Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Title of the series

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (or "Gundam SEED") is an anime television series from Japan. It is a part of the Gundam franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate universe called Cosmic Era. The series has 50 episodes, aired in Japan from October 5 2002 to September 27 2003.

1 Overview
2 Cast & Crew
3 Openings & Endings & Insert Songs
4 SEED Theory
5 See also
6 External links

Overview

Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda (Future GPX Cyber Formula and Gear Fighter Dendoh), the series is set in an alternate universe to the original series, the Cosmic Era universe. This series begins with a war between Earth and the colonies that is similar to the One Year War of the original Gundam series with elements from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing and After War Gundam X. On one side is the Earth Alliance, and on the opposite is the space colonies that form ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty). Mankind has evolved into new forms through genetic engineering, with normal humans known as 'Naturals' and the genetically altered known as 'Coordinators'. Like the original series, ZAFT has a head start on mobile suit design, the Earth Alliance quickly catches up with its five prototype Gundams. With ZAFT having stolen four of the prototypes, young pilot Kira Yamato takes the Strike Gundam and is forced to fight his old friend Athrun Zala. Gundam SEED started with simaliar plot lines to the first Gundam series. But later on in the series Gundam SEED took off into its own original plotline.

The series is licensed by Bandai Visual. The American edition is currently being broadcast on Cartoon Network as of April 2004 at 10:30 pm on Toonami. Although things that were edited out on Cartoon Network are violent images (ex. all references to the sexual relationship between Kira and Flay); almost all shots of pilots, including main characters, in their cockpits before having their machines destroyed as well as cold-blooded or brutal murders that are non-mobile suit related (ex. Signel Clyne getting shot by ZAFT soldiers loyal to Patrick Zala); all references to the facts that the Living CPUs need to take performance enhanching drugs; and most notoriously, all handguns being transformed into neon-colored lasers, dubbed "Disco Guns" by fans, for the majority of the show's run. Due to its mediocre performance, it was pushed back to 1:00 am on Friday nights. Starting with Phase 27. However, During the airing of the final two episodes, they were left mostly unedited however and most the original material with the exception of a few scenes namely, the guns used by Azrael from Phase-49 and Patrick Zalas and one of the ZAFT soliders (which was given neon-colored lights in certain but not all of the image frames), airbrushing the naked Flays body in the final episode to avoid showing her cleavage, reducing the amount of blood shown, and the removal or altering of scenes that are very violent, are the only things that were edited out. Only the final episode was given the PG-SV rating rather than the usual TV-Y7 rating. The Canadian version debuted on YTV's Bionix block in September 2004 at 9:30 pm where it got a slightly better reception and aired comparatively uncut.

An abridged, six part version of the TV series is also being released as Gundam SEED: Special Edition. The English manga is published in North America by Del Rey Manga and in Singapore by Chuang Yi, while Gundam SEED Astray, a spinoff of Gundam SEED, is published in North America by TokyoPop.

Another element left over from the most popular recent Gundam series (1995–6's Gundam Wing) was the presence of five color-coded Gundams piloted by angst-ridden bishonen. This made the series quite attractive to female fans, though to date unofficial SEED slash fiction is primarily concentrated among the ZAFT adversary characters, rather than among the Archangel crew members. One characteristic of this Gundam series is that it focused on character development in addition to fighting. As in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and Neon Genesis Evangelion, this resulted in several episodes without any fighting.

Also running with the series was a series of manga called Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray that told a side-story to the anime series. This proved popular enough to generate two more side-stories: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray R and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED X Astray.

On July 6 2004 the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, was announced after over a month of rumors. It started airing in Japan on October 2004 on the network Mainichi Broadcasting System and continues to do so today.

Cast & Crew

Japanese Cast

Aisha – Vivian Hsu
Athrun Zala – Ishida Akira
Cagalli Yula Athha – Shindou Naomi
Dearka Elsman – Sasanuma Akira
Fllay Allster – Kuwashima Houko
Kira Yamato – Hoshi Souichirou
Lacus Clyne – Tanaka Rie
Miguel Aiman – Takanori Nishikawa
Murrue Ramius – Mitsuishi Kotono
Mwu La Flaga – Koyasu Takehito
Natarle Badgiruel – Kuwashima Houko
Nicol Amarfi – Matsui Mami
Rau Le Creuset – Seki Toshihiko
Yzak Jule – Seki Tomokazu

Staff

Director – Mitsuo Fukuda
Series Writer – Chiaki Morosawa
Character Design – Hisashi Hirai
Mecha Designer – Kunio Okawara & Kimitoshi Yamane
Music Composer – Toshihiko Sahashi

English-language Cast

Narrator – Alison Matthews
Kira – Matt Hill
Rau – Mark Oliver
Mu – Trevor Devall
Murrue – Lisa Anne Beley
Athrun – Sam Vincent
Cagalli – Vanessa Morley
Dearka – Brad Swaile
Miriallia – Anna Cummer
Tolle – Richard Ian Cox
Flay, Birdy, Haro – Tabitha St. Germain
Sai – Bill Switzer
Kuzzey – Keith Miller
Natarle – Sarah Johns
Yzak – Michael Adamthwaite
Neumann – Philip Pacaud
Lacus – Chantal Strand
Nicol – Gabe Khouth
Chandra – Simon Hayama
Tonomura – Matt Smith
Pal – Brendan Van Wijk
Murdoch – Ward Perry
Siegel Clyne – Don Brown
Patrick Zala – Andrew Kavadas

Openings & Endings & Insert Songs

Openings:

Invoke by T.M. Revolution (ep. 1–13)
Moment by Vivian or Kazuma (ep. 14–26)
Believe by Nami Tamaki (ep. 27–40)
Realize by Nami Tamaki (ep. 41–50)

Endings:

Anna ni Issho datta no ni by See-Saw (ep. 1–26)
River by Tatsuya Ishii (ep. 27–39)
Find The Way by Mika Nakashima (ep. 40–50)

Insert Songs:

Akatsuki No Kuruma by FictionJunction YUUKA
METEOR by T.M. Revolution
Mizu no Akashi by Rie Tanaka
Shizuka na Yoru ni by Rie Tanaka

SEED Theory

The word SEED in the title is an acronym for a scientific theory concerning the destiny of people. This designation, when properly applied to certain parts of the plot, makes sense (When Malchio informs Kira that he has "a seed" within him, he is referring to Kira's innate purpose in life).

This term is widely confused with Berserker, which is characterized in the show by a pilot in an extremely stressed situation (usually on the brink of collapse) who sees the personification of a balled up flower which shatters. Their eyes dilate, and usually where the pupil might maintain a hint of humanity, theirs do not. This is to demonstrate their temporary "insanity", much as the Berserkers of ancient myth, plagued by high amounts of concentration, visual acuity, and spatial prowess.