Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny: Difference between revisions

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''Destiny'' takes place two years after the end of ''SEED'', and follows the story of Shinn Asuka, a young [[Born Winner|Coordinator]] and ZAFT pilot. A surprise attack on a ZAFT military base and the subsequent [[Gundamjack|Gundamjacking]] of three of ZAFT's new [[Super Prototype]] Gundams kicks off a sequence of events that results in a second full-scale war between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. However, things are not as clear-cut as they seem at first, and questions arise over which side of the conflict is really in the right. About halfway through the series, much of the cast from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' returns to the spotlight, and the series gradually shifts to their POV, considerably changing the tone of the series.

While ''Gundam SEED Destiny'' was wildly popular in Japan, the reaction among English-speaking audiences was much less positive. This largely spawns from the mid-show POV-shift, with Western fans typically preferring Shinn to Kira, and feeling that the latter "stole" the show from the former, while Japanese fans are more fond of Kira and thus much more forgiving of the shift. Some displeased fans take this to extreme levels, and the series has a vocal [[Hatedom]].

 

 

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* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The [[Compilation Movie|Special Editions]] manage to be surprisingly improved thanks to editing out some of the more hated elements.

* [[Affably Evil]]: Gilbert Durandel.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Want to know how Athrun feels about Meyrin? Want to know how Shinn was during his school days? Well, you'll just have to buy the drama CD.

* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: In a rare mecha example, the Destiny's design is an [[All Your Powers Combined]] version of the Impulse's (and [[Expy|Strike's]]) various [[Mecha Expansion Pack|Mecha Expansion Packs]] -- agility, [[BFG|massive firepower]], and a [[BFS|really big sword]] all at once instead of one at a time!

* [[Big No]]: Athrun's agonized cry when {{spoiler|Kira is apparently killed in his climactic duel with Shinn}}. The English version is especially gut-wrenching.

* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: Pretty much explains the series. While there are lots of [[Alternate Character Interpretations]], both in-universe and out, all of the characters have reasons for fighting, some with better motivation than others. Infact, the only truly (unquestionably) evil character in the series is [[Complete Monster|Djibril]].

* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: Del Rey's treatment of the SEED Destiny manga. [[Meaningful Name|Meaningful Names]] are butchered to the point of losing their meaning, and ''basic punctuation and grammar'' are ignored.

** This was inherited from Del Rey's translation of the SEED manga, where the same happened to an incredible degree. The second volume of the SEED Destiny manga finally used the official spellings of characters and mecha, but contained a letter at the start of the book essentially complaining about how they had to follow someone else's translations rather than their own. The grammar problems remained, however.

* [[Cool Ship]]: The ''Minerva'' {{spoiler|in addition to the ''Archangel'' and ''Eternal'' making a return later on}}. There's also the ''Girty Lue'', Neo's very cool assault carrier, which can ''[[Invisibility Cloak|turn invisible]]''.

* [[Corporal Punishment]]: Athrun beats on Shinn for disobeying orders after he attacks an OMNI base during the Lohengrin Gate mission, and then again after Shinn brags about {{spoiler|killing Kira}}.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Any fight involving the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice.

* [[Custom Uniform of Sexy]]: Female ZAFT Red Coats use the standard uniform with pants, but Lunamaria inexplicably wears a pink miniskirt. No one seems to mind.

*** [[The Evil Genius]]: Sting Oakley

*** [[The Dark Chick]]: Stella Loussier

* [[Gainaxing]]: Mostly Meer, but several other female characters have that "bounce", too.

* [[Go Out with a Smile]]: {{spoiler|Stellar's heartbreakingly adorable "I love you, Shinn" before she dies}}.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Freedom vs Destiny. {{spoiler|The Destiny Plan would result in a society without freedom}}.

* [[Mid-Season Upgrade]]: ''Every'' named pilot that's not dead by mid-season gets a new machine.

* [[Music for Courage]]: Lacus sings for the children she takes care of during the Break The World catastrophe. This is also part of the point behind Durandal's plan to have Meer impersonate Lacus.

* [[Mythology Gag]]: Numerous!

** Since they were already reusing GOUF and ZAKU, they couldn't resist having Heine (in a GOUF) use Ramba Ral's classic "This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!" line from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. The battle between Heine and Stella in general is very similar, down to ''camera angles'' in some instances.

** In reference to ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'''s Kai Shiden making a cameo appearance in ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'' as an investigative reporter, Miriallia (a character from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'') first shows up in ''Destiny'' as a photojournalist. The two characters are otherwise completely dissimilar.

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: Athrun was ostensibly meant to be [[The Mentor]] to Shinn, but most of his interaction consists of punching him or calling him an idiot; not once did Athrun give Shinn any form of positive reinforcement or encouragement. Perhaps if he had, the poor kid could have gotten some '''positive''' [[Character Development]]...

* [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]]: Nice job getting Kira to come out of retirement after {{spoiler|a failed assassination attempt on his girlfriend}}, Durandal.

** Athrun/Cagalli, much to the rage of many a rabid shipper (with the rage being greatly enhanced by unconfirmed rumors that it happened due to the writers not getting along with Cagalli's voice actress, [[Naomi Shindo]]).

** Athrun/Meyrin, due to the rumor of Athrun labeling her as his little sister in the CD dramas.

** Also, there are numerous references to the original ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. Most obvious among them are the CE retreads of UC mobile suits (ZAKU, GOUF, DOM).

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: The nightmarish images of the Junius Seven [[Colony Drop]] set against Lacus's "Fields of Hope".

* [[Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace]]: Kira objects!

* [[Spoiler Opening]]: The second opening shows us that {{spoiler|Mu La Flaga survived}} before it was even close to being revealed.

* [[Stock Footage]]: There is ''so much'' reused footage in this series, especially towards the end, that it actually earned the director the derogatory nickname of Mitsuo "Flashback 'Em All" Fukuda. To make matters worse, some of footage came from [[Gundam Seed|its prequel]].

* [[Super Mode]]: SEED Mode, the ill-explained phenomenon that turns [[Born Winner|random people]]'s piloting abilities [[Up to Eleven]] via a psychedelic vision of a seed exploding and [[Mind Control Eyes]].

* [[Taking the Bullet]]: {{spoiler|Poor Meer dies as she takes a bullet meant for Lacus}}.

* [[The Reveal]]: A rather understated (and generally unsurprising) one concerning Rey's origins. Another regarding the true purpose of the Destiny Plan.

* [[Theme Naming]]: Most of the ''Minerva'''s weapons are named after Wagner operas.

* [[Transforming Mecha]]: The Savior, Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams all transform into various Mobile Armor forms (ironically, the Impulse is more of a [[Combining Mecha]]), as do several other ZAFT designs.

* [[Trigger Phrase]]: The Phantom Pain pilots have at least two; one that acts as a [[Berserk Button]] and one that calms them back down again. They're seen using them on ''each other'' occasionally. {{spoiler|Shinn}} accidentally uses ''both'' on {{spoiler|Stella}} when they first meet.

* [[Tyke Bomb]]: All three Extendeds.

* [[The Un-Reveal]]: We never learn whether the Asuka family was killed by a stray shot from Kira, the [[Fan Nickname|Druggies]], or something else entirely.