Gundam Wing
Director
Masashi Ikeda
Production
Sunrise, TV Asahi
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
49 episodes
Year
1995
Gundam Wing
By Stephen Lerch
30th May 04 American DVD Name: Gundam Wing
Japanese Name: Mobile Suit Gundam W Initial Thoughts: Well animated series from Gundam creators Sunrise. This series is quite a but different from the other Gundam series. It's the first, and only (as far as I can tell) Gundam to jump from the UC (Universal Century) to the AC (After Colony) timeline. This is less about a battle and more about the lives of 5 young boys who are chosen to save first the Colonies and then the Earth from several different enemies. One Sentence Description: Bishounen mecha action. Anime Type: Mecha/Giant Robot with some bishounen elements Video Quality (animation itself and DVD transfer): High quality transfer all around. There is some cross coloration, mainly when there are really tight lines, like in hair and such. The animation itself is of the highest caliber for a TV series. There is some, but not a lot, of animation recycling, but being as this is a 49 episode TV series, it is expected. It's also at an acceptable level. Audio: Good Bandai dub. Subtitling is done well and the Japanese voice acting is top quality. Encoded in Dolby Digital Stereo for both the English and Japanese track. I really enjoy the Two-Mix tracks used both as openings and during the series itself. Synopsis: Where to start? This is a very long and complicated series and as such, is hard to describe in the detail required to fully understand the show.
Five teenage boys are sent from the space Colonies in Mobile Suits made from Gundanium (hence their name, Gundams). They are all sent from individual Colonies, with their own sets of missions and without knowing, at first, that other Gundams have been created and sent to the Earth. We find out that each Gundam was created by a scientist from five Colonies and their pilots hand picked and hand trained for their intelligence and fighting prowess. The reason the Gundams are sent to the Earth? To protect the Alliance from the machinations of OZ. The Alliance wishes for peace with the Colonies, and OZ wishes to control the Earth, and through Earth, the Colonies. In an odd twist of fate, it is actually the Gundams that help install OZ as a world controlling body. OZ is controlled and owned by the Romafeller Foundation, which basically maitains control through OZ. The five boys sent to Earth are: Heero Yuui, Duo Maxwell, Quatre Raberba Winner, Chang WuFei (they call him WuFei) and Trowa Barton. Each boy is supplied mission orders from the scientist that created their Gundam, until OZ inherits the Earth. Other supporting/major characters: Relena Darlian, Treize Khushrenada, Lady Une, Lucrezia Noin, Zechs Merquise, Sally Po, Catherine Bloom, Howard, Dorothy Catalonia and Milliardo Peacecraft. There are so many plot twists and charter changes, that this brief synopsis only skims the surface of this epic tale of battle and life. Final Thought: If you watched this on the Cartoon Network and enjoyed it, you should definitely check this series out on DVD. Uncensored and complete. Even if you watched the less censored version that aired at midnight, it's still worth a watch through. Complicated but good. If you aren't a fan of action and story, focusing on the lives of 5 young boys (actually it mostly focuses on Heero Yuui), then you won't want to watch this. Unlike previous Gundam efforts, this focuses less on the battles than it does on characters. Technical Specs: Released By: Bandai
Length: 125 minutes per disc, Disc 10=100 minutes
Eps. Per Disc: 5, Disc 10=4
Extras: Character Bios, Creditless Openings and Closings, Mecha Bios, Coupons For Free Gundam Toys (limited time offer only)
-- Stephen Lerch 30th May 04
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