Freedom~!

 While I will get in to details in a later post, I am currently working in Hyogo prefecture until the end of March.

Anyway, I had the day off today due to working on Saturday. So, I decided to go to Himeji. It has been over 10 years since I last visited Himeji for a day trip, but sightseeing wasn't on my agenda:

For those may not (or may) know, the new Gundam SEED movie, Gundam SEED Freedom, released in cinemas in Japan 2 weeks ago. The city that I am currently working in is... well... rural, with no cinema nearby, and the nearest city with a cinema was about an hour trip by train to Himeji. 

I will probably do a full review of this movie at some point, but I will share some of my thoughts on this movie without giving away spoilers. This film does focus a lot on the relationship between Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne. It was refreshing to see Kira being portrayed as a flawed character, unlike his time as Space Jesus during SEED Destiny, with him still being haunted by the Charman* Durandal and his Destiny plan he presented to the people back in Destiny, with Kira wondering perhaps Durandal was right. 

However, I did not come into this movie expecting a masterpiece. I came into this not wondering if it was going to be absurd - no, no, no absurdity was always a guarantee - I went there with the thoughts of how absurd it was going to be. Let me say that the final act did not disappoint on that front. Why? 

Three words: Mighty Strike Freedom. 

I will not give away the abilities of this new iteration of the Strike Freedom, but Gun-fucking-dam did they just go all the way and then some more on the absurdity.

Of course, being SEED, there were a lot of mobile suit designs taken from the Universal Centry timeline and well... SEED-ified - Specifically the Gelgoog Menace, the Gyan Strom, and the Z'gock - though I was impressed with role of the Z'gock in this movie. 

I was also pleasantly surprised by the appearance of the Duel (now Duel Blitz) and the Buster (now Lightning Buster) Gundams.

I have already purchased the Immortal Justice Gundam kit, and I'm looking to get maybe the Gelgoog, and the Infinite Justice type II - which, unlike the Mighty Strike Freedom, was not so absurd in its powers. Though there was one weapon on the Infinite Justice type II that has me wondering if the designers were inspired by Zinedine Zidane for some weird reason. If they do release the Duel Blitz and Lightning Buster eventually, I may get them, as I do like their designs - especially the Duel Blitz.

That's all from me for now. I'm hoping to post shortly about my trip to Kinugawa Onsen last December at some point, as there are some things I want to talk about there.

*If you're wondering why I refer to Chairman Shanks as Charman Durandal, and not his proper name, Chairman Durandal, that's because his voice actor is Shuuichi Ikeda - known for doing the voice of many characters, such as Red Haired Shanks, Seijuro Hiko, and the Red Comet himself, Char Aznable.