Ranked #1476

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

Story: Without a doubt, V Gundam is the saddest Gundam story to date. And before anything else is said, I think it's worth a mention to say that a lot of people die, and most of the time for no good reason at all. That aside, I have to say I really loved the storyline. However, some of the story arcs in the middle could have been left out, and the story would still be intact; a lot of the time during said arcs I found myself wondering why the characters were doing what they were doing. There's not a lot of narrative glue to stick the parts together, and to keep one interested during some of the low parts. But, overall it's a nice story, with an emphasis on death, and at least during the last arc, a huge emphasis on the beauty of life.

Art: Very good. V Gundam uses a very simple art style to convey the characters and the Mobile Suits; which is both good and bad. Most of the Suits are very similar to each other, and are very rarely any unique. Characters however, look very nice, and some are just too cool for words, while others are just meh. Battles are everything you would expect from a mecha show, and although somewhat exaggerated at times (or almost all of the time), they're mostly very good. The simple style works here to make the art very nice looking even today.

Sound: Not much to say here. There's an excellent cast of actors working on the voices, and the mecha sounds are great, but nothing really stands out in this category.

Characters: We've got a cast of mostly children and women, with the main villain and one of the main characters being male. The rest of the male cast are either lesser characters or very old men. I can't quite remember why the cast is like it is, but it brings a fresh look on what might be a stale storyline. It also has the effect of removing almost all romantic involvement between the main characters. There's a peace-loving-battle-scarred boy, a princess girl, and a group of what seem to be orphaned children. Interaction between them is what really pushes the story along. Without a doubt, Oliver and Captain Gomez were my favorite characters, both of which received little screen time, but both of whom were very central to the story.

Overall: No where near as good as First Gundam, V Gundam is nonetheless a very nice looking, anime featuring a somewhat lacking storyline that'll get your emotions running if you're not prepared for it. Definitely recommended if you've seen the other UC animes, however, the story is completely separate from the main meta-plot. read more

Gundam has always been a series I watch. I've always been drawn to the Mecha Genre, the newer series are usually awesome in sound/animation but that doesn't mean we shouldn't give a chance to the older ones. Luckily for me Victory Gundam was actually enjoyable (unlike Z or ZZ)

Story and Characters

Story wise, Victory Gundam follows the generic gundam story line. Young hero, happens to "fall" into piloting the "latest and greatest" suit. Gets conscripted into fighting for adults whether willingly or unwillingly. Grows up, finds his own reasons to fight/not fight which usually includes a love interest somewhere. Goes to space, comes back to earth, goes back to space and there is the inevitable big battle to end it all.

Victory Gundam succeeds for three reasons.

First - the character development is very well done. Unlike some heroes, Uso is actually both identifiable and likeable. The supporting cast of characters all have their own storyline and despite the fact that there are a lot of supporting characters somehow you grow to know (like or dislike) each and every one of them even the dog and baby. That's a smart dog. I want one just like him. Throw in a Haro too while you're at it. By the end of the series the baby is actually walking and starting to talk. How is that for true to life?

Second - This portrays war in a realistic manner. It isn't one of those gundam series where people escape death all the time in fact, if I were to give a tagline to this series it would be "In War People Die". I felt bad at 90% of the deaths and cried more than once. That is effective storytelling.

Third - although there was the slow part, the story really picked up in the last 5 episodes and I probably enjoyed those more than the preceding 46. The ability to surprise, move the viewer and entertain at the end is the mark of good anime.

Art/Animation

Very dated with a lot of frame reuse, so was ok for its time but compared to current anime it really shows its age. Nothing special here and one reason why I couldn't give this anime a higher score.

Sound

Pretty average OP/ED songs although Shakti's song was very catchy and the sad music really works. Sound effects were ok also.

Enjoyment

I only had 2 issues with this anime. First - Katejina (ugh!). Secondly, why is it in every Gundam Series the adults are all too willing to give their latest and greatest suit to some young, irresponsible fighter pilot ace? Ok the second reason is applicable to all gundam series but seriously if I were a captain I would NEVER let them pilot those suits until they were mature.

That being said, although it took some time to finish it I liked this a lot. Completionists should watch this series. read more