stolen colours

I watched the raw because I couldn’t wait for the subs! So here’s a brief summary and my thoughts:

1. Setsuna joins with the GN drive and continues fighting Alejandro in that ridiculous gold Alvatore. Lots of firepower and great animation. Libbons then appears on Alejandro’s screen and speaks words of betrayal that I don’t understand. Anyway, Setsuna delivers the final blow by sticking seven good ‘ol blades into the Alvatore.

2. Just when we think Setsuna has won, Graham appears from nowhere in his modified Flag, screaming about revenge for Howard and the others. He shoots off Exia’s head, but this is the protagonist’s Gundam and it is capable of continuing the fight without a head. Graham starts to vomit blood, so they still haven’t solved the issue of G forces on the pilot yet. It all ends with the Flag and Exia charging towards each other with sabres drawn ala oldschool samurai showdowns, and both meeting their targets.

3. Over at Allelujah’s side: he sweeps his entire fringe back so that both eyes are shown. With Hallelujah and Allelujah fighting in unison, they can’t lose! Or so we think. (H)Allelujah goes for Sergei, who takes it like a man and commands Soma to start firing. Kyrios drifts away, Allelujah bleeding from a head wound on the right. Soma leaves her cockpit to enter Sergei’s. Allelujah gets a visual feed and is shocked. “Mai!?! Why you?” (The name just sounds like “Mai” to me, okay?) Hallelujah makes some wry comment. And fades away. NOO!!! Hallelujah!!! Why do all the men I like die? Sergei survives, though.

4. Tieria wakes up, ejects his GN drive, and falls back into stupor.

5. Marina reads a letter from Setsuna and starts crying. Their relationship is a really weird one.

Cut to four years later.

1. Saji is working on a moon?asteroid? base. He sends a message to Louise, saying that it’s been a long time since the last message, and that he’s ?working hard, and he’ll be back/with her/something-noble some day. He then sees a trail of green GN particles in the distance.

2. All the forces of the world have united into a common body. The speaker is a black who looks like Obama, which makes me wonder if this is Tokyo’s way of showing support for him. (Maybe they like him because there is a Japanese island named Obama.) There’s some ceremony, and I think I see Patrick standing behind Kathy.

We see glimpses of other characters:
3. Graham in a hideous mask, fumigator-style -_-
4. Ali in some bar.
5. Louise with short hair, with ?!?Tieria? But the hairstyle is different, and ‘Tieria’ smirks with a noticeably female voice. Perhaps Tieria changed its programming to female mode this time.
6. Libbons with a harem behind him. *rolls eyes*
7. Marina’s aide leaves her.

8. And finally, a glimpse of what’s going to happen in season 2: the tech guy shows Wang Liu Mei the Gundam 00, but there seems to be some problem with it and he mentions Gundam Exia as well. We get a shot of Nena, all bright-eyed and ready for action.

And that’s it. Six months till season 2!

What I didn’t like:
1. Alejandro and the Alvatore. Firstly, Alejandro is a 100% villanous villain who happens to be a megalomaniac, which I absolutely despise. (Ali is 100% villanous, but he’s refreshing.) Secondly, what was the point of the Alvatore? Just a plot device for Alejandro’s death?

2. Graham’s sudden appearance. Seriously, what was the point! And what’s with that stupid mask now?

Other thoughts:
1. If the Exia is still around, Setsuna is probably still alive too, but has likely left to continue finding his answers. No one got an epic whole-episode send-off the way Lockon did, so I’ll assume that everyone’s alive.

2. Is Hallelujah gone for good? T_T And what’s the link between Soma and Allelujah? Childhood friends, or more?

3. I want to see what 20-year-old Setsuna looks like.

4. Is there any role for Gundams or Celestial Being in this new world? If not, what are they planning to do with the Gundam 00?