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!
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]
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kira is cute
but also has a kind heart. ^_^
You have done an excellent job defending Kira. Kira is often interpretted as a god-like individual who gets too much attention and is simple too powerful. However, your entry has, hopefully, changed the mind of many individuals. Kudos, Jen Xi
By the way, Kira is also my favourite character = P. Followed closely by Athrun.
I agree with most of what you said about Kira. I really liked how he was portrayed in Gundam SEED, especially how his character developed so much through the series (as it should, as the main character.. unlike Shinn in GSD who does not change), from not wanting to pilot to being a berserker to finally find what he wants to do. Yes he does cry a lot (and his crying sounds rather eerie, like he’s choking ^^;; ) but his angst comes from the fact that he’s a kind person and doesn’t want to hurt others.
In Destiny though, I don’t like how they portrayed him.. it’s not his fault, it’s the writers’.. Destiny in general has a lot of problems in terms of character development (Shinn being the biggest), and I think Kira suffers from that as well. I think it might stem from the fact that his character pretty much finished developing by the end of SEED, and that there’s nothing more that can be developed in Destiny, ‘cept to go back and revisit the old issues. As a result, I found Destiny Kira rather boring. He’s cool to watch and all, but really, it gets boring after a while, and then the whole “Jesus Yamato” thing started. He’s like a wise old man in GSD, and that’s just awkward. Not to mention the fact that by the end of GSD he became a commander of ZAFT (wtf… >_> )
Anyway, I do like Kira as a main character (don’t usually like the main character in most series), it’s just that GSD ruined him (GSD ruined quite a few character as well… *grrrr* )…
Hi, i m oso a fan of kira yamato…he does often cry a,lot in GS,but he is strong n powerful in GSD…not all coordinators are that strong as compared to him..Kira’s aiming is accurate..But he doesnt want to fight…When he was born, he was already a strong coordinator coz of his father or wahtever..but he grew up vry quicky n became vry mature..he has a kind heart…you have done well defending .lets hope ur entry will changed the mind of many individuals..
i think kira is just fine… and the writeer was perefect… people just let stuff get to them too much…
kira was wise in destiny yes… but it was because he’d developed a strong sense of what’s right and wrong………. not because he’s some kind of wise old man… people degrade kira so much saying dumb stuff like theseries rode shinn into the ground in order to make kira and lacus look good i mean really… some shinn fanboys hate the writer and how can you do that when she’s the one who came up with shinn in the first place and hey at least she didn’t kill them off
my favortie characters are kira/athrun/shinn
my fav mobile suits are strike freedom/infinite justice/destiny
can’t wait for movie… it’s taking way to long to come out. gs and gsd were perfect and everything you said about kira is exactly what i interprited from watching the show
Look, Kira was absolutely awesome in Gundam Seed. We saw him mature from GS episode 1 to GS episode 50 (plus the 5 minutes ova which truly concludes the Gundam Seed arc). He lost a lot of good/close friends during his time as a pilot. In several battles, we CLEARLY see he is NOT UNBEATABLE/UNTOUCHABLE, like in one of his fights with the 4 stolen mobile suits, several battles with the three Evil Gundams (Forbidden, Raider and Calamity), and ESPECIALLY in the final battle with Rau Le Creuset’s PROVIDENCE.
But then comes GUNDAM SEED DESTINY, which RUINED so many things that were done so well in SEED. Mu La Flaga was magically brought back to life, making his supposed epic death in SEED USELESS, the new characters had PISS POOR developpement compared to the prequel, Cagalli was made useless, Kira became untouchable in Strike Freedom, in fact, why the hell was he the main character? At first i thought we were simply gonna get GLIMPSES of the guy, as cameo and making fans know ”Oh hes allright, hes now living peacefully”.
Sigh, the only thing that COMFORTS me is that it wasnt the SAME writer/director or whatever that made this pathetic sequel. It was SEED’s director/writer’s WIFE who took control and ruined what could have been a beautifull sequel.
Do any of you know that SEED’s writer ORIGINALLY intended Kira to become the villain in GSD? He was supposed to have similar characteristics to Char from ”Char’s Counter Attack”. As in, Kira was going to realize at some point that all the efforts and sacrifices in the first war were in vain, for nothing. Battles and violence was still being spread, and he’d decide that humanity needed a harsh lesson, thus putting something in motion. He’d be against everyone. What scared me though, is that the director also wanted Athrun and Kira to both die in this sequel. But what’s good is that Shinn was going to be the main hero, and Athrun would have been a Quatro Bageena, guiding Shinn in his path. But Bandai and the director’s wife were against the idea, and he just gave up and somewhat said ”Fine! Do what you want!” Thus, we now have this awful sequel which I like to pretend doesnt exist.
Kira’s a bitch, end of story.
[...] Character: Kira Yamato « Gundam Seed Vault I really liked how he was portrayed in Gundam SEED especially how his character developed so much through the series (as it should, as the main character unlike Shinn in GSD who does not change), from not wanting to pilot to being a . [...]