Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E.73: Stargazer – Review

• Title (English): Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E.73: Stargazer
• Title (Japanese): 機動戦士ガンダムSEED C.E.73: Stargazer (Kidō Senshi Gundam SEED C.E.73: Stargazer)
• Year: 2006
• Studio: Sunrise
• No. of Episodes: 3
• Streaming: Unavailable

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer is a 3-episode ONA spin-off to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. The series takes place parallel to the second Alliance-Plant War depicted in the parent show. Researcher Selene McGriff (Sayaka Ohara) escapes renewed chaos to a space station run by her employer, the Deep Space Survey and Development Organization (DSSD). There, Selene aims to complete her work on the GSX-401FW Stargazer Gundam, an AI-controlled Mobile Suit intended more for space exploration than military combat (and a distinctly slick looking mech, I might add). Conflict arises when the Earth Alliance sends their Phantom Pain unit to attack the station and steal the Stargazer’s research data for themselves. Among the attackers is Sven Cal Bayang (Daisuke Ono), a Mobile Suit pilot who was trained since childhood to defeat Coordinators such as Selene.

Across all three episodes and counting the credits, Stargazer runs for a total of 50 minutes and that unfortunately leaves the show strapped for time to tell its story. To begin with, the series assumes that you’re already familiar with Cosmic Era lore and it therefore doesn’t bother explaining the series’ general terms such as Naturals and Coordinators. This is somewhat fair as you likely would watch the main SEED titles before trying any supplementary material. But considering that you’d have to watch all 48 episodes of SEED and at least the first 31 episodes of SEED Destiny first, the barrier to entry is quite high and it would help Stargazer to establish a couple things again.

More importantly, the ONA is forced to skim over a lot of potential characterization. Sven is decently defined as a soldier who doesn’t truly hate Coordinators but doesn’t know any better due to his indoctrination. He also has a brief yet compelling arc where he’s seemingly unable to open up to people, including his own teammates, which makes his inevitable encounter with a Coordinator such as Selene all the more interesting. Conversely, Stargazer doesn’t go over Selene’s character all that much. About the only trait she has for most of the series is that she’s a scientist and just when you think it’s starting to expand on her character, the series ends. Because Stargazer is so short, the two lead characters are about the only ones it can explore to a decent degree. Anyone else in the show is more or less an afterthought.

At the very least, I enjoy seeing a different perspective on SEED Destiny‘s conflict. This is best demonstrated by the first episode where you see the big inciting incident of the war, the “Break the World” event from the perspective of civilians and first responders. As much as I love that scene in Destiny, it was depicted at a grand scale so I appreciate that Stargazer does it more up close and personal, where you get a better sense of how horrifying being at ground zero would be. It’s also neat to see a scientific organization and a civilian-use Gundam for a change, as opposed to the military factions and the weapons of war frequently shown in the main Cosmic Era series. The idea of what a Gundam or a Mobile Suit in general could do outside of war is a fascinating one to consider. The Stargazer managing to put up a fight kind of undermines the idea that it’s not meant for combat but it is still a Gundam and I am watching a mech anime so I don’t know what else I was expecting. There are references to the main SEED series that would only make sense if you’ve done the homework but thankfully, Stargazer keeps it sparse and it doesn’t cut to any of the more famous characters such as Kira, Athrun, or Shinn. The series wisely focuses entirely on its original cast.

I appreciate Stargazer‘s attempt to mix things up but at the end of the day, it is ultimately a footnote in the Cosmic Era series. Had it been longer and more fleshed out, I think it’d be more fondly remembered and maybe even open the door for more Cosmic Era side stories, like with the Universal Century series. I kind of enjoyed it more than SEED Destiny but that’s largely by virtue of this being an okay 3-part series versus a wildly inconsistent 50-episode show.

Score: 6/10

Pros (+): Offers a different perspective on the main conflict; Sven is a decent lead character
Cons (-): Lacks the time to fully flesh out its story; requires watching SEED Destiny