It took decades to get here. For years, rumors of a Mobile Suit Gundam SEED film sequel had been circulating within the fandom ever since its sequel series, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, ended in 2004. And now twenty years after Destiny, fans can finally see the continuation of the story they’ve been looking forward to for so long.
Perhaps it’s been well worth the wait after all. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom is the perfect movie and coda for the SEED series as a whole. It’s fascinating both as a sequel and an introspection of what preceded it. It’s in earnest discussion and dialogue with itself and every piece of SEED media before it, yet it is also critical of it. It has fully recognized the series’ failings and shortcomings, yet also embraces what makes it Gundam SEED, fully realizing the potential of its ideas, characters, and idiosyncrasies.
It’s intriguing to revisit these characters again after such a long time when narratively SEED Freedom takes place only two years after the end of Destiny. While Destiny had its share of criticism back in the day, the new status quo for the characters that the movie explores are anything if not interesting. Shinn becomes a more cheerful version of the brooding, rage-filled teen we last saw in Destiny. Cagalli grows into her role as leader of the nation of Orb, while still keeping a temper. Athrun’s still Athrun, just cooler. Meanwhile Kira, alongside Lacus, find themselves in the middle of conflict yet again, even after the fighting has supposed to have been stopped after all they’ve done. Without getting too into spoilers, it’s the corners our protagonists get pushed into, the logical conclusion of them having to keep fighting yet another battle after everything they’ve gone through, that makes their spotlight moments in the movie so interesting. Particularly Kira’s, as if the movie acknowledged all the criticism towards his character throughout the series and decides that now is the time to put him on blast- addressing his shortcomings and resolving his character arc in an amusing, yet meaningful manner.
I found myself having way too much fun watching this movie, especially attending a packed fan screening with hundreds of other fans. Having watched SEED as I grew up myself, I would imagine that how you would react to the movie would depend on your relation to the series itself, but the movie should stand well enough even without the nostalgia, as the character interactions and action sequences are all entertaining and top-notch. Having watched the movie for a third time already, I’m happy to say that it contains some of the most exhilarating action in recent Gundam memory that still manages to excite even with repeated viewings. I was worried about the usage of 3DCG for the mobile suits, but they turned out great, with plenty of amazing 2D mecha scenes still to be found as well.
Though, it’s exactly if you watched SEED and liked even just a single part of it that you’ll get the most enjoyment out of Freedom. The movie wears the peculiarities of the series on its sleeve, with many moments being intentional callbacks or tongue-in-cheek references to how the series was perceived. And yet it’s completely earnest as it does so, and I can’t help but genuinely smile and be moved even as I laugh through the more cheesy dialogues between the characters, or the more outlandish moments of the story, alongside everyone in the theater.
Perhaps the biggest achievement of Freedom is in how it gets longtime fans to reassess and re-contextualize their relation with the series. I don’t think any Gundam show is perfect, (perhaps save Turn A Gundam, though that’s a discussion for another day) but I think every Gundam has at least a couple of well-thought of or interesting ideas. Reminiscing on SEED and watching this movie has certainly made me re-evaluate ideas like Kira’s pacifism and refusal to kill, which while it earned more than its fair share of scrutiny among fans over the years, but I look back to again now after this movie and think of how it still remains a powerful idea.
Whether it was executed well or not might be up for debate, but alongside all the other SEED-“isms” that pop up, I can’t help but think of a particular Brian Eno quote that goes along the lines of, “whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new thing will surely become its signature”- the things people eventually cherish and emulate.
That’s a huge part of, and core to the movie. This kind of reaffirming of what makes Gundam SEED, SEED. Its characters, its ideas, its visual language, and all its idiosyncrasies. Through that process of self-examination, Freedom manages to give a satisfying answer to all of the problems that SEED and Destiny presented to itself and all its characters. I can’t help but smile walking out of the theater a third time, thinking that the characters and stories I admired all these years were well worth examining all along. (Though I confess, getting to see a Gundam SEED Freedom live concert at AFAID2024 with series mainstays T.M. Revolution & Nami Tamaki just the day before really set me up in a mood to love the movie even more) Maybe Gundam SEED really has been cool all along, all this time.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom premieres in Indonesian theaters on 1 May 2024.
The Indonesian Anime Times | Review by Caesar E.S
