G Gundam is set many years into the future where much of humanity has gone into space to live on colonies. Achieving the ability to live in space did not bring humanity together, but only serve to drive it further apart. Countries such as Japan, the United States, France, China, Russia, and every country that existed in 1994 has their own space colony and they all foutght against each other to gain supremacy of space. In response to the bloody wars that came about, the countries agreed to hold a Gundam fight tournament ever four years. Each country would send only one Gundam, and whoever won the tournament gave their nation the right to rule space and Earth for the next four years.
At its core, G Gundam is merely a kong-fu anime that happens to have the fighters and martial artists in giant robots. The pilots don’t use joysticks to maneuver their Gundam, but instead have a suit that causes the Gundam to mimic their own moves, making it by far the coolest way to control a Gundam or giant robot I have seen. The action is over-the-top, and the fighters are able to perform crazy attacks both inside and outside their Gundam; one fighter even cut an entire skyscraper in half with a single kick outside of his Gundam. The story is simple, but it is well paced for its length. Each episode has its own featured fight, and I don’t recall any fight lasting longer than one episode.
The characters are what truly make this show. Domon Kashu is the main character of G Gundam and is the representative from Japan. He is a loud, aggressive and powerful fighter who only knows how to communicate with his fists. He is in search of his older brother who destroyed their family and has stolen the most powerful Gundam ever made and is now hiding on Earth. On his journey for revenge, Domon will encounter Gundam fighters from other countries who are amazing characters in their own right. Some of his fellow fighters will become friends and others will become enemies, but each of them is a joy to watch. You will definitely find a Gundam fighter that is your favorite. It is a joy to watch Domon grow as a fighter and as a person and to see him develop throughout the series.
I must note that this show is one of the cheesiest anime you will ever see, and that is what makes it so good. The fighting in G Gundam is ridiculous, but the show plays everything with a straight face and is serious in how it handles it. This causes the show to be extremely hilarious throughout. All the fighters scream out their special attacks, but I found you never get tired of it. Often, I realized I was saying the attack names along with the characters. This show is often extremely racists. The Gundams representing their countries are often stereotypes of the country itself; for example, Mexico’s Gundam has a sombrero, and Egypt’s Gundam is a mummy. However, none of the stereotypes feel malicious and it all just ends up adding to the humor. I believe this comes from the fact that political correctness is not much of a thing in Japan, though it is in the United States.
I justify this anime receiving a nine because of its immense enjoyment factor. The best way to describe G Gundam is that it is the embodiment of a young boy’s dream, which is where the charm comes from because kids have the best dreams. If you are willing to release your inner child, then you will have no regrets watching G Gundam.
