Gundam Wing
Directed by: Masashi Ikeda (Movie by Yasunao Aoki)
Studio: Sunrise
Genres: Mecha, Sci-fi, Military, Shonen, Drama
Format: 49 TV episodes, 1 animated film
For fans of: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Patlabor, Other Gundam Titles.
Live Action Anime Rating: ****
Gundam Wing is undeniably heralded as one the best animés of the 90s, let alone of all time. That single statement could make people disagree, but ask yourself; 'If you don't like it, can you still say that it isn't a good series'? Didn't think so. People may not like it, but they know that it is undeniably a classic.
Gundam Wing is the sort of series that, like Dragon Ball or (dare I say it) Pokémon, is able to form the basis of someone's future taste in animé as a whole, and was very much one of the more popular series in the 90s and early 00s. The complex compilation of politics and personal struggles combined with giant mecha made for something that would seem impossible for anyone to understand, and yet so many people DID understand, and so many loved what they saw.
Gundam Wing is the fantastic tale of five 'Gundam' pilots, all of whom are oblivious at first to the existence of the other Gundam pilots, believing them to be new mobile suits made by the evil Organisation of Zodiac. Although evil is a hard term in Gundam Wing, in a world where there are so many twists and turns. The five pilots soon discover that they are all on the same missions and objective and end up collecting together to take down the Organization of Zodiac.
The five pilots are perhaps the best examples of how to develop character's in existence, with subtle changes to full blown advancements making the story progress purely on the basis that the character's have no ability to slow the flow of events. The 'main' protagonist Heero Yuy is a prime example of this. He keeps himself emotionless and business-like at all times, and keeps that attitude in any battle situation, and slowly over time they develop his character to include the truth that he does this to avoid heartbreak, and can show his emotions in a normal situation. His emotions also shine through at the moments he realises that nothing can be done to stop a tragic moment or event in the Gundam world, and shows those small signs of truly being powerless. The most true moment of this comes from Heero's experience in the OZ developed Gundam Epyon, which would often drive him to insanity just trying to be in it, leaving him weak and emotionally unstable as the flow of events unravel before him.
And it's not just the character's who are amazingly developed, but also the Gundams. But let's not go into that poor pun i made there. The Gundams are all incredibly unique, with features that attract attention no matter the scale of their appearance on screen, with detailed artwork and those little touches that truly make them the best tools of war ever seen in real life, animé, or elsewhere. Gundam Heavyarms is a fun example to mention here, with a pile of rocket launchers in the shoulders, three gatling guns for one arm, a large combat knife on the other, and two more gatling guns in the chest plates. It's the attention to detail and developed idea there that makes anyone want to just stare at the Gundams and enjoy the intricacies involved.
The Animation and visual style of Gundam Wing is not something that can be easily dismissed, with it easily being one of the more beautiful series created in it's time, and some could even say that to this day. The smallest movement appears to be carefully animated to look as gorgeous as possible, and nothing can make the environments or interactions seem anything less than superb. This is one of those animés that can be appreciated no matter the way it is viewed.
This series also carries that coveted gold star for having a brilliant dub, with only a few slips in quality. Look at any animé nowadays and it's like the VAs don't really give a damn. But if you were to look at this, with the Voice Actors genuinely seeming to be deep into the plot, and knowing that what they are doing is going to be an amazing production, it gives you hope for the future of dubs as a whole, and for the animé scene in general.
Some could say that Gundam Wing became overrated in it's time, mainly due to it being one of the 'big seven' of animé that sparked the worldwide love (the others being Dragon Ball, Pokémon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop), and is a fact that should be ignored for those looking into this epic for the first time. Gundam Wing contains the sort of creative talents that left it right near the top of those amazing animé series, and that should be something that everyone can appreciate. But unlike a few of those series, the adventures didn't stop when the series hit it's emotional climax. Oh no. There was still one more story to tell. One that has secured itself as one of the most popular of all time:
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
Endless Waltz took all those brilliant features that were in the first, the visual style, the high grade animation, the intense sound, and the immense plot, and turned it all up to 11. The Gundams got redesigned, the characters had changed over the time skip, and the animation and sound had only gotten better from being a full movie. There isn't much more i can say to sing the eternal praises of this classic, so i best take it down a notch and moan about it.
It isn't an easy series to get into if you're completely fresh to animé. Back when it emerged dubbed it had a fellow ring of series released at the same time propelling it as the one you'd watch after the simpler series had begun to initiate you. But in a world full of simple series like Bleach or Naruto, it's very hard for anyone to jump into this.
The colours that were once cutting edge and gorgeous are now beginning to dull as new colours are used to brighten up the animé world to an age of many shades and shadows, and it can leave Gundam Wing getting ready to retire from it's throne as king of mecha. Could it be that the more we produce brilliant bright series like Buso Renkin or movies like Ghost in the Shell 2 we lose the older series to the fate of technological advancement?
And as sad a fact as it is to say, Mecha is a dying genre. People are caring less about Mecha, a genre that once proudly sat atop them all in the 90s, and preferring the more popular Steam punk or Seinen series.
Don't let series like this be forgotten. Stand by them, as they have served the industry well, and hopefully always will.
- FlipthePage
Second Opinion: If there's an aspect in which Gundam Wing succeeds, it's in being original despite being another series of an already famous franchise. Some military geeks have complained about this, but the fact that Gundam Wing dealt with philosophical ideas and political conflicts makes it a truthfully amazing epic. The twists in the plot and relationships among characters make for exciting entertainment. Don't get me wrong though, Gundam Wing isn't just babble. There's just enough combination of drama and action to keep your buttocks on the edge of your seat. Although I don't consider it to be groundbreaking by any means, I do think it's original, and well-written enough to be considered one of the most entertaining and impressive mecha anime there is. It is definitely the pinnacle of the Gundam franchise.
-Rjxsapri®
Clockwise from bottom: Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Chang Wufei, Quatre Raberba and Duo Maxwell. What a team!
Rating system:
*= Horrible
*½= Very Bad
**= Bad
**½= Good
***= Very Good
***½= Excellent
****= Masterpiece
