Gundam 00, episodes 21-25.
Caught up!
Episode 21
--Man, this show loves torturing Saji.
--Poor Patrick. Even the minor characters don't take him seriously. Maybe he should wear less eyeliner. But somehow I don't think that would help much.
--His desperate gratitude when Kathy steps in to save him is hilarious.
--Aw, Feldt being more cheerful lately is cute. And she blushes when it's pointed out, so...maybe it's because she has a crush on Lockon? Even cuter.
--Lockon tries to encourage him, and Tieria responds by badmouthing Sumeragi. Jerk.
--Her "half-broken soul," huh? You know, as much as they keep playing up the angst with Sumeragi, without learning more about just what the mistake she made was, I'm starting to have trouble buying it.
--You know, I'm starting to think that after episode 19, Lockon has made humanizing Tieria his latest project in Being The Awesome Big Brother Figure.
--Hey. Don't interrupt the moment, Allelujah. :(
--Okay, I admit it, I am starting to ship it. A little.
--Oh, so now Setsuna is dreaming of Marina--and he thinks of her as knowing his real name. That was actually a pretty interesting scene, both for finally starting to give Setsuna/Marina some emotional meat and for showing us a little of what Setsuna's thought processes are like. His homeland, even though it's been taken over by others, still really matters to him, no matter how distant from it he is.
--I'm guessing Alejandro and/or Ribbons took down Ragna Harvey. Although Ali could have done it--he could do pretty much anything nasty.
--The cruelty to Saji feels almost gratuitous. I mean, really.
--Interesting how we see the Meisters react to losing the connection to Veda. Allelujah asks if this is their "punishment," because apparently the kind of guy who names himself Allelujah Haptism tends to see misfortune as punishment from above. Tieria angsts over being "abandoned" by a supercomputer, because he'd rather feel attachment to computers than to human beings. Setsuna flashes back to a childhood sense of powerlessness.
--And thinking of Marina is what brings back Setsuna's will to live? They're really trying to evoke Heero/Relena here. It's sweet, but without seeing more personality and motivation from Marina, I'm still kind of unenthusiastic.
--Wow, the look on Tieria's face when Lockon rescues him. It's this wibbly "people do that? For me?" expression.
--That's definitely more emotion than Tieria's shown before.
Episode 22
--I'd been spoiled for the stupid sexy eyepatch, but I hadn't realized its significance until the show mentioned it as being his dominant eye. That's...not good, for a sniper.
--"Don't underestimate my teamwork with Haro." Awwww, Lockon/Haro is OTP.
--Okay, uh, so Lockon going on about how Tieria would be worried if he went to sleep, and how he's really delicate? Yeeeeah, that's pretty damned shippy.
--And Tieria being all ;_; over Lockon getting hurt. I just. I love those moments where ice-queen characters suddenly snap and care obsessively about one person, because they never learned how to do it in moderation. Gah. It's like Squall/Rinoa, you guys.
--They named the operation "Fallen Angels"? Oh, that'll go over well PR-wise.
--Dammit, Graham and Billy's little "I'm an impatient man." "I know." exchange is also kind of shippy to me, although nowhere near as much as Lockon and Tieria's earlier bit. This show needs to stop confusing me.
--Aww, Feldt does have a crush on Lockon. So cute. Everyone wants him.
--He really does attract the awkward emotionless types. Both Feldt and Tieria awkwardly *_*ing over him is adorable.
--So, uh...how are Alejandro and Ribbons able to hang out at Veda's physical location for days on end without the Ptolemaios crew, who know that someone's fucking with Veda, sending someone to beat their asses? I mean, most of them might not know where it is, but Tieria at least ought to.
--Lockon being all puzzled at Tieria calling him a fool, so cute. Hey, Lockon, he's worried about you.
--Oh, now Ali is messing with the Trinity siblings. This can't be good.
--Men like Ali are the reason this world needs entertainment. He needs to just...stop getting bored and deciding to shoot people for fun.
--I know it's wrong, but I actually feel sorry for the Trinity kids. No one deserves Ali.
--And Setsuna's reaction to hearing Ali's voice from a Gundam--!
--Okay, what just happened there with Exia?
--Nena's even-more-crazy-than-before eyes are terrific. And the fact that it was Setsuna who saved her makes things extra interesting in that direction.
--Okay, so why has Alejandro shooting Aeolia Schenberg's body suddenly triggered the unleashing of some bonus program? Or what? I don't know.
Episode 23
--I have to say, "Trans-Am system...I've been entrusted with it..." is sort of another one of those moments. Admittedly Setsuna is pretty prone to them simply because he's so emotionally dead (which is totally realistic and IC and makes him pretty interesting as a character in the long run, I think), but...couldn't they have given it a more dramatic name?
--I am so digging the possibilities for Nena's character now. Having the guys get offed while leaving the girl alive is a nice turn-around from Kinue. Full disclosure here: I always found Nena the most interesting of the three. So I'm probably biased.
--I kind of like the idea of Aeolia Schenberg predicting that someone would take a swing at him after his death and programming in an...easter egg...as a result. It's such a Chessmaster thing to do.
--Ah, thank you, showing Lockon being angry at Ali instead of at Setsuna. That makes more sense--he's screwed up, irreparably so, but he's not as irrational about it as the others can be.
--Ali meeting Sergei, an actual honorable soldier? This can't be good.
--One of the interesting things about Setsuna is that while in some ways he's clearly changed from when he was a little kid fighting a jihad (lol Jihad-kun), subconsciously (or maybe even consciously) he still thinks of himself as on a holy war. He can't escape that; it formed him too thoroughly.
--Dammit, show, stop making me ship Lockon/Tieria in the space of only four episodes! I feel a long essay on the complexity of their relationship bubbling up within me, but for now I'll be a dumb fangirl and just say: awww, Tieria wants to protect him.
--Aww, Patrick's doing everything for Kathy now. How did such a dork get to be the ace of an entire power bloc? You know, maybe it's best not to think about it.
--"Tail Booster" is really an awfully undignified name for a valuable new piece of equipment.
--Yay for Allelujah and Soma getting disturbed, intense interaction!
--Lockon apologetically telling his Haro "sorry, you're coming with me" as he prepares to go on a suicide mission should not be so touching. But it is.
--Suddenly the whole thing is just so heartbreaking and, and, and Lockon is so gar dammit. In all the best meanings of the word. But other than that, I have no words.
--There's an awful lot of ALI AL-SAAAACHEZ! >:E >:E >:E this episode.
--"I'll accept my punishment...after I defeat you!" totally confirms that Lockon has no expectation of ever being able to live a normal life after Celestial Being...which, I think, is why he seems like he's the normal one. Because he's calmly accepted that there will never be any normal, he can pretend with impunity; that pretense is the best he's going to get. But I'll save the rest for my Lockon/Tieria essay thing.
--I was totally okay with being spoiled originally, but the way this episode is milking the will-he-or-won't-he suspense...it would totally have worked on me, too, if I hadn't been spoiled. Dammit.
--Lockon's interactions with a little orange machine should not be so bawwww-inducing, dammit!
--Lockon just sniped down a Gundam himself. Standing out there in space. I don't care whether or not Ali comes back--that's still goddamn amazing.
--The cut from Setsuna's "LOCKOOOOOOON" to the Ptolemaios crew going "everyone's okay! :D" is just...augh. This show is so flawed but I don't care because it can pull off shit like that.
--Oh yeah, and Lockon is possibly my favorite character, but someone is going to suffer if he comes back. Are you listening, Sunrise?
--Oh God, Haro. They are rubbing the salt in something fierce.
--I wallow in the delicious angst that comes of ripping out the heart of a dysfunctional team. Yes.
--Also: Lockon considered himself an acceptable sacrifice without any hesitation. The other Meisters do not.
Episode 24
--Oh God, just to rub it in, they give a flashback that reveals that Lockon always set himself up as the Awesome Big Brother to Setsuna--and apparently Setsuna accepted him that way even if he tended to be too screwed up to consciously acknowledge it. Bawwww.
--And Tieria. Turns out being human means acting crazy and irrational when someone you love dies!
--And Feldt, augh, the heartbreak does not stop. She's hugging the Haro.
--It apologizes to her AUGH.
--The reunion between Kathy and Patrick is just...the cutest thing ever. It's so understated--"Sorry, Colonel, I got beaten" "You idiot, to think I was worried"--and there's real feeling there without it being dramatic or sappy. I love dramatic and even sappy, but right here and right now, that kind of quiet affection is what works.
--Soma thinking of Allelujah as an "incomplete test subject" makes the pairing even hotter, I'm just sayin'.
--Tieria going into obsessive "pls give me something to fight so we can continue the plan" mode is just...gah. It feels like a broken coping strategy to me: "I tried being human and it hurt me and it sucked, so help me get back into being a robot again!"
--Oh. That really explains a lot about Setsuna's character: he's perpetually searching for something to replace "God" as the epic mystic determining factor of his life, but he's too broken to settle on his own will as the answer. Instead it's "the need to eradicate war" or "the wishes of the dead."
--Feldt is so adorably screwed up. A letter to her parents and Lockon apologizing for not being able to meet them just yet? I just...bawww and d'awww at the same time.
--There is so much meta I want to write on the way Lockon has shaped Tieria, it just will not fit here. On the one hand, he wants to return to being a machine because it hurts less, but on the other hand he can't let go, and I love it.
--...is Feldt saying "Lockon-nii"? I don't know if she is or if it's just a random sentence-ending syllable, but if she is, so sad and cute ajfldkj;fds.
--That whole conversation about who's lonely is just--bawwww.
--I know it is wrong, but Hallelujah being all crazyfais "Hi there 8D" at Soma just makes me ship it more.
--"For the plan and for Lockon"--Tieria is still all screwed up in the head, but he's added a human element to the things he's crazy obsessive about. It's a step forward!
--Patrick's little "...huh?" = amazing. Admittedly, the fact that he's been confirmed as alive makes it easier on me.
--Christina protecting Feldt is just...wibble-worthy.
--And Licht and Chris and--why must I have been spoiled, dammit. I need to stop letting that happen.
--Oh God, why must Feldt's older sibling figures keep dying on her?
Episode 25
--I have to say, I find Alejandro and Ribbons one of the more disappointing parts of this show. I like a lot of things that oldschool UC fans hate about the "new" Gundams, but the poorly-developed megalomaniacal supervillain a la Azrael, Patrick Zala, Lord Djibril, and Durandal is not one of them. I'm usually much more interested in their crazy or just plain evil subordinates/Dragons (Raww le Klueze, Ali Al-Saachez). I haven't yet finished Wing, but from what I do know of it, I get the strong impression that most characters like Alejandro are in part a failed attempt at following Treize, who actually worked. And here it just feels like they could have done so much more--and advanced the themes of the series better--if they hadn't shunted the Surveyors/Observers down such a cardboard path. I mean, as asterphage pointed out, obviously it has something to do with Sunrise feeling that this kind of drama is the best way to create a climax...but I can't help but feel like somewhere along the line, they went, "Shit, we're a twenty-first century Gundam series, we have to throw in a crazy megalomaniac fucker with incomprehensible motivations!"
--Aside from the pretty visuals, Setsuna's fight with Alejandro is so boring. Can we get back to the other, more awesome fight, please? And Tieria, too?
--Awww, Soma and Sergei. It's a little sudden, but he's protected her and been kind to her for this long, and she is a girl who's been trained to hide her feelings--it makes sense that she's wound up with some affection for him.
--Allelujah recognizing Soma? That...is so much more than I could have hoped for, interaction-wise. Right after the show plays up how they are ultimate enemies who will never be anything else, it reveals that once they were something else. Oh, God, I can't wait for S2 interaction now.
--Oh, shut up, Alejandro.
--But Setsuna telling him, basically, "I found what's wrong with the world, and it's YOU!" is pretty awesome. Hey, I think that's a reference to his several-episodes-earlier angst over "just what is wrong with the world?" Too bad that, as awesome as it is, it's not really an answer.
--Okay, Ribbons as a villain I think I can deal with. Other than the name, anyway. His casting things in terms of drama/roles ("you made a fine clown") is something I dig in a villain--and considering he may be the final villain, there's enough time to build him up.
--Oh, Graham. Never stop being awesome and full of lulz.
--There's something about the way they're playing Graham, the way they've played him from the start...he's mostly serious, but I feel like there's a certain gleeful awareness of how utterly over-the-top and at times downright ludicrous he is. And I love it.
--And he just gets better. I don't care how improbable it is that he would have survived the G-forces to get here, this is awesome.
--Ah. Like Alejandro, he represents another wrongness for Setsuna to strike down: in this case, self-righteous obsession with war.
--Those last scenes with Tieria and Allelujah...guh. Again, there are no words. (Except for my glee at the new potential for Allelujah/Soma interaction in S2.)
--Ah, so Marina was the person Setsuna wanted to send a letter to--I kind of suspected it.
--And it finally begins to make sense why Setsuna became obsessed with Marina: he recognized that she had not only a similar cultural background to him, but the same goal of peace...but she was otherwise so different.
--I still really want to see Marina doing things instead of moping about Setsuna, though.
--And there Patrick is, behind Kathy! Yes.
--The fact that this "yay happy peaceful world" thing happened halfway through the series? Yeah, bad news. It's gonna be a mess by the end.
--Oh man, Char-clone!Graham do want. And angry bitter Ali and girl!Tieria lkdjfsdklfjds hell yeah S2 cannot come fast enough
--Holy shit rainbow-eyed Nena? I am dying of DO WANT here, you guys. My coherence, it is gone.
You only get one fanart link this time, because I am too busy being all "djfsdklfjsdkl S2 NOW PLS" to go looking for more. Also I want to start writing my Lockon/Tieria meta.
potato -- Mostly Lockon/Tieria cuteness, some gen. The style kind of puzzles me--it's usually the sort of thing I see in the fanart of Western anime fans. But it's still damned cute. Anyway, the art itself exists in this weird limbo state of "too cute to be entirely IC, yet somehow managing to capture the appeal of the pairing way too well."
Episode 21
--Man, this show loves torturing Saji.
--Poor Patrick. Even the minor characters don't take him seriously. Maybe he should wear less eyeliner. But somehow I don't think that would help much.
--His desperate gratitude when Kathy steps in to save him is hilarious.
--Aw, Feldt being more cheerful lately is cute. And she blushes when it's pointed out, so...maybe it's because she has a crush on Lockon? Even cuter.
--Lockon tries to encourage him, and Tieria responds by badmouthing Sumeragi. Jerk.
--Her "half-broken soul," huh? You know, as much as they keep playing up the angst with Sumeragi, without learning more about just what the mistake she made was, I'm starting to have trouble buying it.
--You know, I'm starting to think that after episode 19, Lockon has made humanizing Tieria his latest project in Being The Awesome Big Brother Figure.
--Hey. Don't interrupt the moment, Allelujah. :(
--Okay, I admit it, I am starting to ship it. A little.
--Oh, so now Setsuna is dreaming of Marina--and he thinks of her as knowing his real name. That was actually a pretty interesting scene, both for finally starting to give Setsuna/Marina some emotional meat and for showing us a little of what Setsuna's thought processes are like. His homeland, even though it's been taken over by others, still really matters to him, no matter how distant from it he is.
--I'm guessing Alejandro and/or Ribbons took down Ragna Harvey. Although Ali could have done it--he could do pretty much anything nasty.
--The cruelty to Saji feels almost gratuitous. I mean, really.
--Interesting how we see the Meisters react to losing the connection to Veda. Allelujah asks if this is their "punishment," because apparently the kind of guy who names himself Allelujah Haptism tends to see misfortune as punishment from above. Tieria angsts over being "abandoned" by a supercomputer, because he'd rather feel attachment to computers than to human beings. Setsuna flashes back to a childhood sense of powerlessness.
--And thinking of Marina is what brings back Setsuna's will to live? They're really trying to evoke Heero/Relena here. It's sweet, but without seeing more personality and motivation from Marina, I'm still kind of unenthusiastic.
--Wow, the look on Tieria's face when Lockon rescues him. It's this wibbly "people do that? For me?" expression.
--That's definitely more emotion than Tieria's shown before.
Episode 22
--I'd been spoiled for the stupid sexy eyepatch, but I hadn't realized its significance until the show mentioned it as being his dominant eye. That's...not good, for a sniper.
--"Don't underestimate my teamwork with Haro." Awwww, Lockon/Haro is OTP.
--Okay, uh, so Lockon going on about how Tieria would be worried if he went to sleep, and how he's really delicate? Yeeeeah, that's pretty damned shippy.
--And Tieria being all ;_; over Lockon getting hurt. I just. I love those moments where ice-queen characters suddenly snap and care obsessively about one person, because they never learned how to do it in moderation. Gah. It's like Squall/Rinoa, you guys.
--They named the operation "Fallen Angels"? Oh, that'll go over well PR-wise.
--Dammit, Graham and Billy's little "I'm an impatient man." "I know." exchange is also kind of shippy to me, although nowhere near as much as Lockon and Tieria's earlier bit. This show needs to stop confusing me.
--Aww, Feldt does have a crush on Lockon. So cute. Everyone wants him.
--He really does attract the awkward emotionless types. Both Feldt and Tieria awkwardly *_*ing over him is adorable.
--So, uh...how are Alejandro and Ribbons able to hang out at Veda's physical location for days on end without the Ptolemaios crew, who know that someone's fucking with Veda, sending someone to beat their asses? I mean, most of them might not know where it is, but Tieria at least ought to.
--Lockon being all puzzled at Tieria calling him a fool, so cute. Hey, Lockon, he's worried about you.
--Oh, now Ali is messing with the Trinity siblings. This can't be good.
--Men like Ali are the reason this world needs entertainment. He needs to just...stop getting bored and deciding to shoot people for fun.
--I know it's wrong, but I actually feel sorry for the Trinity kids. No one deserves Ali.
--And Setsuna's reaction to hearing Ali's voice from a Gundam--!
--Okay, what just happened there with Exia?
--Nena's even-more-crazy-than-before eyes are terrific. And the fact that it was Setsuna who saved her makes things extra interesting in that direction.
--Okay, so why has Alejandro shooting Aeolia Schenberg's body suddenly triggered the unleashing of some bonus program? Or what? I don't know.
Episode 23
--I have to say, "Trans-Am system...I've been entrusted with it..." is sort of another one of those moments. Admittedly Setsuna is pretty prone to them simply because he's so emotionally dead (which is totally realistic and IC and makes him pretty interesting as a character in the long run, I think), but...couldn't they have given it a more dramatic name?
--I am so digging the possibilities for Nena's character now. Having the guys get offed while leaving the girl alive is a nice turn-around from Kinue. Full disclosure here: I always found Nena the most interesting of the three. So I'm probably biased.
--I kind of like the idea of Aeolia Schenberg predicting that someone would take a swing at him after his death and programming in an...easter egg...as a result. It's such a Chessmaster thing to do.
--Ah, thank you, showing Lockon being angry at Ali instead of at Setsuna. That makes more sense--he's screwed up, irreparably so, but he's not as irrational about it as the others can be.
--Ali meeting Sergei, an actual honorable soldier? This can't be good.
--One of the interesting things about Setsuna is that while in some ways he's clearly changed from when he was a little kid fighting a jihad (lol Jihad-kun), subconsciously (or maybe even consciously) he still thinks of himself as on a holy war. He can't escape that; it formed him too thoroughly.
--Dammit, show, stop making me ship Lockon/Tieria in the space of only four episodes! I feel a long essay on the complexity of their relationship bubbling up within me, but for now I'll be a dumb fangirl and just say: awww, Tieria wants to protect him.
--Aww, Patrick's doing everything for Kathy now. How did such a dork get to be the ace of an entire power bloc? You know, maybe it's best not to think about it.
--"Tail Booster" is really an awfully undignified name for a valuable new piece of equipment.
--Yay for Allelujah and Soma getting disturbed, intense interaction!
--Lockon apologetically telling his Haro "sorry, you're coming with me" as he prepares to go on a suicide mission should not be so touching. But it is.
--Suddenly the whole thing is just so heartbreaking and, and, and Lockon is so gar dammit. In all the best meanings of the word. But other than that, I have no words.
--There's an awful lot of ALI AL-SAAAACHEZ! >:E >:E >:E this episode.
--"I'll accept my punishment...after I defeat you!" totally confirms that Lockon has no expectation of ever being able to live a normal life after Celestial Being...which, I think, is why he seems like he's the normal one. Because he's calmly accepted that there will never be any normal, he can pretend with impunity; that pretense is the best he's going to get. But I'll save the rest for my Lockon/Tieria essay thing.
--I was totally okay with being spoiled originally, but the way this episode is milking the will-he-or-won't-he suspense...it would totally have worked on me, too, if I hadn't been spoiled. Dammit.
--Lockon's interactions with a little orange machine should not be so bawwww-inducing, dammit!
--Lockon just sniped down a Gundam himself. Standing out there in space. I don't care whether or not Ali comes back--that's still goddamn amazing.
--The cut from Setsuna's "LOCKOOOOOOON" to the Ptolemaios crew going "everyone's okay! :D" is just...augh. This show is so flawed but I don't care because it can pull off shit like that.
--Oh yeah, and Lockon is possibly my favorite character, but someone is going to suffer if he comes back. Are you listening, Sunrise?
--Oh God, Haro. They are rubbing the salt in something fierce.
--I wallow in the delicious angst that comes of ripping out the heart of a dysfunctional team. Yes.
--Also: Lockon considered himself an acceptable sacrifice without any hesitation. The other Meisters do not.
Episode 24
--Oh God, just to rub it in, they give a flashback that reveals that Lockon always set himself up as the Awesome Big Brother to Setsuna--and apparently Setsuna accepted him that way even if he tended to be too screwed up to consciously acknowledge it. Bawwww.
--And Tieria. Turns out being human means acting crazy and irrational when someone you love dies!
--And Feldt, augh, the heartbreak does not stop. She's hugging the Haro.
--It apologizes to her AUGH.
--The reunion between Kathy and Patrick is just...the cutest thing ever. It's so understated--"Sorry, Colonel, I got beaten" "You idiot, to think I was worried"--and there's real feeling there without it being dramatic or sappy. I love dramatic and even sappy, but right here and right now, that kind of quiet affection is what works.
--Soma thinking of Allelujah as an "incomplete test subject" makes the pairing even hotter, I'm just sayin'.
--Tieria going into obsessive "pls give me something to fight so we can continue the plan" mode is just...gah. It feels like a broken coping strategy to me: "I tried being human and it hurt me and it sucked, so help me get back into being a robot again!"
--Oh. That really explains a lot about Setsuna's character: he's perpetually searching for something to replace "God" as the epic mystic determining factor of his life, but he's too broken to settle on his own will as the answer. Instead it's "the need to eradicate war" or "the wishes of the dead."
--Feldt is so adorably screwed up. A letter to her parents and Lockon apologizing for not being able to meet them just yet? I just...bawww and d'awww at the same time.
--There is so much meta I want to write on the way Lockon has shaped Tieria, it just will not fit here. On the one hand, he wants to return to being a machine because it hurts less, but on the other hand he can't let go, and I love it.
--...is Feldt saying "Lockon-nii"? I don't know if she is or if it's just a random sentence-ending syllable, but if she is, so sad and cute ajfldkj;fds.
--That whole conversation about who's lonely is just--bawwww.
--I know it is wrong, but Hallelujah being all crazyfais "Hi there 8D" at Soma just makes me ship it more.
--"For the plan and for Lockon"--Tieria is still all screwed up in the head, but he's added a human element to the things he's crazy obsessive about. It's a step forward!
--Patrick's little "...huh?" = amazing. Admittedly, the fact that he's been confirmed as alive makes it easier on me.
--Christina protecting Feldt is just...wibble-worthy.
--And Licht and Chris and--why must I have been spoiled, dammit. I need to stop letting that happen.
--Oh God, why must Feldt's older sibling figures keep dying on her?
Episode 25
--I have to say, I find Alejandro and Ribbons one of the more disappointing parts of this show. I like a lot of things that oldschool UC fans hate about the "new" Gundams, but the poorly-developed megalomaniacal supervillain a la Azrael, Patrick Zala, Lord Djibril, and Durandal is not one of them. I'm usually much more interested in their crazy or just plain evil subordinates/Dragons (Raww le Klueze, Ali Al-Saachez). I haven't yet finished Wing, but from what I do know of it, I get the strong impression that most characters like Alejandro are in part a failed attempt at following Treize, who actually worked. And here it just feels like they could have done so much more--and advanced the themes of the series better--if they hadn't shunted the Surveyors/Observers down such a cardboard path. I mean, as asterphage pointed out, obviously it has something to do with Sunrise feeling that this kind of drama is the best way to create a climax...but I can't help but feel like somewhere along the line, they went, "Shit, we're a twenty-first century Gundam series, we have to throw in a crazy megalomaniac fucker with incomprehensible motivations!"
--Aside from the pretty visuals, Setsuna's fight with Alejandro is so boring. Can we get back to the other, more awesome fight, please? And Tieria, too?
--Awww, Soma and Sergei. It's a little sudden, but he's protected her and been kind to her for this long, and she is a girl who's been trained to hide her feelings--it makes sense that she's wound up with some affection for him.
--Allelujah recognizing Soma? That...is so much more than I could have hoped for, interaction-wise. Right after the show plays up how they are ultimate enemies who will never be anything else, it reveals that once they were something else. Oh, God, I can't wait for S2 interaction now.
--Oh, shut up, Alejandro.
--But Setsuna telling him, basically, "I found what's wrong with the world, and it's YOU!" is pretty awesome. Hey, I think that's a reference to his several-episodes-earlier angst over "just what is wrong with the world?" Too bad that, as awesome as it is, it's not really an answer.
--Okay, Ribbons as a villain I think I can deal with. Other than the name, anyway. His casting things in terms of drama/roles ("you made a fine clown") is something I dig in a villain--and considering he may be the final villain, there's enough time to build him up.
--Oh, Graham. Never stop being awesome and full of lulz.
--There's something about the way they're playing Graham, the way they've played him from the start...he's mostly serious, but I feel like there's a certain gleeful awareness of how utterly over-the-top and at times downright ludicrous he is. And I love it.
--And he just gets better. I don't care how improbable it is that he would have survived the G-forces to get here, this is awesome.
--Ah. Like Alejandro, he represents another wrongness for Setsuna to strike down: in this case, self-righteous obsession with war.
--Those last scenes with Tieria and Allelujah...guh. Again, there are no words. (Except for my glee at the new potential for Allelujah/Soma interaction in S2.)
--Ah, so Marina was the person Setsuna wanted to send a letter to--I kind of suspected it.
--And it finally begins to make sense why Setsuna became obsessed with Marina: he recognized that she had not only a similar cultural background to him, but the same goal of peace...but she was otherwise so different.
--I still really want to see Marina doing things instead of moping about Setsuna, though.
--And there Patrick is, behind Kathy! Yes.
--The fact that this "yay happy peaceful world" thing happened halfway through the series? Yeah, bad news. It's gonna be a mess by the end.
--Oh man, Char-clone!Graham do want. And angry bitter Ali and girl!Tieria lkdjfsdklfjds hell yeah S2 cannot come fast enough
--Holy shit rainbow-eyed Nena? I am dying of DO WANT here, you guys. My coherence, it is gone.
You only get one fanart link this time, because I am too busy being all "djfsdklfjsdkl S2 NOW PLS" to go looking for more. Also I want to start writing my Lockon/Tieria meta.
potato -- Mostly Lockon/Tieria cuteness, some gen. The style kind of puzzles me--it's usually the sort of thing I see in the fanart of Western anime fans. But it's still damned cute. Anyway, the art itself exists in this weird limbo state of "too cute to be entirely IC, yet somehow managing to capture the appeal of the pairing way too well."