Other than SD Gundam (may it burn in the fires of hell) Mobile Suit Fighter G Gundam is the black sheep of the Gundam family. It has no complicated politics or commentary on the futility of war or the psychological damage that a soldier endures. Instead we get ethnic stereotypes, over the top fights, and absolute grade A cheese! If you are in a light and playful mood and want to watch something delightfully idiotic, here is G Gundam!
Plot 5/10
The plot takes place in the future of course, but this future is not a part of the main Gundam series canon and exists in its own universe. War has been abolished and which country gets to rule the world is decided every few years with a giant robot fighting competition. This plot was actually stolen shamelessly from an 80s B movie called "Robot Jox". The main character is Domon, who as you would expect fights for Japan. He is searching for his brother Kyoji and a gundam called the "Dark Gundam" or Devil Gundam in the original Japanese version. To get this out of the way, the G in the title actually stands for God gundam, but I guess they figured with all the national stereotypes this series was offensive enough as is. While searching for his brother, Domon meets fighters from many other countries and must defeat them to advance in the global tournament. Domon is a member of a 5 nation team called the "Shuffle Alliance" consisting of Japan, China, USA, Russia, and France. As an aside, the way the characters pilot the gundams in this series along with the nations making up the alliance give this a striking resemblance to Pacific Rim, which was released 20 years later. Together the Shuffle Alliance must uncover the Devil Gundam conspiracy and defeat those that would use this evil gundam to permanently conquer Earth and all its colonies!
Characters 5/10
The characters are mostly an amalgamation of ethnic stereotypes, so don't look for amazing depth or development here. The American is a streetwise, arrogant blockhead that is a boxer. The Chinese pilot is an obnoxious, hyperactive kid (think Short Round) that is also a shaolin monk. The Frenchmen is predictably a fairy that throws roses at people. The Russian is a hulking Siberian convict that looks like Leonid Brezhnev fucked a Grizzly bear. These are some of the more subtle characters in this series! Although the characters aren't well written, they are enjoyable to watch and this series will have you rolling with laughter, albeit some of it unintentional.
Sound track 8/10
Believe it or not the soundtrack in this series ROCKS! The opening is catchy as hell, the battle themes are gripping, the drama themes get you in the right mood. All around very impressive for such a silly series.
Art 6/10
The art isn't of the highest caliber, but for a 90s anime it isn't bad. It does recycle animation quite a bit, but it is what you would expect from a shonen series of any length greater than 13 episodes during that era of anime.
Enjoyment 10/10
G gundam is a guilty pleasure series for me. I am quite aware of how stupid it is, but it is damn fun to watch! Some of this is nostalgia of course, but I would bet that younger viewers would also get a kick out of this massive piece of 90s cheese.
Overall 7/10
This series has massive flaws, but is quite enjoyable for what it is. Don't go into it expecting deep art that will change your assessment on life. This is not Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilyich. This is fucking G-Gundam. BURRRRNNIIINNGGG FINNNGEERRRR!!!!!
