Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM
• a review of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 18 March 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Gundam SEED FREEDOM picks up where Gundam SEED DESTINY left off – shortly after a plan was announced for a social system where an individual’s genetics would be used to determine their lot in life. Kira (voice of Soichiro Hosei) has now spent years fighting against this, in favour of people having the free will to choose their own path in life rather than to have destinies forced upon them. He is exhausted and trying to protect his friends by shouldering the painful burdens on his own. Lacus (voice of Rie Tanaka), who is the head of COMPASS, a multinational peacekeeping agency, is deeply in love with Kira and wants nothing more than to help him. When they are brought to Foundation’s capitol to see the reconstruction of their cities for themselves, as well as to try to negotiate peaceful agreements, Kira is lured by an old foe into passing through a demilitarized zone and entering forbidden territory. His actions are just the excuse that Foundation leaders and genetic supremacists, Orphee Lam Tao (voice of Hiro Shimono) and his mother, were 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 is too late, or will they all perish in the process?

War; Unrequited love; Destiny versus Free will; Genetic engineering; Gene-based prejudice and superiority complexes; Winning at all costs; Political sabotage, treason, and intrigue.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• There are frequent fighting scenes throughout the film, in which warriors in mobile combat suits engage with each other: shooting arrows, explosives or lasers at enemy forces in addition to enemy aircraft. They physically wrestle and attack each other as well. There are numerous explosions within these scenes and very often there are civilian casualties whose deaths (and reactions to the deaths of loved ones) are shown.
• 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.
• Images are shown of the devastation in city streets and the casualties caught in battle who are badly wounded.
• One of the characters has the nickname: ‘Freedom killer’.
• A group of soldiers shoots at civilians, killing a large portion and leading the others away in handcuffs.
• Two characters sword fight each other.
• Rebel forces blast into rocks, shooting and exploding 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, shooting at whoever he can.
• Kira pursues an enemy targeting the truck he is travelling in, despite its location being in forbidden territory.
• Multiple characters promise to destroy Kira and everyone prepares to kill him: pointing lasers, shooting and trying to make him explode.
• The face of a character explodes.
• Tactical nuclear cruise missiles are deployed, causing mass destruction and the loss of human life.
• 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, saying that the nations who do not accept their terms will have fire (nuclear blasts) rain upon 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 on-board a ship and numerous people pass out.
• A character screams, “I will kill you!” He shoots at a woman and knocks her down.
• Multiple 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 and is in his arms when they are both killed in an explosion.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• A naked woman is shown approaching someone, but the scene quickly changes to focus on a close-up of her face as she transforms into a screaming, demon-like witch. She has sharp, pointy teeth and glowing eyes, and a scream that does not seem to end.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• The images of warfare are likely to be very distressing to some children, especially the scenes in which a baby and its mother are shown, lying dead on the ground; the scene where multiple men are incinerated; where a child is shown killed in a nuclear attack; and where a small, injured girl is crying for her mommy in a sea of destruction and chaos.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• 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 what some might interpret as a sexual position.
• One character tells another, “Any man would love me. Don’t feel so jealous”.
• A character says, “I want you right now”.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Viewers get a good look at a female’s bottom in one scene, and the camera angle really gets up close and personal in regards to her buttocks. She is clad in short, tight shorts.
• A female character is often seen in very short, tight skirts. She is 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.
• There is, what appears to be, a naked woman, but the scene quickly focuses on her face as she appears to turn into a screaming demon.
• Kira and Lacus kiss.
• Kira and Lacus stand naked on a beach at sunset. They are seen from behind.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Hell
• Dumb brat
• Idiot(s)
• Dummy
• Jeez
• Damn
• Pathetic
• Trash
• Good for nothing
• Mountain monkey.

In a nutshell

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM is a Japanese mecha anime film, with English subtitles, and is a sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY. The film is fast-paced and the subtitles are occasionally difficult to follow, especially with all the names of locations included with the captions. There are also a couple of concerning scenes that hint at the objectification of women, which is a dangerous message for girls. Therefore, the film is best suited to older teen and adult audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that everyone is worthy of being loved; that we should all have the freedom to determine our own destinies; and that 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 this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Teamwork
• Compassion
• Trust
• Determination
• Courage.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Believing yourself to be superior to others, especially if assertions are based on race or genes.
• The horrors of war and how easily conflict can arise.
• Trying to make someone fall in love with you when it is clear that they already love someone else.
• Setting people up for disastrous consequences to fuel a personal agenda.
• The dangerous idea that you must win at all costs.