Shin Kido Senki Gundam Wing Endless Waltz

I cannot began to discribe my feelings towards "Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz" simply because, It is in this reviewers option. The film is a most excellent ending to the greatest animated series of our time! Why? It took all the elements of the series, and all of the questions that the fans have had. (Such as "What was Operation M?") and it not only answers them in full detail, but it also gave us a more clear view of our favorite Piolts past(s).

Yet while this is an animated film, it is not ment for small childern however. I would recomend this to any anime fan, or for anyone who simply enjoys brilliant stories and movie making!

I had heard good and bad things about Gundam Wing before I watched all 49 episodes. I loved it. Sure, it had its flaws, but it was an enjoyable series with an awesome plot and excellent character sub-plots. When I heard about there being a follow-up movie I was excited, but slightly apprehensive considering many series follow-ups have been sub-par. I was going to watch it regardless...

So, what did I think of this movie? To put it simply, I think that this movie did the series justice. We were thrown back into the Gundam world with some familiar faces. The story was great, with the daughter of Treize trying to pick up where her father left off. She was slightly annoying at times, but she didn't get that much face time! There were some other interesting turns in the plot that I will not spoil. Needless to say, it made the movie great to watch and was certainly better than some of the other Gundam movies.

The Gundams themselves look like they got serious upgrades since we last saw them. They looked awesome! DeathScythe looked more....deadly. Gundam Zero looked truly majestic. I could go on, but you really have to see it to understand what I mean. The battle scenes were as I had expected - crazy and full of explosions. The only thing that annoys me is that the Gundams are just so powerful that they make the mobile suits they face look like storm troopers from Star Wars.

So, do I think you should watch this movie? Yes. However, in order to understand the movie I also recommend you watch the series beforehand. It makes you understand more about the characters and why they act in certain ways. Taken together, this was a movie that was a worth follow-up to the series.

This movie really does tie up whats left over from GW and it shows how most of the pilots ended up piloting the gundams. It focuses more on the main characters than the main movie, but that was alright with me. Relena acts less like a Peacecraft but that is because something else is needed at that time. The animation is superb for when it was made, and it should not let down true GW fans..

Endless Waltz, a sequel to the successful TV series Gundam Wing, is a fitting conclusion to the After Colony continuity, and manages to make improvements to the series in just about every way. The fights are more interesting, each Gundam has been given a re-design, and the animation/direction is overall more detailed and interesting.

The plot: One year after the end of the TV series, Earth and its space colonies have come to terms, ending a costly war with peace throughout the solar system. Just as the pilots of the near-invincible Gundams have sent them to be destroyed, one space colony secedes from the new world government and declares war. Lines of loyalty are quickly drawn, and the the five pilots are soon fighting each other to resolve this final conflict. Nearly every character from the TV series appears, leading to some surprise revelations.

If you have not seen the original series, good luck, because this movie will fail as a stand-alone title: as a conclusion to the series, it assumes the audience's knowledge of events and relationships from the entire 50-episode series, which is no easy task. However, as a conclusion to the series, it continues to build upon its stronger points, including the philosophy of battle and the complex array of allegiances that are built.

As I watched the dubbed version, I realized that the voice acting is for the most part quite good, but like the TV series, the English writing suffers now and then. Still, the writing here is an improvement, and the conversations had a better flow. My vote for best exchange in the series: "See for yourself just how powerless you are!" "Roger that".

Unfortunately, the movie lacks a good villain, with the young daughter of the series' primary antagonist rarely seeming that dangerous. It was darn hard to tell exactly what was happening at certain points, and the Gundams naturally follow the rule of being indestructible, "except Sometimes". On a smaller note, the movie's 4:3 aspect ratio proved no less bothersome than it had in the 49 previous episodes, I would have preferred some slightly larger width to go along with the boost in animation quality.

An interested observer (but not a "fan") of Gundam Wing, Endless Waltz proved to be a pleasant surprise, so I will take a leap here and say that if you were indeed a fan of Gundam Wing, this movie might just satisfy your desires. As the end to a series with some worthwhile thoughts about war, the movie's thesis that history is an endless waltz of war, peace, and revolution is a lovely bit of food for thought, the kind of thing I watch anime for in the first place.

To be honest, the ending of the Gundam Wing series was so anti-climactic that it was horrible. It did not fit with what the entire series had going for it throughout its run. The mecha are beautifully brought back again for one final hurrah. The story is engaging, the characters (though textbook heroes) are still well-written, and that's it. The series ends, and what a way to end it. Top notch.