Column] Just before the release of "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom! A 5-minute look back at the world of "Gundam SEED" & "Gundam SEED DESTINY"!

That's why Akiba Research Institute is pleased to present "Gundam SEED in 3 minutes," a quick and easy guide that you can check before the movie opens!

Read this and go to the movie theater! Freedom! (Narrated by Kotono Mitsuishi)

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

<Brief Synopsis

C.E. (Cosmic Era) 70, the first in the series, depicts the war between the Coordinators (Plant Forces) who want to become independent from the Earth, and the Naturals (Earth Alliance) who do not accept their independence. The main character, Kira Yamato, belongs to the natural side despite being a coordinator, and throws himself into the battle against the ZAFT Forces, a military organization of the Plants, aboard the Strike Gundam. As Kira and his crew continue their escape with the battleship Ark Angel toward the Earth Alliance headquarters, they are targeted by young ZAFT pilots who have stolen the Earth Alliance's Gundam. One of the ZAFT soldiers, Aslan Zala, is a childhood friend of Kira's, and Kira and his friends are distressed at the thought of crossing swords with their former friend.

However, Kira and Aslan, who have both lost friends in the war, fight to the death out of hatred. Kira is miraculously rescued and brought to the care of Plant's diva, Lax Klein. Kira is entrusted with ZAFT's latest MS, the Freedom Gundam, by Lax, whose father is the chairman of the Plant Council, and saves the Ark Angel, which has been abandoned by the Earth Alliance and is involved in an attack on ZAFT forces.

Realizing that there is no justice for either the plant or the Earth Alliance, Kira and his team join up with Aslan, who has defected from ZAFT, and Cagalli, princess of the neutral nation of Orb. They eventually form a three-ship alliance centered on the Ark Angel, the battleship Eternal commanded by Lax, and the battleship Kusanagi of Orb, and intervene in the war as a third force.

At the end of the war, amidst a flurry of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear missiles, Kira clashes with ZAFT's Lau Le Creuset, the culprit behind the destruction of the world. Kira wins the battle by a hair's breadth, but he weeps, wondering why he has come this far.

<Commentary

This work, which was produced and broadcast in 2002 under the slogan "The First Gundam of the 21st Century," became a major hit in the Gundam series following "Mobile Suit Gundam," as it was intended to be. It is said to be the founder of the Gundam series that successfully revived the series, which at the time was somewhat stalled, and has determined the popularity of Gundam up to the present day.

The key to the story is the conflict between two people from different standpoints: the coordinators, who are newcomers genetically engineered to have higher basic specifications, and the naturals, who are ordinary people.

At the time of the broadcast, MBS producer Aoshi Takeda touched on the chaotic situation in Iraq and said, "I hope that viewers will be able to think about the world situation as if it were their own. Now, 20 years later, the drama of racial conflict and war depicted in the film seems to be approaching us with a very real sense of reality. It was a very prescient work.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Remaster Complete Blu-ray BOX (Special Limited Edition)

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

<Brief Synopsis

In C.E. 73, after the last war, the Earth Alliance and Plant are in a cease-fire treaty. Under the leadership of Chancellor Gilbert Durandal, Plant has adopted a policy of reconciliation with the natural world. Although peace had come to the earth sphere for the time being, sparks continued to smolder, such as ZAFT soldiers who could not forget their hatred for natural forces and some forces of the Earth Alliance who still could not give up their long-held dream of eradicating the Coordinators.

In the meantime, a new mobile suit delivered to the plant is robbed by a special unit of the Earth Alliance. Shin Asuka, a young ZAFT soldier who was once a citizen of Orb but lost his family in the battle between the Alliance and ZAFT, sets out in his Impulse Gundam to stop them.

New conflicts erupt one after another in the wake of this battle. As the world gradually begins to resemble a replay of the great battles of the past, Aslan, who had changed his name to support Cagalli, returns to ZAFT after a dialogue with Chancellor Durandal.

Meanwhile, Kira and Lax, who have been living in seclusion on Earth, are attacked by ZAFT assassins. They also learn that Chancellor Durandal is using Mia Campbell, a diva who is a fake of Lax, for propaganda purposes to inspire the soldiers on the front lines, and Kira and Lax become highly suspicious of Chancellor Durandal. So they return to the front with the Ark Angel. A three-way battle develops between the Earth Alliance, Plant, and the Ark Angel.

The war eventually spreads throughout the world, and after Berlin is destroyed by the Earth Alliance's giant Destroy Gundam, Chancellor Durandal declares to the world that the military-industrial complex Logos, which controls the Earth Alliance from behind the scenes, is the mastermind behind the series of wars and that he will overthrow it.

In the process, Shin develops a strong hatred for the Freedom Gundam that Kira rides, which once brought Orb into the fray and still intervenes in the war as a third force, and finally destroys it. Suspicious of these hard-line actions by Chancellor Durandal, Aslan once again leaves ZAFT. Although pursued by ZAFT soldier Ray the Barrel, he narrowly escapes with his life and joins up with Lax and his group.

Later, Kira and Aslan are given new powers by Lax, the Strike Freedom Gundam and the Infinite Justice Gundam, respectively, and they return to the front lines. They begin to intervene in the battles between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance.

Eventually, ZAFT deploys the "Requiem," a weapon of mass destruction, and finally overthrows Jibril, the leader of the Logos. With the enemy virtually destroyed, Chancellor Durandal declares the implementation of the "Destiny Plan," in which all people's lives are determined by their genes. Kira and his team set out to stop Chancellor Durandal, who has launched a mop-up operation against further hostile organizations and forces. After destroying all of ZAFT's elite forces, including Shin's Destiny Gundam, Kira and his men reach Chancellor Durandal's stronghold, the Messiah. Kira tells Chancellor Durandal that he is ready to reject the Destiny Plan, which he says will lead the world back to chaos. Chancellor Durandal is shot by Rey, who has chosen "tomorrow" in which she will decide her own life path, rather than the "Destiny Plan" in which her life is determined by her genes, and shares her fate with the crumbling Messiah.

After this battle, ZAFT ceased hostilities. As a mediator, Lax returns to ZAFT with Kira.

Later, Kira, Aslan, and Shin meet at the Cenotaph in Orb. Once enemies, they have reconciled and vow to fight together.

＜Commentary

This sequel was broadcast in 2004 and was produced in response to the highly successful "SEED. It is probably the only TV series in the history of the "Gundam Series" that was produced as a pure sequel with the same main characters (officially, this work has Kira, Aslan, and Shin as the triple main characters). As it is a continuation of the previous work produced based on the First Gundam, is it a "Z Gundam" motif this time? It is true that there are some similarities, such as Aslan's appearance under a false name with a glass headband and Kira's return to the front line after living in seclusion, but the story gradually begins to develop in its own unique way.

Each time, a serious human drama that makes you feel heavy-hearted develops, more important characters die in battle than in the previous work, and conflicts spread to various parts of the world without a solution being proposed. Many of the viewers who were watching the movie in real time seemed to be worried about the situation.

However, even under such circumstances, the characters have no choice but to do what they can do to achieve peace.

Shin Asuka, who served as the main protagonist in the beginning of the film, is one such character. Because of his experience of losing his entire family in the last war, he is convinced that if he defeats all his enemies, there will be no more war and peace will prevail, and he strives to defeat his enemies single-mindedly. Of course, even if all the enemies in front of him disappear, the conflict will not disappear unless the causes of the conflict are resolved, and in the end, Shin is beaten to a pulp by Aslan's Infinite Justice, and he learns the meaninglessness of continuing to fight.

The "Destiny Plan" proposed by Chancellor Durandal is similar, and it is true that it would be cost-effective if one could decide how to live from the beginning and lead a life without failures. But is that really "living"?

At the time of the broadcast, many people seemed to be of the opinion that such a plan was unthinkable, but looking at society today 18 years later, many people may realize that it is not a matter of personal concern.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY HD Remaster Complete Blu-ray BOX

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So, looking back, we can see that the "Gundam SEED" series was a drama that seemed to anticipate modern society 20 years in the future, a science fiction drama with a social dimension. What kind of future will be presented in "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom," which will be released in the year 2024, the same year in which the chaotic C.E. world was once depicted, and in which there is a disturbing atmosphere?

The answer lies in a movie that will be released tomorrow! Oh, I can't wait for tomorrow!