Gundam Wing first aired nearly 10 years ago and still stands as one of the greatest series in a franchise of over 20 different TV series, movies, and OVAs. At first glance it seems to be nothing more then the typical giant robot anime complete with catchy theme song and young cast of heroes out to save the Earth, or rather, the Earth Sphere. However, the more you get into the series the more involved you'll find yourself with the intriguing storyline, complex characters, and exciting action. While somewhat tough to jump right into, Gundam Wing is a series that rewards any viewer willing to give it the effort required to fully appreciate it.

The storyline that travels through Gundam Wing is a rich one indeed, though some may find it's pacing is difficult to get a hold of at first. The story starts off very quickly with everything being thrown at the audience right away and more happens within the first 15 episodes than in 50 episodes of some other animes. A complex plot is woven within the first act that sets up the rest of the series perfectly, and once it all sinks in, the rest of it becomes a joy to watch. Plot twists pop up through the series, but no matter how ridiculous (such as amnesia, finding long lost siblings, and split personalities) they may seem, they still feel very natural and hardly contrived at all. The greatest mark of the series is that despite it's complications is it manages to grip the audience on a philosophical level as well as an emotional one by finding the perfect combination of a great story with interesting ideals. Just like any great series or movie, it can even change the way you think about something, namely war, soldiers, and the true path to peace. Any series that can change a person's very mindset on such broad topics must surely be a special one indeed.

Perhaps the oddest thing about Gundam Wing is it's characters who dance on the thin line between realistic portraits of intelligent people and complete psychos. Each character has their own type of intensity, from Heero's relentless commitment to his mission to Quatre's fierce pacifism. Every single character, with perhaps the exception of Trieze, goes through several changes throughout the series which is what makes them so interesting. Rarely does anyone act without their own motivation, rather than acting in a certain manner to suit the storyline's needs. They truly shape their own destinies with their actions. Each character has his or her own qualities that make them so endearing such as Duo's carefree playfulness or Wu Fei's passion for justice. While you may not find yourself liking every single one of them, hating a character is still better then not feeling anything for them at all, and I can't think of a single major character in the series for whom I have no feelings for.

Gundam Wing has all the necessary ingredients for great action; great music, decent animation, and really kick ass mobile suits. The music in Gundam Wing, in particular the two amazing opening theme songs by Two Mix (Just Communication and Rhythm Emotion), is wonderful. Each song captures the mood of the scene perfectly and while it borders on bland occasionally it's still very enjoyable to listen to in the show or on it's own. The mobile suits in this series are among some of the coolest ever designed. Each one reflects the pilot's personality, heritage, and fighting style nicely and the newer models introduced half way through the series just get even better. The only weak point of the presentation in the series has always been it's rather lacklustre animation. While it does the job it set out to do it feels dry and a little unpolished. This is due to a tight production schedule of the series that kept it from attaining the best quality possible at the time, but even so the somewhat lame art and reusing of animation cells (for the Gundam battles in particular) can become quite tiresome.

Overall the series stands as one of the greatest in the franchise and a favourite anime of many. It's few flaws are far and few in-between and what it does do well is so much more, it's as though the flaws aren't even there. I can't recommend this series enough but I do so with one warning, you're going to have to give it a little time and a little effort if you want to fully enjoy it. Don't get discouraged if not everything makes sense right away, if you watch it through to the end you'll find yourself having a blast and wondering how it ended so soon. But hey, you can always watch it again.



~Reviewed By JGonspy