Mobile Fighter G Gundam

The Gundum franchise has long been hailed for it's depiction of war, the human condition and of course awesome mecha fights. Although the quality of titles vary from one to another when viewed in accession, the core themes regarding war was still always factored in. So when a title like Fighter G Gundam comes along and breaks this commonality it's quite easy to see where the harsh criticism of it comes from. Being the 1st title in the Gundam franchise to really dabble in unfamiliar territory, what we get is a balls to the wall battle shounen that left out the essentials but only retained the Gundam name.
But simply being different isn't enough to be good and that doesn't change the fact that the end result is nothing short of a nonsensical battle shounen that thinks an excessive amount of plot twists and shouting equates to actual quality.


Story: 3/10

The story can be split up into 2 parts, the first being a revenge tale and other a long winded battle tournament. Set in the future where war is abolished and a new system is put in place, each nation takes part in a battle royal to determine who will obtain supremacy of the universe and the other colonies. These fights are carried out by a Gundam pilot of their choosing and is the driving force behind most of the show's conflict. It's through this battle royal that we meet our core group of characters, with our lead obviously being Japan's representative Domon Kasshu. Using the battle royal as cover Domon's true objective is to find and defeat his brother Kyoji who has come to poses Dark Gundam, which objective is (you guessed it) to destroy the world.
Now the core story itself isn't bad on paper but where the problem starts is how it's presented. Being that it takes a shounen approach, it should come to no surprise that it also obtained the issues commonly found in the shounen demographic. Containing everything from poorly conceived asspulls and powerups to questionable plot twists, G Gundam's storytelling is just all over the place. Another glaring issue is it's regurgitation of needless exposition and plot conveniences. And despite the constant bombardment of nonsense like a mermaid, a mummy and windmill Gundam or gundams going super saiyan, it still ask of the viewer to take it seriously. This wouldn't have been a problem if it was going for a self-aware satire but sadly it never took that route. What we get instead is a show trying too hard to angst and too hard to be cool while coming across as a laughable concoction that you'd think up as a child while playing pretend with your toys.

Art/Animation: 7/10

Now if there was ever an area where G Gundam deserves recognition it would be with it's production values. The Gundam franchise has always been proclaimed to being ahead of its time, with titles like Zeta Gundam that was leagues ahead of other anime titles of it's era in terms of cinematography and choreography. But with titles like Double Zeta and Victory Gundam it had seemed that the franchise was finally losing it's luster. But G Gundam brought on something like a Renaissance for Gundam, bringing with it the familiar levels of animation quality found in OVAs like War in the Pocket and Stardust Memory.
Being that the story focused on mecha fights a great deal of effort was placed into making all the battles to feel grandiose when called for it. And with a introduction to a new way of piloting the mechas by body synchronization, the aesthetics and easy to read body mechanics were ahead of it's time. The attention to detail really made it an entertaining watch that never felt hindered by the time period it was made. It even looks good for today's standards. But of course corners were cut with reused scenes and still shots but given the effort placed into everything else it's easily forgivable.
NOW the same can't be said for the mecha designs. To put it bluntly half of them are beyond idiotic. Everything from a evil clown to a windmill, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the poorly thought up designs. It's like the artists all got drunk and doodled up any nonense that popped into their heads. But given the cheesiness of the story they may just help heighten your B-movie experience.

Sound: 5/10

"so bad it's good" is the best phrase used to describe the voice acting of G Gundam. This is schmaltzy over acting taken to a new extreme. Every one liner is delivered with so much ham that you can't help but chuckle as they're delivered. That said I highly suggest watching this dub to optimize the effect. The soundtrack itself works well with the show's content. Delivering the right amount of "oomph" when needed and adding to the overall 90s vibe.

Characters: 3/10

The characters all felt like they've been ripped right out of the pages of cliches. With a spiky hair protagonist that think yelling and "talking with your fists" is the only way to solve problems, it borderlines obnoxiousness at times. The rest of the cast follow the same 1 sided personality with one predominant straight that forces them to be marginalize as typical archetypes. May that be the pretty boy "man of honor" or the strong dumb brute, all of them exhibit the behaviors of easy to write and even easier to read characters.
But being typical characters aren't necessarily bad per say but the way the writers go about using them is where it really becomes a problem. Everyone is flimsily handled to the point where their personality can flip flop from friend to foe with no proper build up. It's like they were manipulated in order to serve whatever objective the plot was going for at the time. This result in too many role reversals to be taken seriously and also a sad attempt to try to add depth and complexity to a cookie cutter cast that were only surface deep.

Enjoyment: 7/10

Now without a doubt G Gundam is entertaining. Due to many factors but mostly contributed to the time period it was made, G Gundam has aged into a campy b-movie romp that offers cheesy one liners, laughable plot twists and hammy moments throughout. This b-movie experience is even heightened further if watched dubbed, with a vast array of schmaltzy voice acting performances that deduces genuine bouts of laughter. It's truly among the pinnacle of cheesy 90s entertainment and those simply seeking dumb fun should look no further.

Overall: 4.5/10

G Gundam is the ultimate 90s cheese experience. Idiotic plot twists, nonsensical mecha designs and over the top voice acting. It's the pinnacle of anime cheese but a face palming journey that can't be forgiven. For everything it had going for it, it always took 2 steps back. It was an experimental attempt to do something different with the franchise that led to half-baked results. For fans of Gundam this might be a fun time waster but this isn't a something recommended to any newcomer trying to see what the franchise is all about.

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The story itself is simple and fun, and minimally engaging. I like how it has unpredictable elements in it and you don’t really expect certain things to happen. The premises within the Future Century universe where games, politics, and wars is handeled through the Gundam Fight is quite an interesting concept in my personal opinion, because I frankly think that’s how things should be. We wouldn’t have war, and it’d be pretty entertaining. But sadly, the people on earth will be collateral damage as a result.

The presentation of the culturally diverse cast is of course where the Ring ni Kakero influences come into play. Certain portions of the characters are stereotyped or portrayed in what Americans would find not politically correct. I mean, the Russian is a prisoner? The Japanese portrayed as righteous? The American portrayed as strange and arrogant? And the list goes on. If you’re not offended by that kind of stuff, then you’ll probably laugh because it gets to you in that kind of way. Because the Japanese are oblivious to the concept of political correctness, they can of course get away with doing something like this in their own country. In addition all religious referenes such as Domon’s future Gundam, known as the God Gundam, or G Gundam for short is changed to Burning Gundam; and the Devil Gundam would be renamed to the Dark Gundam.

I really enjoy the characters because of their personalities and they each bring in different elements to the show. Domon is the quiet and anti-social super powered guy; while someone like Chibodee is the obnoxious loud mouth comic relief character. Even some of the minor characters like Alleby have their own contribution to the advancement of the story as well and has some touching moments that I don’t want to get into because it would be a spoiler.

Along with a whole new set of story, setting and characters, you also get new Gundams. For traditional purposes obviously, a huge majority of the Gundams will stick to the grill face, have either the green and yellow eyes, and still maintain the iconic red, white, blue, and yellow color scheme. But they add new details to certain Gundams to make them look more culturally authentic to each country. Like Lumberjack Gundam of Neo-Canda is literally meant to resemble a Candian lumber jack. The Gundam Spiegel piloted by Schwartz has a skinny frame to give it the agility and speed that gives blitzkrieg-esque assaults.

The human characters on the other hand were really meant to have the old school style of design from the 1970s mech anime. The character’s slim builts, the pointness of the chins and faces, the shapes of the eyes, the hairstyles and side burns, and some of the clothing designs gives some indication of that. Plus, it’s not Gundam vs army anymore. Prior to Gundam, mech anime was always the main mech against another bad guy’s mech of the week and G Gundam’s story was meant to present that kind of narration so they bring in all of these Gundams for one one one battles which I will now get into.

The battles are also distinctive because it’s not about lazers, guns, and beam saber fights. It’s hand to hand combat and as Daigouji Gai from Nadesico would say, that a mech is most idealistic for such kinds of battles and is the best means of proving who is the man. Granted certain Gundams are bulky, but the heavy blow action makes up for it. While the smaller Gundams like Spiegel and Nobel Gundam have speed and agility and they move like Spider-Man. So you’re getting martial arts mixed with mech. Despite the lack of convenient war fare weapons, the Gundams of course have special powered moves. Like Domon’s finishing move is the shining finger where he turns gold Super Saiya-jin style and then emits a large beam of light to his opponent.

Of course there are also times we get to see the pilots fight outside of their mechs. Afterall, you need to be a legitimate accomplished fighter to be legible to compete in the tournament. The fights are DBZ-ish with the speed but not of course where they power up and fight for a long time and do fire balls. The fights are still intense and fun. So, the art and animation of G Gundam for it’s overall unique use of character and mech design and intriguing battle.

Tomokazu Seki also happens to play the main character Domon Kasshu who has played other notable roles like Keisuke from Initial D, Miyata from Hajime no Ippo, and Kenichi from History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi. He uses a rough and loud voice, but not high pitched. He can make the character sound cold and calm when he’s not in battle, and yet sound crazy when he’s in a fight. Speaking of the dialog in fights, I just love how dynamic the acting and dialog is in the middle of battle. Like before a fight starts, to officially commence the fight, the fighters have to say “Gandamu faito!!! Rediiii Goooo!!” It’s something you can say is as synonomous as John McCarthy’s “Lets get it on” when he signals to start a fight in the UFC. It’s just that awesome.

And it’s real funny in the Japanese version, Chibodee, played by Hochu Ohtsuka, the voice of Jiraiya in Naruto and Yazan in Zeta Gundam brings a funny tone to his voice and really brings the comedy out of him with his Engrish and how he calls Domon “Japanese.” And Saisaici is played by Yamaguchi Kappei, the voices of Ranma and Inuyasha, and the voice of L from Deathnote. So the Japanese version has a top notch voice cast. As for the dub, I have not seen it in years, but I just feel with the Japanese version, you’re getting the accurate dynamic delivery you need to most enjoy it because I don’t think this anime isn’t fun without the silly Engrish.

The music itself is pretty good. The opening themes Flying in the Sky and I Trust You Forever are really good songs that have a type of passion and feeling to it. Though it doesn’t have a warriors feel like Ring ni Kakero’s or Ashita no Joe’s, the songs still reflect on its semi-unintended campy nature.

G Gundam was mixing old school Shounen Jump, old school mech, and the moderninzing of Gundam all into one. It brings its own unique story that excellently mixes a diverse cast of characters in not just culture, but in personalities; top notch unintended comedy if you’re not Japanese; and high octane action

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Well, it's been a while since I wrote another review, and yes it's a Gundam review. I'm the person who has pretty much watched them all (not all but hey, I know all the ones that came out in the USofA). Okay what you have here in front of you was the first of its kind in Gundam History. While after the release of Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counter attack, a few people in BANDAI came up with a new concept, fuse Martial Arts with Gundam, and hence for became Mobile Fighter G Gundam. No one thought that this would work but it did. Though many fans of the seires were kinda annoyed that the constant Custom Gundam were over used, it created an new basis for many of the new Gundam series. Many of you know them as the pretty boys of Gundam Wing and the overly issued Childrern of Gundam Seed. The concept of Five Hero Gundams shaked the Gundam world and is still happening now.

The story takes place in an alternet setting, not Universal Century. This new world is called Future Century. In Future Century, nations from around the world leave their homes and begin to live in space, in the newly formed space colonies called the Neo Nations. Even though many have left Earth, it's still a vitial resorce, and to prevent any further wars the Nations declare that every four years there is to be a Gundam Fight. The Gundam Fight determines which Neo Nation will take Earth into their hands. After each Nation selects one of their best fighters and locks them down on Earth, the battle begins.

In this story, it is now the 13th Gundam Fight. A Martial Artist from Neo Japan, Domon Kasshu, is sent to Earth. With his newly earned title of King Of Hearts, he brings fear upon his opponents, but Domon's true intensions is to search for his brother, which mysteriously disappeared after an incedent in the space colony of Neo Japan. Now the only remaining member of his family is his father which has been frozen as pusnishment for actiing against the Neo Japan Government. And to release his father, Domon must fight and win the Gundam Fight.

Eventually Domon realizes that he's not the only one that is willing to go the distance as he meets many formidable foes. Chibodee of Neo America, George of Neo France, Sai of Neo China, and Argo of Neo Russia all have their reasons of fighting within the tournament. They soon become friends after facing a menacing foe known as the Devil (Dark) Gundam.

The story is pretty good. It's not what I really expected from Gundam, and it was a completely new twist to things. I can rewatch it a few times and still enjoy it. Although, the birth of this series pretty much brought an unnecessary evil to the Gundam Franchise. With all the spoofs of Gundam Wing, Gundam War X, Gundam Seed, and a few other Super Gundam legacies, I can't help but get mad that because of this one show it had made Gundam into a Super Hero Five show. In the long run, its an okay show, not one of my favorites of the Gundam series, but Gundam Seed wasn't any better. So if you really want to see what started the Gundam Wing and the Five Gundam concept, this is what you are looking for.

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G Gundam, one of my favorite Gundam Alternate Universe series. Unfortunately, this series does not get the love it deserves as compared to the newer ones. Although it is named G Gundam, it is in no way a Gundam at all. (Excluding the designs and premise >_>)

Gundams get into one-on-one brawls in the tournament called the Gundam Fight and beat their respective opponents one by one until they win the tournament. The fights are very super-robot-esque, with lots of hot-blooded shouting and super moves, including finishers such as SHINING FINGER! They even come with their own cheesy incantations to be recited before execution.

Story
The show basically starts of as a monster-of-the-week, with one enemy being introduced every episode. However, near the middle of the series, the show uses the development in these episodes to reveal a plot gradually piled up from the beginning. Some parts of the story are quite touching despite the cheesiness of it all, and it has a number of twists as well.


Art
The art style stays true to the original Gundam hand-drawn style (back when CG wasn't used yet). Fans of the older series will immediately take to it, and newer watchers might be initially turned off by the lack of shiny computer generated lasers, but may grow to love it. The action scenes are pretty well animated and are quite constant, although some scenes you can clearly see how more effort was put into.


Sound
The music for this show is great. Music during fight scenes will pump you up, and more melancholic tunes during touching/sad scenes will jerk your heart real good. The songs are quite fitting, but can sound a little old fashioned at times. (They even have authentic Cantonese music for when they are at Neo Hong Kong!)

The openings and endings are also among the better ones, topped with above average animation. The openings really help to get you in the mood for the show.

The voices are very fitting. They can be serious when they need to, and perform crazy hotblooded move yelling when needed. The chemistry between Domon and Master Asia's seiyuus are very natural. Overall great voice acting for all characters.


Character
The characters are very well written, and the main crew and their fellows get superb development over the course of the 49 episodes. Don't want to spoil anything here, so I'll just say that their relationships are very well portrayed, especially that of Domon (protagonist) and his master, Master Asia (you have to have heard that before).


All in all, I enjoyed this show a lot more than I thought I would. As my second Gundam series, it's impact on me has not faded since I have watched it unlike many other anime series. In fact, I think I'll be rewatching it pretty soon. What are you waiting for? It's time for the Gundam Fight-o! READYYYY.. GO!!!

*buries head in ground*

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