Summary

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing is a 49 episode TV series with a 3 episode OVA "Endless Waltz" for the closer. This is series is very hard to explain to the newcomer, with all the political whatevers going on! I'm gonna try to give a brief synopsis for those interested...

It is After Colony (A.C.) 195. The Earth's Sphere Alliance has united the planet's nations and guided a program of space colonizations, so in other words, there are space "colonies" or station scattered at specific points in space above the Earth. Everything is peaceful until corruption takes hold within the alliance in the form of the military organization named OZ, led by Treize Krushrenada.

Here's where the five Gundam boys come in. The five main colony clusters begin Operation Meteor, sending five prototype mobile suits (Gundams) to fight against the corrupted alliance and OZ in particular.

That's just how the story starts, much more political actions happen, people switch sides left to right, (who's good? who's evil? who knows?) and one questions whether or not the Gundam pilots are fighting for the right cause! They do look cool whatever they do though :-) Oh yeah, be prepared for some romance too!

What I like about this series:

The characters! The five Gundam pilots each have their own distinctive personality, and each one compliments another in the group (ex. Heero and Duo). Contrary to popular belief, the boys don't get along at first! It takes a while to earn trust from a guy who blows up stuff for a job, ne? The other characters, such as Lucrezia Noin and the enigmatic Lady Une are very well rounded as well. What I don't understand is why some people hate Relena so much. I actually like her! (no bashing please!) Is it because she's Heero's supposed love interest or because she's in almost every single episode? Or perhaps because she's the main political girl? Oh well.

The Gundams! In a mecha show like this, the Gundams are well designed, cool looking in battle, and kick some serious butt. Each Gundam, like each of the characters in this series has a distinctive specialty, such as  long / short range, speed, power, or defense. You have to see the Gundams in action! Aside from character interaction, they are the *best* part of the show!

Trowa Barton! Did I mention that I'm a Trowa fangirl? :-) Anyway, I think all the GW boys are handsome...(not sure about Wufei though!)

What I don't like about this series:

There isn't much replay value for this series on account of all the politics and stuff going on. It gets very complicated very fast! I'm not a big fan of politics myself, though this series makes it look a bit cooler than usual. The first time through is all right...I'm not sure you'll enjoy seeing old bearded men talk it out the next time around. Um...maybe when you're older?

On the other hand, "Endless Waltz," the OVA series is very replayable since 1.) it's short! 2.) it is mostly action oriented, and 3.) new Gundams and older (and better looking) characters!

The Ami Rating (overall):

For Endless Waltz:

For all you people who just absolutely LOVE this series, don't take the "indifferent" rating as an insult! I would give a high indifferent rating if I could, but then my rating system would get more complicated, ne? Anyway, the reason behind it is all the confusion this series creates with all the politics going on. What new alliance is formed today? Which side are the Gundams fighting for in this episode? Who is Relena going to talk to now? Stuff like that is constantly coming up, and sometimes an episode will make me a little bored. There are some episodes with some great action and character development which is great, and is the main appeal to the show.

Why the different rating for Endless Waltz? The OVA series has everything that I liked about GW and condensed it into a neat series with great animation, great looking characters, new Gundams, and a good plot (not a lot of politics!) to boot.

This series is also for boys and girls alike. You've got great mecha action for the guys, while you have handsome bishonen (pretty boys) and some romance thrown in for the girls. Wonder why this series is so popular in the States? It appeals to everyone. (Pokemon...I don't know about that...)

Whew! This turned out even longer or as long as my Ranma 1/2 commentary! Do I sense a pattern here? *Anyway*, you can...