Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (機動戦士ガンダム00 （ダブルオー）, Kidō Senshi Gandamu Daburu Ō?) is the seventh incarnation of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise.[1] It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and features character designs by Yun Kōga. The twenty-five episode series was officially announced by Sunrise during a 15-second trailer on June 2, 2007.[1][2][3] The series aired on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 5, 2007 to March 29, 2008. On July 13, 2008, a trailer announcing a second twenty-five episode series was aired.[4] The second series began on October 5, 2008 and concluded on March 29, 2009. A movie sequel is planned for the year 2010.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is the first Gundam series to be animated in widescreen and in high-definition,[6] as well as the first to be set in the non-fictional Anno Domini era. The series is set in a futuristic Earth and centered around Celestial Being, a private paramilitary force and their efforts to rid the world of war and conflict with a series of unique and highly effective mobile suits known as "Gundams".

First season

The main tagline for the first season is Rebirth Begins Through Destruction.

The series is set in 2307 AD.[7] As a result of the depletion of fossil fuels, humanity had to search for a new source of power. The power was found in the form of massive arrays of solar power collectors orbiting the Earth, and supported by three orbital elevators, each one serving one of the three "power blocs" on the planet, namely Union, controlling the region surrounding North America, Human Reform League (Japanese: 人類革新連盟; Romaji: jinrui kakushin renmei; Pinyin: rénlèi géxīn liánméng), consisting of China, Russia and India, and AEU, which controls mainland Europe.[8]

With this nearly inexhaustible source of energy benefiting only the major powers and their allies, constant warfare erupts around the globe among minor countries for fuels and energy. Countries that once economically relied on the sale of fossil fuels have plunged into poverty. Some even believe that solar energy threatened the "promised land of God", resulting in the 20-year Solar Wars. This chaos led to the formation of a private military organization, called Celestial Being (ソレスタルビーイング, Soresutaru Bīingu?), dedicated to eradicating war and uniting humanity through the use of four humanoid machines called Gundams.[1][3] Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows four mobile suit pilots termed Gundam Meisters ( ガンダムマイスター, Gandamu Maisutā?), sided with Celestial Being. The main protagonist is 16-year old Setsuna F Seiei (刹那・Ｆ・セイエイ?), a quiet, taciturn young man who grew up in the war-torn Krugis Republic. He pilots the GN-001 Gundam Exia, a high mobility mobile suit effective in melee combat.[9][10]

Unable to counter Celestial Being's superior technology, the three major powers eventually unite into the United Nations Army (国連軍?) in order to counter Celestial Being's armed interventions.[11] In order to fight the Gundams, the United Nations Army employed the help of Laguna Harvey. Harvey, a Celestial Being intelligence agent turned traitor, provides them with 30 GN-X, mobile suits equipped with pseudo-GN Drives. As the United Nations resist Celestial Being's interventions, a second team of Gundams, known as Team Trinity, appears and assists in the Meisters' eradication of war, albeit in a much more cruel and cold-blooded fashion, in contrast with the original Meisters' less-aggressive nature of armed intervention.

Alejandro Corner, a former Celestial Being observer who plans to make use of the chaos and destruction created by Celestial Being to rule a reconstructed world, subsequently takes over Veda, Celestial Being's supercomputer which is located on the moon. Without the tactical aid from the organization's artificial intelligence, Celestial Being is easily overwhelmed and overpowered by GN-X units and their superior numbers.

The United Nations Army initiates Operation Fallen Angels to destroy the Gundams, having discovered the location of the Meisters' mothership, Ptolemaios. During the operation, Ali Al-Saachez kills Lockon Stratos after a climactic battle. Alejandro Corner, in his unique custom mobile armor Alvatore, attacks Gundam Exia as the GN-X units proceed to destroy the Ptolemaios and the remaining Gundams. Exia struggles with the monstrous Alvatore, but in the end succeeds in killing Alejandro. Graham Aker, an ace pilot of the United Nations Army, then challenges Setsuna to a fight, seeking revenge for his fallen comrades and questioning the purpose of Gundams' existence. The fight results in the destruction of the GN-Flag, while the Exia is heavily damaged.

Second season

Four years have passed since the final battle between Celestial Being and the UN Forces. Humanity, having established the Earth Sphere Federation, forms an autonomous peace-keeping force, A-Laws, separate from and above the formal Federation army. Given unfettered discretion, A-Laws is charged with the duty to further unify nations, enforce the will of mankind, and dispose of terrorist cells. Unknown to the general public, however, is that the A-Laws misuse their power and employ inhumane tactics to oppress freedoms, doctrines, and ideologies, all in the name of 'unity'.

Characters

Setsuna F Seiei (刹那・F・セイエイ, Setsuna Efu Seiei?)

Born as Soran Ibrahim, Setsuna is the primary protagonist of the show and was discovered by Celestial Being at the age of 14 for having special potential as a pilot. He is currently a Gundam Meister for their organization, piloting the Gundam Exia, and later the 00 Gundam, both specialized in melee combat. Setsuna being his Gundam Meister codename. He was a child soldier in the war-torn Republic of Krugis.[13] He murdered his own parents under Ali Al-Saachez's influence in order to prove his devotion to God,[14] and hence bears a deep hatred towards Saachez. Due to his previous religious brainwashing (and awakening from it), Setsuna no longer believes that God exists. Setsuna believes that war can only be stopped through direct confrontation, and therefore has little tolerance for diplomats and politicians, believing that their "peace talks" only lengthen the conflict and cause more casualties. Disappearing at the end of the first season, Setsuna reappears four years later and rejoins Celestial Being.

Lockon Stratos (ロックオン・ストラトス, Rokkuon Sutoratosu?)

Born Neil Dylandy, Lockon decided to join Celestial Being after losing his parents and little sister to terrorists in Ireland; because of this, he loathes terrorists. As the eldest pilot, he is considered the team leader of the Gundam Meisters,[15] and sports a more easygoing, flamboyant personality as compared to the other Gundam Meisters. He owns an orange Haro to control Gundam Dynames when sniping and just like Setsuna, he has a personal feud with Ali Al-Saachez, who was directly involved in the terrorist bombing that caused the death of his family.[16] After being killed at the climax of the first season, his younger twin brother Lyle Dylandy chooses to become the new Lockon Stratos, primarily to help spy on Celestial Being for the dissident group Katharon. He pilots the Cherudim Gundam, which is also specialized in long range combat. Later on, he falls in love with a new member of the Ptolemy, Anew Returner.

Allelujah Haptism (アレルヤ・ハプティズム, Areruya Haputizumu?)

Allelujah spent his childhood as an orphan in the Human Reform League as a Super Soldier experimental subject, designated "E-57". While generally gentle and rational compared to the other Gundam Meisters, he has another harsher, unstable, and outright sadistic alter ego, named Hallelujah inside him, which was the result of the Super Soldier experiments. His main rival in combat is another subject of the Super Soldier program, the HRL pilot Soma Peries who shares a mysterious connection with him.[17] He is the pilot of Gundam Kyrios, and later, the Arios Gundam, both of which specialize in high mobility and are able to transform into mobile armors (fighter jets). Allelujah is imprisoned during the four year timeskip between both seasons, but he ends up being rescued by his companions after the other three Meisters reunite.

Tieria Erde (ティエリア・アーデ, Tieria Āde?)

Gundam Meister of the heavily armored Gundam Virtue and its successor unit, the Seravee Gundam, Tieria treats Veda's orders with high regard, valuing the mission above all other issues; he is also able to independently access Veda directly. As a result of his arrogance and cold attitude towards others, his relationship with the other Gundam Meisters got off a rocky start, but later learns to care for the other Meisters. Of all the Gundam Meisters, Tieria is the most enigmatic, with an unknown past and a peculiar connection with the Innovators.[18] Contrary of the other Meisters who were either K.I.A. or M.I.A. in the end of the first season, Tieria continued to work for Celestial Being during the 4 year timeskip. Tieria first appears in the second season rescuing Setsuna in his battered Exia from A-Laws' mobile suits; Tieria then brings Setsuna back to Celestial Being to resume his position.

Saji Crossroad has followed the path to becoming a space engineer, to keep his promise to Louise Halevy. But he ends up being mistaken for a member of the dissident organization Kataron and is unjustly imprisoned. Louise herself is compelled to become involved in Federation government reform and joined A-Laws as a mobile suit pilot during the four-year gap, using her family inheritance to fund A-Laws research.

Meanwhile, Setsuna, having survived the battle with Graham Aker four years ago and is in hiding, has witnessed a change in the world due to the actions of Celestial Being. Setsuna tries to confront the A-Laws by himself with his battered Gundam Exia, but is easily overpowered by their newer models. He is soon rescued by Tieria Erde, piloting his new mobile suit, the Seravee Gundam.

By combining the GN Drives of Exia and 0 Gundam, Celestial Being's engineers manage to complete Aeolia's plans for an advanced mobile suit with twin GN drives - the 00 Gundam - which is entrusted to Setsuna. To pilot the two remaining new units, Lockon Stratos' twin brother is invited to assume his brother's codename and former position as the pilot of the Cherudim Gundam, and after Allelujah Haptism is rescued from the prison he was being detained in during the timeskip, he assumes the command of Arios Gundam.

Unknown to Celestial Being and the A-Laws, a third party is manipulating both sides of the conflict. This group call themselves "Innovators", composed of Alejandro Corner's former assistant Ribbons Almark, and his six subordinates. Subsequently, it is revealed that Aeolia Schenberg's plan is to ensure humanity's survival; unite the world's factions through Celestial Being's armed interventions and then advance humanity into deep space and undergo Innovation, a trans-human process.