Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny

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Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY
(Kidō Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY)
Genre Drama, Mecha, Romance, Science Fiction
TV anime
Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda
Studio Sunrise
Network Japan MBS, TBS
Philippines Cartoon Network (Philippines)
Hong KongTVB
Malaysia TV2
Original run October 9, 2004 – October 1, 2005
No. of episodes 50+2 special
Manga: Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge
Authored by Chimaki Kuori
Publisher Japan Kadokawa Shoten
Serialized in
Original run February 25, 2005 – October 29, 2006
No. of volumes 5

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY Kidō Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY?) is the second TV series set in the Cosmic Era universe of Gundam. Set two years after the original Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny features many new characters and some returning ones.

Gundam SEED Destiny had its premiere broadcast in Japan on October 9, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. on the JNN TV stations (Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS TV), Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS TV, producing TV station), etc.) and ended October 1, 2005. Bandai Entertainment has announced that Gundam SEED Destiny is licensed for the North American market, and confirmed at Anime Expo 2006 that it will broadcast on Canadian television on YTV. There is no schedule date to broadcast the series in the US at this time according to Bandai Entertainment.

On Christmas 2005 a special episode ("Final Plus") aired, called "The Chosen Future". The episode is mainly a remake of the Final Phase (Ep 50), with a few storyline changes, a lengthened battle, and an epilogue to the series.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

For background information, see Factions of the Cosmic Era; for the events in the first series, see Bloody Valentine War; for the events in Gundam SEED Destiny, see Second Bloody Valentine War.

Directed by Mitsuo Fukuda, Gundam SEED Destiny is the sequel to Gundam SEED and the second Gundam series to be set in the Cosmic Era timeline. Set in C.E. 73, two years after the peace treaty between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance was signed in Gundam SEED, members of the Earth Alliance special task force known as "Phantom Pain" hi-jack three advanced mobile suits from a ZAFT armoury base during a meeting between Orb representative Cagalli Yula Athha and new ZAFT chairman Gilbert Durandal. What begins as a pursuit of this band of Extended Naturals by Orb refugee Shinn Asuka, Athrun Zala/Alex Dino, Rey Za Burrel and the crew of the Minerva, escalates into cataclysmic circumstances which lead to the declaration of yet another war.

[edit] Themes and reactions

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

While still focused on the plight between Naturals/Extendeds and Coordinators, Destiny's focus was placed more on the ideological conflicts held by the characters, with social commentary proposing an interesting global government conspiracy theory for the real world. In a wide scope, the series poses the question of what would be the best path for humanity to follow: one where people's paths are chosen, but they are able to live to their full potential, or that of freedom and the inevitable conflict that will occur?

However, these themes were not always apparent, and although a ratings success, Destiny could not match either the previous success of Gundam SEED or Fullmetal Alchemist, both of which previously aired on the popular Saturday evening prime-time slot.

[edit] Adaptations

An abridged version of the TV series is being released as Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition, which retells the story in four 90 minute parts. Unlike the Gundam SEED: Special Edition, this retelling of Destiny seems focused on fixing some of the more criticized aspects of the series (for instance, focusing on Athrun Zala's point of view to keep the focus as neutral as possible) rather than simply editing together highlights and important battles.

An ONA spinoff called Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer, has been released on Bandai Channel starting July 2006, with a DVD release scheduled for November 2006.

Most recently, a brand new movie was announced by Sunrise (news in English via Gunota Headlines). Little is known about the movie at this time but it will be a brand new story set after the series.

The anime has been adapted into a series of novels, by Goto Riu (also the author of the Gundam SEED novels).

The manga series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge tells the events of the anime from the point of view of Athrun Zala. Also, some events were changed.

[edit] Cast and crew

see List of Main Japanese and English Cast of Gundam SEED Destiny

[edit] Japanese cast

[edit] Staff

  • Director: Mitsuo Fukuda
  • Series Writer: Chiaki Morosawa
  • Character Designer: Hisashi Hirai
  • Mechanical Designer: Kunio Okawara, Kimitoshi Yamane
  • Design Works: Kenki Fujioka
  • Art Director: Shigemi Ikeda
  • Sound Director: Sadayoshi Fujino
  • Music: Toshihiko Sahashi
  • Producer: Seiji Takeda (MBS), Hiroyuki Sato (Sunrise)

[edit] English-language cast

[edit] Theme songs and soundtrack albums

Opening Songs (OP) :

Ending Songs (ED) :

  • Reason by Nami Tamaki (ep. 1-13)
  • Life Goes On by Mika Arisaka (ep. 14-25, "Edited")
  • I Wanna Go To A Place... by Rie fu (ep. 26-37) (In episodes 28 and 32 the English version is played instead of the Japanese version.)
  • Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru (君は僕に似ている; You Resemble Me) by See-Saw (ep. 38-50, "Final Plus")

Insert Songs (IN) :

Gundam SEED Destiny Related Albums :

  • Original Soundtrack I (by Toshihiko Sahashi and Yuki Kajiura) (2004.12.16)
  • Original Soundtrack II (by Toshihiko Sahashi and Yuki Kajiura) (2005.04.21)
  • Original Soundtrack III (by Toshihiko Sahashi and Yuki Kajiura) (2005.08.24)
  • Original Soundtrack IV (by Toshihiko Sahashi and Yuki Kajiura) (2006.2.15)
  • OP1 Single - ignited (by T.M.Revolution) (2004.11.03)
  • ED1 Single - Reason (by Nami Tamaki) (2004.11.10)
  • OP2 Single - PRIDE (by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR) (2005.01.26)
  • OP2 Single - PRIDE Remix (by various artists) (2005.03.24)
  • ED2 Single - Life Goes On (by Mika Arisaka) (2005.02.02)
  • OP3 Single - Bokutachi no Yukue (by Takahashi Hitomi) (2005.04.13)
  • ED3 Single - I Wanna Go To A Place... (by Rie Fu) (2005.04.27)
  • OP4 Single - Wings of Words (by CHEMISTRY) (2005.07.27)
  • ED4 Single - Kimi wa Boku ni Niteiru (by See-Saw) (2005.08.03)
  • IN Single - Honoo No Tobira (by FictionJunction YUUKA) (2005.09.22)
  • IN Single - Vestige (by T.M.Revolution) (2005.08.17)
  • Suit CD vol. 6 Shinn Asuka × Destiny Gundam* (2005.06.22)
  • Suit CD vol. 7 Auel Neider × Sting Oakley* (2005.07.21)
  • Suit CD vol. 8 Lacus Clyne × Meer Campbell* (2005.09.22)
  • Suit CD vol. 9 Athrun Zala × ∞ Justice Gundam* (2005.09.22)
  • Suit CD vol. 10 Kira Yamato × Strike Freedom Gundam* (2006.01.25)
  • Symphony Gundam Seed Destiny (2005.12.16)
  • Gundam SEED Destiny Complete Best (Contains some songs from OP1-OP4, ED1-ED4 and IN) (2005.11.02)

Each Suit CD usually contain songs sung by the seiyuu of the characters featured, and audio drama clips of these characters in situations during their "typical" day. While most are comedic in nature, they help to flesh out the characters as well, often offering an insight at their behaviour in the series. Also, do note that there are only 10 Suit CDs in total for GS and GSD (The numbering for the GSD CDs are from 6 to 10).

[edit] Video Games

Note that this list does not include earlier games with SEED/SEED Astray-only characters.

  • For the PS2:
    • Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny: Generation of C.E.
    • Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED Destiny: Rengou vs ZAFT II Plus. The game is originally published on arcade, and later ported to PS2. The PS2 port was released on December 7, 2006.

[edit] Trivia

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Most notable among the non-Gundam references are those to Fukuda's GPX Cyber Formula television and OVA series. These include several vehicles used in these series, such as the convertible that Athrun drives in episode 8, and the motorcycle that Shinn rides in episode 21, as well as some images including the scene in the fourth OP with Gilbert and Talia is almost an exact duplicate of a scene with Kyoshiro Nagumo and Kyoko Aoi in the Cyber Formula Sin OP.
  • The Destiny Gundam itself is a leftover of sorts from SEED's initial production. Chief designer Okawara Kunio had been charged with designing the original Freedom Gundam as a mobile suit with compact, "always-on" versions of the original three Striker Packs. Several rough designs of this concept have been released in official material, and it is evident that in early attempts, the result would have been simply too cluttered and (presumably) difficult to animate, hence the drastically alternate, final design for Freedom. However, this concept obviously made it through for the second try, as the Destiny Gundam features compact forms of the first three Impulse Silhouettes (which are nearly identical in function and design as the three Striker Packs) as standard weaponry. This is a rather ironic footnote to the fact that Destiny Gundam and Freedom Gundam are made complete opposites in the storyline.
  • Majority of the returning cast grew taller and lost weight. Most are underweight according to the body mass index.
  • In episode 15, towards the end when Athrun Zala enters the "waiting room" overlooking the Minerva's mobile suit hanger you can see Shinn Asuka laying on the couch reading a magazine with the band HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR (who did the show's second opening theme) on the cover.
  • In Gundam SEED Destiny, a common practice with ZAFT mobile suits is the names being acronyms: Consider ZAKU (ZAFT Armed Keeper of Unity), GOUF (Guardian of Unity Forerunner), and DOM (Dauntless Obliterator Magnificent). This practice was actually first seen in Gundam SEED, with GUNDAM (General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver, and all subsequent variations), and most likely originated with the MRC-F20 SUMO (Strike Unit for Maneuver Operations), in Yoshiyuki Tomino's ∀ Gundam.
  • The code LA-SE3P appears in multiple locations, most notably on the licence plate of Athrun's car in episode 8, and the Freedom's OS start-up screen. This code refers to the Japanese model number for the Mazda RX-8 series. Other notable codes seen are 13B-MSP, (also seen on Athrun's licence plate), which refers to a model of engine in the RX-8, and the Series AVIC-T1 on the Freedom OS screen, which refers to the model of the Pioneer AirNavi, an in-car navigation system.
  • Durandal's room is exactly the same one that appears in the anime Gasaraki, also from Sunrise, and is occuped by Symbol's CEO, Meth.

[edit] See also

Preceded by (in production and chronological order): Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Followed by (in production order): Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer.

[edit] External links



Cosmic Era
Anime
Gundam SEED | Gundam SEED: Special Edition | Gundam SEED Destiny | Gundam SEED Destiny: Special Edition | Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer | Gundam SEED: The Movie
Events
First Bloody Valentine War | Second Bloody Valentine War
Topics
Comprehensive Episode Listing | Human Enhancements | List of Characters | Locations | Mobile Suit Operation Systems | Mobile Suits | Nations and Factions | Superweapons | Technology | Vehicles and Aircraft | Warships and Spacecraft
Manga
Gundam SEED Novels | Gundam SEED Astray | Gundam SEED Destiny Astray | Gundam SEED Destiny: The Edge | Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Δ Astray | Gundam SEED Club Yonkoma
Alternate Timelines
Universal Century | Future Century | After Colony | After War | Turn A Gundam | SD Gundam
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