Donald F
From what I heard, Gundam Seed is essentially a remake of Gundam Uno. Gundam Seed Destiny starts out as a remake of Gundam Seed, disguised as a sequel. The suits may be different, and we have new characters, but too much is familiar. Athrun is back with ZAFT and fighting against Kira, Kira is still trying to force peace, the Earth Federation is as evil as ever, and is still using drugged psychopaths. The action is better, but we still spend more than enough time on the cruiser, with characters not strong enough to warrant the time spent.Finally, Destiny begins to pick up. Kira's interventions are only making the battlefield chaotic. Shin loses a friend and a lover (you don't believe either relationship, but regardless...) and swears revenge. Shin is developing, and Kira is no longer a perfect hero. He's like an anime Superman, powerful and virtuous, but narrow-minded and immature. In retrospect, his fight with Rau is (un)intentional genius. Rau argues humans will never learn to live with each other, and Kira can say nothing to debunk him. He believes in doing the right thing, no matter what. And because of this, Shin kills him.Just kidding. Kira "Jesus" Yamato is just as explosionproof as he was in Seed.After that peak, the show rapidly descends downhill. Oh, its still copying Seed, but now the writers no longer give a crap. Relationships are forced, characters do 180s, and plot-twists come out of nowhere. Worst of all, the only real conflict is ruined. Instead of relative neutrality, they frame Kira and company as our peaceful heroes, Shin and the rest as misguided antagonists. Shin believes in the Destiny Program for no good reason. Kira has learned absolutely nothing from this journey.Clip shows, unresolved character conflicts, Mu's corpse pulled out of his grave. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I like the fights, the mecha designs, the openings and closings...not worth it. It might as well not exist.
Jobert Costan (jbcostan)
Probably my best anime of all time. Well I kinda do like Gundam seed better than Destiny, but this was pretty much my Star Strek. I really like this era although most hardcore Gundam fans out there probably hate it since most Gundam shows are from different eras. If you're trying to get into Gundam/Mobile suits anime, this is a good start. Start with Gundam Seed though. Loved the story line, the twist and turn between the good guys and bad guys. There are some parts that irritates me a bit and those are the repetitive scenes, especially the fight scenes. Love the models, the characters, the songs, and I sometimes wonder that if any Gundam series out there that could happen in real life, I think that this is probably the closest.
inviolet_now
When I saw the show, it was THE most amazing Gundam series I have seen in years, even more so than Gundam SEED. The new machines in SEED Destiny is more well designed than the others; even some that weren't seen in SEED (I'm talking about SEED-MSV) made it into SEED Destiny. Of course, even though Freedom is destroyed, a new Freedom stands up to take its place; I'm talking about the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom. There's even a new Justice Gundam on the block; ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice. But, one thing has now caught my eye; a new mobile suit called the Akatsuki; it looks like Zeta Gundam's Hyaku Shiki in both appearance and color. Anyways, besides the machines are the characters; Shinn Asuka, orphan boy, ZAFTs top class, hates Kira, pilots powerful machines, etc. Then again, some old characters come back; Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, Andrew Waltfeld, Murrue, etc. This show completely is a revolution in the Gundam series. Let there be GUNDAMS!!!!!
rockfordphile
...there is finally an "alternate universe" worthy of the Gundam name - that was founded in "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed", and now carries on in "Gundam Seed: Destiny".Both Seed and Seed: Destiny take place in the "Cosmic Era", as opposed to the original series' "Universal Century". Still, despite the imposition of *this* universe's legal and creative realities, the CE draws much of its appeal from a similar vein as the UC.To my mind, the Seed series has brought back much of what made Gundam a legendary franchise in the first place: technical realism (within its own framework, of course - I unfortunately still cannot buy my own Quebeley or Freedom); fun, interesting characters and attention to their development; and the underlying obscenity of war. (but mostly I just like the floating pink robot with funny semi-random phrases)Bind this up in a glossy, model selling package, complete with newfangled animation techniques (a little cg, some cool motion effects and camera work), bitchin' JPop goodness and a commanding budget, and Seed and Destiny have brought Gundam BACK.At the time of this writing, just over half of Destiny has aired:Destiny picks up a few years after Seed. It wastes no time in establishing a new protagonist, but also re-acquaints us with old friends.There are those who have complained that Gundam Seed moved too slowly. (please, kids, take your Ritalin. It's called a 'story'.) Destiny has a quicker pace; the action to episode ratio seems to have increased.While the underlying story may seem painfully familiar at first, it does gain intriguing (and addicting) twists along the way, and the new faces keep you watching.While it remains to be seen if this sophomore series will truly live up to Seed or its Universal Century predecessors, it's off to a damned fine start - and I'm glad to know that there are still producers and directors who care enough to *try*.