5 things that make Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Special

Written by demby in General Info,Gundam 00

1. Gundams have Infinite power

If you’ve watched other mechas before, you’d know that most Gundams or Mobile Suits carry with them a battery that supplies the Gundam or Mobile Suit with power. This power is used for everything, from movement to fighting to even just turning the machine on. Even if you are new to mecha or even haven’t seen a mecha anime yet, it’s pretty common knowledge that as a machine that is battery powered keeps working, sooner or later, the battery will be drained out. That’s exactly what happens to most Gundams in other Gundam anime. They start off by giving us an epic fight but sometimes that can’t finish it cause they run out of power.

Now in the case of the Gundams in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 however, they pretty much have infinite power. Sounds crazy right? well, they have something called a GN-Drive or also known as a Solar Reactor. It’s never truly explained in the anime how the Solar Reactor provides infinite power but you can see in the show that it does. The lack of information is due to the characters not talking about it because of the secrecy of its origin.

But even though we can’t talk about the origin of the Solar Reactor, let’s talk more about it. I said to you guys that it gives infinite power, and although I am not lying, because it does, the Gundams in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 can still run out of power though. Think of the Solar Reactor like a generator that doesn’t require fuel but can only supply so much at any given time. The Gundams in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 first need to charge up and then they can fight, after which they can just charge back up again. In combat, it makes a difference because if they are running low on power, they can just hide and charge up until they can fight again.

Well, it sounds pretty similar to what I was talking about before right? Where the fight stops? but these guys compared to normal Gundams have way more power. In one battle, these guys didn’t even run out of power while being bombarded by enemy fire for 3 whole days. That’s the kind of power they have with these Solar Reactors.

2. There’s no need for a Captain

Unlike most if not all Gundam or mecha anime, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 doesn’t provide a captain for its Gundam pilots or crew of their ship. Pretty strange right? If you’ve watched any other Gundam or mecha anime, you’ll know that the plot is usually young adults being absorbed by the military because they got dragged into the war and so they operate under the commands of their captains. In Mobile Suit Gundam 00 though, there is no captain. The pilots of the Gundams and the crew of their ship can do as they see fit. The pilots of the Gundams are even called Gundam Meisters which means Gundam Masters in German.

But how would they operate without a captain? Isn’t that just a recipe for disaster? you’d be correct to ask those questions and to answer them, they have a tactical forecaster. This person is like the captain of the crew and she’s expected to be the most knowledgeable when it comes to forecasting battles and events as well as what to do during battles. Although the crew doesn’t really need to obey the tactical forecaster, they do because of their knowledge and skill in commanding a crew. In the show the tactical forecaster is also aided by a super computer called Veda, that simulates forecasts and gives the probabilities of it being either successful or not.

3. There are only 2 rules

This show can be crazy sometimes guys. Imaging a crew only having two rules… two rules… that’s it. That’s insane if you think about it. The crew of the ptolomaios, the ship of the Gundam Meisters, aren’t under any oath to do anything except honor and follow just two rules. One is maintain the secrecy of they organization known as Celestial Being, and the other one is to protect the Solar Reactor or destroy it if they can’t. That’s it. Which means, any member of the crew can go AWOL if they want. They can decide to not help out cause they don’t feel like it or they can disobey their acting captain or they can even kill themselves or other crew members. Crazy right?

This extremity was clear when one of the pilots disapproved of another pilot and threatened to kill that other pilot. That Gundam Meister literally aimed a loaded gun at that other Gundam Meister’s face. Although he didn’t kill that person, what’s shocking is the other people around him didn’t react violently. They didn’t say that’s against the rules or anything like that. One member did say to “put the gun down” but there was never any mention of murder being against the rules and what’s more? At some point in the anime, that guy also decides to point a gun at the guy he was trying to protect himself. This show doesn’t hold back at all.

4. The Gundams aren’t the king of the battlefield

If you’ve watched other mecha or Gundam anime, you’ll know that the Gundams in other mecha anime are so powerful that there’s almost no stopping them. Only those who are truly amazing pilots are able to stand their ground against Gundams but even they still have a hard time defeating one. However, for Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the Gundams in this mecha anime aren’t necessarily the kings of the battlefield. It’s true that they can overpower most Mobile Suits but this show because of their power generated by their Solar Reactors and their advanced technology but the anime manages to level out the battlefield.

Hear me out cause I’m going to tell you now how this anime does things that makes the Gundam fights more interesting.

To start off, this anime doesn’t give that much plot armor to the main characters. Just because they are important characters doesn’t mean that can’t be killed or beaten or get tired during a fight. There’s also the fact that the enemies of the Gundam Meisters aren’t as stupid as the enemy forces in other Gundam anime. They don’t just go in and attack the Gundam one by one, they attack together and often times from a distance so that they can chip away the Gundam’s armor as well as the stamina and mental endurance of the pilot.

What’s more is that in later on in the anime, the enemy forces manage to equip themselves with imitations of Solar Reactors. They do not look the same because they don’t emit the same color of GN particles but the ones the enemy has is still pretty powerful. From that point on, it was no longer Gundam versus normal Mobile Suits but instead, Gundam versus Gundam. It was amazing guys. The idea that the enemy had the ability to shoot down the main characters easily filled me with anxiety but also piqued my interest.

5. A beginner friendly Mecha anime

Probably the best thing about this anime that makes it special is that it’s one of those mecha anime that’s easy to watch, has a decent chunk of action, mystery and romance but also has the right amount of sadness. The animation quality of this anime also gives it a plus for beginners because it’s so crisp and vivid and the art style is very beautiful and pleasant to the eyes as well. The music sets the mood in every scene and makes every scene much more than what it would have been with out the music. Not to mention that the music in this anime are bangers. You’ll find yourself searching for them online cause you’ll want to hear them on repeat. The characters’ personalities and their development are also amazing and I think it’s because the show managed to place a character that symbolizes a specific personality type. It allows each character to shine out more and also gives viewers more options on who they can relate with.

The number of episodes in this anime is also just right. It’s not too long where it either turns away people from watching it or where people get tired of watching it but it’s not too short either where people don’t get enough of it and are left hanging and wanting more. It’s just enough to make people satisfied with what they watched and usually leaves them seeking out more mecha or Gundam anime.

Overall, we think that this Gundam anime is one of the best ones that someone new to mecha should consider as their first Gundam anime. If you have a friend who’s interested in watching mecha for the first time, we suggest you recommend Mobile Suit Gundam 00. We’re sure that they’ll love it.

You might also like: Is Darling in the Franxx Good?

If you’re looking for something more relaxed than the usual Gundam anime, then maybe you might like Darling in the Franxx. It’s a great mecha anime that deals with some serious topics but throughout the show, you’ll sometimes find yourself smiling or laughing cause it has a good amount of high-school life vibes in it. It revolves around teens who live together in a house and are trained to be children soldiers but as they live together, their teenage urges become more apparent.

If you want to know more about why these teens are forced to live together or about everything regarding Darling in the Franxx, you can click the link to check out our article “Is Darling in the Franxx Good?“.

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demby

Hi! I'm Demby and I've been a fan of Mecha since I was a little boy. Now I enjoy writing about all things mecha to answer questions that you guys have. I hope you enjoy my articles. :D

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