also gets forced into some cliched romance with Lunamarie. To top it of he really gets no character development.

Rey another interesting character who could have been awesome if they had gone with the idea that he was Durandal's right hand man and was just maniupliating Shinn. What do they do to Rey? They just announce he is clone freely with out explanation, he changes attitudes without a second thought, becomes a Raul Le Cresuet for no apparent reason, and they through in this revenge thing for him.

Lunamarie just becomes an item to give Shinn more character and reason for his actions. Their paring up was stupid, cliche, forced, and not needed.

Mu La Flaga is brought back even though he did die. At first that was fine but then they don't even frigin explain how he came back. Its just one little flash of a picture.

Lets not forget the Sting, Stellar, and Auel. You would think they would play a big part in the show. Nope, they are killed of before the 2nd half of the show. Stellar, I won't complain about even though Shinn's love for her was kinda stupid but whatever. Auel, he is just some guy. Sting gets killed of twice. We never learn anything about these guys.

Lacus(I mean god) is such an annoying character. Her and Kira are so stupid. They are always right and they have no flaws. What the hell is up with that? The show is so biased towards the 3 ship alliance. That is very ungundam. Heck its not like the Destiny plan was that bad. Plus Athrun, who was the only good returning Seed character in the show, is easily reverted to his old Seed self and forgets all his Seed Destiny conflicts.

Now my own personal problem is that to me Seed Destiny was heading towards this grand idea that Durandal was behind everything. He planed the droping a Julias 7 to start his plans. He gave the Alliance the Psycho Gundam to sway the world to his side. Shinn is just a copy of Kira with false memories. I mean his line about him wanting the Minerva to be his Archangel really gave me the impression that something was up. This never happens though.

[HitokiriShadow]

You forgot how they shat on Cagalli and her relationship with Athrun.

To top it of he really gets no character development.

Well, Shinn did change a little bit after he 'killed' Kira, but it wasn't for the better. He simply lacked a goal and became a robot/dog for Durandal.

Lunamaria just becomes an item to give Shinn more character and reason for his actions. Their paring up was stupid, cliche, forced, and not needed.

I hated what they did to Lunamaria's character in the later portion of the series. Especially the whole, "You killed my sister!! That's so.... hawt! I want you NOW! (Athrun, who's that?)" thing.

Lets not forget the Sting, Stellar, and Auel. You would think they would play a big part in the show. Nope, they are killed of before the 2nd half of the show. Stellar, I won't complain about even though Shinn's love for her was kinda stupid but whatever. Auel, he is just some guy. Sting gets killed of twice. We never learn anything about these guys.

Er, I think the first one died right at the halfway mark or an episode or two after. The other two died in the thirties.

[Shin Asuka]

Great Gundam show up until the appearance of whatever that Freedom Gundam 2 thing was called.

I hate Kira.

*GASP* Your a racist against all Kira fans! :-O how dare thou dis thy Kira and Strike-Freedom in front of thee, thou shouldth be banned from all Gundam Seed Activity!

[Westlo]

I really liked Destiny when Shinn was kicking ***, than he didn't kick *** and that made me cry :( Now I hate the show waah waaah waah

I loved how the Shinn faction on this board went from sprouting **** like

"Best fight in gundam ever" to "worst gundam ever" in the space of 10 episodes, you guys were hilarious.

[Westlo]

You forgot how they shat on Cagalli and her relationship with Athrun.

I didn't like anything they did with Cagalli in SEED Destiny at all, except for when 1 song played for 4 mins near the end of the series. Was my fav character too :\

[FayeValentine]

Basically...I was super disapointed with the series overall. I didn't even finish it all the way because I heard it wasn't worth it. I gathered enough to know that it wasn't half as good as SEED. You don't care about the characters in Destiny at all and the plot (as was mentioned before) is completely recycled. I don't understand how they could make the main character (Shinn) so unlikable and NOT progress ANY of the old relationships from SEED. That bugged me!!! By the 5th disc I was still waiting for the show to get good and have a point but... The makers had so much potential to make a GREAT sequel and take a whole new direction but they didn't! SEED is one of my most favorite anime series so I was extremely disappointed they didn't make this series more original and interesting! Seriously, don't waste your time. Even if your a huge SEED fan like me, it will most likely just piss you off and disappoint you in the end!

[Mazinkaiser]

*GASP* Your a racist against all Kira fans! :-O how dare thou dis thy Kira and Strike-Freedom in front of thee, thou shouldth be banned from all Gundam Seed Activity!

He isn't the only one who doesn't like Jesus Yamato. His appearance coincided with a massive decline in its overall quality.

[Len]

He isn't the only one who doesn't like Jesus Yamato. His appearance coincided with a massive decline in its overall quality.

I think that post was sarcastic, Mazin.

[FayeValentine]

I will say one good thing about the series...I did love the music! :)

[Westlo]

He isn't the only one who doesn't like Jesus Yamato. His appearance coincided with a massive decline in its overall quality.

ROFL

You people were acting like Destiny was on Zeta's level before Kira showed up (that thread still around?) and even after he showed up you people were calling the Shinn/Kira fight the greatest in gundam history.

It would be like me becomming a Xbox 360 fanboy and proclaming this to be the greatest generation of gaming and thana fter the Wii (or ps3) goes past the 360 going off about how this is the worse generation for gaming ever.

[ShmooZeroOmega]

ROFL

You people were acting like Destiny was on Zeta's level before Kira showed up (that thread still around?) and even after he showed up you people were calling the Shinn/Kira fight the greatest in gundam history.

It would be like me becomming a Xbox 360 fanboy and proclaming this to be the greatest generation of gaming and thana fter the Wii (or ps3) goes past the 360 going off about how this is the worse generation for gaming ever.

No. He just took any potential the show had an tossed it into the crapper.