I have a feeling a number of readers of this blog from North America will recall the years of yore when the anime invasion hit our shores. Those were the days when Cartoon Network began broadcasting its Toonami block on weekday afternoons, hosted by Moltar of Space Ghost fame, consisting of, among other classic shows, Thundercats, Voltron, and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. Over the next three years young American minds got their first taste of anime, and boy did we eat it up. Though some of it never really struck my fancy (Ronin Warriors? Seriously?) I ate up the early mecha anime on Toonami. Perhaps the biggest impression was made by Gundam Wing. And recently, as I go back through (rather extensive) list of anime that one internet hivemind deemed worth watching, Gundam Wing’s name came up in my hard drive. It was time for a walk down memory lane, to see how those heroes, villains, and giant robots stood up to the test of time and nostalgia.

In retrospect, perhaps the fact that Gundam Wing didn’t make an appearance on this aforementioned list should have alerted me to what I was about to experience. It’s certainly to say that I haven’t found the show bad on my reviewing of the first eight or so episodes, but more that things seemed different from what I remember. Gundam Wing has its strengths and it has its weaknesses, and they’re different viewing it now in 2007 than seven years ago–apparently a lot can change about your tastes and tolerances in seven years.

Either something was gained in the translation or I misremember the protagonists from my younger years. Gundam Wing has a cast of protagonists that are, arguably, pretty crappy. Heero Yuy is dark, brooding, and almost wholly unlikable as a male lead. Relena, his female counterpart, is clingy, bizarrely codependent, seems to have a death wish, and follows Heero to a level that would probably get her strapped with a restraining order in any real-world situation. She’s almost entirely unattractive–I was unsurprised that she glares even throughout the entire credit sequence at the end, though admittedly the whole ending sequence really has nothing to do with the show at all. The rest of the Gundam pilots are slightly better. Duo is generally likable mostly because of the stark contrast to Heero, Trowa is affable only when he’s talking or having knives thrown at him, Wu Fei is just as bad as Heero (though perhaps better in the long run as he’s quieter) and Quatre is perhaps the only genuinely likable one, though now I understand so much more about those people writing yaoi fanfiction, viewing this series in retrospect.

The cast’s strength lies in its villains, or at least those who start out fighting for OZ. Trieze is a playboy mastermind, with Lady Une being his cold and somewhat stock executor. Noin is a character the viewer can be sympathetic to because it’s a really jerk move when Wu Fei kills all of her mobile suit pilots at a go and she watches one die in her arms. Noin is darkly written, transitioning rapidly from someone with a dream of space into Zech’s right hand woman. And, of course, there’s Zechs himself, whose unmasking is nearly as stirring as the day I saw it first aired here in the states and whose tragic past and troubled present, and chemistry with other characters, makes him the one character whose screen time is most enjoyable. The plot, however, plods along at times, and when I would like to see more of Zechs dealing with both his own conflict and the Gundam pilots constantly threatening OZ’s superiority.

But what about the robots? Well, to be certain, not much has changed for me since then. I still hold a fond spot for Shenlong and Heavyarms (there’s nothing quite like the dragon-arm weapon or seeing a complete alpha-strike with all the missiles at once) and have no real opinion on the Wing Gundam. I still really wonder where exactly Quatre’s entourage came from without anyone noticing its creation, and wonder how exactly these guys reload and refuel when they’re constantly blowing up the fuel and ammo you’d think they’d need. Tallgeese is a joy when it finally comes into action, in part because I finally got a real sense of speed when Zechs throws the velocity lever all the way forward, and in part because the suit has no alliance and poses a real threat to its operator, a bit of excitement that also foreshadows the eventual introduction of Wing Zero.

There have been a number of moments of smaller amusement in perusing the series. Perhaps the best gem comes in episode three, where a monitor in the medical facility where Heero is being held displays instructions for using a TWAIN protocol device in Photoshop.

I stand by what I said before about Gundam Wing, in that I don’t find it bad, but just recall the strengths of the series differently from when I watched it years ago when it first aired. I suppose to a younger fan Heero seems like a badass and you’re compelled never to cheer for the villains no matter how cool they may be, and perhaps this is why the new Star Wars trilogy ever came to be. But seriously, it’s worth a casual watch to take a trip down memory lane, but perhaps it would be best to start up in medias res, since you’re not missing out on too much near the beginning other than some introductions and a worldwide coup d’etat.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 12:16 pm and is filed under Anime, Reviews.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.