he most competent Gundam protagonists in long time. FINALLY,

>>13464924
Stick to AZ

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Hey rager.

>>13464938
Why? Does A/Z have a competent main cast unlike most Gundam?

>>13464989
Yes, he's super competent.
Never whines.

>>13464991
This he's chirico done right desu

What was this pasta originally from? An ANN review?

>>13464924
I wanted a 28 year old protagonist or older.

>>13464991
More like done wrong. He's more like a dog.

>>13465026
>I can only fap to self-inserts my age
Fuck off, grandpa.

>>13465026
Watch Gundam AGE, not exactly same as your wish but closest one.

Lol desu senpai

>>13465026
Shiro was one of the oldest gundam protagonists, but one of the least mature

>children doing things is badass

nice pasta

>>13464924
Mikazuki is scum. Pretty much on the level of a street thug or cartel killer

>>13465014
This one's youtube I think senpai

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>>13468604
>senpai

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So far, Kudelia feels more the protagonist of this show than Mika does. The whole plot and conflict so far is centered around her. She is the face of the independence movement. Tekkadan are there to protect her. Gjallarhorn is after her. She's also the character who's had the most development and focus on so far. At the moment, she is most important character. Orga is close in that he's been behind most of the actual action being taken place, he still has less focus than Kudelia. Either way, the captain and "peace princess" feel far more important than the actual Gundam pilot.

We've got the hint at Mika's past between him and Orga but that's about it. Otherwise, he's so far basically as much of a killer robot as the Gundam itself is. Orga pilots Mika, who basically IS the Gundam. We could replace Mika with of one of other orphans nothing so far would really change. Well, I take that back. If Akihito piloted the Gundam, we'd actually understand our hero's fierce loyalty to Orga. And if Eugene were the Gundam pilot, we'd have tension between the him and Orga like we usually have Gundam pilots and captain at odds with each other. And if Biscuit were the Gundam pilot, we'd have very clear reasons and motivations for him to be fighting because of his family and that'd actually create a bigger theme of the Tekkadan as a family. Basically, all the other main boys have flavor to them other than "dude who shoots people in cold blood and strangles strangers."

But we're still early into the show. And I very much want to be proven wrong here. They still have time to make me give a rat's ass about Mika. Hehe, at least give me a reason why Atra cares about him so much. I'm guessing/hoping exploring his relationships/pasts with Atra and Otra are how he's gonna get more fleshed out later on. I'm used to characters with mystery about them, but it just feels weird that so far it feels like Mika only exists so we can revel in his violence.

>>13468913
This guy gets it. Don't get me wrong though, I do like Mika. It's refreshing to have a Gundam pilot who isn't whining "STOP FIGHTING" all the time. He makes me think of what Setsuna should have been; a child soldier forced to fight to the point where fighting is all he knows. And with the Alaya Vinjana system, he's an even BETTER candidate for "becum gendum". He's a robot piloting a robot, and I really hope his characterization starts to fan out to show him becoming less of a cold-blooded killer and more passionate about protecting Tekkadan and the people he cares for. He already tried to choke the shit out of a guy he thought ran over Cookie and Cracker, which shows he has at least a little compassion for other characters. We're only on episode 6 so far though, so there's at least 2/3 of a series left to reach that point and I'm hopeful that the writers aren't just making him edgy for the sake of it.

>>13464924
OP cannot even into English.

>>13468619
Seems like you got a problem with it desu senpai

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>>13468951
>It's refreshing to have a Gundam pilot who isn't whining "STOP FIGHTING" all the time
We've had that 3 Gundam shows in a row now. And even within the franchise only SEED and AGE were notable offenders so it's hardly uncommon.

>>13468951
I'm still not sure if the choking was about notGarma almost running cookie and cookie over or if Mika thought it was some "hey there little girlie..." kind of thing. Cookie or Cracker saying it's not what you think throws me off a bit.

>>13464924
Coppypasta from Road to Orphans comment section

>>13468967
Bellri was probably the only instance of "Stop fighting" done right in recent times. He actually killed people when he tried to fire warning shots. It's really a small detail, but I found it a lot more realistic than 100% disable rate we got in Wing, SEED, and AGE.

>>13468913
The real problem with Kudelia being MC is she may as well be a wet rag, a rich wet rag but that's about it

All she does is fail, act upset or be explained to. These are the only states she has been in (sometimes a mixture) in 5 episodes. The always being explained to is especially bad as she was meant to be an expert on this and leader of a movement. She didn't even know what they used corn for or that you need a bit of tact around some people. Street rats like Mika can have long well worded speeches on topics she has no idea about

>But anon that is meant to help show her later growth!
And it is being handled poorly. Usually when doing that as the main focus they will show a flash of competency or skill to say hey maybe one day they will do good. Even Sailor Moon, Usagi will fuck up whatever for most of the episode but by the end is able to take on the bad guy usually using a concept learnt. Kudelia's version of that is giving out money and being weak willed at naked guys on web cams

>>13464924
I like the show, but uhh...
Wait a second, this is just copypasted from a Youtube comment. Yep, just read this one earlier today.
You silly geese.

>>13469020
On the other hand, Mika is too perfect and flawless for me to give much of a shit about him. Best piloting skills because he lucked out with three implants, unwavering loyalty to Orga, deep companionship to the rest of his allies, two girls already want his dick, one of which barely met him and all he did was act nice to her after scolding her naivete.

Yeah, Amuro/Kamille/Judau/Uso did whine a lot. But that made them compelling because it showed weaknesses and flaws in them, especially when they overcame it later on. At the moment, I'm not even sure how or why I should care about Mika.

>>13469048
Did Uso really do that much whining?

He probably had the biggest reason to considering he dealt with the most traumatic bullshit and had the most responsibility placed on him, but he seemed to take it in stride considering his situation.

>>13469048
>On the other hand, Mika is too perfect and flawless for me to give much of a shit about him.
Exactly. He doesn't even have a creepy vibe (apart from the strangling) that Setsuna had, he seems pretty well adjusted to life with the orphans and can handle social interaction. He is mostly just sort of nice, which in writing means your character is bland

Mika has little to grow at unless he loses Orga and starts to have a problem with killing, these are the only things that would cause him some serious conflict. They haven't spent enough time developing his and Orga's relationship (they have like 3 scenes of talking and it isn't very brotherly) but it would work. Not killing really depends, this may be another 08th where pilot who has been fighting for years suddenly does a complete 180 or it might be a more stable stop making me kill you.

>>13469020
I never said she actually was the protag or that she was intended to be.

I said that she's far more important to the show than Mika is.

Damn it, now I wish they could have had her pilot the Gundam or a Graze. That'd be fucking awesome.

>>13469720
Kudelia and Aida are a depressing reminder that /m/ is only capable of judging characters by whether or not they killed a bunch of people in a mecha.

If Kudelia were exactly the fucking same but killed a bunch of people in a mecha their approval rating would wildly rise.

>>13469780
Oh no, don't get me wrong. Kudelia is the best part of the show for me so far. It's just that I don't expect her role to really allow her to do much. Hopefully she can get in a few more speeches at least. I liked the first one, but I'm hoping we can get something a bit more memorable and longer.

>>13469780
>If Kudelia were exactly the fucking same but had done something their approval rating would wildly rise.
Fixed

She is fucking useless in general, she can't cut a fucking cucumber up. She isn't strong enough to pull some corn off the stock and instead falls over. The most she has done is asked one guy for money and she was still weak willed in that scene

>>13469780
Well yeah, its a mecha show fighting is expected of the major movers and shakers. I'm just not as interested in watching Kudelia being useless, and being the audience surrogate when there's some exposition. Yeah she's a bit more fleshed out than the average peace princess, but at this point she's still a plot device without her own agency.

>>13469048
>>13469070
Maybe you're supposed to look at his complete dependence on Orga for any important decisions and his efficient brutality and make assumptions based on that instead of him doing stereotypically creepy things or kicking puppies in his spare time to spell it out in giant neon letters for you.

>>13469816
She's a fucking politician, what do you expect her to do?

Wow, she helped weld a mobile worker back together, now she's a much better character with real value!

>>13469780
Gotta disagree. Kudelia's character would be utterly shallow if she was behaving exactly the same but had a double-digit kill count. It would also cheapen the skills of the Tekkadan kids if even a pampered aristocrat could just jump in and start battling without having gone through what they've been through.

>>13469070
>another 08th where pilot who has been fighting for years suddenly does a complete 180
You might want to re-watch the first episode of 08th, Shiro was fresh out of the academy and that was his first combat role.

>>13469824
>She's a fucking politician
Oh I forgot that made you useless at every other task imaginable. Good thing that being a politician and higher class she'll have a decent education and be knowledgeable about a lot of topics, oh wait every character has to explain stuff to her.

A character being completely useless makes them annoying

>>13469822
>his complete dependence on Orga
hasn't made him do anything bad apart from kill people who ran a child soldier business with some as slaves

> efficient brutality
He isn't really that brutal, Mika seems to go for fast kills which if you have to fight is better really. He's in kill or be killed situations and used to it

>>13469826
I think you might want to rewatch it. He was at the Side 2 gassing in a combat role and was a Feddie. He undertook more training after

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>>13469831
>oh wait every character has to explain stuff to her.
That's the "audience surrogate" part at work. If the show didn't have the need to explain things to us, they wouldn't be using Kudelia as an excuse to info-dump stuff.

At the very fucking least, she's a more tolerable audience surrogate than this moron.

I wish this show didn't feel so incredibly bland.

>>13469843
>That's the "audience surrogate" part at work
And that doesn't make her a good character plus she isn't the only one to receive info dumps which the show is generally sloppy about

Being a rich leader of the resistance movement who has done many speeches on it is not a smart character for a surrogate. The audience can't relate to her, this is why those types of characters are usually a joe nobody type

>>13469816
>She is fucking useless in general, she can't cut a fucking cucumber up
And Mikazuki can't read. Her character is a contrast to the Tekkadan kids. She has had a comparatively very easy life and is on a quest to improve their political stature. They have had a very hard life and are trying to simply survive. The things they do to get by are problems she's never faced in her life, including cooking her own food.
But she is also familiar with the entire political structure in a way that none of them are. She not only knows the heirarchy and beaurocrats but she has an agenda to improve their lives in ways that they simply cannot see because they're so preoccupied with survival that the long term effects of political policy changes are beyond their rationale. While Orga is playing the chessmaster in combat, Kudelia will be instrumental in identifying who their enemies really are. Even at this point, Orga is still looking at the mission to get her to earth as "our first real job". Without her pushing the political agenda, the Tekkadan will live the rest of their lives selling themselves the exact same way that their former masters sold them because they know nothing else.

>>13469843
Saji isn't an audience surrogate for everyone, just a token japanese wish fullfilment character with a blonde western girlfriend

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>>13469850
>this is why those types of characters are usually a joe nobody type
...and then you end up with Saji. Do I have to remind you what Mizushima and Kuroda ended up doing with him?

>>13469831
>Good thing that being a politician and higher class she'll have a decent education and be knowledgeable about a lot of topics, oh wait every character has to explain stuff to her.
I'm going to assume you went through high school as well but if I threw you into a metalworks factory you would have to be explained everything from the ground up. Or a farm. Or a FUCKING MERCENARY GROUP.

Seriously, where do you expect Kudelia to show her prowess? Have we been in debates with the Gjallarhorn officials now? Taken to court?

>>13469831
>Good thing that being a politician and higher class she'll have a decent education and be knowledgeable about a lot of topics

Yes, I am absolutely sure that a pampered little girl who has lived every year of her short life in the lap of luxury, whose primary skills are bankrolling and talking to delegates, who probably hasn't done a single day of hard, honest work in her life outside of lobbying, knows all about working with mercenaries and dealing with military corporations.

>>13469854
>And Mikazuki can't read.
Yet he is brilliant at everything else including large well thought out monologues on quite a few subjects. Pretty stupid to give your uneducated character that role

> She has had a comparatively very easy life
And we get that episode 1 yet they drill it in every single scene she is part of. They don't need to show she is completely useless at everything outside breathing, the point had been well made and repeating it for 5 episodes gets very old

>But she is also familiar with the entire political structure in a way that none of them are.
This is something the show hasn't shown at all. When getting money she is completely weak willed. The naked man she is talking to (if that already didn't show no respect) takes over the conversation and decides on the deal. Despite apparently doing speeches on how bad everything is she has to rely on on everyone else top explain it all to her, this is meant to be her topic yet she knows literally nothing about it. She doesn't even seem to be a good speaker as her voice is constantly quaking. They have completely failed to establish her skill at this.

>>13469860
see >>13469856 and also it is pretty stupid to say this one character did it badly so all are. Not all peace princesses are terrible cause Kudelia is

>>13469868
She is meant to have done speeches about the poor state Mars s in which would include the economy, businesses and war. Yes Politicians are meant to know some shit about this even if it is just bullet points but she has shown complete ignorance

>>13469842
He was there, and he was in a normal suit, but didn't even fire his weapon, and the G3 gas was a sneak attack at the very start of the war. Where (if anywhere) is it stated that he was there in a combat role?

>>13469873
Because politicians have more than just surface knowledge of subjects they speak about, right.

>>13469874
>but didn't even fire his weapon
this suddenly means he is a non combatant? No he was and seen the worst that Zeon can be, like fuck one chick is going to make him do a 180

>>13469877
She doesn't even have surface level, she is completely ignorant on all topics despite apparently doing enough speeches to be the face of revolution.

Maybe she just got her tits out at all the speeches causes she doesn't have the words to fill them

>>13469873
>This is something the show hasn't shown at all.
That's probably mostly due to the fact that she hasn't been at a negotiating table or in a forum. She is stated to be a well known and fairly central figure in the debate for Mars independence, so it's kind of ignorant to assume she doesn't know the politicians involved in the matter.

>>13469881
every movement needs a figurehead.

>>13469881
>she is completely ignorant on all topics

>I am a politician, therefore I know everything about war and all its assorted horrors

That's pretty dumb, really.

>>13469879
>this suddenly means he is a non combatant?
Keep reading until you get to the part where combat had NOT STARTED until that point because that was the famous Three Second Warning at the very beginning of Zeon's offensive. Prior to that there was only the attempted fed occupation of Side 6 being fought off by Zeon forces.
Then think of a new reply and try again.

>>13469882
Its difficult to show how a politician can impact the story without fighting, and its even more boring to watch and get interested in. Even LoGH has plenty of action.

>>13469882
Any chance the show has given to explain this stuff people have explained it to her or she has not been present. This isn't a 50 episode series but 25/6, invent a reason in the story for her to show some konwledge at least

>>13469885
You don't send figureheads alone to a debate which could change the whole way the revolution is going

>>13469895
>Any chance the show has given to explain this stuff
What stuff are you referring to? Cooking? Combat? The self-sacrificing mindset of a child soldier?
Because her area of knowledge is the political arena and no one has explained any politics to her. Why do you think she doesn't understand politics just because she's never chopped cucumbers?

>>13469888
>I'm a politician and I know nothing, not even how to cook my own food

That's pretty dumb, really.

>>13469916

Well, yeah, I doubt she'd know anything about combat or child soldiers, and hence I don't think she'd have a magic hat of knowledge from which to pull relevant information on those subjects.

And, you know, when you're born with a silver spoon lodged in your mouth, you'd be surprised by how even the act of cooking is an afterthought when you have your affluence or your servants to do your work for you.

>>13469881
Bring back Relena!

>>13469910
>What stuff are you referring to
Multiple scenes have Mika explain stuff about war to her in great detail that she has no idea bout. The one that especially sticks out is in the fields where she barely knows the price of anything or that biofuel is a thing. She has never been allowed to show any knowledge.

>Because her area of knowledge is the political arena
Politics to do with why Mars is shitty and needs freedom from the earth, why the wars happening are bad and why the planet is being choked dry. This IS her topic, she should be at least able to hold a conversation on it. I seriously have no idea what she could have filled her speeches with or what she was planning to talk to earth about cause apparently she has no idea about any of it

Being rich =/= completely cut off from every aspect of the world, especially when your job is knowing about that world

>>13469916
THIS

>>13469931
>Being rich =/= completely cut off from every aspect of the world, especially when your job is knowing about that world

One glance at most politicians in the real world would call bullshit on that.

>>13469916
>I've always had other people cook for me
What is your job, anon, and do you know how to make flour?
Have you ever even baked your own bread or do you just buy it?

>>13469822
It isn't being portrayed as a negative dependence yet. He still goes through motions and makes decisions on his own, and lets Orga decide for the more bigger ones. At the moment, it can be seen as just a really deep trust between friends who have helped each other survive for as long as they have.

Basically, until Orga actually orders Mika to do something against his will, or morally questionable, there is nothing to indicate his dependence is a bad thing, or even if he's that dependent at all. For his part too, Orga doesn't seem manipulative of the fact that Mika depends on him, or even acknowledge that it is a thing, since he still asks for Mika's input.

>>13469931
She's a motivational speaker who's being paid for by the current ruling class in order to tell them that they're right and awesome and just, as far as we can tell. She's a local media personality, not a politician.

Her utter lack of awareness about any issue strongly points towards that at least.

All she can do on Earth is talk about the children and hope that her audience is made up of US Americans.

>>13470130
Make her a pilot instead, that would be way more interesting.

>>13470130
>She's a local media personality, not a politician.
Not only are you wrong but if you were right then her being sent to earth to try and convince them why they should join the movement. She is being sent as a delegate on a political mater and the show has made that clear

>strongly points towards that at least.
oh you are bullshitting

>>13470137

Is that sarcasm?

>>13470139
The show also made clear that direct negotiatons between delegates of Mars and the ruling body on Earth are in fact illegal.

They literally can't send an actual politician with an actual function if they feel like being heard in any way, which is why Kudelia is getting this shot.

>>13470230
>are in fact illegal.
Cause that would stop a revolutionary movement trying to over throw who is running their shit? Even if they acted that way, you wouldn't send a celebrity that doesn't actually know anything and couldn't debate them to reach a satisfactory agreement. They would just lose out if they did that

you are still bullshitting

>>13470238
It was never said that Earth politicians can't directly contact martian delegates, just that direct contact initiated by martian delegates are extralegal.

So, if Kudelia can just rattle down her well-worn program and impress enough Earthlings to get some of them to open negotiations with the Martians, it was well worth it. And if that doesn't work, her financer pretty much said that they'll just turn her into a fireball upon re-entry and try for a general uprising in order to force open those channels.

She isn't supposed to come to an agreement, she isn't legally capable of even holding direct talks as a martian representative on Earth, but that's apparently not what she's supposed to do in the first place.

The impression I get from Kudelia is that she is setup by the backers of the independence movement to be the Face of the movement to be martyred so people can really get behind it.

So they get a Girl from an upper class family that is basically all talk and a pretty face for the people to rally behind and have that be oh so tragic that she dies.

With the Gundam preventing the attempt on her life and going on to further protect her, that throws a wrench into those martyrdom plans.

So she will forced to grow beyond the useless girl and take real political action.

tl;dr the whole point of her character is to be useless to start with and to grow beyond being a political face.

>>13469938
>New Mexico isn't a state!

>>13469938
That reminds of some British politician, may have been the PM or Mayor of London that had a photo taken of him eating a fucking hotdog with a knife and fork, highlighting the disconnect between politicians and their people.

>>13470284

This.

I don't think the majority of people here realize that the guys in power ACTUALLY wanted Kudelia to fucking die, so an uprising would begin.

Problem is, she is not dead, and the Tekkadan boys are getting dangerous.

>>13470534
>highlighting the disconnect between politicians and their people.

...Because he was eating a hotdog with knife and fork?

Seriously, who the fuck cares?

>>13470486
This is the same copypasta used for Assehime

>>13470593
What?

>>13470556
>guys in power ACTUALLY wanted Kudelia to fucking die, so an uprising would begin.
you mean the enemy and her traitor dad, not anyone on the mars side

>>13464991
Too bad he is so devoid of personality that his robot eyeball is able to take over his body. For me that was the moment that turned the series into the average anime fodder.

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>>13468967
>you dare insult my nee-sama!? eat anti-matter, faggot!
>ohmahgerd Bellri, what are you doing?
>don't worry nee-sama, it's only at 30%!
Fucking Bellri.

>>13470724

It's worth stating that I was immensely disappointed by that. I was completely certain that Inaho's eye would go:

> "TARGET DETECTED. ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."

And he would shoot the princess in the face. Like, the Earth guys want the princess dead - But they don't do anything WITH the eye.

>>13464989
dont watch the second season anon
youve been warned

>>13472938
>ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL
Which is funny since it reminded me of Shepard's pointless "dangerous upgrades" from ME2 and ME3

>>13470698
Apparently Nobliss, the guy who provided the money for Tekkadan to be Kudelia's bodyguards, also would have paid money to Coral for getting her killed. Her #1 backer is setting her up.

>>13470724
The eyeball had more personality than Inaho.

>>13474027
when was that said?

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>>13470284
WRONG

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>>13464924
Let it crash and burn

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>>13469931
>This IS her topic, she should be at least able to hold a conversation on it
>>13469895
>Any chance the show has given to explain this stuff people have explained it to her or she has not been present
THERE.
She finally explained something to someone. HER topic, no less.
You happy bunny now?

>>13477418
Now she just needs to make herself useful

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>>13474065

>>13469018
>Wing
>100% Disable Rate

Plenty of people got killed in Wing, the Gundam pilots never really tried toavoid killing, excluding the movie ... and even then Heero screws that up by blowing up an ass load of Serpents when he shows up at the bunker.

>>13477624
Pretty sure he meant that each shot the heroes fired resulted in the enemy losing a mobile suit. Not that each grunt pilot walked away from it.

>>13477648
No he didn't. If he meant that he would be mentioning a shitload more series. He was talking about suits being disabled without killing the pilot. That happened in Endless Waltz, when Freedom was around and when AGE FX was around. I don't know why he left out 00S1. That's what Celestial Being was doing most of the time and Micheal Trinity thought they were stupid for it.

>>13470588
It's a symbolic thing. Politics is showmanship, remember?