Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing

Gundam Wing enjoys a hefty helping of popularity in the eyes of western otaku alongside with its brother, Gundam SEED (whether this is a pro or not, is up to the viewer). Wing can owe its success to one of many things. It began its American broadcast just as anime was starting to peak to the next generation, a large and somewhat epic plot contrasting many simple episodic American cartoons or, Wing could simply owe its success to the bad assery of Wing Zero (say what you will - those wings trounce 90% of the Gundams made).

Story
The story, like all Gundam plots revolve around ... war, two opposing factions of space and the earth, a boy and his chance encounter with a Gundam. At first, GW bombards you with the names of many factions and organizations that play a key role in making the world of GW what it is. When you truly begin to grasp what a certain organization is and what it stands for, it has just been defeated and wiped from the show. Although, quite annoying, GW exemplifies the concept that, those who don\'t evolve, won\'t survive. Throughout the first half of the series (before the emergence of Mobile Dolls), GW centralizes around world events caused in response to the happenings of the main characters and their actions. As the plot moves along, we take a more personal look at the main (~8) characters - why they fight, what their objectives are and who their allies/enemies are. In the final curtain, both these plots come together for the inevitable \"Gundam Final Showdown.\" Action is spread out enough to keep the viewer entertained but remember; GW is not a shounen anime. The plot encompasses the soldiers of war and their actions for their respective sides.

Animation and Sound
This is no KyoAni work, but it\'s also nothing close to the bottom of the barrel. GW\'s animation is mid to high quality (even for 2007) thanks to Sunrise. Most scenes take place in the dark of a room or space so remember to turn up the brightness. Animation quality drops at points (a given) but even then, it\'s appealing enough to keep the screen on. GW isn\'t as clean as SEED nor do the mobile suits have the same shiny effect as G.U.N.D.A.M\'s but given the time difference, it\'s understandable. Most of the OST in GW consists of great battle music to fit the occasion. Battle armament sounds are top notch, especially Heavyarm\'s guns and Wing Zero\'s shoulder vulcans. The largest ball drop is the lack of music during most anti-climactic scenes - making them quite dull. As well as random sound effects when character comes to realization about something.

Characters
Ah, therein lies the success to any Gundam. As said before, those that don\'t evolve, won\'t survive. As such, each and every main character (8 by my count) goes through a change or situation where they must make a choice. This pseudo character development grants us a clearer view on each character\'s motives and reasoning behind their actions. GW sports a large cast where each main character is paired with another of the opposite sex for contrast/similarities. Not including the immense support cast, GW already has lots of names to remember. But don\'t be intimidated! Most non-essential characters die within a few episodes anyways. Jokes aside, it\'s very easy to remember all the important characters and the support character or the day.

Overall
Although I wasn\'t pumped for this review, GW is still a great watch. It\'s one of those anime\'s that suffers a lot of disdain for the popularity it gets. It\'s in the eye of the beholder whether you\'ll like it or not. The first 20 or so episodes is great - political manipulation and backstabbing at its finniest. Then the centrality shifts and once more towards the end - essentially, you may not like what you see at first but remember, there\'s about 3 \"arcs\" in which the genre wavers to appeal to more audiences.

Even though the characters tend to have more one-dimensional personalities, it’s used effectively in a way where they can be distinctive and stand out, and serves as a motivation to develop the characters in their own way. All sides of the conflict have characters that have beliefs in why they do what they do, and you can sympathize with them. Certain characters will consistently change because a new revelation or turn of events will unveil that will impact them, and you can say it’s a reality of politics and war which I think is presented in a less complex manner in comparison to Tomino’s Gundams. ...

With the previous Gundam series, G Gundam being more hand to hand oriented, this series goes back to the traditional space battlefield with guns, lasers, and missiles, and are taken to a whole new extreme. The fights are fast paced and diverse with the many mobile suits that are present ,and the environments they all take place in such as land, sea, air, and space, are always exciting and you’re getting something different. With the use of coloring and resolution, it is easy to follow the fast paced action this series has to offer.

Like the characters, the mobile suits themselves that contain singular but yet distinguishing traits all have their uses and are given equal time to stand out. Like the Wing Gundam is the all rounder, the deathsytche being close range, and Heavyarms being long range, etc. And also, the skills of the pilot will also effect the outcome of how the mobile suit can be used. Such as when Heero had to pilot Heavyarms for example. And you also have the Mercurus and the Vayeate which represented offense and defense and I feel that the staff read the art of war first to apply some of the principles you see in this series.

The character design also brought in a traditional “bishounen” design to the franchise. Nothing wrong with that. They are also very diverse and distinctive in which once again their features are distinguished. I love how the expressions come across and the use of costumes. I also found it unique that this series plays homage to Char Aznable through Zechs Merquise with his get up so you’re basically getting Gundam, Zeta Gundam, and Char’s Counterattack all rolled into one with this series.

I’ll have to say that both the English and Japanese voice cast is probably the best I’ve heard in any anime in both name recognition and performance. On the Japanese side, you have big names like the multi-talented Midorikawa Hikaru playing Heero Yuy, and there’s also Mark Hildreth, the voice of Terry from Fatal Fury playing him in English. They both do a convincing job of making Heero coming across as something of an emotionless being who exclusively cares about what he’s doing. And the charismatic Koyasu Takehito is very menacing as Zechs, but I really like how Brian Drummond, the English actor does a much better job of bringing out his compassionate side. I also really enjoyed Brad Swale’s portrayal of Quatre, I thought it was far superior to Orikasa Ai’s performance. Granted Quatre is the most human, I just thought that even though he is played by a woman in the Japanese version, he sounded too feminine, but the English version was just perfect.

The music itself is classic and one of the most addicting soundtracks you’ll ever hear that also defines Jpop in the mid 90s. When it was on Toonami, I thought it was cool that whenever they played the opening themes, Just Communication and Rhythm Emotion as a background song, I thought it was awesome they retained it in American TV. If it were 4Kids, they change it to some lame rap. But I thought the music also defined the intense and adrenaline rush nature of the show.

Granted I do believe this series is a great gateway to the Gundam universe, I personally don’t believe it should be used as a barometer to what defines a great Gundam series. Each Gundam is different. You can’t compare this series to 08th MS Team, or Zeta Gundam. But this series does have its significant flaws like all other series have, and which is why I have never given any anime so far an overall perfect 10/10. But if anything annoyed me about this series, it is most certainly Relena. I remember after Gundam Wing aired, there were websites in dedication to her death. I’ll admit I was and still am one of those fan boys who wish Relena died. She’s like the Hillary Clinton of the anime universe. And I don’t mean that as a compliment. I find her to be annoying, and a hypocrite. If you have seen the series, you know what I’m talking about, and if you want to know, check this series out.

Whether brought in as a pure import of the original content at hand or a distillation of several ideas taken from it to form a new product, Japanese media, and its aesthetic sensibilities, have constantly found its way stateside throughout the decades. From live-action shows to those of the animated variety, the stylistic fingerprint left behind by this cultural entity has continuously drawn the attention of curious onlookers. A curiosity that's led to you, the reader, and me, the writer, to this point of intersection. And from all the decades that this media has been funneled into the states, perhaps no other time period has ... proven to be quite as pivotal in kick-starting the western anime fan-base quite as prominently as the period in the 90s. While the 2010s has congregated an international community with the most apparent signs of community growth, it's the 90s where the fledgling stages of said community were truly seen taking form.

Among the series that helped cultivated this young fanbase, Gundam Wing was one of the biggest to make its debut, becoming a tent-pole entry that not only served as a gateway title to the Gundam franchise but perhaps, more importantly, a show that became many viewers first exposure with anime altogether. Because of its status as many people's initial experience with the medium, or at the very least, their first conscious discernment between Japanese and Western animated works, a great deal of nostalgic value has been associated with it. A predicament that would inadvertently lead to a lot of blind appraisal under false pretenses, whether the parties in question were aware of it or not.
Its influence in the western climate is undeniable but that doesn't negate it from the same baseline criticisms applicable to any other show. And in that regard, Gundam Wing is far from a timestamp of fidelity and quality-control. While its production values have certainly stood the test of time — with sharp edits, gorgeous matte paintings, ear-worm industrial synthpop mixings and fluid animation that could go toe to toe with many titles being produced today — the screenplay, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, falling victim to the common narrative conceits of its time period.

Overwrought with needless plotting manipulation, contrived idealistic monologues delivered by cardboard cutout personalities, and a narrative that quickly spirals into a chop suey of hackneyed writing; Wing was Gundam's messy attempt at a rule-of-cool political shounen. An attempt that got all the attributes correct on the surface, but when brought under an analytical microscope, barely kept its head above water. Where past installments found an equilibrium between teen angst and the war drama that facilitated it, Wing ended up fumbling this formula with wrongheaded attempts intended to capture a younger demographic, while seemingly forgetting the fact that it already had that demographic in their back pocket, to begin with. It's the kind of creative misfiring only possible by the hogwash of self-obsessed auteurs being allowed to run amok. It certainly succeeded in creating easily digestible entertainment but sadly at cost of proper storytelling. Today, we'll shelf whatever nostalgic value the show has with the community, as we attempt to examine it for what it is and not what landmark value it may have held.

The story starts out like any other in the franchise, with a conflict brewing between two separate factions: one found on earth (United Earth Sphere Alliance) and the space colonies that occupy the heavens. And in the wonderful Gundam tradition of dressing up opposing factions in broad strokes of fascism, The Alliance in this iteration represents our big baddies, extending their oppressive control over the space colonies with such aggression that even Benito Mussolini would blush. It's the kind of setup that alludes to a grandiose battle to determine supremacy, and we do certainly get to see something like that play out, but the plotting used to get to that power struggle, was, for the lack of a better word, laughable.

The Gundam franchise has always used teen pilots in their series as conduits to channel their themes of warfare and human ethics. And while what I'm about to say may seem like a trivial detail, it's the core difference that separates successful installments in the franchise that still manage to feel plausible, from those of the likes of Wing which could only muster up all of its creative juices to obtain juvenile status at best.

This core difference I speak of is the allocation of character relevance.

In 79 and Zeta Gundam respectfully, Amuro and Kamille were both talented pilots due to their upbringing and new-type abilities, but there was never a point in time where their involvement led to the tipping point that determined the outcome of any given large-scale battle. They were more adept than the average soldier but was ultimately just another person operating under the guidance of a small rag-tagged group, which was itself just a small cog in the machine, manipulated by the governing parties as they saw fit. Regardless of their individual talents as pilots, they didn't win wars single-handedly; there was always a group effort, involving the sacrifices of many people on both sides. Even Char Aznable, considered the best pilot in both series, had to rely on the strength of others around him to achieve victory in any given battle.
The point I'm trying to make here is that no one was ever an end-all-be-all trump card for winning the war. The teen pilots may have been incredibly strong relative to those around them but that's all they were: strong. Nothing more, nothing less. But this is where Wing differs significantly, and not for the better.

Unlike before, the teens weren't just strong this time around, now, they've practically been turned into God-sent messiahs... EDGY God-sent messiahs at that (sigh).

What once took the collective effort of battalions fighting against each other to cause a dent in the war, was now reduced to the actions of a handful of angsty teens with a mech suit, pent-up rage, and an endless line of fodder to mow down — cool poses and manchild yelling notwithstanding. And yeah, I know what you're thinking "But ZephSilver-sama, what's the problem with that?" Well, my young Padawan, have patience, I'll explain further once we address another pressing issue with Wing. That being its treatment of war factions and politics.

A Coup d'etat; common occurrences during wartime, and one that the Gundam franchise readily utilizes to spice up its content, and understandably so. Whenever any governing party finds itself at odds with the militaristic stronghold that keeps it in power, it's basically a powder keg waiting to blow. For Gundam, that translates into a cool ass firework display of mecha action, pink explosions, and blood confetti just waiting to happen. And Like any good thing, moderation is key. And as you've probably guessed by now, this is an understanding that escapes Wing. Coup d'etats are expected events but the amount of times that it ended up occurring in Wing is just unrealistic, to the point of approaching parody.
The mere act of existing as a governing entity in Wing basically assures you a one-way ticket to shitsville. There is zero stability in this universe. A constant potpourri of back-stabbing and upheaval. This fickle game of musical chairs between alliances became so bad at times that any given character could find themselves supporting no less than 4 separate groups in the course of the show's 49-episode run. Wing, despite its simplistic narrative, was constantly asking its audience to keep tabs on several moving parts simultaneously. A type of sensory overdrive where tertiary factions were constantly sticking their necks out to remind the viewer that "they still exist!"

The constant betrayals meant that there was no true side for the audience to follow or individual motivation worth investing into, turning the human race into a marginalized group of trigger-happy neanderthals. With no solid conviction for the numerous groups that sprung up and a mess of Heel-Face Turn characters that easily switched sides at the whim of whatever the screenplay belched out at any given episode, what was left in the end were our teen pilots (a.k.a Emo Power Rangers), as they rode in on their high horses providing the answer to everything. And by "provide answers" I mean they blew shit up while reciting their edge-lord diatribes.
Using youths as the poster children for justice is one thing, but making them the sole proprietor to end the human race's problems is a complete other... and no, I'm not being hyperbolic either. Our five teen edge-lords: Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner and Chang Wufei, were tasked with taking on The Alliance's military stronghold, without the help of any backing nation or military group. Yes, you read that correctly. 5 teenage emo rangers are quite literally tasked with defeating a united earth front all by themselves... but perhaps even worse than that is that the show writes it to where such a ludicrous task is actually made feasible by turning the mobile suits into indestructible doomsday machines.

Because the characters were all one-note, personality-wise, they were often re-written to service whatever role the plot demanded at the time. This turned megalomaniacs into spokespeople for peace and vice versa. Something that was made all the more bothersome with constant bombardments of contrived, idealistic monologues. A notable example being Zechs Marquise, the show's watered down version of Char Aznable, where he made a 180 in mindset while still delivering his idealistic speeches that conflicted with his actions. There were times where he was quite literally trying to murder someone in cold blood while delivering messages akin to "peace and unity bro!" But it wasn't limited to him alone, as most of the characters cashed in on these long-winded, ass-backward speeches that were contradictory to their immediate actions on-screen. This failed attempt at adding depth to the cast did nothing but further expose their lack of dimension and characterization. And depending on your investment, this could make the experience enjoyable in an unintentional "haha, they can't be serious right now?" parody way, or just plain stupid in a "what were the scriptwriters smoking?" way. Thankfully, my approach was the former.

When taken by themselves, any one of these specific issues mentioned doesn't become a huge detriment to the story, but when they're compounded into a snowball effect of bad ideas meet even worse screenwriting decisions, that's where the true issue arises. What could have been a simple rule-of-cool political shounen, was now transformed into a molotov cocktail of messy outcomes, the likes of which was too far gone to be salvaged by a script revision.

Where all of this extra time went unaccounted for when addressing Wing's writing seemed to have turned up in the show's visual and auditory output. And boy did it pay off! Despite all the verbal carpet bombing I've directed towards Wing so far, even I can't find anything worth scrutinizing in these departments. Wing's production values are better than a vast majority of anime entries released in the 90s — hell, I'll even take it a step further and state that in its restoration form, it could outpace many entries in the early 2010s as well. Needless to say, this was also some of the highest production values seen from the Gundam franchise as well; not since Zeta in 85 has their been such a noticeable increase in audiovisual output.
With a staggering amount of saturated color gradients, physical encounters that had a tangible weight behind it, and an undeniable fervor for blood-boiling theatrics, Wing definitely delivered on visual spectacle. When you put aside the nonsensical propulsion that led to any given action scene and just soaked it in for what was shown on-screen, this was quite the crowd pleaser. Also, before we continue on, the J-Pop opening "Just Communication" by TWO-MIX is a national treasure that should be protected at all cost! And no mention of Wing's audiovisual output would be complete without making special mention of the aesthetically appealing design work.

When it comes to creating vogue-looking, rugged character models, very few can topple Shukou Murase. Though, at the time, that was yet to be seen. Being an up-and-coming creative, Murase secured his position as character designer based on his work on 89's Ronin Warriors Gaiden. A decision that he would prove wasn't a fluke with an extensive catalog catapulted by his newfound recognition on Wing, where he would go on to further lend his talents to titles such as Argento Soma and Gasaraki.
And last, but certainly not least, the mechanical designers themselves. While there were several names attached to the project, all of which deserving of a comb-over, I'll only focus on one; mah boi Hajime Katoki. When it comes to beefing up mecha designs to look like "Do you even LIFT bro?" steroid-memes (in a good way, of course), Katoki is your go-to guy. He has the magical ability to do with mecha what Jojo's Bizarre Adventure does to the masculine form, all the while making the final product appear plausible for the universe it's a part of. Which brings me to perhaps one of, if not, my favorite mecha design in the entire Gundam canon, Zechs Marquise's Tallgeese. This glorious, Roman gladiator inspired hunk of metal was just a demanding screen presence. It's a fan favorite for good reason and I'm inclined to support the appraisal that it has racked up throughout the years.

And yes, there were noticeable shortcuts taken at times, with a few still-image panning shots here and speed-lines there, but those sporadic moments of cost-saving techniques never detracted from the overall care given to bringing the entire vision to life. As a whole, the audiovisual output is where Wing truly shines.

After taking everything into consideration, both the good and the incredibad, I can't say I wasted my time with Wing. Sure, like everything else, it had its problems, but what in the Gundam franchise doesn't? Yeah, there were times where the issues mentioned impeded on my enjoyment and certainly other occasions where my invested interest was tested. But upon passing the finish line, looking back from where I started to where I eventually stood, at the very least, the journey through Wing offered up aspects worth cherishing. Even if they were aspects knee-deep in issues I'd rather forget.

Although Gundam Wing's historical relevance may have engulfed its actual inherent value, it's still a title I would recommend to others. It's not really one of those shows where you could divorce its issues through selective viewing, as is the benefit for something Like Zeta or 79 Gundam; where under the context of warfare and the understanding that the new-types are essentially hypersensitive, autistic x-men in space, excusing their irrational blurps of emotional responses to others become acceptable. With Wing, the issues found are far too deep-rooted, corrupting the very foundation of its script that everything grows out from. You can cut the proverbial limb off of Zeta or 79 Gundam and still be left with something functional, but attempting such an act on Wing is no different than taking to its head with a swift guillotine strike.

With all that being said, approach Wing with reasonable expectations. If you walk in understanding that it's Emo Power Rangers vs The World, with the added benefit of having high production values, then you can walk out unscathed, taking with you a fun viewing experience and another legacy title under your belt.

If you are a fan of Gundam Wing you may not like this review.
Am going too, go ahead and judge Gundam Wing for what it is and not the base of nostalgia love that I use too, have.
Also, keeps this in mind I was one of those kids whom grew up with Wing and loved it. Also, I didn’t complete the series when I was a kid because at the time period Gundam Wing was slowly disappearing out of Cartoon Network along with Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop so I never finished the show back then but for what I saw in Gundam Wing ... I love it.
Many years later many people that I know recommended me too, watch this show again because I didn’t finish it back then. Then I decided to, watch it from start to, finish and well am going too, be real honest with you all.
I don’t think Gundam Wing is as awesome as I thought it was. Infect I actually think it’s one of the worst Gundam shows. Why do I think are one of the worst Gundam shows you will find out this review?
Hello, everyone, this is Shawn aka PhantomKurata and welcome too, my review of Gundam Wing and with out of the way let’s gets started.

Story.
It is the year after colony 195. The earth alliance along with OZ and the Romefeller Foundation is in total control of the five colonies and space too, fight back against them the colony scientist commences operation meter and sends five young mobile suits pilots too, fight for independence. The five young pilots being Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner and Chang Wufei. Throughout the series the five must battle the best that OZ has too, offer including the leader Trace Khushrenada and the right-hand man Zechs Marquise.

Now I have some good things too, say about Gundam Wing story but at the same time a lot of bad things.
The story of Gundam Wing is what you expect from a Gundam show. The colonies are being oppressed by a powerful faction and are now declaring independence. However as the series progresses we are introduced too, new elements and plot twists too, make the story feel fresh. I thought some story elements were kinda enjoyable too, watch. The themes and messages in Gundam Wing are much-simplified compare too, other Gundam shows including the universal century timeline which I personally didn’t mind the themes and messages being more simple but what really irritated me about its the messages and themes presented in wing are rather preachy with certain characters in the show spouting pacifistic nonsense with no substance whatsoever.

The pacing in Gundam Wing are horrendously bad where the first half has the pacing of a generic slice of life anime while the pacing in the second half has improved a bit I already feel tired of the show mainly due how slow going it was the majority of the series. Turn A Gundam may have slow pacing at the beginning but least with Turn An actually builds up its themes, has great world building, character building and has great story setup. Gundam Wing doesn’t have any of that. In fact, the worldbuilding and story setup are pretty pathetic.
Gundam Wing story also has a tedious political battle and the stupid and annoying narrator always dumping heavy political information on our heads expecting us too, take it all in. IT’S NOT GOOD STORYTELLING. It’s just painfully tedious too, listen and its puts the viewer too, sleep myself included.
Overall the story of Gundam Wing had the potential to be good but it failed in almost every way possible.
2/10

Characters.
The characters in Gundam wing range from decent too, awful.
The wing boys all one directional personalities. Hereo and Trowa are your generic silent but deadly guys, Duo is the happy go, lucky buffoon, Quatre is a kind pacifistic pretty boy and Wufei is a hot-headed warrior. Now besides from Duo which I personally liked and I thought he was a fun and entertaining character to watch no to mention he a favorite Gundam Win character. The Wing boys are poorly written and unlikable from start to, finish. Heero and Trowa are some of the blandest characters I have ever seen in any anime. They are boring, static, they hardly developed as characters and most importantly they are pretentious as hell too, the point where I started too, cringe of how edgy they are.
I personally like Quatre in the beginning but as the series progresses he became kinda of a pretentious character in themes of his pacifism ideas not too, mention he became really unlikable in the second half.
Wufei is easily my least favorite of the wing boys. He is whiny, pretentious, poorly written too, the core and not too, mention he’s personally and ideals honestly made me sick. He’s the most forgettable character in the show because he barely does anything in the show apart from being a pretentious brat.

Now if you thought Wufei was an annoying pretentious brat Relena takes the cake for being one of the worst characters in Gundam. She always preaches about peace and pacifism and failing to realize that war cannot end by preaching about peace all the time not too, mention her motivations are downright stupid and annoying. Relena is easily the worst thing about Gundam Wing.
Also Relena obsession and romance with Heero are one of the stupidest love stories I have seen in any anime mostly because it isn’t clear how Heero feels and the romance itself was completely pointless in a long while

Zechs are easily my second favorite character in the show because unlike 4/5 of the Wing boys he’s actually a good and entertaining character too, watch.
Lastly we have Treize. Like with Zechs he’s a good character in own right and have more substance than any of the wing boys and Relena not too, mention he a good villain for a Gundam show.
As for the side characters were okay at best.
Overall besides from Zecha, Treize and Duo all of the characters range from average too, downright awful.
4/10


Visuals.
The visuals of Gundam Wing are outdated and have aged poorly. They're a lot of choppy animation and inconstant art and the anime that came out in 90s this are honestly unacceptable because I have seen better looking 90s anime like Escaflowne, Outlaw Star, After War Gundam, Cowboy Bebop and even G Gundam too, a certain degree.
Also, many of the characters designs look outdated and lack any detail.
Also, most of the battles of Gundam Wing lack impact and substance because of two major flaws that am going mention now.
First up the overkill formula.
Gundam Wing was the first Gundam title too, introduce the overkill formula where all the Gundams are all invincible throughout most of the battles with the grunt suits and it’s the challenges feel pointless until they go against mobile suits counted by main characters in the story.
The one thing that I pissed me off too, no end are the portrayal of the Gundams. A great Gundam battle for me is where it’s balanced with both sides struggling too, come out to the top. Not a mindless one-sided beatdown with the Gundams simply crushing down grunts suits like ants and flies.
Secondly the stock footage.
Oh, my god, there are tons and tons of stock footage used for the battles in the series. It honestly makes the battles really repetitive and downright boring too, watch. It’s almost as bad as Gundam Seed and Gundam Stock Footage Destiny (Gundam Seed Density) am not kidding when I say that
If there was a good thing I can say about Wing visuals is its variety of combat setting and the wing boy’s mecha designs.
The combat setting in Wing is unique as some of the battles will take place in the desert, forest, and a city.
As for the Gundam themselves, I really liked the designs as well the unique weapons that they have.
I really can’t say the same about the OZ grunts suits because they designs are horrendously bad. I honestly can’t blame them.
The Gundams are portrayed really poorly here. However, the Tallgeese design is good for what it is but I have seen much better Gundam designs from other Gundam series.
Overall the visuals in Gundam Wing are lackluster.
4/10

Sound.
The soundtrack is good but it’s mostly stranded and kinda forgettable most of the time.
The first opening Just Communication is a good opening but there are better Gundam openings out there. The same can be said for Rhythm Emotion aka opening two.
The ending theme It’s Just Love is a mediocre and forgettable ending song.
Now for dub or sub.
Now I only watched Gundam Wing in dubbed but I have seen bits of the sub
This is going too, be an unpopular opinion but the dub in Gundam Wing are outdated and terrible.
A bunch of miscasts, bad audio quality and not too, mention they're are too, many bad performances especially from the side characters.
Lastly the whole IT’S A GUNDAM thing in the dub is honestly one of the stupidest things I ever heard. It’s so cheesy, overdramatic and not too, mention it’s downright annoying when the grunts usually say that just before they are killed.
The dub of G Gundam may be cheesy but least it had its charm. The dub for Gundam Wing has no charm and it’s stiff as hell.
Honestly, if you want too, watch Gundam Wing stick with the sub because the dub has aged poorly.
6/10

Final thoughts.
Here we have it Gundam Wing is not the best Gundam series out there. I really want like Gundam Wing more than I did because I liked it when I was a kid but now I simply cannot ignore its flaws.
The story is a poorly written mess, the pacing and world building are terrible, the characters range from decent too, downright awful, visuals have aged poorly, the stock footage is out of control, the Gundams are portrayed really badly, and the soundtrack is not that memorable in the slightest.
It’s not the worst thing in the world but I still think it’s one of the worst Gundam series that I saw. They're are far better Gundam shows than Gundam Wing like G Gundam, After War Gundam X, any of the U.C Gundam shows, Turn A Gundam, Gundam Build Fighters S1 and its squeal Gundam Build Fighters Try.
As much I wasn’t a fan of Gundam Build Fighters Try in the terms of story and characterisation it was an enjoyable Gundam title for the most part.
Gundam Wing has none of that.
Outside of Nostalgia Gundam Wing has aged terribly.

If you want too, watch Gundam Wing then more power too, you. If you liked the series then good for you but overall Gundam Wing are an overhyped 90s series that tries too, tell its own war story but fails in almost every way possible.
I give Gundam Wing a 4/10

Anyway, this has been Shawn aka KurataTrigger and I will see you guys next time were I review Turn A Gundam.

Overall this is a pretty good series. Granted it's not exactly the best Gundam series, it still holds its own ground. The action is solid with lots of explosions and mobile suits pummeling each other. Also Wing Zero and Epyon have some of the best Non-UC designs I've seen. Also the voice acting and animation are passible for what's provided. That said, the characters and story is better than I expected to be honest.

The overall story stands out from previous entries in the UC by portraying our main heroes as insurgents and emphasizing that people matter more than organization. Sure the earth government has ... some evil rulers, many of the ordinary soldier and several commanders are good people. Subsequently, this creates an interesting moral situation that asks who are the real heroes? Afterall, the Gundam pilots are well-intentioned individuals who commit morally ambiguous actions that would make them seem like terrorists. If anything this setting differs from the traditional clash of two factions.

Also while the characters have some decent amount of depth, they also have to deal with their own moral dilemmas. I really like Duo Maxwell because of how he has a dark tragic past yet still maintains an upbeat attitude to pull through whatever challenges he faces. Plus he has a cool Gundam with the Shinigami title. Likewise Treize works as a villain because of his charisma, sense of honor, and complex personality of a soldier who is secretly tormented by how his ideal views of warfare seem out of place. I even found Relena to be tolerable, at least compared to Lacus and Marina. The only character that doesn't work is Wufei because he's a condescending jerkass who hardly interacts with others.

Yet most importantly, Wing discusses ethical implications of modern warfare that still resonate in the post-9/11 setting. At one point, Treize Khushrenada opposed the usage of unmanned mobile suits, finding them to be dehumanizing and warns about the moral implications of warfare waged without human soldiers. This theme of unmanned warfare still resonates given the current human rights implication of using military attack drones in civilian populaces. If it weren't for the cheesy production values and timing, I would've mistaken this series for commentary piece on the War on Terror.

Also, this show has one of best soundtracks thanks to Kow Otani and Two-Mix.

Gundam Wing was the first show of the Gundam franchise that I saw. Namely because it was on Toonami (I was ten, I couldn't import anime). After re-watching it many times, it has become of my favorites.

The story isn't bad at all once it's realized it more about the organizations and the war itself, instead of mecha fighting. The plot can be a bit choppy at times, but that was because of writers quitting every ten minutes (which is why episodes 28-29 are recaps. *Explained in Episode Zero Manga*). The characters are interesting themselves, and seem one dimensional at first, but as the series ... progresses you learn more about them.

I gave the art a 6. This is mainly because there wasn't much shading done in the first half of the series, and the character designs change a bit (especially with Heero). It really doesn't detract from the quality of the series though. (The show was competting with Mobile Suit Gundam: The 0.8. MS Team. Both shows were being produced at the same time.)

Overall it's very enjoyable for those who are into war shows and into some mecha fighting. It's not s shounen anime, so don't expect it to be!

Check out this show with an open-mind! Ignore what people say about it being a Yaoi fest. That's just an offshoot of the fandom.

Gundam Wing was the series that helped popularize the Gundam franchise here in America as it was the first series in the franchise that was aired via Toonami. But in terms of the amount of praise a number of fans have given the series, it is definitely overrated as the series overall is an average one that is trying to be grand with its plot yet is quite sloppy and unoriginal in its execution. A good amount of the writing for the plot is quite sloppy where logic is thrown out the window in vain attempts to create drama to hook in the audience at ... the cost of creating a cohesive story that makes any sense. The series gets into enough of a bad habit of featuring characters spewing out ideological monologues while in the middle of a heated battle and talking about wanting peace while they are trying to kill off one another in battle. In addition, enough organizations and factions are brought up, a number of them formed without any foreshadowing or created for ridiculous reasons, where it gets hard enough to figure out who you should be rooting for.

Alongside the sloppy plotting, a number of the characters also have their issues. Many of the characters in Gundam Wing are tough to connect with due to their bland/ eccentric personalities, lack of background, and/ or questionable ideologies. This is especially prominent with a number of the Gundam pilots who are too emotionally detached from the events around them and it gets laughable when they emote during or after a battle. Speaking of Gundam pilots, Wufei proved to be the most unlikeable of the five for me because of his cocky, rude and sexist attitude. In other areas, Zechs just screams "Char ripoff" considering his very character, personal beliefs and the events that he becomes involved with are very similar to what Char pulls in the Universal Century titles of the Gundam franchise and don't even get me started with some of the members of OZ/ Rockefeller Foundation who have varying mental disorders from Lady Une's split personalities to Tsuborov's unhealthy obsession with the Mobile Dolls. There are some characters who are level-headed enough where you could care for them such as Duo, Sally Po and Zechs' right-hand woman Noin. But with the many characters not right in the head throughout Gundam Wing, it gets tough enough to take the series seriously at most points. I was laughing myself senseless over the absurdities in this series and it was very likely not what Sunrise and the show's creators had in mind when they made Gundam Wing.

In terms of presentation, the visuals to Gundam Wing are about standard for what you would expect in a mid-90s anime title. Scenery, mecha and character designs look decent when there isn't much movement onscreen. However, the quality does degrade at points during battle scenes and animation shortcuts are quite apparent. The only decent praise I could give for Gundam Wing is for parts of its soundtrack which feature some solid J-Rock tracks coming from Two-Mix used for OP and insert musical selections.

I would only recommend watching Gundam Wing if you are in the mood to mock its sloppy writing, unoriginal ideas and ridiculous characters. Otherwise, the series isn't worth wasting money to add to your anime collection.

I really wanted to like this anime more than I did, really I did. I'll start off by saying that I've never watched any Gundam series, so I didn't really know what to expect. Starting the anime the first couple episodes really drew me in and I was very interested to see what would happen next to the Gundam pilots. After those first couple episodes though, that's where the series flat lined for me.

I couldn't help but feel they tried to be too ambitious with the whole series, too many "main" characters, WAY too much flipping of politics and sides. For example, the character ... Wufei is discarded for episodes at a time often making you forget the need for him, and in all honesty there wasn't a need for him. For me, the hardest part about the anime is I couldn't find any likable characters. Out of the main cast the only ones I enjoyed seeing were Duo Maxwell and Quatre Raberba Winner, everyone else felt like a hollow shell that never changed at all throughout the ride.

Characters aside the story became a jumbled mess towards the middle and ending, and it was confusing and hard to follow at certain points. I understand people enjoy deep stories, but I felt like this could have benefited from a more streamlined approach. You know who's going to be fighting at the end, but the ridiculous political battle up into the last fight was just distracting from the action.

There were parts that did shine and stand out for me, like anytime the Deathscythe was on screen and mainly the mobile suit battles. The action I really did enjoy, but it felt like it was an after thought because they seemingly wanted the storyline hammered into you. When I was craving the battles and emphasis on the Gundam pilots they would go off on the political tangent for a couple episodes, and I just couldn't sink myself into that world.

All in all I really wanted to love this series, but I just couldn't do it. If it would have been more streamlined and more about the battles and Gundam pilots themselves, I think I could have really enjoyed it. It just missed the mark for me.

When you've grown up to anime, you get your fair share of repetitive mecha shows.

This is not one of them.

I started watching this when I was a kid. Didn't really understand everything, but I liked the boom booms and the awesome weapons.

When I hit my teens, I rewatched it. When I hit adulthood, I watched it again.

And then I watched it again for sheer pleasure. So, what does that tell you?

... a) I like it
b) It must be damn good to watch it 4x.

Story: 10/10

You've probably seen the mecha space war story plenty of times. But Wing takes it to a new level. A political one.
One of the reasons Wing was so famous was it's ability to weave an intricate political plot into a done-to-death mecha cliche.
The villains are never just villains. There is no good or bad. It is a story that says plenty about humanity, war and peace, and it does it with damn good eloquence.

It is a philiosophical commentary on human nature. And it is freakin awesome. If you're sick of mind-numbing metal-bashing plotless animes, then sink your teeth into this.

Art: 10/10
The tv anime art isn't as good as the Movies (naturally), but it was still very good for its time and still is. If you take into account the aesthetic prowess shown in Endless Waltz, you would understand what I mean. Oh, and did I mention all the male leads in this are gorgeous? (And not in the sissy shoujo way either).

Sound: 10/10
Two-mix should really say it all. The soundtrack is techno-pop at it's best. The OST has pieces that pump you full of adrenaline, make you cry into a pillow, or simply sit back take in the magnitude of ...well...anything.

Character: 8/10
Alot of people think that the Wing characters are one-dimensional. But I have to disagree. I think the main difference between Wing characters and other so-called multi-dimensional characters is that the people in Gundam Wing are very mentally strong.

They have flaws, they have complex emotions, they do occasionally break down into some sort of craze, but ultimately, they stand back up and do their job. It's not often that you meet people like this, but they do exist. I loved that for once, an anime consisted of a cast of heroes that were brave, logical and realistic.

Oh, and it helps that Heero doesn't break down and whine every two seconds...unlike a certain Gundam Seed character...

Enjoyment: 10/10
The complex political twist and turns will keep you intrigued. The awesome Gundam fight scenes will knock you dead. The chemistry between the boys is loveable. And I personally quite liked the romance in there too --even when Relena was being a bit of a melodramatic nut.

Overall: 10/10

This is an anime classic. Love it or hate it, it's a must-watch.

I loved this anime when it was aired on Toonami, but after my second time watching it, I don't have the same love for it as I did before.

I will say that for it's time, it was a good anime...but it could have been better is so many other aspects.

Story: The story was okay. It had it's plot twists to keep you on edge, but all of them were easily seen, and not too bewildering. I would say it is average in that respects.

Art: Again, for it's time, it had decent artwork. They definitely had all the explosions and firepower well captured throughout ... the entire series.

Sound: Meh...other than the Opening theme song, most of the tracks were easily forgettable...there were no BGMs I can name that stick out in my head right now.

Character: This is where the series failed in most respects. All the characters are so one dimensional, it is so easy to predict anything that they say or do. Some of them do things that are so OOC, it doesn't make any sense. Herro had no reason to kill Rilenna, yet he still tried to. The writing could have been alot better at that.
Not to mention, the dub is so bad, it's a wonder I didn't off myself then.

Still...this was a classic anime in the past, and not all of them were perfect like alot of the animes that have been released over the last few years, so in where the show has failed at, it can be forgiven. I still enjoyed watching the show all the way through, and would probably watch it again to remember being a six year old again.
It's just that there's much better mecha series out there now.

Gundam Wing is one of those anime that I just can't comprehend. Every bit of it was perfectly made, yet, I just can't bring myself to fall in love with it like the rest of the world has. It's politically realistic, The story is well done, the art style is unique, the mobile suits are awesome, and I could even go on forever.

There's so much good, yet so few things bad. I've only been able to figure out one thing that I don't like about Gundam Wing; the main characters.

We have five Gundam pilots sent to earth from space colonies to crush the corrupt ... military force, OZ. I love the Gundams in wing. We have a transformer, the Wing Gundam, where the series got its name. It transforms into a fighter jet. It's probably the least interesting of the five. Next, there's the Deathscythe Gundam. Obviously the best of the five. The name is already interesting enough, but it's got a black coat of paint, and it has a beam scythe. If you don't think that's just plain cool, lay off the pot. The following two gundams are totally uninteresting. One has a high power chaingun, then Sandrock has farming tools for weapons. Lame. They're not even beam weapons either. Then there's Nataku which is almost as interesting as the Deathscythe, but not quite.

The story starts with Operation Meteor, where the Gundams drop onto earth and start destroying military facilities. Eventually the gundam pilots meet up and realize who each other is. Eventually, they all join forces, and the world turns upside down.

The soundtrack is outstanding. The opening themes, the ending themes, the background music, it's all outstanding. I shouldn't need to clarify the perfection of Gundam Wing's OST.

I had very limited enjoyment of Wing. Although it was realistic and interesting in every way, i just couldn't bring myself to watch more than 2 or 3 episodes a day. I don't understand why, but I just didn't enjoy it that much.

I reccommend this anime to anyone that likes a deep plot and great action. The most attractive aspect of Gundam Wing is, in my opinion, the conflict of the political idealogies present. The world itself is thrown up in confusion on who their friends are, who their foes are, and even what their own place is in the world. This is true for both nations and individuals.

Gundam Wing is just plain awesome.

At best it is forgettably mediocre and at worst so hilariously bad it's somehow entertaining.

There is not a single character I liked, all of them are either forgettable or extremely shallow and painful to watch. All but one of the main pilots are some kind of edge lord that only a 13-year-old would think is cool because if they were one of them they could tell their stepdad Terry to shut up. Going from left to right, Trowa is your emo sad boi with like two feet of hair in front of his face, he least edgy of the edge lords but still ... enough to be annoying. Quatre is the cherry nice one of the group, and while he's not edgy he's still annoyingly naive. Heero is the edgiest of the bunch constantly talking in a low flat voice to show disinterested he is in everything when he's not fighting or droning on about who his enemies are. Duo is the jokey too cool for school one, but while he's still one of the edgy ones, calls himself the God of Death, he's the most tolerable of them. And then there's Wufei who I struggle to distinguish from Heero in any meaningful way other than he's more aggressive so ends up fighting the other main pilots more and didn't have some girl fawning over his dick.

Speaking of the girls, most of the female characters of any significant value in this show exist to fangirl over one of the main male characters. 3 of the main pilots and two antagonists, all have girls who are obsessed with them for little to no reason, such as Relena who falls in love with Heero after repeated death threats that I'm sure at the time he was fully capable of doing.

Also, the Gundam engineers or whatever were really boring, and strangely cartoonish in anime that took itself so seriously, they would fit in G Gundam better.

It runs with the established anti-war sentiment that Gundam had been running with for like 16 years at that point, but gave it the most shallow and "I'm 14 and this deep" spin to it. It somehow takes itself more seriously than OG Gundam, but you just can't because it's so incompetently written.

The fights and mecha designs are alright, but nothing to write home about really.

The dub is terrible and you should only watch if you really really like Gundam, or enjoy garbage, both of which are me.

Important question to ask: Am I going to have to like mecha anime to fully enjoy this show? The answer is yah, you will have to like mechas, cuz that is what this show is all about.

Heres a quick summary. The good guy group has super mechas called Gundams. These Gundams are far superior to the rest of the worlds mecha designs and give them an advantage in all fights. Since at this time in the world most of all the wars in the world are fought using these giant mechas suits, having a advantage in technology gives you the edge in each and every ... fight. The goal of the Gundam pilots is to cause such a great war and then defeat all the other mechas suits putting the world in a peaceful state. So there plan is to have one war to end all wars.

This sounds like a good idea but then the morals of all the people you have to kill come in the way. And this is why not everyone can go along with the Gundams sense of justice.

Now each of the Gundam pilots are very interesting characters, and throught the show you will get a slight back story to why each of them is a Gundam pilot and what struggles they are going through while piloting these powerful machines.

Theres a little bit of a love story thrown in with all the high action fights, and most of the battle turn into strategic fights just as much as they are about hundreds of mobiles suits against the few Gundam Pilots.

The best fights in this show are definitely the space fights, since in this time there are huge space colonies for people to live in, in space.

One great thing is even after the shows end, you can still get some more great story and a follow up on the characters after the show, through the movie Endless Waltz. If you enjoy the show you will be pumped to see the movie and the movie is very well done.

I suggest mecha fans to defiantly watch this show, but also If your on the border of liking mechas shows or never seen one, give this show a try, cuz i think its one of the best mechas out there.

If you like my review you can post a reply on my profile, or add me as a friend : )

This was one of few shonen that I grew up with that actually didn't treat its young audience like idiots. There was a level of moral relativism instead of Manichean good vs. evil. There was complicated sub-plots and character relationships. It displayed the suffering and injustice of war rather than celebrating it ala GI Joe. It also had a flat out amazing soundtrack and epic battles! It had its flaws to be sure. The art was not that good, characters would go insane on a weekly basis, and oh yeah, the Arab pilot was inexplicably blonde. Overall though , this was a solid series and ... well worth a watch.

Among the first animes I watched as a teen, I loved it then for the quiet, angsty teens who piloted entirely unique and superior mechs to slice up hordes of enemy suits. It was always tough to keep up with the dialog, philosophy, and reasoning behind the individual characters' motivations. But years later, after I had gained some years, I rewatched this in succession so that I might be able to pick up on the plot a little bit better. I was rewarded with what I consider the best anime I've seen to date.

Story: Tough to follow, for sure. but once you are able to ... take in the universe a bit, every shift in the characters and setting does make sense (insists the crazy man amidst the crowd of nay-sayers). Each long-winded philosophy does have context and can be seen through the character's actions. The pilots throw themselves to the wind and wind up drawn to and repelled from the other main characters, from space to earth and back over and over again following climactic events involving political upheaval, devious set-ups, and even simple, unfortunate happenstances. All of the strings eventually flowing together for a grand-stage, set for a final confrontation matching wits, will, and strength.
My main gripe would have to be that the initial state of the world isnt as succinctly described as it should be. It took me quite some time just to know what the different sides were and what the represented, long after everything goes to the wind and changes completely about 3 or 4 times. which is a secondary gripe about the story: every major shift is seen but the implications which change the grand picture are not always comprehended, and when they are explained, it is usually quite briefly and speedily announced at the beginning of the next episode or in a mid-episode narration. the only remedy is to pay attention and take it in quickly. Of course we are normal people so this isnt always possible, which is what, for me, makes this such a re-watchable anime. Every time i watch it, i pick up on something that makes me understand it more. Gundam Wing doesnt seem to be an NGE-type (pardon the expression) that inherently demands re-watching like one of the highly-acclaimed philosophic animes. But, i insist (especially to the nay-sayers), the Gundam Wing universe and story is a lot to take in, but to draw it out even more would be the series overly-long and more slow moving than the perfect pacing I feel Gundam Wing has, and it would leave us all bored :p
Bottom line: if you didnt like it, if you saw it when you were younger, watch it again and hopefully you will piece together the marvelous picture it paints.

Art: I consider this to be the best animation of the pre-digital, cel-art era. I have a certain bias to the old art because it had more soul in it. Gundam Wing uses its own dark palette of color (i would say in the vein of outlaw star) and it makes the space settings more gritty (contrary to a more neo-space mechas which depict a more stream-lined sportscar version of space. think gundam seed). One might gripe that many animation shots are overused to which i say this: Before digital coloring, one must always consider that the biggest hurdle for an anime facing a deadline is the animation. So you can either have combat scenes without much stylistic combat (think ruroni kenshin), or you can suffer through the repeated animations and not let it affect the immersiveness of the experience.

Sound: Gundam Wing doesnt have a huge soundtrack, but there is a track for every context within the show: danger, victory, uncertainty, leisurely times, sad times, tense conflict, commercial time :P. and despite the lack of musical depth, the music is always catchy and important enough to never bother me with its overuse. The best scenes, though, are the ones with no sound at all. Fully creating the spacey-ness of scenes and sometimes creating the awareness of characters' more desolate moments.

Character: One might use words like pseudo-tsundere or one-dimensional for the more important characters of the show. I want to persuade you otherwise. You will see a lot of "angsty dispassion" in the beginning from the main characters. it was gimmicky for a time, but if you look past that, you will find a lot of those moments pretty amusing and possibly believable. I might protest that when you raise a child to be a war-machine-driving olympiad, he might be a bit like several of the gundam pilots (though they, for the most part, have their own identities). Ill touch on this more, later.
A lot of the philosophical ranting may be long-winded and seen as a cheap way of forcing character development, but nevertheless, every long philosophical monologue (or dialog) shows a great deal of the character's quality of character, intentions, and general beliefs, and you will hear a mouthful from just about every important character. There are even times when i found myself disagreeing with the philosophies, but the wonderful thing is that as the characters grow and struggle through conflict, their opinions change. In every case, the characters are forced to form their own opinions and follow their heart through tumultuous times, coming to personal conclusions and convictions just in time to draw battle lines. Even the pilots, while retaining their usual characteristics, change their outlook on people and develop virtuous traits to contrast their initial selfish ones.

Overall: This is a great anime, balancing great philosophical progressions, with awesome action and warfare, while maintaining a perfect pace throughout. You just need to look hard enough, long enough, deep enough to enjoy it. It may require watching through it more than once to fully enjoy, but it will certainly leave a lasting impression if you are patient.

Gundam Wing is mainly focused on the wars between political groups and factions caused by a difference of beliefs and opinions. There are people who seek a world free of wars, a world of peace, a world in which people can all live happily together. On the other hand, there are people who seek war and have the world fall into a cycle of hatred, destruction, and chaos. However, instead of the traditional jet fighters, tanks, and soldiers fighting at the frontlines, we have giant machines known as mobile dolls battle each other instead.

Aside from the political story involving Gundams, the animation itself isn't all ... that great compared to the later generation of anime. Even the re-mastered edition does not provide a similar quality of animation to the later Gundam series. Whether this is a great or poor anime is dependent on individual's anime preferences, as well as possibly political perspective. Like any other Gundam anime, if your political ideal and perspective don't match the ones of the protagonists, you may grow to dislike it. Otherwises, this is definitely a masterpiece!

I'll get right to the point. This is mostly a nostalgia-influenced review. It is not very objective and I had not seen any Gundam series before or after Wing.

This was one of the first anime I ever saw it it kind of got me into an anime (and mecha) obsession that would last from my childhood through most of my teens. It also got me into drawing, which I still do today.

Gundam Wing pulled me in with it's action and awesome mech designs. The characters were not so bad either. At the time, I liked protagonist Heero Yuy (more ... on this later) and his supporting cast.

I thought it was cool how each of the primary Gundam had its own unique style and weapons. Then later on in the series, the titular Gundam Wing is upgraded to Wing Zero and I have fond memories of losing my s**t over that. The development Tallgeese and later Epyon had a similar effect on me. I still remember my collection of poorly assembled and painted Gundam.

When I got older and the internet became more prominent for people sharing opinions, I noticed a lot of people did not like Gundam Wing that much. Usually it was cited as one of the weaker Gundam series. At first I didn't know what the big deal was, but looking back as an adult I noticed a lot of flaws.

The main gripe for me is the characters. Heero Yuy is pretty boring. The strong and silent type is a very played out trope. After a decade of video games and anime that made up my formative years, the character of Heero Yuy is probably one of the worst offenders of this trope. He is ‘strong and silent’ and not much else (I like it when he occasionally showed signs of life by going beserk). Plus, his default clothing of a green loose-fitting tank top tucked into tight-fitting bike shorts with high-top sneakers (boots?) with the socks showing is just weird, but I digress.

The characters of Trowa and Wufei are just variations of Heero. Trowa is even an even more silent, even stronger version of Heero and Wufei is more talkative Heero except he’s also a jerk. Duo has the most personality of all the pilots. Quatre Raberba Winner is bland but has the distinction of having the name that is the most fun to say out loud.

The antagonists, particularly Lady Une and Zechs Marquise (no spoilers I promise), are some of the most interesting characters in the series but don’t get as much screen time as the main pilots. The less said about Heero’s love interest, Relena, the better. She’s just very boring to say the least.

Through my innocent, prepubescent eyes, I never noticed the weird homosexual under currents of this show. All of the pilots, all male, have a counterpart who is either a rival or a friend whom they develop very close bonds with over the course of the series. The best example of this is the pairing of Heero and Zechs who long to fight each other since they share a kind of romantic love for the concept of dueling to the death. A similar relationship runs between Wufei and Treize. Less subtle, is the relationship of Quatre and Trowa who are very close. I can’t remember that well but Duo and Heero seemed to have their fair share of moments too.

The pilots are also given female love interests almost as if to counteract these male relationships but these women play second fiddle in terms of story and screen time. In some cases, the women are literally rejected by the men they pine for, who are focused on their own goals which usually involve their male rivals.

That is not to say that any of the homosexual themes are a problem. I call it weird because it is so implied and indirect rather than just making several of the characters homosexual or bisexual. I know that’s a big ask from a Japanese mainstream production but it would have honestly made the series more interesting, especially with all existing themes of identity and one’s true self.

That tangent aside, with so many characters and things going on, I could have done without all the political intrigue. I couldn’t keep track of the different rebellions, coups, armies, and factions that had a hand in the story. I just remember being glued to screen for all the fights and large-scale battles, many of which took place in space. Gundam Wing is at its best during these parts.

The art has been criticized as average or below average. I can see that, but it didn’t detract from the overall series for me. In the end, I can’t evaluate Gundam without my nostalgia lens. So even trying to be objective, I still think Gundam Wing is worth a glance but it might not be able to hold a lot of people’s attention over 49 episodes. It’s not great by any means. It might be best just to watch the Gundam Wing movie, “Endless Waltz”.

This is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and my review of its profound glory.

I have never been a big fan of mecha anime and Transformers (the original), Gundam Wing, and Neon Genesis Evangelion are the only three that I care to watch more than once. In fact I am rewatching Gundam Wing now.

Story: 8 points
The series has A LOT of redundant footage, a few episodes that only serve to rehash previous scenes and dialogue, a skin-deep plot and no subplots or back-stories, and several, impossibly invincible characters. However, this series also has A LOT of redeeming qualities. Gundam Wing is full of twisting storylines, paradoxical characters, ... philosophy, martial code, and military tactics. Any samurai fiction fan could be happy with Gundam Wing, as it follows suit with many samurai films. Heero Yuy’s philosophical introspection in episode 18 was phenomenal.

Art: 8 points
The artwork was pretty good and was reliable in quality throughout the series’ finale. Even the series was filmed in the mid 90’s, it certainly has an 80’s feel to it which is fine, because it’s a war film and you would expect the footage to not be perfect, but rough instead.

Sound: 8 points
The soundtrack isn’t great; it only has one awesome song in it (Rhythm Emotion), however the sound effects throughout the series were quite spectacular.


Character: 7 points
Though there was very little character buildup in Gundam Wing. The character designs are pretty unoriginal, but the characters themselves are easy to like, and in some cases easy to hate. This is expected in any good dramatization.
Lucrezia Noin and Heero Yuy are two of my favorite anime characters. But, their originality could be improved greatly, especially Heero’s first name. The word ‘Hero’ with an added “e”, need I say more? Another character I really liked was Relena Peacecraft. I am sure that my favoritism towards these characters is simply a reflection of my personal character and my desires of a woman, each personified.

Enjoyment: 8 points
The fact that I am rewatching this series even now as I write this is a testament to how much I enjoy it.


Overall: 8 points
8+8+8+7+8 = 39 out of 50. That’s 7.8 out of 10, but because I like to so much I will round that up to an '8'.

Pop quiz time! What Alphaville song best describes the Gundam franchise? The answer is, of course, "Big in Japan"! And over the years, many people have tried many times to make it "Big in the West" as well, but it never really gained much traction. The small amount of success it did find mostly traces back to "Gundam Wing", which made a decent sized splash on American TV around the turn of the millennium.

And that's rather unfortunate. Because although I've only seen a handful of Gundam series, "Gundam Wing" ranks among the worst ones in my book.

"Gundam Wing", with its cast of characters starring mostly ... angsty world-beating teenagers, is obviously a series aimed at teenagers. But the problem is that it feels like it's also written BY teenagers. The show kind of reminds me of "Code Geass": they're both ridiculous, over the top, and both seem more concerned with shocking the audience with twist after twist than anything else. Both resemble train wrecks, but here the similarity ends. "Code Geass" feels like a train wreck involving a train driven by James Bond: the carriages may be on fire and the some of the wheels may have come off, but thanks to some brilliant driving, the momentum ultimately takes it to its intended destination. With "Gundam Wing" the train seems driven by a teenager who THINKS he's James Bond. The result is a survivorless, smouldering wreckage on the side of the tracks still some distance away from its destination.

For a near-50-episode show, "Gundam Wing" certainly doesn't suffer from slow pacing. If anything, it has the opposite problem: it throws out plot twists faster than you can digest them, rarely following through on the implications of the new developments. Not many of the twists feel organic or thought through, and frequently the latest twists would cancel out the effects of the ones before it (even if they only happened within the last episode or two). It's as though the show had an army of (teenage) writers, and they took turns to slap their latest cool (at least to them) ideas onto the story with fervent zeal while impatiently doing away with whatever the previous writers wrote.

The characters, often wearing obscene amounts of plot armour, serve as slaves to the plot, regularly undergoing drastic personality changes according to its needs. Luckily the show can't be accused of wasting potential as the characters come across mostly as a bunch of one-dimensional posers whom teenagers would find cool, but almost everyone else would just find insufferable. Their fate is further sealed by the trashy melodramatic dialogues forced upon them. "Gundam Wing" takes itself very seriously, but alas, I could hardly take it less seriously.

Although "Gundam Wing" is a pretty dumb show, but it's also a PRETTY dumb show. The series has a lot going for it in the production departments. It leads with a catchy, iconic opening theme, features good action scenes, and the attractive character designs of its teenage Gundam pilots ensured the show gathered enough fangirls to make Elvis jealous. However, it's the Gundam designs that stole the show for me. The five Gundams piloted by the five main pilots are all very distinctive: they look different, their fight differently, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. On top of that, the designs ooze style, with Deathscythe being particularly cool - no wonder it's one of the top-selling Gundam models of all time (maybe even THE top selling one).

I may not rate "Gundam Wing" very highly overall, but it scores decently on (unintended) entertainment value, at least for me. Your own mileage may vary: the absurdity of the plot, the ridiculousness of the characters and the terribad melodrama can often be thigh-slappingly funny to some, but frustrating and cringeworthy to others. I suspect it's the kind of anime that would be gloriously entertaining to watch in a group though. Oh, and you might also like it if you're a teenager.

Personal rating: -0.5 (mediocre)

I loved this as a kid, so I figured it would be nice to check back in on this. That was a bad idea. The story telling and dialogue are insanely clunky and all over the place. Which is a shame, because there are some nice ideas that peak out throughout the series: how does war affect soldiers, how can true lasting peace be obtained, what is the nature of human kind, etc. This is to be expected of a Gundam show, it's always come for the cool robots stay for the political and personal intrigue. And the Gundams are still cool, make no mistake. ... The animation is solid, and there are some cool fights occasionally but nothing super awesome. Very few of the characters are likeable, have any sort of sensible motivations, or act like real humans. This show is an absolute mess, but I see what it could have been and it'll still hold a fond place in my heart.