Original Story: Yatate Hajime, Tomino Yoshiyuki (from Mobile Suit
Gundam)
The year is After Colony (A.C.) 195. Humans have established
five clusters of floating colonies in outer space. The people of the
colonies had lived in peace for many years, but the assasination of the skilled,
peace-minded politician ruling the colonies threw outer space into turmoil.
This gave the United Earth Sphere Alliance an excuse to move its troops,
largely made up of machines known as mobile suits, humanoid machines controlled
by one pilot each, into the colonies and extend its oppressive rule.
The Alliance once had a goal to unite all of the earth's nations in peace.
However, it grew into a military power thanks to the mobile suits supplied
by the Organization of the Zodiac, or OZ. OZ is a mysterious society
led by Treize Khushrenada and funded by the aristocratic Romefeller Foundation.
It gained a voice in the Alliance and seeks to gain more
power...
The people of the colonies aren't about to let this oppression go one forever,
however. In each colony cluster, members of Operation Meteor construct
mobile suits known as Gundams. Made with gundanium alloy, a material
only refinable in outer space, and equipped with amazing firepower, these
Gundams are nearly indestructable.
On April 7, A.C. 195, the five Gundams and their pilots are launched to earth.
Operation Meteor has begun!
The basic jist of this review is probably somewhat predictable, ne?
After all, I wouldn't be building a site dedicated to a show that I
didn't like!
In any case, I believe Gundam Wing to be a very high quality series. It
has an engaging storyline, in-depth characters, cool mecha that get lots
of action, and great music. There are also the great themes running
throughout it. There are a few less than spectacular aspects, but the
series' strengths make up for it. It was my first anime series
(okay, so technically a few random episodes of Ronin Warriors and
Samurai Pizza Cats was my first exposure to anime, but I had no idea
what anime even was back then) and I must say that it made a very good impression
on me!
Gundam Wing has a plot. This is a good thing. I'll admit, I was
first attracted to the plot by the word "revolution" on the back of the video
box. There's a lot more to the plot than revolution, though. This
is also a good thing, I discovered. Overall, the story is well-paced.
It begins to drag slightly in the middle, but, thankfully, things pick
up again as the end draws near. Also, there is a lot of continuity
from episode to episode. In other words, it feels like one big story,
not a bunch of mini-shows grouped together in a series. That can cause
a problem if you're trying to watch the show on television. Unless
you know the story or happen to miss one of the few episodes where there
isn't much action, you can get pretty lost if you miss any episodes. Miss
a lot in a row and you are definitely lost for a while. Catch a couple
random episodes near the end when you've never seen the show before, and
you don't have a prayer.
Gundam Wing characters have more depth to them than most of the characters
in Les Misérables (and I don't mean implied depth... admit
it, us readers and fan fic writers can give Enjolras and Les Amis de l'ABC
a lot more depth then Pere Hugo did). This is a good thing. While
many of the characters are quite nice to look at, they are more than
two-dimensional. We see the fronts that they present to the world,
but we also see them in times of doubt, grief, fear, confusion, madness,
and in the face of death. Also, the characters change throughout the
course of the series. Perhaps most noticeable would be the changes
in Heero Yuy and Relena Darlian. Heero learns that he doesn't have
to kill everyone he meets and Relena learns that there's more to life than
Heero and her. Okay, maybe that's oversimplifying it a bit too much, but
if I went into a full analysis of this, this review would be a tad too long...
The only major/featured character that I felt lacked depth was Hirde, but
that is just my personal opinion. The creators did a pretty good job
with the featured/minor characters. Sure, a lot of the OZ soldiers
looked nearly identical, but we aren't watching the show for them, are we?
There are some characters that we only know for an episode or two-
Lt. Walker, Major Nanaki, Alex and Mueller- but they are all given roles
of semi-importance. The fact that people other than our heroes move
the storyline along helps to contribute to the all-engrossing realism of
the story.
On the subject of both plot and characters, there is enough said to make
the story compelling, but there is enough left unsaid to let the audience
form its own opinions, especially in the area of relationships.
Personally, I like it that way, though some people might be frustrated
by some of the loose ends and shady areas. Depends on your personal
taste.
Theme-wise, Gundam Wing is chock full. This is a good thing. It
definitely concentrates on the whole "war and peace" aspect of thing.
Basically, all of the characters are having to cope with the devastation
of war while they try, in their own way, to help establish peace. In
addition, there is no black and white. The "good guys" do many horrible
things and the "bad guys" are not 100% evil scheming bastards.
They're really doing largely what the "good guys" are doing: fighting
for that in which they believe. There is also different aspects
of love. (::begins singing:: Love... love changes everything... Hands
and faces... Earth and sky.. Love... Love cha- ack! ::gets the hook::) In
some cases, romantic love is implied. There is love in the form of
friendship. There is love in the form of the love involved with dedication
to one's duty. There is love (or the lack thereof) of one's own
life. There are many aspects of love... (::begins singing::
Love... love changes everythi-) (::Heero
pulls his gun on her::) (Eeps!) (And no! Not that
gun, you hentai!)
Mecha! Action! Space battles! Blowing things up! These
are good things... It might just be the latent pysochopath in me, but
I love the action and big guns in this series. Personally, I love the
attention given to the mecha and the fighting. For one thing, it is
partially an action series. Well, not really, but it's more of an action
series than a romantic series, shall I say. Nothing that made me go
"Ewwwwww! They're *kissing*!" (Sorry, that was the latent ten-year
old boy in me.) The mecha get about as much (if not more?) screen time
than the humans. Besides, the series in named after a mobile suit!
Given, all of the Gundam series have... well, "Gundam" in the title,
but they're not all named after a specific suit. That means that Wing
Gundam must be pretty special, ne? Besides, the stats and technology
of those mobile suits give me something mechanical with which to mystify
my cousins when they begin talking about cars...
I play my Gundam Wing CDs so much that I drive everyone insane. That
is a good thing. They don't show it when they air the show on Cartoon
Network, but on the videos and DVDs, they have the original Japanese opening
sequence, complete with the song sung in Japanese, no weird English translations.
On the unedited videos and DVDs, they also have the original Japanese
closing sequence (which, personally, continues to mystify me concerning its
pertinence to the show).
The opening sequences are a definite plus. If the opening sequence
is supposed to set the tone for the entire show, the GW Folks did a great
job. OK, so maybe you sort of have the stretch the lyrics a bit to
make them fit- they are all about love- but the do fit. And
the music. And the images. Wonderful! For episodes 1-40,
the opening sequence is done to Two-Mix's "Just Communication." For
episodes 41-49, it's done to Two-Mix's "Rhythm Emotion." Both have
a slight techno-ish feel, giving them a somewhat futuristic sound. It's
difficult for me to choose which opening sequence I like better, but... I
might have to go with the second one, if only because it has the absolute
sexiest moment in GW on it. (Wufei walking away with his shiny white
coat over his shoulder... I'm not one to usually do this.. but...
::swoons::)
(And just a curious note- the creators, after changing the opening sequence
at episode 41 out of 49, also changed the second opening sequence slightly
from about episode 46 on. My only question is... why?)
On the Gundam Wing CDs (which are very good things), they give you background
music, the opening and closing songs as they appear on television and in
full, and image songs, songs that were supposedly written with a certain
character in mind and sung in character by the character's seiyuu. I
believe that there are four CDs (Operations 1-4) with music from the series
(the fifth CD has music from Endless Waltz). The seiyuu's begin singing
the image songs on Operation 2. If you don't like rock/techno, this
might not be your cup of tea, especially Two-Mix's songs, which are all rather
techno/disco-ish. Additionally, in general, the character songs are
rather scary. When I have a spare moment, I'll write up some reviews
of the music. For now, I'll just advise you to be wary.
Another good part of the show are the videos and DVDs (which are good things
that are currently on my birthday list...). Okay, so those are not
really *part* of the show, but they concern it. Cartoon Network is
annoying with its censoring and changing of the opening sequence (I don't
really mind CN's changing of the closing sequence). The unedited videos
and the DVDs are great, though. Videos have three episodes each (except for the first video, which has four) and
cost around $15, if I remember correctly. The DVDs have five episodes each (save Operation 10, which had four) and cost around $25.
If you have a DVD player, get the DVDs. Besides being a pretty
good deal, they come with fun extras, like MS stats and character information
and pictures. The last DVD, Operation 10, has a full MS encyclopedia
and textless versions of both opening sequences and the closing sequence.
There are a few less than excellent parts of the show, among them plot-related
grips, the animation, and the aforementioned scary music. With all
of its complexity and themes, the show has a tendency to slip into all-out
melodrama. Not that melodrama is necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes
GW lays it on a bit thick. It is not helped by the English dialogue,
some of which is just pathetic. An additional detractor is the way
the story is somewhat sugar-coated. The survival rates of the main
characters amazed me. I suppose that's just what heroes do, though.
The animation itself is nowhere near excellent. Then again, I have
been spoiled by such wonderful things as Cowboy Bebop and Vampire
Hunter D: Bloodlust. Still, the some of the visuals are a tad
stodgy. Repeated backgrounds are easily spotted throughout. At
one point (during the battle in Antarctica), Relena's eyes are two completely
different shapes, making her appear as though someone stepped on her face.
(Or was it meant to be that way...?) That little Relena bit lasted
for a few good seconds, too.
As far as scariness, the series has its frightening shoujou moments that
make me wonder if I accidently stumbled into a screening of Sailor
Moon. Once in a while things such as sparkles find their way onto
the screen. There is also that horrifying ending sequence which has
jack-shit to do with the series. It depicts Relena giving a fashion
show, wearing lots of pink, and frolicking with various animals. Either
the creators thought they could attract a wider audience by attaching such
drivel to the end of the show or were having serious thoughts about beastiality,
one or the other.
There are also a few minor inconsistencies that only a person who has no
life and who watches the show too much would pick up. |-P
Overall, though, I believe Gundam Wing to be an excellent series. Highly
recommended! My one warning is that you might get addicted!
[Rating: 8.5 out of 10.0]
[Series
Information]
[basic info]
[summary]
[review]
Producers: Ueda Masuo (Sunrise), Tomioka Hideyuki (Sunrise), Koizumi Yoshioka
(TV Asahi)
Director: Ikeda Masashi
Character Designer: Murase Shukou
Mechanical Designs: Okawara Kunio, Katoki Hajime, Ishigaki Junya
English Adaption: produced by Bandai Entertainment in association with Ocean
Studios