Story
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom picks up where Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny left off. This is shortly after the announcement of a plan for a social system in which an individual’s genetics are used to determine their lot in life.
Kira (voice of Soichiro Hosei) has now spent years fighting against this. He’s in favour of people being able to choose their own paths in life rather than to have their destinies forced on them. He’s exhausted and trying to protect his friends by shouldering these painful burdens on his own. Lacus (voice of Rie Tanaka) is the head of COMPASS, a multinational peacekeeping agency. She’s deeply in love with Kira and wants nothing more than to help him.
Kira and Lacus are brought to Foundation’s capital to see the reconstruction of their cities and to try to negotiate peaceful agreements. But Kira is lured by an old foe into passing through a demilitarised zone and entering forbidden territory. This is the excuse that Foundation leaders and genetic supremacists, Orphee Lam Tao (voice of Hiro Shimono) and his mother, have been waiting for. They quickly condemn Kira to die, kidnap Lacus and threaten the rest of the world with nuclear war.
Can Kira and his team stop this diabolical plot before it’s too late, or will they perish in the process?
Themes
War; unrequited love; destiny versus free will; genetic engineering; gene-based prejudice and superiority complexes; victory at all costs; political sabotage, treason and intrigue.
Violence
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom has some violence. For example:
- There are frequent fighting scenes, in which warriors in mobile combat suits engage with each other. They shoot arrows, explosives and lasers at enemy forces and aircraft. They also physically wrestle and attack each other. There are numerous explosions, and very often there are civilian casualties and deaths. Some scenes also show reactions to the deaths of loved ones.
- The head of a mobile suit explodes during a firefight. Despite orders to stop, the fighting continues, and many citizens are caught in the crossfire.
- There are images of the devastation in city streets and people who have been badly wounded in battle.
- One of the characters is nicknamed ‘Freedom killer’.
- A group of soldiers shoots at civilians, killing many of them and leading the others away in handcuffs.
- Two characters fight each other with swords.
- Rebel forces blast into rocks. They shoot and explode things.
- A laser beam rips through a village. There are explosions and fire as the village is destroyed.
- Suicide bombers hide in the middle of fleeing refugees. Their backpacks explode, and the destruction is shown in detail, including a mother and her dead baby.
- Multiple laser beams are locked on Kira before he begins to fight back. He shoots randomly.
- Kira pursues an enemy. He targets the enemy’s truck, although it’s in forbidden territory.
- Many characters promise to destroy Kira, and everyone prepares to kill him. They point lasers, shoot at him, and try to make him explode.
- A character’s face explodes.
- Tactical nuclear cruise missiles are deployed, causing mass destruction and death.
- Cars explode as civilians flee underground.
- Characters abandon their ship as it explodes. Many are killed by the blast.
- A captain escapes seconds before being shot at close range.
- Aircraft and machinery explode as missiles are launched.
- A character says to Kira, ‘We will kill you’.
- Men are incinerated as a missile explodes nearby.
- Foundation leaders make threats. They say that nations that don’t accept their terms will have fire (nuclear blasts) rain down on their people and cities.
- A character is punched in the face and knocked to the ground.
- Two characters fight, punching and kicking each other.
- Gas is released onboard a ship, and numerous people pass out.
- A character screams, ‘I will kill you!’ He shoots at a woman and knocks her down.
- Many enemy warships explode when mobile suits attack.
- One character declares, ‘I will kill you a thousand times’.
- A mobile suit is shot full of arrows and explodes.
- A character hits a woman and knocks her to the ground.
- A sword goes straight through Orphee. The girl who loves him sits with him. They’re holding each other when they’re both killed in an explosion.
Sexual references
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom has some sexual references. For example:
- Two female characters fight over the attentions of a male character.
- Lacus is shown in a skin-tight suit, with each breast clearly defined. When she enters a mobile suit, she straddles some sort of seat and her backside is shown, clearly defined, in a sexualised position.
- One character tells another, ‘Any man would love me. Don’t feel so jealous’.
- A character says, ‘I want you right now’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There’s no use of substances in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom.
Nudity and sexual activity
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- There’s a close-up of a female character’s bottom. She’s wearing short, tight shorts.
- A female character is often seen in very short, tight skirts. She’s very flirty and tries to kiss another character.
- Orphee tries to kiss Lacus. He throws her down on a bed, pinning her beneath him, demanding that she tell him why she doesn’t love him back. He sexually assaults her by grabbing her chest, pulling at her shirt and partially exposing one breast.
- A scene shows what looks like a naked woman, but the shot quickly focuses on her face as she turns into a screaming demon.
- Kira and Lacus kiss.
- Kira and Lacus stand naked on a beach at sunset. They’re seen from behind.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom.
Coarse language
There’s some coarse language, name-calling and insults in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom, including ‘hell’, ‘dumb brat’, ‘idiot’, ‘dummy’, ‘jeez’, ‘damn’, ‘pathetic’, ‘trash’, ‘good for nothing’ and ‘mountain monkey’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom is a Japanese anime movie with English subtitles and is a sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny. The movie is fast-paced, and the subtitles are occasionally difficult to follow. There are also a couple of concerning scenes that tend to objectify women, which is a dangerous message for girls. Therefore, this movie is best suited to older teenage and adult audiences.
These are the main messages from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom:
- Everyone is worthy of being loved.
- We should all have the freedom to determine our own destinies.
- We should be true to ourselves and never allow others to determine our worth or destroy what we value in those around us.
Values in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, compassion, trust, determination and courage.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:
- believing that you’re superior to others, especially on the basis of race or genes
- sparking conflicts that can easily lead to horrific wars
- trying to make someone fall in love with you when they already love someone else
- using people to get what you want
- trying to win at all costs.