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The Most (And Least) Relatable Gundam Heroes


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Valhern



Joined: 19 Jan 2015
Posts: 916
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:56 am Reply with quote
So far I've watched only the Gundam 0079 movies and half of Zeta, and having it fresh on my memory I do admit that I was kinda wtf'ed by Kamille (which sounds like a great name btw) being thrown into the war because Jerid said it was a girly name. However, I really started liking him when the mini arc of his parents kicked in, at that time I could actually get in his shoes a little bit, and the story with Four Murasame was very cool to watch. There is some sort of paralell with Amuro but in Amuro's favour, the deal with his parents was more important by the start and made much more sense.

And as far as I counted, at least five people punch or slap him in the face: Quattro, Bright, Emma, the chinese inversor guy and I think Reccoa was another, either her or some other woman. Don't recall if Amuro hit him too, but probably so, in two episodes of Fa piloting a mobile suit she gets slapped like three times lol
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DuelGundam2099



Joined: 07 Dec 2014
Posts: 533
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:59 am Reply with quote
The article wrote:
Kira sure spends a lot of time decimating his enemies.

Nice inaccuracy you got there, ever since he got the Freedom Kira's kill count was a total of 3 (Calamity's pilot, Rau, and Stella) and it has been confirmed throughout both series the guy intentionally does NOT kill. Did Lauren not remember what happen in SEED and Destiny? Also

>unrelatable
>Murderzuki not number 1
>Not including Loran
>including Kamille
>Duo implied to be decent when he was the only unlikable guy in Wing's cast
>Shiro included among relatables
>but not Judau or Uso

This is also ignoring how relatability =/= good, but that's a topic for another day.
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2623
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:04 pm Reply with quote
I 100% disagree on Kamille Bidan. He stared off as an angsty bitch, sure, but he had a point after his mother got murder after a few ep. Change him to his mirror image Shinn Asuka and you would have a perfect flop 3. He even lost his anime midway though Laughing !
Good on you for putting Jesus Yamato as the No.1 pick. That pile utter trash, where do i even start? "His" return was one of the 2 good things about Cross Misogyny though (Vivi is the other).


Last edited by residentgrigo on Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:08 pm; edited 3 times in total
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hack5



Joined: 09 Jun 2015
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:05 pm Reply with quote
This list is BS, i know its the writer opinion but....... I have no words for this list just BS
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Gundam as always been one of those series I wanted to get into and never got around to so what little experience I have is nil although I can say I agree with Heero being in the unrelatable category for what little of Gundam Wing I have seen. As far as relatable protagonists I'd have to throw my chips in with Quatre Raberba Winner from Gundam Wing
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rpgothic



Joined: 03 May 2006
Posts: 27
Location: UK
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:17 pm Reply with quote
Oddly enough, the gundam character I most relate to is Kira Yamato, I no where near any level of perfect, but I relate more to his emotional state during the series, the reasons to fight would be more my reasons and plus the freedom is an awesome mobile suit

The character I relate to the least and actually is my most hated anime character is Shinn Asuka, I find him a vile violent arrogant prat who seems to win everything and be invincible, he happily kills people and takes pride in it
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2623
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:24 pm Reply with quote
Now to my top 5, anime only: Amuro Ray Novel trilogy version is the secret No.1, as the tv version is "further down". The The Origin take would be No.4.
1) Kamille Bidan He got immediately justified the moment his mother got murder in front of him and he should have stayed brain dead.
2) Üso Ewin Victory is my favorite tv Gundam after Zeta and highly misunderstood. Come @ me.
3) Kou Uraki A very realistic take on a soldier caught between a rock and a hard place.
4) Loran Cehack He was slightly bland (on purpose) and i would have liked to see the original female version. Stop being sexist Sunrise!
5) Setsuna F. Seiei Heero (dat name) done right. Slightly uneven writing and the film messed with him though.
Honorable mentions: Bernard Wiseman + Daryl Lorenz Poor guys. Technically protagonists but actually anti-villains.
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CaRoss



Joined: 11 Nov 2014
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:41 pm Reply with quote
This was an interesting list, with a lot of well thought out explanations.

For me personally, I find a lot more of the side-character pilots more relatable than the heroes. Though there are a couple of the heroes that I do root for completely (such as the aforementioned Sei, as well as Turn A Gundam's Loran).

That said, here's my list of most relatable and least relatable.

Relatable (in no order):

1. Athrun Zala: While Seed is given a lot of flack, and I do mean a lot, there are most definitely some bright spots and Athrun drives most, if not all, of them. His position on the Zaft side, and his role as the deuteraginist, helped give him more chances to stand above and beyond many of the other characters, but it was his personality, and his desire to do what was right for his people (which drives him through both Seed and Destiny) was wonderful and made him the hero to root for throughout both series.

2. Allelujah Haptism: I'll get this out of the way now, but I really like the pilots of many of the transforming mobile suits. As a fan of Macross (I do rank that franchise a little higher than Gundam when it comes to mecha series) this alone can invest me in a character. Allelujah's background, and entire character arc over the course of 00, however, is what really appeals and makes him relatable; spoiler[ as does his relationship with another super soldier-esque candidate and the ending to their story as they leave to find their place in the world.]

3. Loran Cehack: When I started Turn A Gundam, I didn't really expect much from Loran, but over the course of the series, he grew on me and really proved to be a relatable protagonist. Torn between his feelings for both the world he came from and the one he was adopted into, his actions throughout make it very hard not to root for him.


Least Relatable:

1. Shinn Asuka: While I can understand the distaste leveled at Kira, and Kamille, no one, and I mean no one, has turned out to be a worse, less relatable, protagonist than Destiny's Shinn. Despite having valid reasons to be angsty and frustrated with life, his actions from the start of the series, up until the last few episodes (where they do a half-hearted job of trying to "redeem" him) are horrible and go beyond just someone lashing out. He's practically a megalomaniac all on his own.

2. Mikazuki Augus: As this whole thing is about relatable and least relatable, I thought I'd include Mikazuki on here. Despite greatly enjoying Iron-Blooded Orphans, there's something about the series protagonist that just doesn't click and make him relatable. He's not an atrocity of a character like Shinn is (far, far from it), but he doesn't have the traits that have made other heroes/pilots in the franchise relatable to me.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5514
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:44 pm Reply with quote
Honestly, feeling related to any of the Gundam pilots is an implausibility for me because they are characters in a fantasy setting. My answer is no, I don't relate to any of the Gundam pilots because I have never been to space, I am not a newtype and my father did not develop a mobile suit.

And I know that Lauren is ANN's expert to everything Gundam-related, but most of the times I find myself thinking that she simply does not relate with the opinions of the Gundam fandom at large. Heck, I don't always agree with penguintruth, but to me he/she is more of a Gundam expert than Ms. Orsini.
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CaRoss



Joined: 11 Nov 2014
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:54 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:

And I know that Lauren is ANN's expert to everything Gundam-related, but most of the times I find myself thinking that she simply does not relate with the opinions of the Gundam fandom at large. Heck, I don't always agree with penguintruth, but to me he/she is more of a Gundam expert than Ms. Orsini.


And why is that? What makes Lauren's knowledge of Gundam lesser? What opinions of the Gundam fandom at large does she not click with?
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Tenebrae



Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 492
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:20 pm Reply with quote
Unsurprisingly, Jesus Yamato tops the unrelatables list. I might place him even higher, if that were somehow possible.

edit - Right, Shinn really ought to be on the list as well. Whenever I think of the character, I can only imagine the screenshot of his poorly drawn, screaming face.


Last edited by Tenebrae on Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 872
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:20 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:
Honestly, feeling related to any of the Gundam pilots is an implausibility for me because they are characters in a fantasy setting. My answer is no, I don't relate to any of the Gundam pilots because I have never been to space, I am not a newtype and my father did not develop a mobile suit.

And I know that Lauren is ANN's expert to everything Gundam-related, but most of the times I find myself thinking that she simply does not relate with the opinions of the Gundam fandom at large. Heck, I don't always agree with penguintruth, but to me he/she is more of a Gundam expert than Ms. Orsini.


Your basically saying that her opinion is invalid because it doesn't match the popular one or your opinion Rolling Eyes I also don't understand not being able to relate to a character due to it being a fantasy setting.You have your characters act like real people,and make the audience care for them through the conflicts they face.Don't have them act like weirdos with no emotion to anything.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
Posts: 4633
Location: New York
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:56 pm Reply with quote
Domon is a bit of an odd one to relate to on the surface. While a lot of the pilots are kids thrust into a war, he's a Kung Fu master who can catch bullets and do all this amazing stuff. And yet he's socially awkward, has to grow out of being a jerk, and his meetings with people become more natural and gradual. So yeah, all those qualities make him a far more relatable and likable protagonist than Kira Yamato.
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H. Guderian



Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:10 pm Reply with quote
I think Kamile's fine. When was the last time there was a nerdy kid with actual anger issues as the lead? Not in a joking sense. I mean we usually joke 'that character has anger issues' as some sort of attack against a weak character. Kamile fully lashes out, and when his family is imploding he doesn't censor himself. Kid's got issues, so i can relate to some of that. And yeah, someone defended Rainbow-Laser-Spam Kira by saying "He's not perfect, he only always wins except when he had to kill a few of the bad guys. He's perfect by perfectly not killing." Like the point of Kira in Destiny was he showed up to change the plot with rainbow colored beam spam, because he kept a fully maintained Gundam in his basement. These things run on nuclear power. Kira is also now a nuclear engineer.

Another commenter says Shin is less relatable than Kira. Keep in mind Kira is a redo of Amuro, and Shin is a redo of Kamile. When you look at it through that lens you can find how sort the SEED/Destiny characters fall short.

As to the person that mentioned Mikazuki, I think he's unrelatable on purpose. When I watched IBO I had a good sense Orga was always a bit afraid of the guy. Even his best friend in the show can't relate to him. Think he's unrelatable on purpose.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3450
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:31 pm Reply with quote
I find it weird you place Amuro in the likable but Kira in the unlikable because he's good at everything. Both of them are unnaturally good at absolutely everything, except Kira is because he's been geneticly engineered that way (which shape his relationship with others) and Amuro is because he's "mystical" and stuff (which I find far less interesting).

And I dunno about good with the ladies, Fray wasn't exactly in love with Kira, kinda the opposite actually.

Oh and, Maybe Kamille get better over the series, but I'll never be able to get there for how thoroughly unlikable he is.
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