Gundam SEED lays off the melodrama in the fourth volume, and in many ways returns to business as usual. Something is different, though. Thanks to the breather afforded by the previous volume, it's becoming easier to sympathize with the characters through each battle, and to really feel the effects thereof. The fifth volume ends the arc of the previous volume with a bang, then drops the ball. It's too bad, too. Things were starting to get good.

I think the writers didn't drop the ball on purpose; it's more like they didn't know they had it. The desert conflict of the previous volume happened to work incredibly well, despite having so little to do with the overall plot. The initial period of intense conflict was over, and the characters were starting to gel. The series wasn't quite ready to move on to something else yet.

There are two main events in this volume, and a third that would be of note if one couldn't see it coming from a mile away. At night. In thick fog. With main event Numero Uno, Kira resumes his earlier role as bad karma magnet. The battle is a turning point of sorts, where Kira starts to think about why he's still where he is, among other less-tangible things. This is a good change for him, because his personality is now getting more focus than his abilities.

Meet the Desert Pimp...I mean, Tiger.	Confuscious say, crab in shirt are man's good fortune.

The other event involves Cagalli, who is quickly becoming my favorite of the main characters, and Athrun. The two have an unexpected meeting, and each discuss the merits of the other's cause. It's not your conventional heart-to-heart, but it creates a character dynamic that has a lot of potential. The focus is again on personality, where the topics discussed reveal more about the characters than theme, but of course some of the big picture is involved.

Sadly, the rest of the volume is just for show. There are battles that appear to have no purpose other than as beats to break up the dialogue. The missing ingredient is of course that nobody Kira likes beamed down for the occasion to support the opposing forces. (And I don't mean that in a tongue-in-cheek way. The personal conflicts are the lifeblood of a drama; nothing else matters.) I'm prepared to write off this volume as a fluke, since the writing thus far is solid and the scenery a treat. Find out whether the series gets back on track in our next review of the series (when it arrives)!

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: A
Presentation: B
Content: B+
Overall: A-