Phantom Pain

If you watched Gundam Seed, you would know about the Phantom Pain group, officially known as the 81st Independent Mobile Battalion of the Earth Alliance. They are the private army of the Blue Cosmos.

Here’s a little trivia regarding Phantom Pain:

Phantom pain is also known as deafferentation pain, anaesthesia dolorosa or denervation pain. It is a pain felt in a part of a body that is amputated or is insensate due to nerve severance. Patients often describe it as a burning sensation.

The pain is caused by the brain receiving messages from the spinal cord which it intepretes as pain coming from the affected limb.

Character: Mu La Flaga

The man known as the “Hawk of Endymion” often boasted himself to be “the man who can make the impossible possible”. To quote Kaizer from Advent Destiny, Mu “single-handedly created the slang term ‘pulling a La Flaga’.”

Pull a La Flaga: To cheat death when all logical thinking would denote a 0% chance of survival, and come out with the least amount of incapacitating or disfiguring injuries as possible.

He earned his nickname of “Hawk of Endymion” by destroying five GINNs in his Moebius Zerio in the Battle of Endymion Crater. This is a hint of the piloting abilities of this veteran ace. Mu came to be the mentor to Kira Yamato as well as the guidance much needed by the less experienced Murrue Ramius, who gained command of the Archangel upon his refusing the offer to command the ship.

His valiant death at the end of Gundam SEED made countless viewers cry. A testimony of his popularity among viewers and fans alike.

The full extent of his piloting prowess was finally put on display when he piloted Akatsuki, the first time he had the chance to pilot a unit on-par with his opponents. Imagine the havoc he caused on enemies whom he could defeat in technologically inferior units.

Whether his revival in Destiny was a good move would always be a point of heated debate among fans and critics. However, we can be sure that Mu would be a character etched firmly in our hearts with his heroics and laid-back attitude.

Here are some thoughts contributed by members from Advent Destiny

Kaizer:

Now as for the real reasons to like them (if the above just wasn’t
enough).  Mu La Flaga was introduced as one of the first veteran pilots
in the series, and first gained the fans respect by showing off that he
could go toe to toe with Coordinators and their superior mobile suits,
even though he was a natural with an outdated mobile armor.  Of course,
he was more than just a kick-butt pilot, he showed that while he didn’t
like to take things seriously, he knew when to get down to business,
and wasn’t afraid to get his hands a little dirty if it helped people
out in the end, nor did he have any malcontent towards Coordinators as
a whole.As well, despite being overshadowed by Kira, Cagalli,
Athrun, and Lacus story-wise, he already had a resounding amount of
back story, and character development to boot.  He had a rival in Rau,
a disciple of sorts in Kira, a growing love interest in Murrue, and a
somewhat shadowed past about his father that he had to discover.  If
they had wanted to, they could have focused the series on Mu; but then
he wouldn’t have been able to pilot Freedom or Justice, nor does he
have as many angsty emo moments as Kira or Athrun (and it just wouldn’t
be the same if he didn’t try and take on a Lohrengrin or Taunhauser
shot at least once per series).

kct:

Who needs the more powerful mobile suits when the good ol’ Strike
Gundam can do a lot more with proper skills from the pilot alone.
Remember, he managed to use the Strike to a great effect during the
later phase of SEED.Of course, speaking of personality, that is
what makes him awesome in his own way. Probably because of his age he
doesn’t display angst the younger members of the cast have, but because
of that too he was seen as a mentor for Kira (and probably some of the
others).Piloting skills alone is already something a lot of
fans admired in him (I remembered someone said that he alone was the
reason a lot of people continued through SEED despite the problems with
some of the characters), because as Kaizer have said, he managed to
hold his own against more advanced mobile suits (be it in the Moebius
Zero against ZAFT mobile suits, or the ones he faced in the Sky
Grasper, and later the Strike Gundam).

Shaftronics:

He was probably one of the few things you would count as both comic
relief and at the same time, someone to count on. He was not just the
gruff, experienced mentor, he was a friend to all. Someone to look up
to and to emulate, knowing when to get serious and yet, when to wind
down. His sense of justice goes wherever he goes, not blinded by orders
and heck, is willing to break them if he feels the need to.With that much of a past surrounding Mu, they should make an OVA featuring him, don’t you think? And how he got his nickname.

On the last point Shaft made, I agree with it completely. With him being such a popular character, such a move would definitely be well accepted by fans.

Gundam Seed Destiny: Final Plus

At Otakon 2007, Bandai Entertainment Inc. confirmed their plan to release Gundam Seed Destiny: Final Plus, a reworking of the final episode of
Gundam Seed Destiny. It will be released as a stand alone DVD in 2008.

Character: Kira Yamato

Now, I’m not being biased. Although Kira is my favourite character from the Cosmic Era (and I know I’m going to get a lot of stick for being a “Kira fan-boy”, as they call it), the choice to make him the first character to be featured is not simply for sentiment’s sake. Kira Yamato is almost synonymous with the Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny series. You can argue that Athrun, Lacus and Cagalli are also pivotal characters in the story. But you can’t run away from the fact that Kira is the leading character.

To be associated with tags such as “the Ultimate Coordinator”, “probably Newtype”, “S.E.E.D. mode capable” speak volumes for the role he plays. He is the saviour in the series, as shown in his defence of the Archangel, and later his role in spearheading the Three Ships Alliance and Terminal. Kira piloted two of the best Gundams in the Cosmic Era in both anime series: Freedom in GS and Strike Freedom in GSD.

There are many detractors of Kira. They claim that he is too overpowered. I have to agree that the God-like complex played to his disadvantage in terms of garnering fans’ support. Perhaps it was overdone. However, many people often overlook the fact that Kira isn’t entirely almighty. He cries. A lot. Which brings us to another issue that I will dive into in a while. He does not like war. He does not like to kill. Therein lies his disadvantage, which Shinn exploited to defeat him in “Operation: Angel Down”.

Critics laugh at Kira’s frequent crying episodes in GS. He is a mere teenager, entrusted with the task of protecting his friends and fighting against his best friend. He is human too. I don’t blame him if he breaks down under the stress or the anguish over his inability to control the situation.

From episode one of GS to episode 50 of GSD, you can see how Kira grew up as a person. Swept away by the tides of destiny, he was forced to mature quickly. Where he would cry in despair in GS, he has learnt to take things in his own hands, as shown in GSD. From an untrained rookie pilot, he developed into an expert pilot who can disable opponents rather than killing them. (To be able to hit the right parts of the MS to disable it takes a lot of skill).

With all that said, I hope I helped you to gain a better insight on Kira Yamato. If you have any suggestions for improvements or additions to the Character feature entry, leave a comment!

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Fact File
Name: Kira YamatoDOB: May 18^[1] CE 55
Nationality: United Emirates of Orb
Family:
Caridad Yamato (adoptive mother/aunt)[3]
Haruma Yamato (adoptive father/uncle)[3]
Ulen Hibiki (father, deceased)
Via Hibiki (mother, deceased)
Cagalli Yula Athha (twin sister)
Blood type: A
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Purple
Mobile weapons:
GAT-X105 Strike [GS]
ZGMF-X10A Freedom [GS/GSD]
MBF-02 Strike Rouge [GSD]
ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom [GSD]

Gundam Seed Supernova

Here’s the latest from the Bandai Visual Site (English translation | Original in Japanese)

Note: The translator isn’t very good at it so if you can read Japanese, let us know what it says exactly! I’m just posting what it says.

Gundam Seed Supernova DVD

Release Date: 25 September 2007

Details:
TV animation special compilation + original animation
Color/(estimate) 50 minutes/Dolby digital (stereo)/single sided 1 layer/standard (part 16: 9 (squeeze)/vista size)

Contents:

Character Songs Remix

Seed coming and others theater
The complete new work where the well-known “seed coming and others” participates it is short in the SEED fan compilation animation

WWS-World Wide SEED
With blowing changing version of each country, it will try comparing “SEED” of the world!

MS TRICO STAGE (mobile suit explanation movie)
“BLUE STAGE”
“WHITE STAGE”

SEED THE LIVE TOUR

Fan Fiction

As an avid novelist, I have written in fantasy and science-fiction genres. However, I surprised even myself when I realised that I have yet to dabble in writing a Gundam related fan-fiction. I have a strong passion in the series, especially the Cosmic Era. As owner of Advent Destiny, a forum-based RPG set in post-war Cosmic Era (at least it would remain post-war until war erupts once more), I have experience in role playing in the CE setting.

Recently, I began wondering why there is a lack of Gundam novels or sides stories. Although there are many alternate universe sprouting up in the form of animes and mangas, there aren’t much novels written on them. I feel that Gundam has a very great potential to sell as a science fiction novel. These novels can be a supplement to the main storyline portrayed in the anime. An example of such a practice can be seen in the Star Wars series. The movies started a whole series of novels. The hundred over novels feature either the main characters or introduce new characters, thus expanding the universe and the storyline.

I envision such a future for the Gundam series. The Universal Century and the various alternate universes each can be further developed through novels. One stumbling block that I foresee would be the fact that Sunrise, the makers of the Gundam series, is a Japanese company and they might not be too keen to invest in English novels. The demand is not great enough for them to make such a move. Even if there is, it can’t be seen.

Perhaps, if we can show them that there is a market for such novels, they might consider making this investment.

However, I digress. The sum it all up, I decided to link up my interest in both novel writing and Gundam. I would be writing a fan fiction based on my original characters. I would not start off with the canon characters because I feel that I still do not know their personalities well enough to be able to write from their perspective. I would be doing my research and if I am finally confident enough, I would write one from their perspectives.

MSiA Akatsuki Shiranui

From Amazon Japan.

Selected Updates from Gunota

Upcoming merchandise pics
From Hobbynet:
BB Senshi Stargazer (lineart)
MSiA Akatsuki w/ Shiranui pack

SEED & SEED Destiny Fan Disc SEED Supernova er DVD cover

Check this out: Bandai Visual site

Gundam tops Bandai’s Visual Franchise

From Anime News Network:

Bandai Visual had made public the Japanese home video sales of its main franchises, as led by Mobile Suit Gundam’s 11.9 million volumes.

Mobile Suit Gundam (from Dec. 1987) – 11.9 million copies
Ultraman (from Jan. 1988) – 5.78 million copies
Mobile Police Patlabor (from Apr. 1988) – 1.7 million copies
Ghost In The Shell (from Apr. 1996) – 1.7 million copies
Cowboy Bebop October 1998 – 0.95 million copies

The sales figures above are current as of February of 2006. Overall, Bandai Visual holds 498 series which total 1,588 hours of footage. Every year on average, the company adds an additional 30 series and 100 hours.