Kamille is supposed to be a bit unlikable starting off. He grows and matures over the series despite coming off as a bit preachy. He becomes his own man pretty quickly and he’s a reallt good contrast when Amuro does show up.
I started watching Initial D last night and it’s wonderful. Gas Station owner man is my fav character.
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That scene never fails to crack me up.
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Kamille’s development is probably the most interesting part of Zeta Gundam. Towards the end, it’s pretty obvious that the war and the dehumanization of newtypes is effecting him a lot more than it affected Amuro near the end of the original.
It’s a shame, because I otherwise find Zeta Gundam to be painfully mediocre. It definitely has its strong points, but it’s a horribly flawed work in ways that the original wasn’t. For one, the deaths in the series really stop having the impact they should because it becomes too over-reliant on introducing new characters (especially love interests) who exist only to be killed off for drama. The Titans are also really boring antagonists who somehow are more generically evil and less well developed than the literal space nazis. Plus, there’s also the uncomfortable misogyny that starts creeping its way into the series starting with Zeta (fucking Reccoa).
Oh and fuck Katz.
On the plus side, it did bring us Quattro Vagina (which I refuse to accept as anything but the official, canon name), so I can’t exactly hate it.
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IIRC, there at least one official licensed spinoff manga or game where his name is spelled “Quattro Vagina.”
And I agree with you 100% about Zeta.
Yup.
It also shows up in a model kit.
I just watched The Dragon Dentist. Wasn’t really sure what to expect going in but I enjoyed what I got. The music is what made it for me.
What is with all the dragon anime lately? I’m not complaining, dragons are rad AF, but why the sudden infatuation with them?
There’s usually a few anime with dragons in them every season. But they tend to be the fantasy action adventure shonen shows and with so many of those released every season people tend not to notice.
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On a non-Gundam related note, seeing that trailer for that whitewashed trainwreck of a Ghost in the Shell movie made me nostalgic for Stand Alone Complex, so I’m watching that again for the first time in over a decade and it is sooooo good.
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I recently picked the box set up to do the exact same thing. I’m pretty excited to see how it holds up now that I’m in my twenties.
I’m really drawn to mecha, so it was a bummer seeing a couple of my early favorite series getting awful sequels. Gundam SEED was my introduction to Gundam, and I was extremely hype for SEED Destiny, hoping to see the continued adventures of a now fully matured and romantically entangled primary cast. Instead, they’re all brushed to the side to make room for a group of the most insufferable jerks to every pilot big robots-- and they all stay jerks to the very end! Such a waste.
Eureka Seven was the other series I latched on to as a teen, and while its followup wasn’t as gratingly awful, it similarly squandered the original cast, concepts, and style. How could they screw up robots sky-surfing to trance music so bad?
I skipped Eureka Seven and went with the off-brand version, Xam’d: The Lost Memories. It’s more about bio-weapons and bio-mech-ish things but still has a kid get picked up in an airship and forced to fight people. Which is what I’m told happens in E7. There’s also a lot of similar characters on the ship’s crew.
It also has one of my favorite OPs of all time.
Don’t want to turn this into just a Gundam thread but the lead up to the finale of Iron Blooded Orphans has my really excited.
Space Dandy is very fun and playful and I recommend it if you have not seen it yet ok have the opening
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I’ve currently been watching Lupin III Part 4 and DARN that’s a fun show
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I need to get around to watching more Lupin stuff, I’ve only seen The Castle of Cagliostro and The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I adored them both, so I don’t know why I’ve avoided the rest of the franchise!
I’m currently rewatching season 2 of K-On myself, 'cause my girlfriend got me the full collection for Christmas and I’d forgotten that until recently. It’s still a really fun show and the music is still super great.
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Castle of Cogliostro is so much fun. Make sure you grab the dub with David Hayter as Lupin as it is the better of the two. The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is apparently pretty good and I like Miyuki Sawashiro as Fujiko, but it was a bit too horny for me.
The director of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Sayo Yamamoto, has also directed a very fun action series called Michiko & Hatchin that plays like a modernized folk tale or fairy tale in the vein of Bebop. She also directed Yuri on Ice, which I still need to finish.