Anime Rec Week: Day 3
Oct. 1st, 2008 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ingvildAnd now we come to my probably biggest anime obsession. The series I have spent a lot of time writing fic for, discussing, and tried (and failed) to pimp to my sister and friend. (I have managed to pimp other series, and it's a disappointment that they don't share my love for this one.)
Gundam Wing
The Gundam franchise is huge, and counts a lot of series and six or seven different universes. Wing takes place in the After Colony timeline, stands independently of other series, and is the only one I've watched in full (although I'm working on that). It's also got the craziest fandom ever, which people should stay away from if they value their mental health - I entered through the fandom, and I'm still regularly horrified.
In the year AC 175, the pacifist leader of the space colonies, Heero Yuy, was assassinated, and the colonies entered under oppressive Earth Federation rule. Twenty years later, in AC 195, five mobile suits called Gundams are sent to Earth to defeat OZ, which is the military front of the organization responsible for Yuy's death. One of the pilots of these suits has taken the name of the assassinated leader as his own. He makes two important acquaintances his first day: the OZ pilot ace Zechs Marquise, who becomes his arch enemy, and the young daughter of a politician, Relena Darlian.
The story follows the five Gundam pilots, people from the OZ side of things, and Relena as she develops into a political powerhouse of her own. Like all the Gundam series, it takes up themes of war and pacifism.
Gundam Wing has its issues. For one thing, the five pilots are all 15 years old, and are as much terrorists as freedom fighters. The side-changing and political ebb and flow can be extremely confusing - I'm glad I watched it as an adult, I think that made it easier for me to keep track of things. It gets preachy at times, there are loose ends and the dialogue can be vague or stilted (and the English dub really doesn't help matters. I really liked what I've seen of it in Japanese a lot better). With respect to female characters, I often get the feeling that the director's intentions were good it's just that sometimes that's not enough.
And yet, I love this show. It's got fascinating world building, multifaceted characters (no, really) and people changing from meeting other people. The character development is sometimes blatant and sometimes subtleand the fandom ignores it either way.
Most of all, though, the show is hopeful. For someone who stopped watching another Gundam series after nine episodes because it was too depressing, that matters a lot.
Gundam Wing
The Gundam franchise is huge, and counts a lot of series and six or seven different universes. Wing takes place in the After Colony timeline, stands independently of other series, and is the only one I've watched in full (although I'm working on that). It's also got the craziest fandom ever, which people should stay away from if they value their mental health - I entered through the fandom, and I'm still regularly horrified.
In the year AC 175, the pacifist leader of the space colonies, Heero Yuy, was assassinated, and the colonies entered under oppressive Earth Federation rule. Twenty years later, in AC 195, five mobile suits called Gundams are sent to Earth to defeat OZ, which is the military front of the organization responsible for Yuy's death. One of the pilots of these suits has taken the name of the assassinated leader as his own. He makes two important acquaintances his first day: the OZ pilot ace Zechs Marquise, who becomes his arch enemy, and the young daughter of a politician, Relena Darlian.
The story follows the five Gundam pilots, people from the OZ side of things, and Relena as she develops into a political powerhouse of her own. Like all the Gundam series, it takes up themes of war and pacifism.
Gundam Wing has its issues. For one thing, the five pilots are all 15 years old, and are as much terrorists as freedom fighters. The side-changing and political ebb and flow can be extremely confusing - I'm glad I watched it as an adult, I think that made it easier for me to keep track of things. It gets preachy at times, there are loose ends and the dialogue can be vague or stilted (and the English dub really doesn't help matters. I really liked what I've seen of it in Japanese a lot better). With respect to female characters, I often get the feeling that the director's intentions were good it's just that sometimes that's not enough.
And yet, I love this show. It's got fascinating world building, multifaceted characters (no, really) and people changing from meeting other people. The character development is sometimes blatant and sometimes subtle
Most of all, though, the show is hopeful. For someone who stopped watching another Gundam series after nine episodes because it was too depressing, that matters a lot.
