Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz Special

Now, Gundam Wing was a series I thoroughly enjoyed. Great characters who fit their roles perfectly, bang-on chemistry, and a brilliantly paced and thought-out story. However, I did take a bit of an issue with its art and animation, since the battle scenes lacked the fluidity and choreography I was used to. Reused frames and cheap explosions also dulled the experience. The foreground art was rather well done, but the lackluster backgrounds often left much to be desired. Ditto with the matte, blandish colors. I didn’t hang on this too much, because GW is rather old, and went with ... the “it was good for its time” conclusion, and I often got the feeling that the excellent storyline mostly made up for the art and animation.

Thankfully, Endless Waltz addressed my issue with the art and animation. Much more precise actions, more fluid movements in the Mobile Suits, and much more time was spent on creating battles that looked and felt grittier and more realistic. The explosions didn't feel as cheap, the choreography was improved, and the beam blasts gave scenes a much better sense of dimension. The suits themselves benefit from flashier designs and with the slightly glossier color palate compared with Wing, they seem to pop out and become more vibrant. Ditto goes with the characters and backgrounds. Wing’s backgrounds to me felt a bit like a faded museum piece of art, but Endless Waltz’s art and animation feels much more contemporary.

A year has passed since the end of Wing, and while you can feel the characters have matured a bit in this timeframe, they’re still their old selves, keeping their old philosophies, battle techniques, strengths, weaknesses, skills, and personalities. This I see most apparent in Heero, Duo, and Relena. Keeping the characters relatively similar is perfect, since characterization was a huge strength of the original series. I’m glad that some time was spent on explaining the pasts of some of the pilots, but the movie only goes back a little while into the more recent events, and it feels like they only scratched the surface into the characters’ pasts. They also went into the true purpose and intent of Operation Meteor, but again, they only scratched the surface. Problem is that after they scratch the surface, the questions start flooding in and you’re left wanting more explanations. The new characters they introduce, Mariemaia and Dekim, are well developed for the time they are in the movie and despite minimal explanation, their intent is clearly shown and radiated towards the viewer very well.

The plot starts out in a rather hopeful note, with the results of Wing’s ending ushering in a new era of peace. But things get going rather quickly, and like Wing, each group of characters has their own agenda as to build up to the climax. Thankfully, unlike Wing, there isn’t a big dead spot in the middle of the movie where some characters get shoved aside and the viewer is left wondering what happened to them. The plot doesn’t slow down in the middle of the movie and the viewers are left wanting everything to come together. Even though each group of characters has an agenda, Endless Waltz doesn’t try to fragment and separate these groups as much as possible, and instead keeps their actions closely tied to the main plotline so there's a constant feeling of progression.

The shifts amongst these character groups apparent in Wing are also apparent in Endless Waltz, necessary and well done, but since the buildup to Endless Waltz’s climax is neverending, no shift in focus feels clunky and forced, which sometimes occurred in Wing. I would have liked a bit more focus on Wu Fei’s agenda and a little more on what happened to him and Trowa during the 2nd quarter of the movie, however. A slightly grittier battle between Heero and Wu Fei and more focus on Wing Zero would have also been welcome since Heero is the most central of the 5 pilots to the plot, but what Endless Waltz did deliver was still pretty close compared to Wing.

If you liked Gundam Wing, do not skip Endless Waltz. A good, though rather sad, end to the After Colony timeline, Endless Waltz concludes the Wing series very well. It’s like having an excellent dessert after your meal.

Overview:

Time for a short review! Other than the first Pokemon movie and the first 3 DBZ movies, this was the first anime movie that a whole generation American anime fans watched. So how was it? Well...it was a bit polarizing to say the least. Every generation of anime fans has "the golden punching bag". That special anime that you just HAVE to hate online in order to call yourself a REAL anime fan. Darling of the Franxx currently holds that title belt. Before that there was Sword Art Online. Before SAO, there was Elfen Lied and before that there was Inuyasha. Gundam Wing was THE ... anime to hate in the late 90s and Endless Waltz was even more hated. Why? Did it REALLY deserve the amount of vitriol it got? Let's find out!

Story and characters:

The story is that a militaristic bastard is trying to use the daughter of the main villain from Gundam Wing as a puppet and launch his own coup against Earth's government. Now only the Gundam pilots and their badass robots can save the day by blowing up some enemy mechs and making people realize that war is wrong. So basically...it's another Gundam anime. There have been just a couple well written Gundam series over the last 40 years, but mostly they follow the same pattern. A shadowy organization launches an all out war and only some very special teens with awesome robots can stop them. Insert forced anti-war message here. We watch Gundam series for awesome looking robot designs and awesome space battles that get us pumped to go collect models kits. Endless Waltz DOES have a few major issues like Chang Wufei turning bad for the sake of the plot and then turning good again almost immediately. Gundam Wing in general had a huge issue with random character alignment shifts. Still, I'm not personally bothered by this. It's all a matter of expectations. Gundam Wing is like anime Pro Wrestling. It's something you watch entirely for the spectacle and you just assume that totally random face turns and heel turns WILL happen.


Art and animation:

Firstly, the new designs for the 5 gundams are all amazing! The original 5 designs were cool, but the "custom models" for Endless Waltz are all massive improvements. I also need to say that this film looked AWESOME for its time and still holds up really well. This was made in 1998 and it looks better than most anime being released 20 years later in 2018. Dragonball fans would come in their pants if a special episode of DB Super looked even half as good as Endless Waltz does. Sunrise was still flush with cash at this point and riding high on that early Western anime boom. No expenses were spared in the making of this movie. It's mostly hand animated and just looks gorgeous.

Music:

Here is another area where Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz shine. The opening song is awesome. The battle songs and background songs are awesome. Every track gets you pumped to see some giant robots throw down. I have nothing bad to say about the Endless Waltz soundtrack. It's fucking awesome. Go check it out.


Hate factor:

So...it's harmless, dumb fun with amazing production values and music. Why on Earth would people hate it SO much? I've been an anime fan since around 1997 and I can tell you the secret formula to being the internet's most hated anime. Is it having the worst plot and characters? nope. There is an anime called Kimera, that's about gay vampires from outer space and a douche-bag who is willing to sacrifice all humanity to get some sweet anal. Nobody has ever heard of that atrocity. The anime with the really bad plots typically go under the radar. Is it having the worst art? Nope. Is it having the most filler and worst pacing? Nope. The one thread that connects all the most hated anime on the English speaking internet from the late 90s to the present is demographics. So who are the gatekeepers of online anime taste? Who are the Watchmen? Geek males in their late teens and early 20s that think they're really smart and sophisticated. It is always been this way. What demographic do they utterly despise above all others? Teenage girls aged 13-19 who are more casual anime viewers and haven't seen TONS of anime. Whatever anime wins the hearts of "Fake geek girls" is going to be labeled the Anti-Christ online. Gundam Wing was one of these anime. Inuyasha? yep. Elfen Lied? yep. Sword Art? yep. I personally hate SAO, but even I realize it isn't THAT bad. I don't hate it more than I hate Bleach or Code Geass and yet nobody hates on those to the same degree. Why? Just look at their fandoms. I was a bit saddened and disappointed when I figured out this little formula, but that's just the way things are.


Overall:

Should you go into this movie expecting a cinematic masterpiece? NO. Will you have fun and probably enjoy the cheesy, 90s ride? Yes! I defy you to watch the aerial duel between Wing and Altron Gundam and not be entertained. Or not mark out watching Custom Heavy unleash a hailstorm of bullets and missiles. This movie is quality nostalgic cheese and I will never stop loving it.

I already have a review for the Gundam Wing series, and I'd suggest reading that first as my feelings towards it also reflect that of this movie for the most part. Endless Waltz is the sequel to the Gundam Wing TV series, and the greatest thing about it is that it could've easily felt forced as the original series ended on its own but instead it feels like a natural continuation and extended conclusion of the series.

This is surely for the better as it allows Gundam Wing to go out with a much greater bang. The initial scenario is nearly identical to that of the ... final episodes of Wing, but the progression is much different. After peace is obtained a new force shows up to take advantage of the Earth's powerless state with a big plan that puts the entire planet at risk.

We aren't here for the plot though (because it's Gundam Wing), but rather the thrills, and Endless Waltz delivers more of those than ever before through some incredible animation quality that blows the original series animation to smithereens, showcasing both much crisper art and fluid animation. To give an example of just how good the art is, there were many times before where I had seen still pictures of Endless Waltz and thought I was looking at high quality promotional art. It's really something.

To further justify this sequel's existence, it gives us some short backstories on all the Gundam pilots that the original series was sorely lacking. It isn't much, but Heero, Trowa, and Wufei all needed it most. We actually barely get anything about Duo unfortunately, but he was cool enough already, and Quatre's backstory was actually in the series.

Speaking of Gundams, the most controversial aspect of Endless Waltz has always been Hajime Katoki's Mobile Suit redesigns. These redesigns clash greatly with Kunio Okawara's popular originals and have met with much scorn from many Gundam Wing fans due to a perceived lack of respect for Okawara's designs by Katoki. These new designs are not upgrades, but rather complete retcons that don't acknowledge the originals other than the base concept. Deathscythe Hell no longer has any weapons besides the Beam Scythe, Sandrock loses its claw and instead fights only with its shotels making it redundant in the face of the fellow melee Gundam Deathscythe, Heavyarms is the same but now blue for some reason, Altron is... pretty much the same, but who cares about Altron? And of course, Wing Zero gets its now legendary angel wings, which you either think are cool as hell or incredibly stupid. Since Deathscythe was hit pretty hard here, you can definitely put me down as someone who dislikes the Endless Waltz redesigns, though I like Heavyarms's new color scheme more, and Tallgeese III is my second favorite Mobile Suit in the series. While I hated Wing Zero's angel wings before seeing this, when in motion they have a more mechanical look to them so I'm giving it a pass even though it doesn't beat the original (it even loses its Mobile Armor bird mode, please help me). These changes were all so, so unnecessary and minimize the original designs. I don't get it. Worse still, these are almost always the final versions used in the Super Robot Wars games.

Venting over. Endless Waltz contains the best qualities of Gundam Wing's fast-paced action and these positive qualities overshadow much of the usual lame melodrama. The movie's biggest misstep is having a set-up and ending that ignores its conflict with the series's central themes and resets things back to the status quo which Endless Waltz showed didn't work. Just Gundam Wing being stupid again. If you liked the series, you will like Endless Waltz. If you didn't like the series, you will at least like Endless Waltz more. It's that simple.

Gundam Wing the TV series was full of confusion for me, and this compilation movie of 3 OVA episodes are a nice touch finish the series. It felt like it tried to fix the mess that the TV show made. Unfortunately the mess was too big sometimes since it lost way too much focus sometimes and the characters weren't utilized effectively for best storytelling.

This movie, however, revisited why the 5 Gundam pilots came to Earth in the first place, and explained some background of the characters and their settings. As a Trowa fan, I also loved the fanservice of his new circus costume (shirtless ... with suspenders) and WuFei got more important roles in this sequel and I was very glad he wasn't completely isolated like he was sometimes in the show. I feel sorry for Duo since he's always treated horribly (this movie not exception) and him not getting much background info is just fitting for the character and I'm fine with that. He's almost a comic relief it's sad but reassuring.

They were kinda obsessed with the idea of self-destruction switch and it made me laugh since it reminded me too much of that time when Heero did so in the show. The guys are seriously crazy like in the show, but more believable and well, a bit understandable. I think the whole Gundam series is filled with crazy, border line insane, characters, but this movie was a bit mild compared to the show. The show didn't explain the characters' psych. In this sequel, they're really talking and telling you all they can after they developed more emotionally throughout the show.

The female characters really shined in this movie. And although I cherished all the fanservice or basically getting more background info on the pilots, I enjoyed the toughness of the heroines. Well, except Catherine, she didn't get much since she's not soldier/politician, but Relena was more active, Sally and especially Lady Une were inspiring. But Noin takes the cake for me. She turned out much more manly than well, you know, that guy. The new antagonist is a little girl, and that reminded me so much of another little girl in Gundam Z or ZZ and she felt boring. The enemy side couldn't get more screen time to be compelling since there were so many protagonists, mainly gundam pilots, that took the much needed time for background stuff.

In the end, I'm so glad they made this sequel to the show. I know there are some novels or manga for the Wing series, as for any popular Gundam series, but with this movie I felt more complete and satisfied after the under-explained TV show.

Endless Re-Watchability,

I must admit, I am undeniably biased toward this OVA because it was my very first introduction to anime. Before I even first saw Dragon Ball, Pokemon, or the other baseline Toonami-type shows everyone knows, Endless Waltz was melting my little 8 year old mind.

That being said, I still love watching GWEW to this day, the animation is frankly awesome, the story, while not the most intricate or devastating in the timeless juggernaut that is the Gundam franchise, is still suitable for the message its trying to tell. The voice acting is on-point for the bulk of the run-time and though its not ... really meant to be the most mind-blowing or in-depth drama, the emotional beats are still quite effective in my eyes. It's by no means a masterpiece, but it hasn't gotten old for me yet, it's an 8 out of 10 overall from me.

Just like the show, there's good kernels of ideas we could wrestle with: is it possible to have peace and completely get rid of weapons, what is the purpose of a solider during peacetime, is all the sacrifice of battle worth it? But just like the show it's ham fisted, stumbles all over itself, and is generally ridiculous. At least with this it's not too front and center most of the time and the fact that they had to write a tight 90 minute story probably helped. But why would anyone follow a 9 year old in a coup d'état? The animation is absolutely beautiful, ... full of fluid awesome fight scenes with only the occasional blemish. And the updated Gundam designs are super slick. I enjoyed it not for its story but for its visuals, and just like the show I'll always have a fondness for it. Watched the sub since that's all Crunchy had.

To begin with, endless waltz was by far one of my favorite gundam series. I actually built 3 models of Endless Waltz. To make a movie about it was like a dream come true. The voice acting was spot on, and I really liked the emotion that was portrayed. The battle scenes were unique and was full of action. Though some of the sounds effects did sound a bit off, it still is a great movie. Endless waltz is a great gundam TV show, and I would recommend it to anyone. The movie captured the magic of the television series with perfection. Too bad Try ... fighters won't be getting any movie.

[Edit] This is a great OVA, and it expands what you see on the Gundam Wing series. If you liked Gundam Wing, please watch it, because it is really good.

Story: Usually, the Gundam OVAs are made so they can sell more gunplas, that's the harsh truth. Yet, Endless Waltz (EW) creates a good story, expanding what you see in the series and gives a way better conclusion to the show than the regular series. This is a great feat that should not be overlooked because Gundam sometime really messes up when they create an OVA that concludes the series story (I am looking at you, ... Wakening of the Trail Blazers).

Art and Sounds: It was made 1 year after Wing, it's the same, meaning its good for their time.

Characters: I think here is what EW really made me happy. All characters that I had a problem in the series got fixed in EW. The ones that were good, continued to be good, and the ones that had a lot of cracks and holes in their development, were fixed in the OVA, like Heero and Trowa (which was relevant as a cold beer in the North Pole). Chang Wufei continues to be annoying but had some fixes. Relena is badass now, so I started to like her. I can`t give more here without spiling for you. In summary, in terms of characters, EW was on point.

Mechas: As you expect, Bandai has to make more money, so they developed new Gundams. I have no complaints, go for it Bandai, because the Gundam is even more badass with their OVA look now. the Gundam Wing Zero Custom is so beautiful and awesome that its gunpla became one of the most used gunpla for custom builds in the world.

Overall: Great OVA, closing the story of Wing with high honors, a must-watch for Gundam fans, and for those who liked Gundam Wing.

I've talked about Gundam Wing. It was a series I enjoyed quite a bit. This time, we're looking at the film. It came out after the series and serves as a sequel. So, there may be some spoilers for the series proper. Just be aware of that.

Story:

We open with some very simple events happening. Duo and Quatre are set to destroy their Gundams along with Heavy Arms and Wing Zero. But unbeknownst to them, a new threat is rising. Relena is kidnapped, not like anyone but Dorothy cares, and the remnants of Treize's army are gathering under a new leader, his young daughter.

The ... biggest issue with the film is that it features a lot of flashbacks to kind of explain some back stories for the pilots that basically explain why they're reacting to the situation like they are. While it kind of works from a characterisation perspective, it's also a bit awkward in terms of story-telling. It almost feels like padding, they spend so much time on it.

That being said, I appreciate the way the film handles the theme of vigilance being a necessity for peace. I also do think it's a logical follow up to have Treize's followers still active. And the film does maintain a good degree of tension and stay compelling throughout.

Characters:

Most of the characters are the ones we know and love from the series. Also Relena. There are two major antagonists introduced. The first is Treize's daughter, Mariemaia. The second is Dekim Barton. Honestly, he's not a very interesting character. He has this vague thing about being involved with the original Operation Meteor because he wants to control the world. Which kind of puts him on the level of a Silver Age comic villain. Mariemaia is a bit better. She's given some sympathetic traits. My issue with her is that her bond with Relena isn't all that well developed. Most of it seems to form offscreen.

Art:

The film's art meshes well with the art of the series. It's a bit dated, but still looks pretty good and the action sequences are pretty good. The Gundams still look really cool. Wing has some spectacular designs in that regard.

Sound:

Nakahara Shigeru, Orikasa Ai, Midorikawa Hikaru, Koyasu Takehito, Seki Toshihiko, Ishino Ryuuzou, they all give really strong performances. Honestly, everyone in this gives strong performances. Sunrise did a fantastic job with casting and directing. The music is great as well. Otani Kow nailed it pretty handily.

Ho-yay:

There's not as much as the series proper. Dorothy doesn't really show her massive crush on Relena. Quatre and Trowa don't interact all that much. The most homoerotic thing that happens is Zechs saying he couldn't rest in peace while Treize's spirit called out to him.

Areas of Improvement:

1. Spend less time with flashback sequences. You'd honestly be better off with shorter sequences, and only the ones that are really relevant to the story. Which are Trowa's and Heero's. You could do without the others.

2. Better illustrate Relena's relationship with Mariemaia. Them becoming somewhat close is actually important to the plot, but they barely show them interacting. At least give us a brief montage of their time together.

3. Give Dekim some stronger motivation. As is, he seems to just want to rule the world for the lols. Give us something to explain why grabbing power means so much to him. It would give him a lot more complexity.

Final Thoughts:

This film is pretty solid. It may not be on the level of the series proper, but it makes a fine addition and it does follow up pretty strongly. I'm giving this one a 7/10. If you're a fan of the series, it's worth watching. Unless your sole interest in the series is based on the fairly high levels of ho-yay because there's not that much of that in this film.

"Mobile Suit Gundam Wing" was a heckuva ride, it had the right enough amounts of action, plot, character, and mobile suits to make any mech anime fan let out a high-pitched squee noise. Needless to say, that was never going to be enough. We wanted more. So, we got a follow-up movie. "Endless Waltz"

Picking up shortly after the "Wing" ended, this movie is a perfect microcosm of it's origin program. Lots of action, intrigue, new characters, and best of all- new versions of the Gundams from the "Wing" series. Oh, Merry Gundam-mas everyone- these things are AWESOME! It may cheapen this movie into an excuse ... just to sell toys, but how can you not love these invincible juggernauts?! They look great and just blow up everything in their way! Sweet, sweet, 'splosion porn everyone! Come get some!

Okay, serious notes. The film suffers from the same draw backs it's predecessor did. Too preachy. Too many big speeches about how right and/or wrong war is. And all packed into a short movie rather than spread out over a long series. You get some more background on the Gundam pilots, a couple new and semi-important characters are introduced, and a new conflict starts and is resolved with the help of our band of heroes.

The art is pretty good, each Gundam looks fantastic as does the cannon fodder their put up against. The sound f/x are everything you'd expect from a show with the word "Gundam" slapped on the tin, and the soundtrack is pretty sweet, too. I especially liked the featured song, "White Reflection" which sounds like the soundtrack to a training montage where Rocky Balboa is training to be a Gundam pilot. Sub vs. Dub is actually a win for English dub, to me they just sound better. Especially Scott McNeil as Duo Maxwell, he just sounds like he was born for the part.

I really liked this movie and I recommend it to any fan of the original show. I liked it so much, it's actually one of my favorite Christmas movies. (My favorite being "Die Hard") I wish it could have been drawn out into a longer set of OVAs, but this does well with a short run-time. A wonderful cherry on top of the action packed sundae that was "Gundam Wing". 7/10. Check it out. Cheers!

Endless Waltz is truly an anime classic. There are many scenes in there that go down as some of the greatest of all time. The story isn't anything crazy or that deep. The plot is rather simple. It's the excitement and suspense they do well with and fleshing out all the characters a bit more. It is quite possibly one of the most badass anime movies I've ever watched. I have yet to see anything in anime top the scene with Heero retrieving the Wing Zero. The animation and designs are brilliant, and the musical scores used were chef's kiss.

Seeing the Wing cast in ... action like this with these redesigned suits and that glorious animation has me revisiting the movie multiple times a year. As highly regarded as it was originally, I feel like this movie is criminally slept on.

I said that I'd give 10 if a character got shot, so here I am
also MAL wants a bigger review
so I'l just say that said character getting shot was the best part of the whole Wing series, I have never found myself enjoying it so much until that part
because my God, Gundam Wing is terrible, it's laughable how bad the entire series is, and is by far my most hated gundam show of all times, and whoever says it's the best, I'm sorry but you're blinded by your nostalgia, I don't mean any disrespect towards anyone who loves it, bc I totally get it, the ... action is so good, arguably one of the best in the entire franchise, but everything else, it hurts me just to remember

A nice sendoff for the Gundam Wing series. Its animation is good, and really goes to show how much better the Wing show could've been if it didn't rely on reusing animation. While I've seen better looking animation before, Endless Waltz still looks good and leaves me with no complaints. I also found the story to be very enjoyable, it doesn't waste any time and feels like a natural continuation of the Wing series that feels complete and well rounded. I also would like to note that even though it's been over a year since I watched Gundam Wing I was never confused, which goes ... to show how good of a job the filmmakers did at making this easy to follow, it also highlights how memorable much of the show is. The music is also really catchy, I already liked the original Wing series' soundtrack and this one doesn't disappoint. It's a very enjoyable watch, I'm not the biggest fan of Gundam Wing as a whole, but I still liked this nonetheless. I think if you've finished the original Wing series, you absolutely should give Endless Waltz a watch.