But the one thing that most giant robot shows since the late 90s have been trying desperately to convince us of, is that whiny kids are actually the most competent pilots.
Hyperion_Zero said: But the one thing that most giant robot shows since the late 90s have been trying desperately to convince us of, is that whiny kids are actually the most competent pilots.
After the whole Kira Incident, the whole "Whiny kid pilot being competent" thing just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
It would be against the general message of the franchise for a pilot to enjoy or encourage war.
Ironically, AU pilots are better about this than UC pilots for the most part. Compare Garrod, Heero Yuy and Setsuna to pilots like Amuro, Kamille and Banagher. The AU characters generally fight to stop war or fight to protect what is important to them with very little complaint. The UC pilots tend to fret over personal grudges and cry. Amuro even stole the Gundam once and buried it, and by 29 years old, he still hasn't given up on his one childhood fling with a Newtype girl he met like once and the rivalry it spawned with Char. The two even put their alliances aside and their overarching objectives at risk to settle this petty personal grudge.
Despite this, generally UC fans tend to deride AU for having "whiny teenage pilots." Though, you can't really say traumatized and conditioned child soldiers like Heero and Setsuna are enviable, human characters in comparison to those petulant teenagers.