Sep 20, 2015
Despite being a part of the Gundam family, this anime is unjustly compared to all the other Gundam series that have come before and after it. While most other Gundam series focus on the hardships of war and have political subtext and so on, this anime took the direction of being an action-packed tournament-style battle anime, and that's not a bad thing as long as you aren't expecting the same kind of story and development of other Gundam series. If this anime has to be compared to any other mecha anime at all, let it be considered the predecessor to Gurren Lagann mixed with Kill
...
La Kill.
Story: The story essentially doesn't matter, the only purpose it serves is to give our main character Domon a reason to travel and fight. The fights are all that matter and not a single episode fails to deliver in the quality of the battles. However, because the "main story" it has doesn't really matter, they could have quite easily made it in a Kill La Kill fashion where the main character's purpose is to fight and become stronger only to reveal the same kind of omnipotent evil entity that you know is coming at the end anyways.
Art: The art and animation are without a doubt what you'd expect from any Gundam series. Ahead of its time, G Gundam has quality animation that can still be enjoyed today. The art style is great for portraying the recognizable real-world landmarks as well as allowing a creative freedom for any kind of mecha design that could be imagined. While some mecha designs were a bit silly, it really showed a unique style of mecha fighting for each different mobile suit that should be expected if the series is going to go out of its way to make so many different models. Granted it did have some limitations at the time being an early 90s anime, so there's plenty of still shots and reused animations that don't happen frequently enough to take away from the action.
Sound: In all honesty the soundtrack is what makes up for the bulk of this score in sound. The music always fit the tone and everything from the opening song to ending song to the main character's action theme song was a great composition that not only suited what was going on, but was also catchy and enjoyable. As far as the voice acting goes, without a doubt the dub for this anime is not the greatest quality even for its time. However, each and every character's voice suits them well, which, compared to even anime of today whose character voices don't always match, is an impressive and respectable feat. That's about the only praise the dubbing will get, none of the voice acting is poor quality, but it's very corny and over-the-top most of the time, whether the character is having an emotional moment or not, chances are their lines will be delivered in a way that is almost awkward.
Character: Every character is a stereotype and/or a cliché. Generally speaking there is nearly no character development either. Each character will suit a cliché from their sovereign nation and stick to it, as well as having one or two major personality traits that they will never abandon. While it is true that the characters fit their roles well and most are quite likeable, there's no real excuse for such lazy character creation. But it's also inconsequential, since all they need to be able to do is fight well to keep the pace of the anime and keep it entertaining.
Enjoyment: This is an anime about mobile suit Gundams fighting each other. The fights are all action-packed, the characters offer a diverse set of mobile suits and personalities and usually each different character will have unique powers, weapons, and/or fighting styles that make it so no battle feels stale or repeated (even in rematches). Despite being lazy, the characters are still likeable. The anime is definitely enjoyable through and through if you don't expect it to be anything greater than what it is giving you at face value, because that's all it needs to be entertaining.
Final Evaluation: If you're interested in this anime, there's probably some interest in mecha anime in general. This isn't a plot-heavy mecha anime like Code Geass. It's a battle-fueled mecha anime like Gurren Lagann. If you want a typical Gundam anime that has the same reused plots and stories as every other Gundam, watch any of the other Gundams. If you want to have a good time watching tons of unique Gundam fighting each other, G Gundam is highly recommended.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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