The first 5 episodes of IBO were really good, so great choice.

If you haven't watched a show since SEED, I highly recommend Gundam 00. Does something different with the Gundam formula, fast paced story, great action, and is interesting.

I did try 00 once on Sci-Fi in 2009 and I could not get into it. I would consider giving it another chance.

Honestly, most Gundam shows don't work watching once a week. You need to do them in clusters.

Yeah, it definietly didn't work for SEED when that was still airing on TV.

I hated Seed Destiny on Adult Swim. I remember I give up on it after 10 episodes. I remember I didn't like the story and characters.

So I'm up to ep 5 of gundam, and this garma guy seems pretty cool, I can't wait for him to live a long life where his best friend totally doesn't murder him

"Blame it on the misfortune of your birth."

The Origin really makes the relationship even better, Char and Garma went to military academy together and started a rebellion. To see Char use the guy like that for his own goals is even sadder now.

Destiny didn't air on Adult Swim.

The less we talk about the salt episode the better

I remember seeing it on TV when it was being dubbed in English. I could have swear that it was on AS back in 2007.

Turn A 17-20 - So uh... stuff happens. I'm totally lost as nothing is making sense to me. Kihel makes this speech about reopening negotiations to Earth for peace, but then the next two episodes are just the normal Moonrace fighting the Militia. Huh? Oh, and now there are hippie Moonrace people fighting. WHAT?! Oh, and they just happen to have unearthed a perfect good conditioned Ramba Ral ship (okay, I know it's not the exact same ship, but it's the same type) and it has some sort of molding material that conveniently fixes machinery. I am so damn confused.

Meh, it's not that bad of an episode. We get some nice development for the refugees that are stuck on the ship and the next part does a great job of showing that not all Zeon soldiers are bad.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I1Xphghny...427_873185.jpg

http://blog.kenbill.com/?eid=879#sequel

Yup, sold.

We just finished the next disc to Turn A and seriously, this show is making less sense as it continues. All of these episodes were pretty much filler aside from a few scenes. Once again something major occurred off screen though as Kihel revealed the truth to Harry, but you don't know this until he brings it up more than halfway through the episode when he confronts Dianna and Loran. WTF?! Oh, and I'm awaiting for Gavane to die as he has raised every red flag possible. On the other hand, I've never seen the Gundam be used as a washing machine, so that was... um... interesting. On to Collection II!!

G-Reco 1.0?

Another two discs done (26-34) and the show is FINALLY starting to amp up. The episode that dealt with the nukes going off was like HOLY ****!!!!! Then there was a bit of more filler followed by some truly excellent stuff with a Mayan-like tribe and now we are finally going out into space. I can not wait to see what happens next!! The music continues to rock and while there have been some flat moments of animation, the animation remains great. On the other hand, I still don't like Sochie and Poe. Sochie is this series' version of Katz while Poe is Noin 2.0. Oh, and I cannot help but laugh at the ever growing Zaku army. It seems like every time the Suicide Squad appears on screen their Zakus have doubled. They're like the Sweeps of Gundam.

EDIT: And another disc bites the dust. These four episodes were really awesome and clever. I just loved how they went about having Earthlings that are in space for the first time. Very nicely done. The only complaint I have with this batch is how Kihel is suddenly in love with Harry, but that aside, these were damn good episodes. I hope to have the chance to finish the series tomorrow.

EDIT 2:

We just finished Turn A and overall, it was an enjoyable series, but far from being anywhere near the best of the Gundam franchise.

Positives:

+ The characters, especially Loran, Dianna, and Kihel.
+ Yoko Kanno's soundtrack was fantastic as always and there were a lot of moments where the music really moved the scene. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough variety after a while.
+ A new and interesting take on the Gundam mythos by setting it in a really unique world.
+ Lots of character development.
+ The Dark History and the scene when it is finally revealed in episode 43 is just full of fangasmic awesomesauce!!
+ Great animation despite there being flat moments.
+ Clever use of showing people in space for the very first time.
+ Turn X is like a giant set of funnels that form a mobile suit.

Negatives:

- Lackluster villains who are all pretty much just adult children. None of them are even remotely badass or cool.
- Most of the shows battles are due to poor communication over anything else.
- Too much character development. Yeah, as great as it is to develop the characters, there is just way too much of it because the plot suffers and the politics go by with a lot of information missing due to it happening off screen.
- Too much filler. This show should have been about 10-15 episodes shorter.
- The pacing is all over the place. Sometimes its great, other times it leaves a lot to be desired and the viewer is confused.
- Major character deaths that just happen and you may miss them if you blink.

As I said, overall it is a enjoyable show and one I will look forward to revisiting once it is released on Blu-Ray, but not the masterpiece I had hoped it would be. It started off strong by introducing us to a unique setting and situation and then it kind of fizzled out into things just happening for the sake of happening as if a fourth grader were retelling a story via, "And then this happened. And then that happened. And then..." Thankfully, the second half of the show takes off and the reveal of the Dark History is awesome. Sadly, the lack of any strong villainous characters really hurts it as there is no one that can be viewed upon as a serious threat and as such, makes it feel like there is little payoff. Oh, and there are moonrace hippies. WTF?! In the end, I give Turn A a 7/10. It is a more middle of the road series as far as the story is concerned, but its characters and setting are what makes it great.

Unicorn Re0096 episode 5.

This wasn't as offensively bad as the last episode, with a lot shorter of a recap and a decent place to cut. And also NO SPOILERS.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChapxB2UkAAn_ES.jpg

http://www.taghobby.com/wp-content/u...BANM160706.jpg

The bear guys just never end....

So I watched the first 5 episodes to Reconguista of G today and they weren't bad. I think having just watched a ton of Gundam series has helped with all of the lingo they are throwing down left and right. However, it would be nice to get some damn exposition laying down the setting of the show. I have no idea what the difference is between the Capital Army, the Capital Tower, Ameria, Space Pirates, and the other group they have briefly mentioned. Are these different countries? Is the Earth Federation gone? Has the world been set up into different divisions?

I also don't get why they would let a prisoner pilot the G-Self. First it was the Capital Army letting Aina pilot it back to Ameria and now it is Ameria letting Bell pilot it. WTF? WHO LETS PRISONERS PILOT THEIR MACHINERY?!!! Thankfully Bell has a great personality and reminds me a lot of Judau with his laid back attitude. It's kind of refreshing right now. Not sure what to think about the others though, especially the pink haired girl. I do like the Haro in this show. The animation is pretty nice too.

Oh, and is it just me, or is the Capital Army located in a restored Jaburo jungle?

Overall, it's already better than Destiny, but we'll see where it goes. Maybe my expectations have been lowered so much I am not hating it as much as I should.

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that the show answered a question for me I never asked nor knew I needed answered. How the pilots go to the bathroom.

EDIT:

Watched episodes 6-16 today and the show isn't terrible by any means, but there is a lot of information I feel that is missing. I do like that it isn't all in your face with exposition like a lot of anime is these days. The problem is, there isn't any bit of exposition, so I have no idea what the difference between the Capital Army and Capital Guard are. Why is Ameria at war with the Capital Army? What countries make up the Capital Army? Also, what the hell is a Kuntala?

Oh, and is it just me, or is Captain Mask the weakest Char clone ever? He is pretty much the Jerrid of this show as he has accomplished nothing but keeps talking about how he is going to do so next time, only to lose again.

The animation continues to be nice though and I do like Loran 2.0, I mean Bell. However, damn, they just Skywalker'd him. WTF?!

The biggest problem is that things are just happening without any explanation for them. I have no idea what the character motivations are or why they do what they do. Nothing is really explained. It isn't the worst Gundam series ever, and Tomino clearly had an idea here, but there are a lot of missed opportunities. Finally, why is this show only 26 episodes when it is clearly being written to be a full length Gundam show? I feel like I should have another 25 episodes before the crap hits the fan, but I only have 10 episodes left.

Okay, so we just finished Reconquista of G and my god, that has to be the most assnine frustrating ending I have seen from Gundam since Destiny's rushed mess of an ending. For the most part, the series was quite enjoyable and I'm glad I gave it a full chance as there were a lot of great things going on in the show.

There are some spoilers involved...

Positives:

+ The characters themselves were likable, especially the main group.
+ The animation was really nice and didn't force in CGI crap while keeping with a more traditional character design.
+ The show doesn't rely on constant exposition to tell its story like a lot of series today are doing. However... (see negatives)
+ The music, while not the best Gundam score, is quite good too. Yuga Kanno has done better with the like of Psycho Pass, but this was still good.
+ Tomino still has some great ideas when it comes to a Gundam show and provided a series that could have been the best show since Turn A.
+ This is made for Gundam fans who have watched the vast majority of the series before as it is full of the Gundam terminology.

Negatives:

- Character motivations are left in the dark and things just happen because.
- The lack of exposition leaves too many things left with no answer as to what the hell is going on. What is a Kuntala? What is the difference between the Capital Army and the Capital Guard? Why are they controlled by a pope? What countries encompass the Capital people? Where are the colonies? Why is Jaburo's remains still around when it was nuked to ash in Zeta? What is G-IT supposed to be?
- The backpack weapons for the G-Self should have been great, but instead each one is used like once and then it is never heard from again, making it just some stupid gimmick that was unnecessary.
- The entire Venus Globe thing was pointless. One episode ends with them having dinner with the leader and then the next episode starts with them leaving the place and within two minutes they are already back in Earth's orbit. WTF?! Why did this even need to exist? Why not cut that out and actually develop the G-IT people since one of them sacrifices himself and everyone acts like we are supposed to feel for this guy when we saw him on screen for maybe 15 minutes in total.
- Raraiya was an utterly pointless character.
- They talk about the pope being kidnapped and Captain Mask rescued him and the ship he was on when that NEVER HAPPENED!!!!
- THE ENDING!! It makes no sense as the war just stops because Bell says he is not going to fight anymore.
- Captain Mask is the most useless Char clone ever. He is pretty much the Jerrid of this show.

Overall, this was a unique show that showed Tomino really wanted to bring something back to the Gundam franchise that has been missing for years, but the execution is bad. In fact, I can't even fully blame Tomino for this because everything that is wrong with this series feels like it is thanks to Sunrise and Bandai screwing him over. Last week I said that Turn A Gundam was 10-15 episodes too long, but this show was 10-15 episodes too short. I don't even understand why this show was only 26 episodes to begin with as the writing of the first 15 episodes easily felt like it was being paced as a normal length Gundam show. The last 10 episodes of the show are so rushed with pointless aspects that it leaves a lot to be desired, especially the final five minutes of the series, which was just down right stupid.

This is hard because I really wanted to rate this as a top notch Gundam show, as it is very complex with a lot of great ideas, but in its current form (and most likely its only form), it is an average one at best. It is by far better than Destiny, but I was really wanting to say this show is even better than both SEED and Wing, but now I can't because I'm not so sure it is. Overall, I give it a 6.5/10.

Something I've been working on in the last few days:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChtR41-VEAAHUuN.jpg

Really? Because to me it looked like they gave him too much leeway to do what he wanted.

Nah, it feels too much like studio interference. In fact, from what I've been reading, he thought he was getting 50 episodes to tell his story and then they told him around episode 15 he had to end his show at 26. Plus, look at how they would just introduce a new backpack every episode for the G-Self and it is never seen again.

BTW, looks like Rightstuf is now shipping ZZ Volume 1.

Just saying, a lot of the complaints I've heard about G-Reco sound a lot like Brain Powered.

Haven't seen Brain Powered. Wanted to, but never got around to it.

The 5 HG stands I ordered back in April are finally here! Now half my Gunpla aren't struggling to strike a pose.

New Build Fighters season just got announced, we got our first three kits:

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...76&oe=57D9E6E8
https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...f0&oe=579B8675https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...3c&oe=57A88688

Oooh, those are nice. I just hope the season is a lot better than Try was.

Ok, I have to ask. WTF is with the bears? Are they the Haros of the season or something?

Not that impressed by the designs, but Build Fighters Try was fun so I'll watch the show.

Nah, the Beargguy's are their own thing I think. Just some cutsey robots they can sell alongside the more tradition looking ones.

There was a mobile suit from the original Gundam series called the Acguy, with a big head and sorta small limbs. Build Fighters modified the general design of that suit and used it for various Bear suits, called Bear Guy.

Thanks y'all. Seeing them had been driving me crazy and I had to ask.

https://youtu.be/zCP68RFCrsA

There was a lot more than just those three.

They've made the bear guy in just about every color out there now so why not do a panda themed one?

Blood iron orphan apparently heading to toonami

http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/Late...nami-7768.aspx

Cool to see Gundam on TV again. This could help bring in new fans that didn't see the older shows on TV during the 2000's decade. It would cool to see Gundam to become popular again in the US.

So glad to see it be on. In the off time between seasons, if the show is popular enough they could throw 00 on.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHE42b0pF...titled-201.jpg

Oh man...RG Sinanju looks absolutely amazing.

I watched the first four episodes to ZZ, well, kind of. More like 2-4 since the first episode is just a clip show to recap the basics of the Gundam universe and the important plot points that have happened thus far, making it irrelevant to watch when I just watched both series less than two month's ago. So far this show is full of such fun and goodness. I love it as it is a nice break from what just occured in Zeta. It is so strange to have a non-mopey Gundam pilot though and I can definitely see the signs that would eventually lead Tomino into Turn A. It doesn't mean it is all perfect though, as nothing truly spectacular has happened yet other than a bunch of slapstick comedy.

The video quality is pretty much the same as the Japanese discs as far as I can tell. And just like the Japanese discs, the first episodes is in 1080i while the rest is in 1080P since Sunrise doesn't bother remastering the clip show episodes. The subtitles themselves seem pretty accurate too, although I could have sworn they called the one kid Shunta in Zeta whereas here it is Shinta. Can't wait to continue on as it feels great watching this show legally subbed.

Oh, and here are packaging comparison shots:

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/...psf1arwaj0.jpg

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/...psyppeuzlk.jpg

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/...psgde1agex.jpg

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/...psvb2bdcsx.jpg

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/...ps473qyofw.jpg

...Will this be the first Gundam series with a mono eye lead suit?

Apparently they're really popular with girls.