So, what do I like about Gundam Wing? I can say without lying, almost everything. I like the story, the characters, the themes, the designs and the music. I like its humor, its subtlety, the fact that everyone plays a role and that there's no definite bad guy (nor good one for that matter). I like its dynamics and how you can view it any way you want, e.g. the Gundam pilots being heroes or plain murderers. And I like that you can and even must dig to understand things. The whole composition really works for me.
And what's best is that this entire composition makes Gundam Wing more; it makes it unique. I grew up with classics like Dragonball and Sailor Moon, the forefathers of the 'Idiot Hero' archetype for both males and females. Even to this day you see series featuring these types of main characters. Classic scenario of a naive yet pure kid growing up to become the savior of the world. We've all seen that.
It's why Gundam Wing is so special to me. It has a completely atypical setup and there's absolutely
no stereotype I can apply to any character, no matter what TV Tropes may say. Heero is hardly your typical hero, is he? Heck, Heero is hardly a typical anything. What's more, GW doesn't follow the 'growing stronger' plotline that, for example, the original MS Gundam or Seed series used. No, GW starts out with
fully trained soldiers who can kick your butt from episode 1 and will kill you without qualms if the situation requires it. (That's not to say that the characters don't grow, it's the physical growth and capabilities I'm talking about.) What's truly surprising about that is the age of the characters.
This is the second important point I'm trying to make.
GW and realism. Many times I hear that GW is realistic. I'm sorry but no. Teens fighting against armies isn't realistic. Teens leading said armies isn't either. Neither is bending steel bars, nor surviving jumping off cliffs or blowing up your suit, nor successfully backflipping from a motorbike onto a clothesline, nor becoming the Queen of the World as a teen, nor stealing a MS carrier plus suit at the age of
ten, nor walking around with bazookas at the age of ten nor what have you.
It's safe to say that Gundam Wing lacks any sense of realism.
But it does not lack logic.
Realism never was GW's aim to begin with. The way I see it, it's not just the plot or circumstances that prove this but also the "inhumanity" of the characters. Would a real person with a similar background as Heero, Duo or Trowa really exhibit such selflessness or noble-mindedness as them and risk his life for strangers by fighting a war that could end in his death? I don't think so. Would anyone as sheltered as Relena give up her lifestyle, have the guts to go against the world's armed rulers
with just words and put her life on the line for the sake of others? Hard to believe.
And that's it. One of the things that contributes to GW's uniqueness and is therefore a, if not
the, defining trait of the series, is that it doesn't tell the story about angst-riddled terrorists and princesses but
a tale of heroes. The characters are ridiculously noble, strong, selfless, courageous, determined, make the impossible possible and still retain a certain purity, despite having gone through hell and back.
It's what makes them so awesome. It's what makes the series so awesome. Duo isn't badass because he fights in the war. He's badass because he fights "so that no one else will have to" and when you see what he went through, you can only say "wow". Lady Une killed Relena's father and when she is given the opportunity to take revenge, she declines, saying there's been enough bloodshed. That's role model material there. Something that is sorely lacking in a lot of shows nowadays. And something that a lot of idiots seem to miss the point of (I'm referring to those that call the pilots pussies for not killing in EW).
Now, all of this rambling was supposed to lead to my response to Kitsoru's statement that "
maybe more people just need to learn how actual manic depressives and people with PTSD act. :P" in relation to Duo's development in FT. I'm not putting words in Kit's mouth but I've noticed a tendency for people to want to apply realism to GW. And as I said before, GW and realism don't have anything to do with each other. So why should I apply it?
What I expect from anything featuring GW's characters is the same "heroic" behavior that was displayed in the series. Sure, the pilots each had a mental burden to carry but it wasn't what defined them. For example, Trowa's insecurity about not having a name or yearning for a home never became the main focus unlike his endless selflessness. And Heero's bitterness about the colonies' betrayal was well hidden under his joining the Treize faction to be able to keep retaliating against OZ. A noble deed to fight on but was it really necessary for him to go for the missions with the lowest chance of survival?
As I said, GW is unique because it is atypical. That encompasses pretty much everything; you have bloody murderers in the role of the 'heroes', noble, honorable 'bad guys' who value life and the ever flashy Gundams that can't even begin to compare to non-flashy Relena's influence and importance to the plot.
So why on earth should I go along with Duo and Wu Fei bickering like kids, like characters from five million other series do? I want my uniqueness. I'm not saying that it isn't a possible outcome for Duo and Wu Fei to become bitter and bicker and argue and not be able to stand each other when they become adults. But considering those two could get along splendidly, it's a letdown.
Duo and Wu Fei are very much alike; they both lost people important to them twice, they both fight partly out of revenge and their loss has had the biggest impact on shaping them into what they are in the series, unlike the other pilots. Heck, they both wear their respective culture's colors for mourning. Despite that, their personalities (or way of dealing) are exact opposites. It's enough to make for a more interesting relationship dynamic between them than what was done in FT and 90% of every GW fanfic.
Heero's regression is the same. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he frozen because J said something to the extent of "a guy like him would be needed in the future"? I based my assumption on that and on the fact that he wasn't completely pissed off when he woke up, which eliminates the possibility of him having been knocked unconscious and frozen or generally having gone along with it unwillingly. So he agreed. And what would a guy like him be needed for? Killing, apparently.
Now that I think about it, it's quite hilarious. Imagine the guys talking.
Quote:
Quatre: "That's why we need to kill Relena. And Heero is the only one who can do it."
Everyone: "..."
Duo: "...we're screwed."
|
I guess it's partly my wish for Heero and everyone else to live a well-deserved 'happily ever after' which makes me have such a knee jerk reaction to all the drama. That and the fact that there was nowhere near as much drama in GW. Nor sap, nor stereotyping, nor "realism". >_>
That's why I say Sumizawa apparently hasn't watched GW in ages. But whether he has forgotten GW or not is, I believe, beside the point. It doesn't change the fact that he's ignoring major character traits. You said it yourself, Kit. Why would Catherine, who stated that she hates war and did everything she could to keep Trowa from fighting, train his clone to become a soldier? (On that note, I was one of the first to comment on that, along with you. So no, you weren't the only one who noticed.
)
Sure, being the sole writer of FT means he can take as many creative liberties as he wants. But are they agreeable? Is it okay to ignore what was previously? Shouldn't he, if he is writing a
continuation, at the very least try to capture the essence of GW? Because I'm very obviously not the only who thinks FT doesn't feel like GW.
In the end, the novel is called "
Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop", so I expect it to be Gundam Wing first and then FT. That means he ought to expand GW, not alter it. Am I wrong for demanding this?
Some may ask what gives me the right to verbally attack Sumizawa like this. Well, there's freedom of speech for one.
But what's far more important is that I'm doing this because of Episode Zero. It proves that he is (or was) perfectly capable of writing something that adds millions of layers to the characters without contradicting a single thing from the series. If he was able to do that why is he failing so miserably at FT?
Okay, 20 years are a long time and people have a habit of changing. They don't have exactly the same tastes, outlooks or preferences they had 20 years prior. Same with Sumizawa. It's not only that Ikeda and co. are missing, Sumizawa himself isn't the same guy that wrote the script for GW back then anymore. Now, that's okay. I don't have a problem with him putting a personal stamp on the GW universe. What I have a problem with is stomping on it.
If it's good, don't change it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Sumizawa is disrespecting his colleagues or their work. But as the head writer of the show I had expected him to treat the source material with more care and not run it over with retcons and meaningless additions. Best example in my opinion being everything surrounding Odin. The world could've definitely done without him supposedly being Heero's father.
And having huge hands. xD