Wednesday, July 20, 2011

There should be a Bishoujo/Erogame starring Athrun Zala!



Athrun Zala, arguably the main character in Gundam Seed Destiny. Kira Yamato is the protagonist from Gundam Seed, the first series, but Athrun Zala takes a more prominent role in the second. Of the 3 main characters, Shinn, Kira, and Athrun, I believe Athrun is the main focus.

I've watched several anime series. Personally, Athrun is at the top of my list of favorite male main characters. In many anime series I've watched, the male lead is usually completely useless, is overconfident, has a bad attitude, or is too bullheaded. Thankfully, Athrun is none of these.

Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, tells the tale of two powerful nations, both bent on destroying each other. One nation consists of natural born humans, the other consists of genetically enhanced humans, known as coordinators. Both aim to wipe the other out. Amidst this great war, people from both sides and neutral nations come together, in an attempt to put an end to the war, and bring peace.

(A shame that they couldn't incorporate Gundam Seed Astray directly inside either series.)

Those of you who watched the anime, would know that Athrun took on a new identity, as Cagalli's bodyguard, leaving his old life behind, as a soldier, and as the son of the late representative. After which, a series of events led Athrun to return to his old identity, and back into the army as well, forcing him to make a choice on which side to be on.

I would describe Athrun as a soft-spoken, polite gentleman most of the time. But he is also a very brave and capable fighter when he needs to be. Despite that, he is indecisive on many occasions, sometimes being uncertain of what he should be fighting for. Throughout this whole war, Athrun is forced to fight against former allies countless of times, and not wanting to repeat his past mistakes, he is sometimes hesitant to fight.

In a way, he is a reluctant hero, but no one else is more suited for this job than he is.

Therefore, it's not surprising that throughout the whole series, he has the attention of several girls. It might not have been that noticeable to himself though, since he is mostly concerned about putting an end to the war.

Cagalli Yula Athha


Cagalli and Athrun's relation goes way back. By the end of the first series, they were already lovers. At the start of the 2nd series, Cagalli became the representative of Orb, and Athrun becomes her bodyguard, but their relation was much deeper than that.

Before Athrun leaves Cagalli and Orb, he gives her a ring as his promise. But soon after that, things became chaotic, with Athrun rejoining the Zaft army, Cagalli's forced marriage, Orb becoming an enemy of the Plant, and the whole war starting again.

Much later, when Cagalli met Athrun again after his defection, she understood that Meyrin was the one who could care for him. She deemed herself no longer worthy of his ring.

Though it wasn't definitive, it is strongly hinted that Cagalli and Athrun never got back together, and Athrun ended up with Meyrin. (There was no evidence suggesting that Athrun returned Meyrin's feelings though.)

In the first series, Cagalli also seemed to like Kira a lot, but both started to distance from each other when whey found out they were siblings. (Though said to be twins, there was no evidence to suggest that Kira and Cagalli were even blood-related, since Kira is a coordinator and Cagalli is a natural.)


Lunamaria Hawke


A capable pilot in the army. Though she didn't show it openly, she admired Athrun a great deal. When Lunamaria appeared to be jealous over Athrun's actions with Meer, it became clear that she had a crush on him.

Throughout the way, the relation between Lunamaria and Athrun was not an exciting one. He did not show much concern for her beyond that for a fellow pilot. Eventually, after a series of events which include the presumed death of Athrun and her sister, Meyrin, Lunamaria found herself in Shinn's arms.

Eventually, when Lunamaria realized that both Athrun and her sister are both alive, and are both on the enemy's side, she started to hate Athrun, and blamed him for taking Meyrin away.

The truth is, I believe that if Athrun had actually shown Lunamaria a bit more concern, she might have actually fallen in love with him instead. It is shown that Athrun did notice, and did care for her, but yet not as much as he should have.


Meyrin Hawke


Lunamaria's younger sister. She had a deep crush on Athrun right from the start. When Athrun decided to defect from Zaft, she was willing to sacrifice everything for his sake. When Athrun was rescued from the brink of death, she never once left his side. It was obvious that she was in love with him the whole time.

Cagalli knew that Meyrin was able to give Athrun what she herself couldn't, so she asked Meyrin to take care of Athrun. Apparently, she gave up being with him.

It is strongly hinted that Athrun ended up with Meyrin, but no evidence to show that he returned her feelings.


Meer Campbell

Meer Campbell is to play the role of the real Lacus Clyne during her absence. In a way, she became the Plant's new icon. Meer also started out as another one of Athrun's admirers. Apparently, he was more famous than he thought. Although she's not the true Lacus, her fondness of Athrun was not pretended, and her antics seemed to trouble Athrun somewhat. In an ironic way, Athrun saw her as who she is, not as a replacement for Lacus.

When Athrun decided to defect, he knew very well that both himself and Meer were approaching the end of their usefulness. He offered Meer the chance to go with him, but she refused.

Later, Meer was led to arrange a secret meeting between her and Lacus. At the meeting place, Athrun pointed a gun at Meer. (Not a very cool act.) He knew very well that it was a trap meant to lure Lacus out. In the shootout that followed, Meer actually took a bullet for Lacus, which resulted in her death. Both Athrun and Lacus mourned for her. Her life, in a way, was a tragic one, having to live in someone's shadow, not her own. The man she loved did not return her feelings.


Lacus Clyne

In the first series, Lacus was Athrun's fiancee. Their marriage was arranged due to political reasons, though. While they were pretty close to each other, their relation does not appear to be romantic. All of Lacus' Haro bots were made by Athrun.

From the end of the first series to the end of the 2nd, Lacus and Kira were in love the whole time.

(Her official name appears to be Lacus, but it reads to me as "Lux". Oh well.)


So there you have it. 5 girls, all whose fates were intertwined with Athrun Zala, each one of them could have ended up with him. But of course, the anime was much focused on this war itself, and not much was even spent to describe the aftermath. The anime itself gave no hints on who Athrun ended up with, and even in the specials that were outside of the TV series itself, it has been hinted that Athrun returned to Orb as a commander, whereas the Hawke sisters returned to the Plant. It would have been an interesting outcome to see who Athrun ended up with.

I personally think it would be great if they made a game based on Athrun Zala, much like in the Sakura Wars style. The main character makes a series of choices throughout his journey, and ultimately deciding which girl he ends up with.

There should be options that decide his overall moral values and moral standing. As well as choices for him to be closer to Cagalli, Lunamaria, Meer, Meyrin, or Lacus. Also possible scenario changes, such as having Athrun defect with Lunamaria instead, or giving him the chance to save Meer from death, or even allowing him the chance to snatch back his old fiancee from his best buddy. *pure evilness*

So, anyway guys, I would have truly loved to see a game like that. What do you guys think?



Me? Personally I am partial towards Lunamaria, and I hope to see what a relation between Athrun and Lunamaria working out. Who would you guys prefer?

19 comments:

  1. Of the all Gundam series i only watched Gundam Seed and in general i liked it. I still haven't watched Gundam Seed Destiny, i was waiting to have a "mecha mood" because normally i don't like that much that genre.
    Well from what you said it seems that Athrun in Seed Destiny have many suitors, so i guess it would be good to have a bishojo game, that way the fans could choose with who Athrun would end up. Personally i thought Athrun would end up with Cagalli, it kind of sadness me to know that Cagalli had given up on him! As for the others, well i think Lunamaria seems to be serious, strong and cool, just like Athrun, so maybe they would be a well matched couple.

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  2. Sorry it should be "saddens me" not "sadness me", one of my many mistakes!

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  3. really? Cagalli gives up Athrun! NOOO!! I haven't seen Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny in a long time. It kinda makes me sad since I kinda liked the fact that Cagalli was in love with Athrun.
    And isn't Kira a clone? Since in the series, they say something about cloning... and something about calling him Kira since he will be a killer...or maybe it is just my imagination.

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  4. @WitchMagicCat
    I don't know if i am right or if i am the confused one but i don't recall anything you have said. About Kira name i don't actually remember in Gundam Seed mentioning that they gave him thet name to be a killer. And about the clone thing maybe you are confusing Kira with Rau Le Creuset since this last one was really a clone of Mu La Flaga's father (Mu la Flaga is a pilot for the Eath forces) and like the clones Rau suffers from rapid aging.

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  5. I think you are confusing this with the Kira in Death Note =_=

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  6. i have noo idea what any of this is.. but it sounds somewhat interesting. would you recommend it? Gundam Seed/Destiny?

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  7. Seriously Gundam Seed destiny makes me raeg like no tomorrow. Character development in this show is terrible to say the least. The plot isn't exactly stellar either, but at least the mecha (almost) makes up for it.

    It's very obvious that the director doesn't like certain characters, especially Cagalli omfg and was going to kill her off before deciding last min he was going to kill Stella instead (because of a leak or something). Hahah Kira, don't you love how they changed his personality completely? Of course Lucas went from a SINGER to a war goddess with tactical knowledge in the original Gundam Seed. Don't get me started on that. This whole series just makes me facepalm sometimes (don't get me wrong I still like it though xD).

    I'm not a big for of Cagalli either but still WTF. Character bashing in canon? Seriously? And that stupid "music video" they made to "make up for it" is the biggest BS I ever saw in my life. I wish they never did such a stupid thing.

    If I have to chose I think Athrun should go with Kira...just saying (hahaha).

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  8. Woops went on a rant there. *Ahem* anyways.

    I think Athrun will make a PERFECT erogame protagonist. In fact that's all I see him as in Gundam Seed Destiny lol (gary-stu self insert *cough*). Surrounded by hot girls who all want him, surrounded by guys who admire him, being forced into things (like a lemming), being a very nice and good looking, drives robots, is good at everything...

    All in all he might actually be a person I enjoy playing in a erogame instead of the usually perverted otaku jerk. Girls actually has reasons to like this guy *heavenly choir*. I think the war itself might create some really interesting conflict in the game.

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  9. I've never watched the Gundam series. I have no basis to comment on it. I could go and watch it... at least what is out on here. But right now I am busy getting things settled because I am having surgery on friday so I will be off work for a few weeks and have some time to watch things.
    Once I have seen more than 3 episodes I might be more comfortable in commenting.

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  10. @taninha9 and mechgouki
    yeah... I could be confusing Kira with the Kira in Death Note.
    And probably I am mixing the description of the characters of GSD.
    It totally proves I have not been watching this anime in a while.

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  11. did you hear the voice actors of Lunamaria and Shinn got married recently? ^^ i'm amused! i've never seen gundam seed destiny, but i know them as haruhi and hikaru in Ouran instead. but when i saw the news, i thought of this post...

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  12. First of all I'd like to clarify that Athrun ended up with Cagalli and it was deliberately put there on the final phase plus and the AMCs.

    An Excerpt:

    The creator of Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Mitsuo Fukuda, made an appearance on television apologizing for not making it clear that Athrun had returned to Cagalli at the end, he was even wearing an Orb Admiral uniform.

    Besides, interview with Naomi Shindou (who voiced "Cagalli Yula Athha") said: "... However, according to the director (Mitsuo Fukuda), he said that was the speech from the representative head's standpoint. Cagalli approaching Meyrin "Please take care of Athrun", for Meyrin, it was "You will be fine to get on the Archangel". It seems Cagalli, as the representative head, helped Meyrin by providing her a place to stay, isn't it?"

    The director of the show, Mitsuo Fukuda, then created two AMC's (anime music clips) where he made this clear to fans who had missed the airing of this report. The two AMC's are known as 'Reason' and 'Akatsuki no Kuruma'. Their authenticity is proven towards the end with Fukuda's signature and Sunrise's approval.

    If you want to read more on this, please visit this link:
    http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=27095

    Some facts you may not be aware of:
    There are several references to Athrun and Cagalli by the links of Dawn and the color Red.

    1.) Their names:

    The name "Athrun" came from a german word meaning Dawn and a place in libya called 'Al Athrun' meaning 'red'...

    Cagalli is named after the Japanese word 'kagaribi' which means a 'bonfire' or a 'watch fire'. It also came from a type of Orchid which is in deep red color, Slc Kagaribi Dawn 'Red star' Orchid.

    2.) The groups/objects around them regarding dawn.

    i. The last mobile suit she pilots, the 'Akatsuki' means 'dawn' in Japanese.
    ii. The resistance group she joins is known as the 'Desert Dawn'.
    iii. The company that built the original 5 Gundams, Morgenroete, is based in Orb. 'Morgenroete' is German for 'daybreak'.

    3.) The links to the color red.

    i. The 'Rouge' in the name of Cagalli's first mobile suit, means red in French.
    ii. Athrun Zala, pilots MSes (Aegis, Justice, Saviour, Infinite Justice) which were all in shades of red.
    iii. Cagalli's image song is 'Precious Rose'; roses are mostly known for the red colour.

    Well, there you go and I hoped I've helped enlighten up some things.

    God bless.

    (.^_^.)

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  13. @Lynx

    I watched Final Plus from head to toe, if there was any indication he ended up with someone, it was with Meyrin. That was in final plus. Whatever it is that you are indicating, is not in Final Plus.

    I am well aware in the specials version, he returns to Orb as an admiral. There was no indication of him getting back with the representative.

    If the director was trying to show that Athrun ended up with Cagalli, he did an extremely poor. So terrible was it, that I had actually thought that it was intentionally left ambiguous as to whether Athrun ended up being romantically involved with Meyrin or with Cagalli.

    Anyway, the dawn and red references you pointed are purely symbolic. I hope you're not pointing out that they ended up together because of this. :P

    Anyway, you could have just given a link to the AMCs. The forum link is just a debate on whether he ended up with Meyrin or Cagalli.

    Reason
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHqOCl8gNjU
    Akatsuki no Kuruma
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOLyIujhcqY

    The 2 amcs do show strong hints about Athrun ending up with Cagalli towards the end. (I think it shows more of their love than their fate though.)

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  14. I don't doubt what you say, but they could have done more to make it seem that way. They just ran straight past the ending without so much as a whim on Athrun's love life.

    Anyway, I am still hoping to see such a game starring Athrun Zala in Sakura Taisen style. But of course they will never go back to it, Bandai has long since moved on. :(

    I would have loved to see him end up with Lunamaria. It's a chance in hell happening, seeing how he literally let the chance slip him by. :(

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  15. @Mechgouki,
    Well, yeah... I agree with that, that's why they passed a petition...

    Anyway, I also have those links... I'm just glad Meyrin didn't have an AMC with Athrun... Don't get me wrong, I actually like her... just not with Athrun...

    And as for the erogame, I don't think it would sit well with the rest of the fans, considering that most of them surprisingly preferred a yaoi pairing...

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  16. @Justin

    Don't come back until you learn to speak English.

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  17. @Lynx

    0_o

    That is so wrong. But out of curiosity, were they hoping for Athrun with Shinn or Kira? LOL XD

    Anyway, on topic, after the whole incident with Meyrin, Cagalli gave back the ring, and never even had a moment with him as I recall.

    The truth is, I don't doubt the possibility of Cagalli going back to Athrun, but they could have at least tried to elaborate this.

    Hell, it would have made a great side series, fan disc, etc, etc. They could have made a short series describing the aftermath, their love lifes, etc. But they didn't. :(

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  18. @Mechgouki,

    Lol! Well, basically, according to that japanese poll I saw in a random site (I'm sorry, I lost the link), the majority of votes for the preferred couple went to AsuKira... Second came, AsuCaga. And third was Flaga x Kira...

    The amusing part was that, the main protagonist couple, Kira x Lacus, wasn't even a part of the entire line-up... Or their pair never made it to top 20...

    Here's a copy of the list. (I really would've loved to share that link, but it was in japanese and I couldn't find it anymore.)

    種デスサークルのカップリング

    1 .アスキラ109(88+21)19.5% AthrunxKira - 109 - 19.5%
    2 .アスカガ48(42+*6) 8.6% AthrunxCagalli - 48 - 8.6%
    3 .フラキラ26(16+10) 4.5% Flaga(Mwu)xKira - 26 - 4.5%
    4 .キラアス25(20+*5) 4.6% KiraxAthrun - 25 - 4.6%
    5 .アスイザ22(20+*2) 3.9% AthrunxIzak - 22 - 3.9%
    5 .ディアイザ22(22+*0) 3.9% DearkaxIzak - 22 - 3.9%
    5 .レイシン22(20+*2) 3.9% ReyxShin - 22 - 3.9%
    8 .シンアス20(18+*2) 3.6% ShinxAthrun - 20 - 3.6%
    9 .ギルレイ17(16+*1) 3.0% GilbertxRey - 17 - 3.0%
    10.イザアス15(14+*1) 2.7% IzakxAthrun - 15 - 2.7%
    11.フラマリュ13(12+*1) 2.3% Flaga(Mwu)xMurrue - 13 - 2.3%
    12.ミゲル、ハイネ関連11(10+*1) 2.0% MigelxHinel - 11 - 2.0%
    12.ディアミリ11(11+*0) 2.0% DearkaxMirrilia - 11 - 2.0%
    14.シンレイ10(10+*0) 1.8% ShinxRey - 10 - 1.8%
    15.アスラク*8(8+*0) 1.4% AthrunxLacus - 8 - 1.4%
    15.シンキラ*8(8+*0) 1.4% ShinxKira - 8 - 1.4%
    17.アスシン*7(7+*0) 1.3% AthrunxShin - 7 - 1.3%
    17.スティアウ*7(7+*0) 1.3% StingxAuel - 7 - 1.3%
    17.シンステ*7(7+*0) 1.3% ShinxStellar - 7 - 1.3%
    20.オルシャニ*5(4+*1) 0.9% OrgxShani - 5 - 0.9%

    * there were ties and that should explain the triple #5, double #12, double #15 and triple #17.

    I have to agree on that part, the public apology of Fukuda wasn't and couldn't possibly be enough to cover that shortcoming.

    And as for not having a short series describing the aftermath, there were actually plans for a movie, as a response to the petition and Sunrise already announced it, unfortunately it's been on hiatus for... God knows how long, but Morosawa keeps on asking for the fans to continue waiting...

    Here's a link to that news.
    http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam_SEED:_The_Movie

    It doesn't say much but, I guess there's still hope... For me, well, I'm not going anywhere so waiting shouldn't be much of a bother...

    Have a nice day!

    (.^_^.)

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  19. truth is I didn't want to comment on this post before due to the fact that I had never before heard of these series(?) so I was un-interested but seeing as comment are important thats what i'll do...

    In short after reading you greatly detail information on Gundam i'm still not interested on investing my time on it i like my Manga/Anime to most of the time be focused on one main character so this one is clearly not for me.

    -Evie

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