Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Volume 9

“Die already – you bastard!” Shinn Asuka to Kira Yamato above Orb.

Spoiler Alert! In spite of my best intentions, as this series reaches its penultimate volume, beware, there may be spoilers ahead…

It’s disappointing – especially after the cliff-hanger ending of Phase 40 – to find that the first episode on this disc ‘Refrain’ is little more than another retrospective. Featuring first Athrun and then Kira, we are treated to their reflections on what has happened to them thus far – when what we really want is to see what’s happening in the desperate battle to protect Orb.

But once ‘Refrain’ is over, there is a sense that everything is building towards a decisive confrontation at last. In Phases 42 and 43 the Archangel and the Minerva converge at Orb, where the battle to find Djibril is in full swing.

So it’s Captain Talia Gladys pitted against Captain Murrue Ramius as the Minerva takes on the Archangel again. In the sky above Orb, Shinn attacks Cagalli who is desperately defending Orb in her father’s legacy, the golden Akatsuki. These episodes deliver exactly what Gundam SEED does best: thrilling battles and aerial duels, with Gundams scything through the skies like avenging angels. And because we have come to care about the pilots on both sides of the conflict, these duels are doubly nerve-racking – because we know that not everyone can emerge unscathed. When Kira comes to Cagalli’s rescue, he is attacked not by one but two Gundams, piloted by Shinn and Rey za Burrell.

Chairman Durandal gets the false Lacus Clyne to broadcast to the world – but the broadcast is interrupted by the real Lacus who has decided that this is the moment to call Durandal’s bluff.

And what of the cause of all this chaos and slaughter? Lord Djibril has escaped from Orb in the confusion, making for space. His trump card, the Requiem or ‘Inter-Orbital Omni-Directional Strategic Cannon,’ a weapon of horrific scope and power which he plans to use to defeat Durandal by destroying Aprilius, the capital of the PLANTS. Suddenly the emphasis from the battle on earth shifts to space as the Minerva is sent to destroy Djibril and the cannon. “This mission is of the utmost difficulty for us,” said Captain Gladys to her pilots, Lunamaria, Shinn and Rey, “but failure is not an option.” Can they put an end to Djibril’s obscene plan before it’s too late?

It’s good to see Cagalli no longer vacillating, but acting like a true leader as she takes back control of Orb – and also to see Lunamaria given a leading role in the desperate bid to destroy Djibril’s Requiem. It’s become more evident as the series continues that the young women – from the two rival captains to Lacus Clyne – prove some of the strongest and most stable characters, while their male counterparts do the soul-searching and agonising as to what is the right thing to do.

One significant question underlying ‘Gundam SEED Destiny’ has been not so much the theme of the first series, ‘who has the greater right to exist, the Naturals or the Coordinators?’ but ‘who is really pulling the strings?’ And embodying the viewer’s confusion is Shinn Asuka, now a member of Faith, convinced by Chairman Durandal that he is fighting the good fight against the forces of evil, yet increasingly afflicted by doubts as the situation becomes more complex. Durandal has proved one of the more interesting and complex characters in the series. Where his arch-rival Djibril is portrayed as utterly unsympathetic, heartlessly deserting his fellow members of Logos when the going gets tough, and ready to wipe out anyone – or any nation – who dares to thwart his ambitions, the discovery of Durandal’s Destiny Plan reveals a man who, ultimately, is prepared to be as ruthless as his enemy in the achieving of his aims. A pity, then, that English voice actor Ted Cole has given the game away a little too soon by overdoing his silkily persuasive tones; his performance screams, ‘Insincere!’ On the other hand, when Durandal is faced with Djibril’s act of atrocity, the genuine anger in his voice is more telling than all his suave political speeches. Interesting to note that Shuuichi Ikeda, who portrays Durandal in the original version, was the voice of Char Aznable – a sure giveaway of Durandal’s true character for Gundam aficionados.  

Juggling a large cast of characters (some of whom like Dearka and Ysak Joule have reappeared from the first series ‘Gundam Seed’) requires considerable dexterity and narrative skill. And at a time when there are already multiple viewpoints in play, it sometimes feels at this stage as if the main thrust of the story is in danger of fragmenting into too many viewpoints.  

In Summary
So why 8 out of 10? Because, in spite of the caveats above, ‘Gundam SEED Destiny’ still delivers an exciting, high-octane mecha adventure as it hurtles towards what will inevitably be a searing final confrontation.