Mailbag 8: Phase Shifting Paint Job

Posted June 9, 2005

Another week, another Mailbag.

TheSonOfBattles asks:
I'm hoping you can help me solve whether or not a theory I've seen
bandied about, and that I'm a proponent of is true, and so I submit the following for a hopeful mailbag entry:

I've heard it said that when a suit that uses Phase Shift, Trans Phase Shift or Variable Phase Shift is having its armor color set that once the colors are set, they can never be changed again at any point in the future. Now a few sites like Wikipedia, Answers.com and such support this, but I can find no official information to support it just yet. Do you know if this theory is true or is it just another hokey rumor floating around?
Chris responds:
Unfortunately, there's not enough information either way. Because no one in SEED has ever attempted to paint a suit using Phase Shift, there's really no way to know. However, with Trans Phase, the color of the suit doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Phase Shift itself, so maybe with those types of units you could change the color. Again, there's simply not enough info to back up any theories.

Dave G asks:
Where are the various weapons, especially the CIWS, of the Abyss, Chaos, and Saviour located? Many of them are listed under their profiles, but some of them are not, like the Saviour's beam cannons, and the Chaos and Abyss's 12.5mm CIWS.

Chris responds:
It's hard to tell where exactly these things are sometimes. I don't have time to go back and watch each of the episodes to see a shot that lasts a few seconds showing where these weapons are. If I knew, they'd be listed in the profiles.


Luis Banuelos asks:
I've just read the review for Phase 32 of Gundam SEED DESTINY, and I don't like what I read. If DESTINY is to finish within the ideal 50 episodes, then I think we are about to see some rushed development. Fukuda has just killed three "important" characters, and without them, I think that Fukuda will have to introduce new enemies for the main characters to face. Chances are, Fukuda will end up rushing that particular character's development (correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that this is the same as what happened with Gym in Turn A). What do you think?
Chris responds:
Well, in episode 32, they actually only killed two characters, Stellar and Sting. Given Fukuda's past record, it's always possible that Sting will magically reappear as a masked boy/cyborg/zombie/robot/whatever. Given the development of the plot, I believe the next set of episodes will focus on battles between the Minerva and Archangel. And given that all the new Gundams will end up on those two ships, it doesn't seem like there will be any other Extendeds or enemy pilots. Of course, there could always be some final boss villain in a mysterious new Gundam.

Sean Stone asks:
Anyone who is a regular reader of your site would be aware of your opinions on the designs of the MS, animation and such in Gundam, so iI was wondering what are your views on the actual script, the dialogue in it - on any particular series if you wish?

Also do you think there is a cultural reason for the mechs that have to combine to become one powerful mech?
Chris responds:
1. That's really a bit too general. I find the dialogue in most Gundam series to be good. There are some exceptions, such as the incoherent philosophical ranting about pacifism in Wing, but off the top of my head I can't think of anything specific to say about dialogue and/or scripts.

2. I personally don't think there's a cultural reason for combining mechs. I think it's purely financial. If you have 1 robot toy that's only a single sale, but if you have 3 or 5 robots that combine, it's guaranteed to generate more profit. I can personally testify to this, because as a kid I was a sucker for those Gestalts in Transformers and owned several of them.

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