Gundam Seed

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed    

     Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (機動戦士ガンダムSEED (シード) Kidō Senshi Gandamu Shīdo) is an anime series developed by Sunrise and directed by Mitsuo Fikuda. As with other series from the Gundam franchise, Gundam SEED takes place in a parallel timeline, in this case the Cosmic Era, the first to do so. In this era, mankind has developed into two subspecies: Naturals, who reside on Earth and Coordinators, genetically-enhanced humans capable of withstanding the rigors of space who inhabit orbital colonies. The story revolves around a young Coordinator Kira Yamato who becomes involved in the war between the two races after a neutral space colony is invaded by the Coordinators.
    The television series was broadcast in Japan between 2002 and 2003, on the Tokyo Broadcasting System and Mainichi Broadcasting System networks. The series spawned three compilations films and was adapted into a manga as well as various light novels. A sequel series, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny followed in 2004. Various types of merchandising have also been released, including models, CD soundtracks and video games. Gundam SEED was licensed by Bandai Entertainment for broadcast in North America, and began airing in the United States and Canada in 2004 and 2005 respectively.


Characters :

The series is the first of the Gundam franchise set in the "Cosmic Era" in which mankind is divided between normal Earth dwelling humans, known as "Naturals", and the genetically altered humans known as "Coordinators", who live in space colonies.

The story, set during the Bloody Valentine War, begins in the neutral space colony Heliopolis, where secret development of advanced mobile suits for the Naturals' war effort is being conducted. The colony is attacked by ZAFT forces, the military of the Coordinators, with the objective of stealing the new units. During the incursion a teenager Coordinator named Kira Yamato, upon seeing his friends in danger, pilots the GAT-X105 Strike mobile suit to fend off the invaders but the colony is critically damaged in the ensuing fight. As Heliopolis disintegrates, the survivors board an Archangel class assault ship belonging to the Earth Alliance, the Natural's military, and begin their journey to the Alliance base in Alaska. During the journey to Earth, Kira pilots the Strike to counter a series of attacks by ZAFT but is seemingly killed by his childhood friend, ZAFT soldier Athrun Zala, during one of their battles in which the Strike is destroyed. Kira survives the Strike's destruction and is treated in one of the PLANT space colonies, home to the Coordinators. The Archangel arrives in Alaska but ZAFT launches a full scale attack on the base overpowering their enemies.

Kira goes to Alaska with the ZGMF-X10A Freedom, a highly advanced ZAFT mobile suit stolen by the Coordinator Lacus Clyne daughter of Siegel Clyne, President of the Supreme Council of PLANT. Using Freedom, Kira ends the battle between the two armies, but the base is subsequently destroyed. The Archangel flees to the neutral country of the Orb Union. They subsequently join Lacus Clyne's faction to form the Three Ships Alliance, with the common goal of ending the war between the Naturals and Coordinators. In the midst of the conflict, Athrun learns that Kira survived and searches for him under orders to recover Freedom. However, after learning of Patrick Zala's, Athrun's father and the radical faction leader of the PLANT Supreme Council, plan to commit genocide Athrun deserts him and joins the Three Ships Alliance. In a final battle, the Earth Alliance deploys nuclear weapons to destroy the space colonies but are stopped by ZAFT's GENESIS, a super weapon designed to commit genocide on the Naturals. The Three Ship Alliance intervenes to defeat the Earth Alliance's forces and destroy the GENESIS ending the battle. The war ultimately ends as a peace treaty is signed

Development :

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED was directed by Mitsuo Fukuda (Future GPX Cyber Formula and Gear Fighter Dendoh) with music by Toshihiko Sahashi. The series was first announced in June 2002, while a trailer was available in September on the series' official website. A total of eight writers were in charge of the series. The characters were designed by Hisashi Hirai, while the mechanical designs were made by Kunio Ohkawara and Kimitoshi Yamane. Mobile Suit Gundam planning manager Koichi Inoue stated that the staff making Gundam SEED was a new and young team that would continue working with following Gundam series. Inoue, however, would work with anime based on the original Gundam series. Fukuda stated that Gundam SEED was intially told from Kira's point of view, but deeper into the series the point of view would shift to other characters. His main focus with the series was to entertain the audience, pointing out that the drama would develop through the series in a similar vein to previous Gundam series. The first part worked on was the plot followed by action sequences, stating that the human characters were more important than the combat sequences. In retrospect, Fukuda said that Kira's wish to fight was forced upon him stemming from his desire to protect his friends. Moreover, he considered these actions as being based on Japanese thoughts.


Soundtracks :


The music from the series is composed by Toshihiko Sahashi with CDs published by Victor Entertainment. Notable artists who sang opening and ending themes for the series include the Nami Tamaki, who was fourteen years old when the third opening theme was used, and T.M. Revolution, who also provided the voice for the character, Miguel Aiman. A total of four original soundtracks were released between December 4, 2002 and December 16, 2004. They include background music, insert themes as well as some opening and ending themes. Symphony SEED -Symphonic Suit Mobile Suit Gundam SEED- is a collaboration album between Mobile Suit Gundam SEED music and the London Symphony Orchestra released on May 8, 2004 containing a total of ten tracks. A compilation DVD, featuring four music videos from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny,was released on May 24, 2006 under the title Mobile Suit Gundam SEED & SEED DESTINY Clipping 4 Songs.


Song List :


Opening Themes :

•  Invoke
• Moment 
• Believe
• Realize
• Ignited
• Pride
• Bokutachi No Yukue
• Wings Of Words

Ending Themes :

• Anna Ni Issho Datta No Ni
• River 
• Find The Way
• Reason 
• Life Goes On
• I Wanna Go To A Place
• Kimi Wa Boku ni Niiteru
• Result
• Tears
• Enrai [Tooku ni Aru Akari]
• Stargazer [Honoshi No Tobira]

Insert Songs :

• Akatsuki No Kuruma
• Honoh No Tobira
• Vestige