「SEEDスペシャルエディション 虚空の戦場」

フレイの気持ち。

Her father being the only family member she has (and being the spoiled ojousan that she is), his sudden death in the hands of ZAFT drives her to the first phase of shock and consequently insanity. As a Natural, even in the neutral state of Heliopolis, she has no doubt been taught to despite Coordinators. The killing of her father further deepen her belief that Coordinators are the bad guys. She quickly singles out Kira and blames him for not fighting seriously because of his background.

When she overhears that Kira is friend with Aegis' pilot, her feeling is mixed. On one hand, she still thinks Kira is holding back during battle, but on the other hand, she realises that it might be because he is fighting a friend. No one wants to fight with their friends, especially in a war situation like this. She apologises to Kira half-heartedly and sees war as the ultimate source for all this; the death of her father and the sadness of fighting against a friend to the end.

With the resolution to end the war in her own way, she joins the military. As she stands in front of Kira's locker and looks at the pilot suit, she is determined. Even if she has no training at all, even if she doesn't know how to fight, she would do it and end it with her own hands.

Then Kira returns and decides to fight. She knows he is much superior in piloting and fighting. She knows by donning the pilot suit, he is going to clash with his friend. She knows he doesn't want to fight despite his words and actions. But he is back and has willingly put himself in what she is planning to do. Therefore, she welcomes him with open arms and feelings. Until Kira accomplishes what she intends to do, to end the war by destroying all those participating it, she would be with him and keep him going. She would become his strength and comfort. In return, he would protect her and continue to fight. She would watch over him, to have him fight to the very end and ends up getting destroyed himself. Before he does that, she would indulge him with her words and body.

New things I noticed:

- the 5 of them (including Rusty) talking before the sortie
- different sequence for the news, lab, and first meeting with Cagalli
- Lenore Zala! She's pretty~
- Kira's cry sounded a little different; from what I know now, the special edition is after-record?
- Nicol and Aisha didn't sound exactly like I remembered; Nicol turns out to be played by Park Romi, but I totally didn't catch that; Aisha was played by a Japanese this time, but she still sounded weird
- Cagalli's shower scene (not sure if Kira's was new)
- T.M.Revolution's insert "zip"
- Fllay and Kira actually did do it...

Overall, it's pretty much a recap of the general plot from the beginning to the end of the desert chapter with a few new scenes. Having already seen the first cours, the special wasn't all that exciting. But it helps with figuring out Fllay's emotions and feelings better with the more focused version. Of course, that love scene also confirmed what I have been denying between the two. I definitely can't say I enjoyed it as much as the series itself because of the cut-down, but the few new scenes do enhance the experience and background a little bit.

I don't know if I would recommend it to someone who's never watched SEED, though. While it delivers the general direction of the plot, it's simply inadequate and not on the same level as the actual series, not to mention not as deep. So, watch it only after seeing the real thing.

On a side note, whoever made the DVD is really good. To the untrained or inexperienced, it looks almost authentic. Obviously the all region code is a dead giveaway, but it also has another telltale sign: no Bandai sticker or mark anywhere. I found it really ironic how it warns not to infringe on the copyright of the material. *roll eyes*