Mobile Suit Gundam 00 1-12

It is the year 2307 A.D. Earth’s energy reserves have dried up but humanity has now access to solar energy – virtually unlimited power. Despite this, global powers still wage countless wars with each other for strength and superiority. Celestial Beings, a paramilitary organization, intercedes and engages a war to end all wars.

Beautiful mecha and bishies. 'Nuff said.

I dared Mobile Suit Gundam 00 for one reason. The office server had all complete episodes for its two seasons, and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, its incomplete episodes. An incomplete episode to me is like what coitus interruptus is to couples – a heart-breaking frustration.

A war to end all wars, to create a better world by destroying the old one – that’s a common enough cliché in anime. In Gundam 00, however, the storyline is doused with generous helpings of realistic characters, events and situations, infusing the whole series with a contemporary vibe. One can’t help but be drawn and engrossed with the excellently paced story.

The themes of war and its effects have always been the core of any Gundam series. But in Gundam 00, this theme is appreciated more as it is more pronounced and clearly detailed, abetted by its realistic storyline. True, the story is set in the future, but the problems tackled in the story are the same issues the world is facing today. I may be a little biased here, since the only Gundam series I’ve ever had an interest in before was Gundam Wing, with its good-looking protagonists and even better-looking antagonists. But to sum it up in a thought, the one thing I loved most about Gundam 00 is the fact that I can relate to it.

Animation wise, Gundam 00 is solid. A bit clichéd though with how the characters are drawn – a little too stereotypical and forgettable for me. Sure, Gundam 00 still has the bishounen factor in it, but more toned down if you compare it to Gundam Wing. I mean, definitely no Zechs Marquise here.

While the character animation may be a little blah, the mobile suits themselves are in a whole different league. Gundam 00 boasts of skillfully rendered machines, space shuttles and mecha designs. Beautiful is the only word I can come up with. The mobile suits are beautiful, superbly crafted, intricately detailed and designed, strong lines, fluid animation and infused with more personality than their pilots. Of the four Gundams, Dynames as the sniper is my favorite.

Dynames with a mean gun.

On character development, I’m still waiting for more action. It’s a great thing that the main cast is of varied ethnicity and of different backgrounds. The characters need a bit more fleshing out, though. Gundam 00, after all, has quite a big cast. But then, I’m only at episode 12 of season 1, so this is a premature worry of someone who is just itching to get through the 25 episodes at the soonest possible time.

The one thing that I found cumbersome is the technobabble. It’s a bummer really, trying to keep up with extensive narration of new technologies that you have never heard of yet. But I guess it’s something you can’t avoid in a futuristic mecha series. Thankfully, Gundam 00 limits the technobabble to a minimum, but it’s still enough to make me tune out and press the fast forward button.

I’ve yet to finish season one, but I have a feeling that I’m going to watch all 25 episodes and continue on with its second season. Hurray for office servers!

The first of the line is tied to a tree and the last is being eaten by ants

One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Inventive, musing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women – brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul – this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction – paperback summary, One Hundred Years of Solitude

I won’t pretend that I have completely understood this book. I’m a hundred years too early for that. I’ve already had an idea of how profound this book would be when I bought it a couple of weeks ago, after a friend told me that this was a “deep” book. And indeed, reading it is like drowning in a sea of humanity, a humanity infused with such realism and emotions that you feel that they might walk out of the page, alive and sentient.

The one thing that is undeniable with One Hundred Years of Solitutde is the power and beauty of its prose – lyrical, magical and evocative. I'm still stumped by the sheer beauty of the book's words.

What I did understand from this story is essentially this – one can never run away from his family, from who he is. Like the indelible ash crosses of the Aurelianos, blood ties are the ties that bind, something that only a divine being can erase and obliterate. History only serves to repeat itself, in a loop of endless repetitions until time and fate put a stop to it.

The story of Macondo and the Buendía’s is also the testament to the duality of solitude – peaceful and destructive at the same time, its crushing heaviness made palpable by the extraordinary lives of the Buendías.

Storytelling is a gift and Gabriel García Marquez has that gift in overflowing abundance. I can’t wait to read another one of his books, and it can’t be too soon.