We'll agree that Gundam 00 is unrealistic & it's anime so we can understand. Some of you people might get false idea, so I'll say this after watching all 25 episodes.

The very idea of Celestial Being as an anti-war neutral entity that utilizes only the mecha robots & several space utilities & very little amount of personnel is impossible in reality (or if it exists it'd be completely useless/ineffective). Bandai just wants to sell its plastic models - as was their aim with the original Gundam and all other Gundam series.

We can list thousands of technical reasons why CB wouldn't work or would but here's a very simple one that precedes all others - countries have the right to have war as an option in case it is threatened - not only by military means but also economical, ideological, security, etc.

In other words, if CB succeeded & intervened in all conflicts & Celestial Being became the norm, the countries would change their strategies. They would start attacking each other not through military means but economical, etc. They could make back-room deals & make trade, tech research alliances & isolate specific competing & neighboring countries economically & even technologically. And the victims of such systems wouldn't be able to war in retaliation & they, outnumbered & far too weak themselves to do anything, would remain as victims.

Also, war doesn't have to be just the official militaries of the countries, they could be through the cyber space, terrorism, etc. And definitely Celestial Being cannot prevent those - they simply lack the large number of personnel required.

Gundam 00 falsely assumes that wars are rooted on territorial basis - that is countries go to war to fight for some mineral mines, etc., and also with ideological backing. In fact, that assumption is at least 200 years old. With the coming of the enlightenment, modern age, international law, the information age, the global trade, and the economic laws, there is no need to fight for resources - they can be traded. And even if resources are scarce they don't have to be fought over then - they'll simply be bought at a higher price.

However most of the wars today are not fought between countries for the sake of gaining more land & resources - they're mostly fought by guerillas through terrorism, assassination, etc. well, there's some territorial gain there too but it's not territorial in the sense that a country would occupy another. And definitely there's no heavy machines like destroyers, tanks, and jets involved in those conflicts - and definitely no mecha in the future.

Wow. What an awesome post. While I love Gundam 00 you're absolutely right. Gundam 00 focuses on hypocrisies. You don't fight war with war. However I think for a Sci-Fi story it's the best I've seen come from Anime in a long long time. I really want to post more, but alas I'm short on time today. I'll be back to this topic later though. Again, bravo on this post. It's really well thought out, and very well written.

ZOMG , this is so well thought out , and all of it is true , I like n.n thought in a way its kinda bringing the whole storyline of Gundam 00 down , its alright , cause your right about everything you stated , but this is an anime , like you said its unrealistic , it wouldnt be interesting if they used all those methods used above

and theres many young viewers .. like myself that might not understand those methods and that wouldnt catch the eyes of viewers


anyway , i have to get ready to go somewhere , Excellent post n.n

Thanks - i also like gundam 00 & i'm quite excited about the next season

"Fighting war with war", eh?

I do see the point in suggesting this as hypocrisy; however, I would also like to mention the two world wars and many more conflicts in the world in which some people actually need to stop war with war. Or else, totalitarianism may actually rule the earth for who knows how long?

That is not to say fighting war with war is always justifiable though, especially when people start using the peace slogan and false propaganda to claim their rights to resolve their so-called 'conflicts' and 'threats' when they're actually checking up their list of hidden agendas.

If you enjoy watching Gundam 00 and understanding its theme of 'means justify the ends' or simply war against war, I would suggest you watching Char's Counterattack, Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny and Gundam Wing.

Even though your post is well typed out, you are just stating the obvious. So much infact that I shall hereby adress you as "MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS"
Seriously.
I mean, what exactly are you trying to achieve by typing a small essay stating obvious things?

Sporky

Even though your post is well typed out, you are just stating the obvious. So much infact that I shall hereby adress you as "MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS"

Well some of us dont know those methods [like me] Show a little respect to the guy
As i watched Gundam 00 , i just saw intervention with Gundams to unite the world , i thought it was like you know .. a show showing what we could do to bring about the end of war if we had Gundams [i would so pilot a Gundam if they were real xD]

Many age groups watch this stuff , we dont know everything like you might

Well, I guess this post was aimed mostly for people of younger age who would probably think that something like Celestial Being is possible.

--add--

And it's pretty relevant because of episode 25's ending - the world somehow ends up being united after the Gundams go away

You can't destroy their military & then make them friends

but you could go other way & make them friends, and their militaries might unite as 1 large international force - as 1 result of the many benefits of such global friendship

the whole series is just messed up in how it presents things. it's too sentimental & hopeful in the wrong direction. Setsuna's speech about "wonder why people hurt each other" was so gay.

And it's pretty relevant because of episode 25's ending - the world somehow ends up being united after the Gundams go away

You can't destroy their military & then make them friends

The world forms a federation after their regular armies are all pretty much destroyed, they recieved GN drives from an outside source and then proceeded to almost lose all of those against the gundams. If CB showed them one thing, it's that alone they can't do shit military wise. Besides, who knows what ribbon and his gay looking innovator party arranged in those 3 years.
Stop trying to bring reality in a show that uses mobile suit as a main military unit and magical GN particles that can do anything. It's not trying to be realistic.

i like your words fighting war with war
well...it's bandai first step to another change, i liked it and i did hope it go well

sporky

Stop trying to bring reality in a show that uses mobile suit as a main military unit and magical GN particles that can do anything. It's not trying to be realistic.

Well, well, I won't stop because you tell me. I hope you're aware of that.

You didn't get my point - what compelled me to post these arguments was not that they failed to be realistic - the last episode was just too gay - i feel that they don't have enough room for that when the events in the series aren't logical & realistic

in other words, unrealistic + no gayness = OK...... unrealistic + gayness = not OK.

I hope you are aware that your opinion on the internet is worth shit
In other words you + opinion = ok..... you + gayness + opinion = not ok

Who's supposed to be a gay here.
waks.

well on gundam series, fighting war with war.
on our real world too, fighting war with war. Ughh,

Personally I find the idea of ending war through war intriguing. In fact, I remember what caught my attention the first time I watched the Gundam 00 teaser was its tagline "Rebirth begins through Destruction".

Sure the very though of super robots slugging it out in order to end a war sounds absurd, but ending war via fighting actually highlights philosophically-complex questions that I don't have answers to though. For instance, what should be the appropriate course of action to end conflict? Political leaders have been negotiating for eons & still we see news of conflict erupting in various parts of the world today. If talk is not able to solve the issue of brutality, perhaps sheer affirmative action would?

Thus it is in this light that Celestial Being as a concept comes into play. Of course it is technically impossible to save the world with just a mere handful of people (we are after all living in a post-Power Rangers age). However the very fact that Celestial Being forms the central focus of debate in Gundam 00 points out this central problem we're facing with regards to how humanity should deal with conflict.

And why isn't the notion of countries fighting over natural resources a plausible one? Countries have fought over oil previously; and with the impending food crisis conflicts are already erupting over food in places like Pakistan. So what next? The next World War to be waged over potable water?

Rei0zero

We can list thousands of technical reasons why CB wouldn't work or would but here's a very simple one that precedes all others - countries have the right to have war as an option in case it is threatened - not only by military means but also economical, ideological, security, etc. In other words, if CB succeeded & intervened in all conflicts & Celestial Being became the norm, the countries would change their strategies. They would start attacking each other not through military means but economical, etc. They could make back-room deals & make trade, tech research alliances & isolate specific competing & neighboring countries economically & even technologically. And the victims of such systems wouldn't be able to war in retaliation & they, outnumbered & far too weak themselves to do anything, would remain as victims. Also, war doesn't have to be just the official militaries of the countries, they could be through the cyber space, terrorism, etc. And definitely Celestial Being cannot prevent those - they simply lack the large number of personnel required. Gundam 00 falsely assumes that wars are rooted on territorial basis - that is countries go to war to fight for some mineral mines, etc., and also with ideological backing. In fact, that assumption is at least 200 years old. With the coming of the enlightenment, modern age, international law, the information age, the global trade, and the economic laws, there is no need to fight for resources - they can be traded. And even if resources are scarce they don't have to be fought over then - they'll simply be bought at a higher price. However most of the wars today are not fought between countries for the sake of gaining more land & resources - they're mostly fought by guerillas through terrorism, assassination, etc. well, there's some territorial gain there too but it's not territorial in the sense that a country would occupy another. And definitely there's no heavy machines like destroyers, tanks, and jets involved in those conflicts - and definitely no mecha in the future.

I do applaud your comments reagrding the new nature of war. It can really be through "softer" means, like economic sanctions or trade embargoes. Although I have a different regarding the root of wars. Even in modern times, wars can possibly be viewed as done for the need of resources or ideological differences. The Iraqi war can be seen as a way for American companies to advance their interests in the 2nd biggest oil exporter or a religious war waged by Muslim extremists.

In Southeast Asia, a perennial source of dispute among nations is their mutual claim on the Spratly islands.