Gundam Wing

It saddened me to see the number of people panning this excellent series on this site. Gundam wing, for me, was possibly one of the best anime's I have ever see, and YES I have seen the original series.

GW's charm lies not in it's battles, but in the evolution of it's characters. sure, fanboy-puritans could aruge that they are merely vacuous pretty-boys, but I put this down to annoyance that this excellent series managed to be more popular than it's predecessors.

The characters of GW all start out with certain mannersn and opinions, yet as they move through the show, their personalities develop. Heero, for example, starts off as a cold, cruel and calculating individual, trained from birth to be the "Perfect soldier". throughout the series, he rediscovers the humanity that had been so brutally drummed out of him, through his relationship with possibly one of the most unjustly hated female characters in the anime world.

Yes, I like Relena. she's a strong character, stays true to her morals, and suffers dilemmas and hardships that any other teenager of her age does. the relationship between this pair develops gradually.

and the Battle-Philosophy! there is so much moral dilemma in this series you could use it as a test for a debating group. the definition of enemy changes repeatedly throughout the series as loyalties change and situations vary.

the battle scenes are fun, the dialogue is excellent, the dubbing is pretty good...

all in all, the only thing I could find about to complain on was the fact that the voices for the dub sound far older than the actual characters do, Zechs in particular.

If you want a fun series that will make you think if you want it to, and show the moral dilemmas that could easilly be related to today, watch Gundam Wing. you might be pleasantly surprised.

I remember watching Gundam Wing on television years ago, but only recently did I watch it with my full attention. I watched all episodes including Endless Waltz, and came to the conclusion it is a worthwhile watch. It takes a few episodes for the story to really pick up, but once it gets going it follows true to the Gundam franchise and leads towards an epic conclusion. I do have some minor complaints that do not diminish my opinion much, such as the occasional repetition of certain scenes, but do not let this throw you off. Gundam Wing is actually the reason as to how I initiated into my love of Gundams, and I am quite glad that it did so. The characters are likable in their own ways, and it is clear that they represent certain ideals, but the Gundam designs is really where it is at. If you enjoy watching mobile suits fight with unique designs, a plot which does not seem all too far-fetched, then this is a good watch for you. I cannot review full marks, but a still good 9/10

I have just recently purchased collection one of this awesome series and even after just watching three episodes, I still am mesmerized by sleek styling of the animation and the slow, yet thoughtful actions of the story-telling. I am still a fan.....with some minor pains.

Though this installment into the Gundam saga is very cool and has what the previous series had-a stylish satiric way of telling about the wrongs of war and not letting go of the need to have control or power over everything(sound familiar?), I have to say that this one gets a bit too mellow-dramatic on continuing to explain the lives of the main characters and their incessant need to belly-ache about every thing that happens and what they need to do to stop the OZ group from succeeding in their plans(especially the character called Wufei...I mean he whines more than an American character on a soap opera. Get a counselor,will ya?)

Besides for the over-exaggerated drama(I think that mostly comes from the dubbing of the English voice actors), this series is still very exciting and will still captivate me once again. I mean it can always be worse. It could be like the recent installment, SEED......eeeewwww, talk about mellow-dramatic....I'll chat about that one later.

I remember seeing the occasional episode of Gundam Wing on Toonami as a kid, but I never truly watched this program. I was given all the episodes on DVD a few years back and finally got round to watching this at the grand old age of 25. Long story short, I am so glad I did! This show was excellent. The story was deep, and I mean DEEEEEP. Each character had its own back story that we slowly learn about as the series progresses. It made us understand more about the main protagonists of the show, along with the enemies. I really felt as thought I knew each of the main characters by the end and it made us feel for them as they had to carry out their respective missions.

The battles were incredible as well. Truly action-packed. The only thing that grated on me was that the Gundams were technically indestructible, being made of "Gundanium alloy". It is sort of reminiscent of Avatar and "unobtainium". That combined with the fact that the other mobile suits (aside from the main ones) were about as useful as star troopers in Star Wars meant that the battles were always one-sided and predictable. Still, lots of explosions made up for this!

All in all, I would highly recommend this show. I am going to start watching the other Gundam series and see if they are as good (if not, better). I have heard good things and I look forward to them!

While I understand that the point of a review is to inform, I am honestly disappointed in the ones posted by my peers. Most of the reviews are either blindly positive or blindly negative. I hope that this review proves to be informative and unbiased, so that it attracts the attention of interested parties.

The plot of Gundam Wing is standard fare for the epic Gundam saga: in the near future, orbiting space colonies are unfairly repressed by a greedy terrestrial government. On the anniversary of a great colonial leader's death, five young rebels go to Earth to wage guerilla warfare on the Earth Alliance. Their weapons: Gundams, giant humanoid battle machines of immense power. As the five boys fight for independence, the Alliance is overthrown by OZ, a secret society run by a powerful military-industrial complex that has been pulling the strings all along. Soon after, the Gundam pilots, their civilian allies, and like-minded members of OZ join forces to take down the warring factions and bring real peace.

With the characters, we have a group of young people who are highly misunderstood by the anime community. Heero Yuy, pilot of Wing Gundam, is a teenage soldier who's been trained to keep his emotions in check to the point where almost seems inhuman. On the civilian side is Relena Darlian, an introverted girl whose lonely upper-class childhood has left her seeking real friendship. The connection that begins with their chance encounter on a beach eventually leads to great emotional growth in them both, as Heero learns to live with his humanity - and his mistakes - and Relena becomes a more assertive, well-rounded person. Completing this classic triangle is ace pilot Zechs Marquise, Relena's long-lost brother, who entered the military so he could exact revenge for the slaying of their parents and the destruction of their homeland. Aiding Heero in his battles are the other four Gundam pilots: the cheerful Duo Maxwell, the somber Trowa Barton, the caring Quatre Winner, and the brash Zhang Wu Fei. On the side of OZ, we have the anachronistically noble Treize Khushrenada, his multi-faceted aide Lady Une, Zechs' old friend Lucrezia Noin, and Dorothy Catalonia, Relena's war-loving rival. Rounding out the main cast are the civilians: rebel soldier Sally Po, the Maganac Corps (a group of soldiers allied to Quatre, junk dealer Howard, and the "mad" scientists who built the Gundams.

The story is carried out pretty well. Most older Gundam series have the problem that they focus on the main character so much that it almost seems like the world revolves around him. With Wing, time is spent with a large number of varying characters, giving us a better picture of the After Colony world. The characters are well-written and exhibit a lot of growth, keeping with the central theme of communication between people. The mechanical designs are skillfully handled by three Gundam veterans: Kunio Okawara, Hajime Katoki, and Junya Ishigaki. The soundtrack features slick pop tunes by Two-Mix and a large number of well-orchestrated background tracks that underscore the action perfectly.

Admittedly, there are some pacing problems (such as two consecutive clip shows), but it all evens out in the end. A lot of people like to trash certain characters (Relena in particular), but as I've seen, most of this springs from their forming an opinion of the characters within their first five minutes on screen and never changing it. Some people complain that the Gundams are too powerful, ignoring the fact that they HAVE to be strong to fight entire armies by themselves. Also, while some say that Wing is "a complete rip-off of the original series", it's actually more original than Gundam Seed, a more recent addition to the family. And there is a bit much in the way of stock footage, but that can be expected with almost any anime.

There's another stumbling block, though: a disproportionate amount of people insist that the entire male cast is homosexual. Despite what the fangirls may say, this is not official. The actual series, and its sequels, show Heero and Relena as very close, with subtle hints at a deeper relationship than the princess and her knight in shining armor.

So, what's the final verdict? Personally, I love this series, so obviously I'm going to recommend it. But I will say this: if you decide to watch Gundam Wing based on my comments, ignore everything you read or hear about it. Watch the series with an open mind and no preconceptions. Don't listen to anyone else, because in the end, the opinion that matters the most is your own.