Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00, Kidō Senshi Gandamu Daburu-ō) is the latest television anime of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise.
It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and features character designs by Yun Kōga. The series was first officially announced by Sunrise during a 15-second trailer on June 2, 2007. Gundam 00 will consist of two seasons, with the first one containing 25 episodes. The second season is set to go on air in October 2008.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is the first Gundam series to be animated in high-definition, as well as the first to be set in a non-fictional era (Anno Domini).
Plot
The series is set in the years 2307-2312 AD of the Gregorian calendar. During this time, fossil fuels
became exhausted and the distribution of fuels became imbalanced.
Humanity must rely on an array of solar power generation systems
orbiting the Earth, and supported by three orbital elevators, each one pertaining to one of the three "major powers" on the planet.
The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (世界経済連合, sekaikeizairengō, abbrev. ユニオン Union, lit. World Economic Union), centred around the United States and consisting of the Organization of American States, Australasia and Japan, control the elevator located in South America. The Human Reform League (人類革新連盟, Jinrui Kakushin Renmei, abbrev. 人革連 Jinkakuren, lit. Human Reform Alliance), centred around China, Siberian Russia and India, and including the nations of South Asia (excluding the overlapping middle-Asian states of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan), Mongolia, the member states of the ASEAN, Papua New Guinea, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan, control the elevator located in the Pacific Ocean. The Advanced European Union (AEU), consisting of Iceland, the islands of the Barents Sea, Greenland, Anatolia, European Russia and the entirety of the traditional continent of Europe, control an elevator built in the middle of the African continent.
With this infinite source of energy benefiting only the major powers
and their allies, constant warfare erupts around the globe for fuels
and energy. The nations that rely on fuel have plunged into poverty.
Many believed that solar energy threatened the "promised land of God".
The chaos lead to the formation of a private military organization,
called Celestial Being (ソレスタルビーイング, Soresutaru Biiingu), dedicated to eradicating war and uniting humanity with the use of four humanoid machines called Gundams. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows four mobile suit pilots termed Gundam Meisters ( ガンダムマイスター, Gandamu Maisutā), sided with Celestial Being. The protagonist is 16-year old Setsuna F Seiei (刹那・F・セイエイ, Setsuna F Seiei), a quiet, taciturn young man who grew up in the Kurdish Republic, and a Gundam Meister for two years. He pilots the GN-001 Gundam Exia, a high mobility mobile suit effective in melee combat.
Characters
Gundam Meisters
- Setsuna F Seiei: Mamoru Miyano
- Lockon Stratos: Shinichiro Miki
- Allelujah/Hallelujah Haptism: Hiroyuki Yoshino
- Tieria Erde: Hiroshi Kamiya
Theme songs
Opening themes
- "Daybreak's Bell" by L'Arc~en~Ciel (episodes 1-13)
- "Ash Like Snow" by The Brilliant Green (episodes 14-25)
Ending themes
- "Wana" (罠, "Wana" lit. "The Trap") by The Back Horn (episodes 1-13)
- "Friends" by Stephanie (episodes 14-24)
- "Daybreak's Bell" by L'Arc~en~Ciel (episode 25)
Insert songs
- "Wana" (罠, "Wana" lit. "The Trap") by The Back Horn (episodes 3, 4, 8, 12 and 13)
- "Friends" by Stephanie (episode 14-24)
- "Love Today" by Taja (episode 19 and 24)