First Impressions / Gundam

Summary:

The news of what happened to the Human Reform League force has reached Union, and Billy is looking over data with Leif Eifman about the special multi-variability photon. Eifman theorizes that the Gundams produce these particles or else they wouldn’t be able to explain the long range and operating time. The scary thing is that Aeolia Schenberg developed these particles and the basic theory two centuries ago. When Billy wonders why Aeolia Schenberg started this war eradication stuff, Eifman thinks that it’s a warning to humanity about advancing into space with the source of strife. Up in space on the Ptolemaios, Tieria is blaming Sumeragi for all their failures during the Human Reform League incident since she had command. Sumeragi apologizes, but she notes that she’s human, so she makes mistakes sometimes. Because Tieria won’t let it go, Lockon points out that it was Tieria who reveals the Nadleeh to the enemy, so he can’t blame just her. Before leaving the bridge, Tieria makes it a point to say that they should give priority to Veda’s directions in the future. Allelujah is meanwhile in his room thinking about how the pilot of the pink Tieren is the same as him, making him wonder if the Human Reform League continued what he thinks is abominable research.

Over at the Human Reform League’s low orbit station, Sergei is being lectured by a superior over the losses incurred during the previous mission. However, he’s not going to be punished because they realized that the Gundams were more capable than they expected. The superior officer then explains that their president has secretly reached out to Union and that their response to Celestial Being is entering the next stage. Elsewhere in the base, one of the scientists is listening to the recording of Allelujah’s voice from the battle, and he notes how the Gundam pilot felt more pain as Soma got closer. That means that the Gundam pilot is affected by quantum brain waves, and the scientist looks through a super-soldier database until he finds a match of a testee who had quantum brain wave treatment that shaped a new personality. After they collected the data, the testee – whose picture is that of a young Allelujah – was disposed of. As the scientist is going over this, he gets a message from Sergei, but the scientist reports that he hasn’t learned anything.

Back on the Ptolemaios, Allelujah wonders if he should report what he figured out about the Human Reform League’s research. In his mind, Hallelujah suddenly appears and says that there’s only one thing to do. Hallelujah argues that creating people like them is supporting war, but since Allelujah still thinks of those people as their comrades, Hallelujah suggests that Allelujah hand him control of their body. He then reminds Allelujah of their past when a bloody Hallelujah had cornered another one of the testees. However, Allelujah doesn’t want to kill to anyone and even suggests protecting those kids, so Hallelujah points out that Allelujah the Gundam Meister should know what kind of future that people modified for war have. When Hallelujah declares that they can only fight and that it’s their fate, Allelujah disagrees, but when he turns around to tell his other side, he finds Setsuna standing there instead. Unaware of what was going on, Setsuna wonders if anything is the matter, and Allelujah tells him that it’s nothing.

In Azadistan, Alejandro is meeting with Marina and Shirin, and he comments on how the construction of the receiving antenna is behind schedule. Marina explains that they have been interrupted several times because there are people in her country who oppose the solar power generation, and this leads to Alejandro’s negotiating partner asking her to think about the safety of the engineers they sent. Alejandro then proposes a courtesy call by Marina to the construction site to raise the workers’ morale, but Shirin is quick to wonder if it’s so that she can be assassinated. Shirin also questions why the United Nations is helping Azadistan when there are a lot of other countries in the Middle East whose technology lags behind. Alejandro’s explanation is that the United Nations wants to make Azadistan a model case so that they can extend their aid to the entire Middle East. What’s more, they are worried because it’s a matter of time before Celestial Being intervenes in the Middle East, and Alejandro feels that aid to get rid of conflict is more important than reconstruction aid. Marina responds to this by asking if Alejandro can swear these feelings to his god, and he does.

By now, Allelujah has made up his mind to meet with Sumeragi. When she sees him, she thinks that he’s angry with her too, so she apologizes for being a bad tactical forecaster. Noticing that she’s drinking, Allelujah suggests that she refrain a little, but Sumeragi claims that she can’t live without alcohol. Allelujah then reveals that he has a plan of intervention against a certain organization that’s supporting war and is connected to his past. He presents her with the data stick that has the details and asks her to look at it when she sobers up. Sumeragi immediately checks out the data and is shocked to find that it’s on the Human Reform League Army’s Super Soldier Special Duty Organization. Back on Earth, Louise’s mother gets served some delicious Japanese food, but even after she learns that Saji made it, she’s still not willing to approve of his relationship with her daughter. Unbeknownst to him, Saji’s sister Kinue is meanwhile following two men who are with Union’s security agency and are after Aeolia Schenberg too. She’s learned that they’ve visited a particular place three times this month, so when they leave, she goes to check things out herself.

At the apartment on a man named Matsubara, Kinue learns that the Union men were asking the whereabouts of Matsubara’s great-grandfather who had disappeared 200 years ago. All Matsubara can tell her is that his great-grandfather was an authority in the field of material engineering. From this, Kinue deduces that Aeolia Schenberg might have been scouting scientists back then. Sumeragi meanwhile approves of Allelujah’s mission, but she asks him first if he’s really okay with it since he’d be going after people like him. Allelujah insists that it is and affirms that he’ll face his own past, so she lets it go and initiates the plan. It calls for the Exia and the Dynames to intervene at a troubled region by the South African border while the rest of them head to the space colony Quan Qiu where a secret military agency of the Human Reform League is located. As Setsuna and Lockon leave, Tieria replays video for himself of the meeting between Sumeragi and Allelujah, causing him to realize who Allelujah is and his own folly. He thus covers Allelujah when it comes time for their mission and destroys three Tierens.

Much to the dismay of the Human Reform League forces, the Kyrios breaks into the space colony. The telepathic cries of other testees soon reaches Allelujah, and he locates the large research facility in the distance. However, as soon as he points his missile launchers at it, he finds that he can’t pull the trigger. He thinks about protecting the kids, but Hallelujah then speaks up and questions how he’d do that. When Allelujah brings up how the kids are unhappy, Hallelujah says that the kids in there don’t think they’re unhappy. To prove his point, he asks Allelujah if the woman who was in the Tieren felt she was unhappy, and since he knows that she wasn’t, he lectures Allelujah about forcing his self-centered way of thinking on others. What’s more, he thinks that Allelujah’s kindness is hypocrisy – he’s only pretending to be kind for his own satisfaction. Hallelujah tells Allelujah not to show mercy to the enemy and wonders if Allelujah will rely on him again. Knowing that Allelujah doesn’t want to do it, he offers to because he’ll fight to protect his existence. Hallelujah’s relentless taunting eventually gets to Allelujah, and he starts firing wildly while screaming.

With the mission over, Sumeragi orders Christina to leak information about the super soldier program out to the media. The news of the attack soon reaches Sergei, and he immediately goes to the main scientist to ask about the research facility that he didn’t know about. Sergei has figured out that one of the Gundam pilots is from their super soldier program, but the scientist denies any knowledge. This doesn’t stop Sergei from using his authority to seal the research facility and arrest the scientist. As for Allelujah, he pays a visit to Sumeragi when he gets back to the Ptolemaios, and he finds her drinking again. This time though, he asks her to give him a drink too. She turns him down because he’s underage, but he reveals that, as of a few minutes ago, he turned 20 years old. After she pours him a glass and congratulates him, Allelujah tastes the alcohol and wonders why they drink something so bitter. Sumeragi replies that he’ll understand in time.

Preview:

I’m actually kind of disappointed that the split personality was from merely being tested on. For some reason, I was under the impression that there were two of them originally and that they somehow merged, but they make it sound here like the new personality just kind of appeared. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still got two personalities, and the events of this episode didn’t do anything to help the divide. The choice he was presented with – kill the children who have been modified for war or let them live because they’re essentially innocent – was pretty much a lose-lose situation for him. A few more of those, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Hallelujah took over as the dominant personality.

The other character I found interesting this episode was Sumeragi because I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. She doesn’t have an easy job and gets blamed when things go wrong, and alcohol seems to be the way she copes. The final exchange between her and Allelujah about the bitterness of alcohol makes me wonder what she’s gone through in her past. That’ll probably be the topic of a future episode, but for next week, we have Setsuna going to Azadistan. On a related note, there’s not going to be a Gundam 00 episode on December 29th. Episode 12 airs next week and Episode 13 airs January 5th, 2008.

43 Comments

  4. Just when I thought no one’s past would be more messed up than Setsuna’s in 00, out comes Hallelujah’s creation story. I don’t know if I would kill an innocent person for my own survival, and I definitely never want to find out.

    Vallen Chaos Valiant
    Reply

  5. I can’t wait for episode 12, CB finally goes to Azadistan to take care of their problems. I would also agree with Vallen about killing an innocent person and it serves the HRL right for what they did to those children.

    Phoenix
    Reply

  14. Just finished the raws… I am not sure, even now, if what happened to the research faculty classified as a “good” or “bad” act.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    All that psychic screams reminds me of the classic quote:
    “I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”

    Vallen Chaos Valiant
    Reply

  27. i did watch : Gundam , Gundam Seed , Gundam Seed Destiny , Gundam Strike , Gundam Wing , but not Gundam 00 =)
    and i didnt read any info about it either….
    like how many episodes or when will be released and stuff……
    altrouth Mecha is my favorite genre , for some reason i just no intrest in Gundam 00 series…

    Sak
    Reply

  28. meh, I’m still going with the Xenogears’ version:
    it’s not the experiments that cause a split personality, it was Al’s wish to escape from his own terrible reality.

    whenever they get to the 40s I’m sure the two will merge and he’ll get a hair cut or something to show off his yellow and blue eyes at the same time.

    ashlay
    Reply

  29. Man, I really want to see someone from HRL eliminate Allelujah and Hallelujah. Sergei and Sohma needs to avenge their comrades. And my being Asian doesn’t have anything to do with me siding with the HRL. Seriously. Why would you make severely psychotic people your pilots? Clearly, CB doesn’t do background checks very well.

    Nanaya
    Reply

  32. personally, i think that the plot will somehow reveal that Aeolia Schenberg is somehow Tieria. I just get the feeling that itll happen. Considering how Tieria comments on the other gundam Meisters as “Human”, and is intruiged about how humans think, suggests that he isnt human himself. Also, you dont see any other gundam meisters commenting on how other meisters are not “suitable” to be a meister, nor do you see them saying anything about Sumeragi.
    I also get those “last boss” vibes from it.

    rauzes
    Reply

  36. Unless I miss my guess, Graham’s team is going to be ‘lent’ to the HRL for a shady joint Gundam-capture operation. If the Hack Writing Gods are merciful, we’ll get some nice crunchy Graham And Sergei Show.

    The AEU continues to be a bit player at best, sadly. I want my SAS Enacts, dammit, complete with rough-and-tumble squaddie pilots.

    Anonymous
    Reply

  37. You have to expect some Emo things happening during character development. Anyways, COME ON! This barely past any point of EMO enough to make it Gundam EMO. Kira and the early Amuro were definitley more emo then any of the pilots in this series. You want a candidate for emoness. Look at Fafner and then try telling us this show is emo again.

    I’m really hoping this show will step it up, because it starting to become half great, half disapointing at times.

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

  39. This was a good episode that reinforced some of the character building of Allelujah which can never really go wrong. Though I do see some serious conflicts in the future between them.. and perhaps what OMNI said was right about the evil becoming the dominant after the good mentally collapses.

    In reference to Daiske: I find it quite hilarious when people call some of the Gundam’s “emo” when in reality such wars and conflicts would never bring out the best in people.. Its so obviously that people dealing with these kind of situations would have mental problems.. especially teens. Its only being realistic, alot of the people from Vietnam, WW1 and WW2 had serious problems when coming back. You need to think a bit more about what you consider “Emo”

    Tom
    Reply

  40. You guys have to understand something here. Without emotions, you can’t get any character development done properly. Specifically for this character he’s deeply emotional due to his “other half” terrorizing him by killing the innocent. This is a wonderful series compared to Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny.

    Adkifijoro
    Reply

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