The year is After Colony 195 and Operation Meteor, the plan to send 5 powerful weapons to earth to topple the oppressive "OZ" organization", has been launched. Five Gundams, each with their own strengths and flaws, piloted by five very different young pilots arrive on earth but their secret missions are already compromised from the start. What follows is a grand sweeping tale of conspiracies, betrayal, hidden ulterior motives and conflict of ideals set among the backdrop of a world on the brink of war.
Though it shares a number of elements in common with the previous gundam series, it was the execution of those story threads that i loved. For one thing, the Gundams are no longer the "good guys". It can be easily argued that they are the antagonists and OZ are the protagonists, retaliating after the Gundams have struck first. Having 5 different Gundams with 5 different pilots, and making them nearly indestructible just reminded my of American comic books like Justice league or the Avengers. It is no wonder that Gundam Wing was such a hit in the west. The "invincible" Gundams is another refreshing change for the better. It emphasizes the point of view that no matter how powerful a weapon is, it is the weakness of the soldier behind the trigger that causes it to fail; seen in the many instances where the "invincible" gundams are defeated due to the pilot's and not the hardware's fault.
The story also has a fresh style, focusing more on the larger scale political happenings in the war instead of the 5 main characters. Deceit, political backstabbing, secret uprisings, changing values and a lingering air of mystery lends to a highly intriguing plot. Each episode brings its own share of story twists as former allies become enemies and friends turn on each other in this ear of distrust. In the way the series slowly unravels the varying plot threads and mysteries, it manages to hook the viewer into being interested in what comes next.
Another thing i loved about this series was that it was among the more "intelligent" of the Gundam shows. Every single theme you could think about with respect to war, politics, human nature, and purpose are all in there. This series challenges you to think. It feels like the creators whipped out every book they could find about war philosophy and threw in wholesale whatever they had. Its thought provoking nature is sure to be a treat for the more learned and knowledgeable viewers, allowing for a wide range of intellectual discussion.
A pity that so much time and effort is spent planning out the otherwise convoluted storyline and in researching the underlying themes that little thought is given to character development or entertainment value.
The most well developed characters are only Relena and Zechs Merquise, their motives and personality evolving nicely as the series moves along to its conclusion; Relana matures from a shy rich girl just moving through life into an assertive leader figure and Zechs' convictions to attain peace by any means necessary drive him to be a very compelling character. Sadly most of the other characters are already presented in full view with little subsequent development.
I would not go into the minute details of each character's personality but If anything, the characters are less like "characters" and more like "personifications" of ideas, ideals and schools-of-thought. They seem to be just in the story to convey the numerous thought provoking themes inherent in the series through their personality, dialogue and sometimes even monologue. Their "larger than life" personalities and nature coupled with their "over-the-top" way of speaking make it very difficult for any viewer to relate to them.
On the technical side, Gundam Wing is quite inconsistent in its artwork and animation. It suffers from an overuse of repeated stock footage and sometimes the same stock footage(like some re-used scenes of Mobile suits blowing up) can be played more than once within the same episode. Artwork is generally beautiful with the occasional "flat colored" cels(eg: no shadows or clothing folds). What stood out for me was how dark the colors were. They are very subdued and "dull" as opposed to the bright pastel colors that other Gundam series had. So dark in fact that in some scenes in the blackness of space or at night, you can just barely see the mecha's outline. I like this look as it lends a gritty gloomy feel to the show that matches its story.
Gundam Wing is not a series for everyone. Those looking for pure popcorn entertainment would be disappointed by this show, as would those "Gundam purists". Gundam Wing does not seek to merely entertain but to convey a wide range of ideas and thought provoking concepts that would hopefully lead to intellectual discussion.
Though it shares a number of elements in common with the previous gundam series, it was the execution of those story threads that i loved. For one thing, the Gundams are no longer the "good guys". It can be easily argued that they are the antagonists and OZ are the protagonists, retaliating after the Gundams have struck first. Having 5 different Gundams with 5 different pilots, and making them nearly indestructible just reminded my of American comic books like Justice league or the Avengers. It is no wonder that Gundam Wing was such a hit in the west. The "invincible" Gundams is another refreshing change for the better. It emphasizes the point of view that no matter how powerful a weapon is, it is the weakness of the soldier behind the trigger that causes it to fail; seen in the many instances where the "invincible" gundams are defeated due to the pilot's and not the hardware's fault.
The story also has a fresh style, focusing more on the larger scale political happenings in the war instead of the 5 main characters. Deceit, political backstabbing, secret uprisings, changing values and a lingering air of mystery lends to a highly intriguing plot. Each episode brings its own share of story twists as former allies become enemies and friends turn on each other in this ear of distrust. In the way the series slowly unravels the varying plot threads and mysteries, it manages to hook the viewer into being interested in what comes next.
Another thing i loved about this series was that it was among the more "intelligent" of the Gundam shows. Every single theme you could think about with respect to war, politics, human nature, and purpose are all in there. This series challenges you to think. It feels like the creators whipped out every book they could find about war philosophy and threw in wholesale whatever they had. Its thought provoking nature is sure to be a treat for the more learned and knowledgeable viewers, allowing for a wide range of intellectual discussion.
A pity that so much time and effort is spent planning out the otherwise convoluted storyline and in researching the underlying themes that little thought is given to character development or entertainment value.
The most well developed characters are only Relena and Zechs Merquise, their motives and personality evolving nicely as the series moves along to its conclusion; Relana matures from a shy rich girl just moving through life into an assertive leader figure and Zechs' convictions to attain peace by any means necessary drive him to be a very compelling character. Sadly most of the other characters are already presented in full view with little subsequent development.
I would not go into the minute details of each character's personality but If anything, the characters are less like "characters" and more like "personifications" of ideas, ideals and schools-of-thought. They seem to be just in the story to convey the numerous thought provoking themes inherent in the series through their personality, dialogue and sometimes even monologue. Their "larger than life" personalities and nature coupled with their "over-the-top" way of speaking make it very difficult for any viewer to relate to them.
On the technical side, Gundam Wing is quite inconsistent in its artwork and animation. It suffers from an overuse of repeated stock footage and sometimes the same stock footage(like some re-used scenes of Mobile suits blowing up) can be played more than once within the same episode. Artwork is generally beautiful with the occasional "flat colored" cels(eg: no shadows or clothing folds). What stood out for me was how dark the colors were. They are very subdued and "dull" as opposed to the bright pastel colors that other Gundam series had. So dark in fact that in some scenes in the blackness of space or at night, you can just barely see the mecha's outline. I like this look as it lends a gritty gloomy feel to the show that matches its story.
Gundam Wing is not a series for everyone. Those looking for pure popcorn entertainment would be disappointed by this show, as would those "Gundam purists". Gundam Wing does not seek to merely entertain but to convey a wide range of ideas and thought provoking concepts that would hopefully lead to intellectual discussion.