2nd Gundam series in the UC lineup. Frankly, I am still not quite sure what to make of the whole thing.
I entered the world of Zeta knowing just Kamille's and Four's names and the faces of a few of the women, and that SEED Destiny is supposedly modelled after Zeta to some degree like SEED was after First. Now I'm leaving the world of TV Zeta (the TV series aired in 1985) with names and faces of various characters but not the sense of the world situation. There is still the world of New Zeta (the three New Translation movies from 2005) which I heard are not just rehash and re-edits of the TV series like the three movies for the First Gundam. Hopefully I'll be able to understand Zeta a bit more after watching New Zeta.
The first half of TV Zeta integrated quite a few people from First and showed the changes they went through over the years. It's always fascinating to see Char interacting with the former crew of White Base. Because they used to fight each other so fiercely, they can now understand each other and work together. Yesterday's foe is today's comrade. This is indeed fitting for them. And Kamille seemed to have a older-female-complex (I wouldn't call it Oedipus complex because he didn't feel that way toward his own mother) and it took me quite a while to accept him.
The second half gradually turned chaotic with the addition of Haman's force and Scirocco's movement, which is fine withe me until they started fighting psychically in the literal sense. While the second to last episode made me believe this was what set the tradition(?) of important characters dying before the last episode for the Gundam franchise, I was rather baffled when Kamille/Zeta Gundam started gathering life forces and emotions in the last battle against Scirocco. I think TV Zeta probably predates Dragon Ball Z, but I couldn't help but blurted out "元気玉かよ？！" when I saw it.
I seriously thought Jerid would survive the series, with Jerid becoming something akin to Kamille's best rival, especially seeing how he's lived through so many failed missions and piloted so many different models. Katz not making it was a bit of an upset for me since I saw him as a child in First, and he wasn't even shot down in battle, but having Kamille snapped at the end probably came as the biggest shock. I guess he's relied too much on his New Type psych power and finally overloaded his mind.
Minerva is practically the predecessor of Mariemaia from Endless Waltz, though I didn't expect her to return when Dozle sent his wife and daughter away to safety in First. Seeing how she wasn't shown dead, maybe she'll appear again
While First has a straightforward focus and is very much character-driven, Zeta adopts a multi-facet view, showing the inner workings and conflicts of various forces, and is more plot-driven. The efforts of individual characters, while still significant, aren't as crucial in the grander scale of things in Zeta. As a result, the protagonist Kamille doesn't leave as strong an impression as Amuro.
Beside the ever present New Type motif (and Cyber-New Type in the case of Zeta), the desire to be loved seems to be one of the themes of Zeta. The ratio and frequency of female characters in Zeta may even be the highest out of all the Gundam series, and every single one of these women is a fighter. With the exception of Fa (Fraw and Mirai don't count since they're happily married), almost all the female cast expressed, either openly or implied, their logic on the topic of love, as well as their value as being seen as women. Kamille's development is also heavily shaped by the women around him.
I feel that it took Kamille much longer to become independent because most people around him are experienced adults and both human and material resources weren't lacking, where White Base had to fight through the most difficult situations by itself with nothing but an all-teens green crew before finally joining the Federation force.
Mecha-wise, there's again a few new designs as in First. I like the design of Gundam Mk-II better than Zeta, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Qubeley and Hyaku Shiki. I learned of Qubeley from the SD Gundam games back in the NES days and the one-page manga in SD Gundam model kits, and Hyaku Shiki from the SD Gundam 4-koma manga that I used to read when I was little. I was so intrigued by Qubeley's design that it left quite an impression on me. One day when I finished a chemistry exam early during high school, I decided to start doodling while waiting. The fluid line of its head immediately came to mind and I did a sketch of one of my original creatures based on Qubeley's head design. I also liked the fox form of Bound-Doc.
Originally, I was planning to watch New Zeta after TV Zeta, but I think it might be better if I watch the UC series in the chronological order (yeah, I'll have to re-watch Char's Counterattack now that I have the knowledge of First under my belt, but that'll happen next year). Next in line will be ZZ Gundam!
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