n the year AC (After Colony) 195, a significant portion of humanity
lives in Lagrange colonies surrounding Earth. The United Earth Sphere
Alliance, a puppet government for the secret society "OZ," rules over these
colonies with tyrannical force and superior weaponry. But the balance of
power shifts when a group of rebel scientists covertly constructs five
super-weapons and trains five young terrorists to pilot them. The Gundams--battle-suits made of the advanced metal Gundanium--are quietly dropped
to Earth's surface to fight a guerrilla war on the colonists' behalf.
Four of the Gundam units arrive safely on Earth and set about violently
undermining the Alliance's power. But the fifth, piloted by a boy
code-named Heero Yuy after a martyred colonist leader, is intercepted by OZ
ace pilot Zechs Merquise. Heero's Gundam is damaged and crash-lands on
Earth, where Heero encounters a spoiled diplomat's daughter, Relena Darlian.
Relena, the richest girl in her upper-crust school, is saddled with a
legion of doting admirers; Heero's blunt threats to kill her are apparently
unprecedented enough to pique her interest. Even his outright attempts at
murder don't seem to sink in as she dreamily follows him, interfering in
his attempts to recover his damaged Gundam. While his fellow rebels are
establishing bases, cover identities and weapon depots, Heero is trying to
deal with one nosy schoolgirl who's so blind to his intentions that, after
one of his attempts to murder her, she actually defends him from her
rescuer.
Despite Heero's troubled love life, the Gundams rapidly prove
threatening enough that the Alliance offers to negotiate peace with the
colonists. OZ is pushed into revealing itself and facing both the Alliance
and the colonists openly. The Gundam pilots find themselves up against
unprecedented new weapons, while Relena faces a revelation about her role
in the political upheaval. The conflict inevitably blossoms into far more
than a ground-based guerrilla war. Surprising alliances are made and broken
as the TV series grows from its rather silly start into a full-scale epic
in the traditional Gundam spirit.
...and villains on Valium
Anime apologists frequently point out that insipid shows like Sailor
Moon and Pokémon may not exhibit the highest standards of
Japanese animation, but they at least draw attention to the genre, making
it possible for more sophisticated material to get its foot in
the door. Gundam Wing is a feather in the hat for the apologists,
but it's a pretty small feather. It's a complex and relatively
sophisticated series, more or less in the tradition of Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino
(though he neither wrote nor directed this particular branch of his
sprawling space saga). But it's still clearly a kid's show, particularly in
this soft-edged translation. It's better than much of the anime gracing American airwaves today, but it still leans heavily on implausible
coincidences, improbable decisions, insufficient characterization and big
messy mecha fights to balance everything out.
The dubbed edition--courtesy of Bandai Entertainment, which will start
releasing the series on DVD and VHS in May--is disquietingly languid; the
actors seem to be muttering secretively into their microphones. Most of
the characters sound hushed and overly manneristic, and even Zechs at his
most villainous is apparently speaking through gritted teeth just after
swallowing a large handful of Valium.
The animation is about average for a Japanese TV series--not on a par
with later Gundam series, but a cut above the original Mobile
Suit Gundam. The
plot may disturb some fans familiar with the original series: Gundam
Wing takes place in an alternate but parallel universe, and some of the
plot twists are similar enough that just identifying the character
correlations may spoil those characters' surprises. Of course, it may also
help. Identifying Heero as Mobile Suit Gundam's cranky,
self-important Amaro Ray makes it easy to ignore him and pay attention to
the more interesting characters. And there are interesting
characters and interesting situations to be found--Heero's four opposite
numbers are far more compelling than he is, and their story, like so much
in the Gundam universe, does prove worth following. And yes, it's
better than Pokémon. But the Cartoon Network could still be setting
its sights higher than this.
