21st Century Gundam, Indeed: Gundam Seed HD Remaster Collection One Blu-ray Review
Product provided by Right Stuf & Nozomi Entertainment
In Elementary School, I was captivated by G Gundam as it aired on Toonami. You could find me sitting cross legged in front of my parent’s massive Zenith CRT television every day at 5PM to watch the latest episode. It was the start of my lifelong love of Mecha. After that, a few more Gundam series came and went until Seed started airing. I fell off quickly, but I quite clearly remember the attack on Heliopolis as Athrun Zala and his squad of ZAFT Commandos stole four Gundams from the colony. Also, how the situation leaves a kid with a surfer’s rasp, Kira Yamato, to fight back with the remaining sole Gundam and ally with the Earth Alliance.
That rasp had left a bad taste in my mouth in the years following Seed’s release. While apparently very popular and financially successful, most Mecha circles I interacted with over the years have emphatically loathed it and its sequel series, Seed Destiny. While it was nothing gripping for me, a good friend of mine often talks about how Seed was a foundational series for them, just as G Gundam was for me. That same friend also roped me into watching the back half of Seed Destiny for a few laughs.
When asked to take a look at Collection One of Gundam Seed’s HD Remaster Project, I was excited to actually give this series a fair shot and figure out how exactly I feel about it.
Story and Characters
There’s a lot going on at the start of this series. The description from RightStuf’s store page does a good job planting the seeds of what Gundam Seed is all about.
“Year 70 of the Cosmic Era. The Coordinators, a group of genetically enhanced humans, have moved into colonies orbiting the Earth. But that hasn’t quieted the tensions between them and regular humans; the conflict soon escalates into a full-scale war. On the neutral colony of Heliopolis, Kira Yamato, and his friends are going to school and just being kids. But when the ZAFT commando forces attack, Kira’s life changes forever. Left with no choice, he and Federation officer Murrue Ramius are thrown into battle in a prototype mobile weapon, which Kira christens “GUNDAM.” Now, Kira must defend himself and his friends from his own people. For, unknown to anyone else, Kira is a Coordinator. And the enemy he faces on the battlefield is his childhood best friend, Athrun!”
Reading back the summary, the amount of moving plot elements is a bit overwhelming at first. While not all of these narrative dogs can hunt, the momentum Seed builds up makes for an incredibly engaging watch. Part of that comes from the series’ approach to remixing the framework of Mobile Suit Gundam. For example, the White Base and Archangel go through encounters with a desert dwelling enemy force following a bumpy re-entry to earth. However, the path to those destinations doesn’t follow the exact same beats.
Much of Seed’s drama centers on what I could best describe as an “00’s teen drama” in the backdrop of a grand space conflict. With Mobile Suits in the mix, this brand of teen drama has a much more destructive blast radius than usual, but I find it allows the folks stuck in the thick of it to shine. The officers of the Archangel: Murrue, Natarle, and Roy Foc- I mean Mu La Flaga, give off these very strong “I just work here, man” vibes in face of the occasionally overwrought drama Kira and the plot serve up. It gets amusing when some of Kira’s peers, like Miriallia and Tolle, occasionally give the impression that they love Kira, but clearly think he’s a bit much.
Another favorite character of mine is ZAFT’s Desert Tiger, Andrew Waltfeld. While very much a take on Gundam fan favorite, Ramba Ral, Andy’s particular quirks make him a scene stealer whenever he’s in frame. His regular musing on his latest coffee blend or his insistence that you must eat a doner kebab with yogurt sauce make him such a joy to watch.
Looking back at this, I noticed that Seed’s supporting cast does the heavy lifting of keeping me on board. Even when the main plot might be losing my attention.
HD Digipaint & Visual Updates
It became apparent to me very quickly that the creatives on board were very aware of Seed’s turbulent critical history.
While the creative team was able to shave off two episodes in restructuring the series, the animators were able to touch up many of its visual elements. In one special feature, Mechanical Animation Director, Satoshi Shigeta enthusiastically goes over some of the cuts the team revised for the remaster. These revisions ranged from minor changes to completely redrawn scenes to punch things up.
The newly animated cuts are gorgeous, however the original digipaint assets around them don’t always look the most flattering. Certain scenes have been zoomed and cropped up to a 16:9 aspect ratio from their original 4:3. In addition to cutting off part of the frame, the zooming occasionally shows noise in the image. My guess is that it’s most likely due to the original assets being blown up to higher resolutions than created at. I could get over those visual foibles myself, but it’s something I could see annoying other viewers.
The New Dub & Killer Soundtrack
Another key change made for this new version is the inclusion of a new dub produced by NYAV Post. The original dub by The Ocean Group is well steeped in early 2000’s dubbing traditions, for better or worse. NYAV Post’s dub is even more acutely aware of the challenges thrown at them by the legacy of Gundam Seed and its material. Material that isn’t always the strongest, but NYAV Post spectacularly cleans up the dialogue, allowing for their talent to provide performances that significantly elevate it in my eyes. Of particular stand out is Chris Hackney’s portrayal of Athrun, who seemingly takes some cues from Sam Vincent’s original performance while injecting much of his own mojo into the character.
If you’ve played a recent Persona or Fire Emblem game, you’re likely to recognize most of the cast. Hackney included. In the case of Cassandra Lee Morris’ Miriallia, you might be amused by the occasional passing thought of Persona 5’s Morgana sending a Gundam into battle. On a similar note, I’m surprised I haven’t seen many Shinji Ikari-tinged variations of the classic, “Nicol, he loved the piano” meme when you consider that Casey Mongillo voices both characters. There are some changes in the pronunciation of certain terms or character names that threw me off at first, like Lacus’ name, but I got used to it over time.
One thing that didn’t need revisiting as it was already perfect, is the music. It goes without saying that “Invoke” & “Anna ni Issho Datta no ni” are a classic anime opening/ending duo. Though I eventually skipped the opening (its second one more than the first), I would never dare to skip that ending. Along with being a great song, it often serves as the exclamation point or denouement of the events of each episode. Those events themselves are quite masterfully scored by Toshihiko Sasashi. The composer is particularly known for his work on series like The Big O and a personal favorite, Kamen Rider Kuuga. His work just rips, man.
Wrapping it up
Looking at the Blu-ray set itself, it’s excellent. As someone who has purchased more than a few of Right Stuf & Nozomi Entertainment’s releases, I can vouch for their consistently rock solid quality. While a great set, if you do find yourself looking for the entire series in a more premium package, Right Stuf additionally offers an Ultra Edition Set. That set also contains the original version of the series (with the Ocean dub) and a bevy of special features not seen in the release I’m taking a look at here.
In whatever form you see it, Gundam Seed has its fair share of issues. However, I really enjoyed my time with this version of the series. For long time Gundam and Mecha enthusiasts, it probably won’t rock your world. Though if you’re looking for a fun show with solid action and some wildly enjoyable characters, Collection One of Gundam Seed’s HD Remaster Project might just be up your alley.
I look forward to seeing how Gundam Seed wraps up, because even if it doesn’t stick the landing, I know I’ll have a good time.
Thanks again to Nozomi Entertainment & Right Stuf for providing this set for review. You can find this release for sale in the link below.
