Story: Gundam X takes place 15 years after the war between the Earth forces and Space Rebellion which wiped out almost all of the Earth's population due to the use of Newtypes, individuals with advanced abilities. The story follows Garrod Ran, a 15 year old boy who runs into a mysterious girl called Tiffa and later decides to join the Freeden, a ship led by Jamil Neate, a former "hero" in the war(think Amuro Ray), in order to protect Tiffa, while traveling the Earth to prevent the abusive use of Newtypes and eventually to stop a war that could result in the same tragedy 15 years ago. The plot set-up can almost be thought of as a pre-cursor to Eureka 7, the main character chooses to join a group of ragtag individuals in order to protect a girl they've taken interest in,not to fight for peace or anything close to it.
Art: Being released in 1996, the art looks dated but still holds up fairly well 14 years since its release. For those who have seen Gundam Wing, you know what you're expecting
Sound: The sound effects and background music are fairly well done( despite the fx sounding a bit old-school and thus similar to Wing again), but the opening themes are very well done and quite catchy too.
Characters: Despite the high enjoyment quality of all other Gundam shows, most of the main characters, were rather annoying, throwing out angst and other "emo" actions that seemed rather siily. Gundam X has a decent set of characters that are all fairly fleshed out and really likable and don't display any of the cliches established by its predecessors. Garrod is a rather interesting main lead and often displays some traits that most teens could relate to. Despite some "angst" he displays in the few beginning episodes of the anime, it actually makes sense why he acts this way. Jamil is a mix of Char, Amuro and even Bright, and acts as the leader figure among the crew of the Freeden and his past involvement in the war only makes him more interesting. Roybea and Witz, the other 2 Gundam pilots, are interesting characters as well and they even have good intentions being involved with the Freeden. The Frost brothers are the ones who truly shine in this show, they are the very definition of evil and will do whatever they want to get what they want.
Enjoyment: Every episode was well done and did a good job of building up to the conclusion. It started out as showing out with showing how the entire cast only worked to find Newtypes scattered around the globe, but slowly begun to realize that encountering them would lead to them becoming involved in a war once again. The only flaw I can think of is that the show was cut short, so starting around episode 30 to the last episode, it felt a bit rushed as I was hit with so much information in a few episodes, but was wrapped up really well overall.
Overall: Don't let the fact that Gundam X gets a bad vibe from many Gundam fans steer you away from watching this. The plot is well paced and the characters are all done fairly well and even has a bit of the political themes found in almost every Gundam series( but to a more limited extent here). This under-appreciated gem is a must watch for anyone who is a fan of mecha, romance or anyone who is an anime fan in general.
