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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 : )

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'.

Gundam Wing had me confused from episode 1 all the way to 32, not knowing who was on who's side, not knowing the reasons for any actions or even what the true aim of the gundam pilots was. I really try to be persistent and hold off on dropping the anime for 32 episodes and kept hoping it would get better. But the constant attempts of suicide from the gundam pilots felt really cheap, I thought they were supposed to be near invincible, yet they seemed to lose almost every battle and resorted to rather dull attempts at suicide.

However, around the start of episode 32, ... I had got what I hoped for. The anime really picked up, everything become clear cut . The pilots all seemed to improve in ability and started acting more like humans. The storyline was also extremely interesting near the end of the series and grabbed my attention so much that I watched 20 episodes in the space of 1 day.

Now onto the individual ratings:

Story: 8

I couldn't give this a 10 because it was far too confusing up until the latter stages of the show. Not much was explained and too many sides were brought into the fight. This just led to more confusion so in this respect it was really disappointing, however, after episode 32-33, it really was the turning point of the series, everything seemed to string together and it was so excellent I couldnt stop watching. For a gundam series, Wing really has an interesting plot, just that initially it is very confusing.

Art: 6

Even for its time, the artwork of Wing was not overly fantastic especially considering it was a gundam series which are known for their excellent artwork.
The explosions were quite unspectacular and the artwork felt slow during fighting scenes. However, the animation of the gundams was quite well done.

Sound: 6

As with artwork, this was not overly fantastic either. The voice acting was quite good for most characters (jap dub) but the sounds of explosions and firing shots were rather generic and repetitive.

Characters: 8

It is quite difficult to initially like any of the gundam pilots aside from Duo, they all seem to be too prideful of themselves and introverted. This is mainly why I only really liked Duo of all the gundam pilots. However, this is not to say they are all annoying, every character has their strength whether it be wei fu's sense of self justice and solidarity or Duo's comedic side. However, there is one character who stuck out to me as an incredible character who I just couldn't help but love, Zechs Marquise (I know he may be a char ripoff but hes awesome). All in all, Wing has a healthy cast of characters, just not up to par with other shows.

Enjoyment: 8

I dont know why, despite all its flaws, Wing was utterly enjoyable. Perhaps it was the Gundams, maybe it was Zechs, but more than likely it was the amazing storyline that despite being slow in the earlier stages, really kicked off in the latter part of the series. This show is definitely one of my most enjoyed series.
Look past the fact thats its old and you may find an amazing anime that will keep you entertained.

To conclude, Wing is one of those anime shows where you may wonder why you should continue on despite the numerous flaws it has and an initially confusing storyline, but if you look past that and give it a chance, it will reward you.

I believe people purposely take off their nostalgia goggles and then deliberately scoff and dismiss everything about it, not giving it any chance to be great, which it truly is. I truly think Wing was extremely well written, both characters and the story. Heero's class speech for one. I especially loved Relena and Heero and their slow eventual understanding of each other. The music and sounds are excellent (OPs especially) and the designs were satisfying.

Of course it has flaws like every other show, like the animation and the ending. The ending really could have been much better. It was 'cute' but weak and rushed.
With ... the art, it's really a shame because some good scenes where pretty detailed and smooth, but most of the other scenes were not (looking at you Epyon). The characters were really well drawn most of the time, so the problem is really with the mechas. I kept telling myself 'man this show deserves so much better'. Sometimes when it got bad, it got real bad (think of a low budget 70s anime). Even some of the important fights will be hard to receive because of the poor animation. Still, it really is a great show because despite that, there were still some really unique animation sequences that were well executed.

Watch it unbiased and without hostility because you 'hate that it's so popular'. Worth every minute.

Okay, not going to lie, this was one of the first animes I ever watched (thanks Toonami!).

And to this day, it's still one of my favorites. I've even rewatched it several times.

True to the Gundam series, its full of political maneuverings every where. Friends become enemies, enemies become friends, and sometimes you just feel like you want to tear out your hair because things change so fast.

My favorite part about it was the characters, in particular Heero Yuy. Of course, Heero Yuy. I came to dislike Relena more and more because she just got more and more annoying to be as time went along ... but I will say I enjoyed the romance of it all.

The other Gundam pilots were also wonderful.

The art was great for it's time and I still enjoy it.

I also love the soundtrack and love the voice actors/actresses. Both subbed and dubbed versions! (which I NEVER say as I'm a true believer of subs only, no dubs). And of course, I know the theme songs to this day.

Haha, maybe it's the starry-eyed love of the past and an ever-lasting crush on Heero but I'd always continue to recommend this anime. Also, I haven't been able to watch any of the other Gundam series so I'm sure other people have their likes and dislikes. Just my two cents, haha.

The Gundam franchise is one I've talked about twice. Once with Iron-blooded Orphans & once with the considerably less competent 00. But since it's the month for great couples, it's time to look at an older instalment with Wing. 

Story:

Our tale takes place in the future where we have established space colonies and a powerful Earth alliance that basically runs the planet. Factions within the colonies feel that they've been oppressed by the Alliance's overwhelming military might and this leads to operation Meteor. Five different colonies all sending their own Gundams and pilots to Earth. The pilots land and fight separately, with a special focus on ... the OZ organisation.

At its heart, Wing is a story about fighting for peace and asking how far is too far in pursuit of that goal. Overall, it's a theme that's well explored and compelling. The weakness of it is that it can come across as a little absurd to have people talking about ending fighting while blowing up enemies in giant robots. There are also some scenes that go a little overboard with the discussion and come across as a bit preachy. 

Thematically, it also makes sense to have young Gundam pilots with the whole concept of a new generation giving their all against the old for the sake of peace. In the story, however, it seems a little strange to have all the pilots be teenagers. I believe they could have done a better job of giving an in-universe reason for that. Oh, and the series has two recap episodes which, being generous, is one more than you need. Doesn't help that they're back to back. 

The pacing is very strongly handled. The narrative is also highly compelling with quite a few threads that come together. The series also has strong world building and an excellent sense of scope. 

Characters:

The cast is very well put together. The major characters and important side characters all possess a sense of verisimilitude. The series also excels at fleshing out motivations for all its characters, including the antagonists. The interactions and character dynamics are pretty close to exemplary. Especially between Quatre and Trowa, but I'll get to that in detail when I talk about ho-yay. 

What makes the dynamics work so well is that a lot of the characters have pressing topics of discussion. For example, Quatre and Relena both have a lot of philosophical differences with Dorothy. But Dorothy's dynamics with each of them are very different in spite of Quatre and Relena having a similar philosophy. She's a lot more combative with Quatre and comes across as outright amorous towards Relena. It's that type of detail in character writing that really fleshes out your characters. And it is nice to see some of the pilots interact with family. Quatre with his father and sister, Trowa with his sister.

Art:

The art is definitely dated by today's standards. For the mid-90s, this looked pretty good and the art does hold up well enough. But you'll definitely notice a lot of the hallmarks of mid-90s animation. Like repeating frames, crowd scenes where only the focus characters get detailed, & occasionally choppy movements. You know, the type of thing you get when you have those old-fashioned hand drawn series. 

In general, Sunrise did do a good job of getting the animation to flow smoothly. Especially during intense action sequences. The Gundam designs are excellent. I especially like Shenlong & Deathscythe. There are some strong backgrounds. Especially when they're on Earth and out in nature. 

Sound:

Midorikawa Hikaru, Seki Toshihiko, Nakahara Shigeru, Orikasa Ai, Ishino Ryuuzou, Koyasu Takehito & Yokoyama Chisa are all superb in this. Really, there aren't any poor performances. The direction and delivery are just on point. 

Otani Kow did an excellent job with the musical composition. He also worked on compositions for Another & Haibane Renmei. So, he has a history of excellence. With this being the earliest example I've reviewed. 

Ho-yay:

There's a lot in this series. One of the first things we see Trowa do after meeting Quatre is grab and blow his flute. Take that out of context if you want. 

Even putting the double entendre aside, these two start out making music together. This series also does a similar thing to Battle Athletes where they psychically convey their feelings from a distance. The difference being we don't see them kiss even though we know they have because it's so obvious. Even their image songs: Love is a Shooting Star & Star's Gaze, go together. It's like the writers scientifically engineered their dynamic to be as gay as possible without becoming canon but only on a technicality. 

And these two just provide the most prominent source of ho-yay. Zechs and Treize also have that kind of dynamic. And Dorothy very blatantly has a crush on Relena. 

Areas of Improvement:

Only one recap episode, maximum. In general, I would say not to have any, but if you really feel you need one because the series is almost fifty episodes just stick to the one.
An in-universe reason for the pilots to be teenagers. Yes, it works thematically. But that isn't a blanket excuse for it in-universe. If it were up to me, I'd say they were genetically modified to make them better pilots and the procedure had to be done at a younger age. Hence why they're teenagers when the operation begins. Now you have a simple explanation.
Less dialogue decrying war. Like I said, the anti-war theme can get preachy at times and I feel that having less dialogue directly addressing it would fix the issue.

Final Thoughts: 

Gundam Wing has some noticeable problems. That can't be denied. However, it also has a lot of significant strengths. And it certainly, in my mind, is an enjoyable series that's well worth a view for any mecha fan who cares about more than mindless action. So, I'm giving it a solid 8/10. 

BRIEF SUMMARY IF YOU DON'T LIKE READING:
The enjoyment I got from this anime was enormous. One should take into account that there was a sort of nostalgia as this was one of the first anime I saw, but nonetheless, the battles, the voice acting (japanese dub) and the individual characters made this a real treat to watch, even with the run-of-the-mill story, and old art. Very recommended.



Storyline. (7-8, but I rounded down)
I'm sure most have read the plot summaries, and that's basically most of the story right there although there are some political aspects that go on (particularly when dealing with the Peacecraft family) ... that add some intrigue. Overall, it's not overly complicated. It's cliche, but it serves its purpose. If you want to whine about "predictability" and the like...well...go whine, but this does not have an awe-inspiring storyline.

Art: 8
This is difficult to judge. To break it down:
If you have been accustomed to watching the new anime with the CG effects...than this art will not be very impressive to you. It's not bad enough that you frown at it. But Heero does get a little chubby at times. And Trowa sometimes shrinks. Hell...sometimes Quatre looks MANLY.
For myself, the art was not distracting, and since I've been used to older anime, it was good.

Sound: 7
To tell the truth, I never paid attention to the sound. I confess myself a skipper of OP's and ED's after listening to them once. What I heard was good, but really nothing special. The music within the series worked very well in that it sort of sneaks in without you noticing...and then there will be utter silence. A couple times this was used throughout the series and it's effect was good. Overall, nothing bad here, just nothing really good either.

Characters: 9
Gundam Wing gets bashed from time-to-time for 'no character development.' And while, yes, there could have been more development, the characters themselves are all so unique that unless one is looking for things to hate, one can't help but enjoy it. I love when you can almost predict the character's reaction, it shows that they really nailed it and you understand the character. Or the lines are cliche. Or both.
But overall, you'll enjoy the characters, or at least one of them. (C'mon...Trowa is a bad-DONKEY, how could you DISLIKE him?)

Enjoyment: 10
You may think that it's odd to have a 10 come flying out of nowhere after the former numbers, but where Gundam Wing really shines is the fact that it took those good and great ingredients and turned them into something outstanding. This is one anime that left me feeling empty for a bit after it ended. THANK GOD FOR ENDLESS WALTZ. (but I felt even more empty after that one...)

Final word? Watch this anime. You'll have fun with it. :)
And please leave me a comment on what you thought of this review; it's my first one and I would really appreciate some feedback on it. Although, avoid the grammar picking. I KNOW I LIKE COMMAS TOO MUCH. >.

My favorite show ever! And in my opinion, one of the best mecha shows ever made!
Unlike recent mecha shows, (SEED, Destiny) you dont stray away from the plot with the characters emotions and its action-packed! with a small sprinkle of romance to top it off. you haven't seen mecha until you've watched Wing, and honestly you might even regret never watching!
Awesome characters, and music!
a very simple protagonist-antagonist like plot, but the story never bores you! i have seen the whole series twice, and i plan to watch it a third time!
I strongly recommend!!!

Well, since this is my first time writing a review here on MyAnimeList, why not kick it off with the first anime I saw from the first to last episode: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Looking back, this anime is not as good as when I first saw it, I've learned that from watching more anime. However, this anime is still good, especially for fans interested into getting into the mecha genre, or that have never watched a Gundam series.

The setting is interesting, since the anime takes place in both Space and the Earth. It contains plot twist that surprise the viewer out of nowhere, but still ... this is not enough to stop its main flaw, which is that at some point the plot becomes predictable.

The characters can either be loved or hated. This can be good, except that the hate that one experiences for some of the characters is not one that is beneficial to the story, but one of annoyance. This hampers the story only a little. Overall though the cast of characters contain many interesting ones, some to which one can relate and others one can absolutely not (side note, possible spoilers: the main cast is perfect for yaoi shipping if you are into that kind of thing).

The artistic style of this anime is one that is, to put it in interesting words, 90's. When you see this series, you say to yourself "oh, that looks from the 90's". This is good because in my opinion, the 90's had some of the best anime that was exported from Japan into Latin America, the U.S., and Europe. The mech design is really good, some are extravagant, some are simple, and some are plain down cool.

Overall, Mobiles Suit Gundam Wing can be enjoyed for anime fans that are just beginning to get into the mecha genre, the story is somewhat original, though not that much. This anime is good and was enjoyed by many who first saw it toonami back in the day.

An awesome story arc from the first episode to the last. The animation still holds to this day but the sound effects do sound a little outdated. Great villains and lots of twists makes this a must see. In some ways it reminds me of Star Wars due to its complicated political backstory, but dont worry the plot its not that complicated. The story is divided in three acts and even in this it does feel a lot like Star Wars (old trilogy). The First Act brings us hope, the second one brings defeat and tragedy and the final brings resolution and redemption. It is ... the best Gundam series so far. I’m not a fan of giants robots but still I find this series rather refreshing and you might too. Give it a try, if you enjoyed Star Wars or mecha series you will not be disappointed.