There’s still some bad after taste of Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny so I wasn’t willing to try anything under the CE time line. Lucky for me, Gundam 00 (pronounced as double ‘O’) is using the AD time line.

Here’s some preliminary information on the series:

• Set in 2307 AD (AD = Anno Domini, being the timeline we live in now) (source1)
• There are four Gundam Meisters, who act as the “main” Gundam pilots (source1)
• Gundam 00 focuses on current the political Three major superpowers of Earth: The Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations (North America leading South America, Japan, Canada, and Australia), Human Reform League (China, Russia, and India), and Advanced European Union (Europe and Africa) (source1 source2 source3)
• Fossil fuels became exhausted, so humanity found a new energy source to change their situation: A large-scale solar power system with three enormous orbiting elevators. However, only a few large countries and their allies reaped the benefits. The three superpowers own the three orbiting elevators. (source1 source2)
• Celestial Being: The mysterious organization that strives to end all wars and change the world with only four Mobile Suits. Aside from the aim to put an end to all warfare, they have no ties to any government, is strictly non-profit, and subscribes to no particular ideology. This is the organization that the Gundam pilots are with. (source1)
• Ptolemaeus: Celestial Being’s mothership. Some members call it by the pet name ‘Ptolemy’. The custom mothership was designed for the use of the Gundams. It’s equipable with a maximum of 4 containers which can each store a Gundam. As it is made thoroughly for the use of the Gundams, it doesn’t have battleship-style heavy armaments. The central pointed end is a catapult for launching Gundams. From each container, the immediate internal portion of the ship can be moved to the catapult, making for quick launches. (source1)

After watching the 3rd episode there are a few things that have been made clear about the plot:

• Celestial Being looks and feels like Full Metal Panic’s Mithril. This allows the plot twist of one of their members defecting for greener pastures. Cliche but it works.
• Gundams are technologically advanced but not to the point of being invulnerable (I think virtue is excluded from this description though). I suspect that any if not all of the current factions will be able to develop their own or a more powerful unit.
• All the Gundam pilots seem to have some sort of ego (just like Gundam Wing). It’s that or the outward manifestation of their solid motivation.
• There are currently very few unique units in terms of design. I hope that changes as the series progresses but Sunrise at least gave each faction units that are very unique from each other.
• Gundam 00 is animated in HD. Depending on the subber you’ve downloaded from, it’s quite obvious from the color quality.
• Sumeragi is hot (sorry, I just had to add that XD)

While the shift from CE to AD might be a bit of reprieve from the SEED dilemma, I think a lot of long time fans would be far more content with the continuation of UC. What I find a bit disappointing is the break that Sunrise plans for the series just as what they did for Code Geass. Depending on how the series goes, I may or may not decide on doing some linkbaiting for it.

Additional info can be found on:

• Official Site
• Gunota Headlines
• Teaser