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Old 2006-04-25, 08:33   Link #87
yamikage
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: nowhere...
Now let me share mine (not really in any particular order except for no. 1):

1. MSG - I agree with 4Tran; it has one of the best depictions of war in Gundam. It's a great anime that was too advanced for its time. Sure it has its share of inconsistencies, but it's expected and forgivable since it is the first anime of the real robot genre. I thouroughly enjoyed this one.

2. Z Gundam - I found that Kamille's development throughout the series drew me to this show. Then I saw the Kamille's fate at the "end". Tragic. I also found myself rooting for Jerid at times and I felt sad when he wasn't able to match Kamille's prowess near the end. It also has Zeta Gundam, which is along with Wing Zero Custom, my favorite mecha design of all time, and Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete, which is the best Gundam song I have ever heard.

3. Turn A Gundam - I found that the mecha designs are actually sieves the fans who watch this show. If you can get past the bizaare mecha, you'll find an awesome series that can actually stand alone without Gundam in its title. Loran is the antithesis to typical Gundam protagonist. Apart from that, he is a likeable and an interesting character. The ending felt sad (to me) though.

4. Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz - I know that I'm gonna get raped. Let me just share a quote from a certain AmuroNT1 from Gamefaqs, which perfectly reflects how I felt with this series:
Quote:
But compared to other series, Wing is pretty refreshing. Only the fanbase ruins it.

If I may reproduce a rant I made on another board...

"There are some fans who don't want to look at depth. This isn't just fangirls. Think about all the "old-skool" Gundam fans who hate on Wing for having what they consider shallow, two-dimensional characters (even though their real hate is because it's different). Even outside those two groups, there are people who do like the series, but can't see past the stereotypes. And so we get people who insist that Heero is emotionless despite the fact that we see him laughing, shivering in fear, and acting very tender during the show's span. We get people who think Wu Fei is a chauvanistic ass, ignoring the fact that he grows out of it (and has a semi-legit reason for being so). We get people who think Duo is permanently goofy and shallow, despite the depth we know he has.

"And this is all very sad, because Wing is, for better or for worse, a Gundam series. Some people (like the bad authors mentioned above) may not like the fact that the series takes place in a world with Mobile Suits and politics, but that's the entire point. Gundam Wing is a modern, more optimistic look at the traditional formula that made Amuro Ray and Char Aznable household names. At its core is the director's message that humanity's flaws can be redeemed by the children, and that the one thing needed to better the world is just communication (pun intended) between all people. You simply cannot divorce the characters from this context without damaging them. Without the AC world, the characters we all love would not be who they are. War is the reason Relena, Duo and Trowa are homeless. Revenge is the reason Heero lost the closest thing he ever had to a father. Pride is the reason Wu Fei struggles so hard to change the world. If you remove these elements by way of removing the Mobile Suits and the conflict, then you are not dealing with the Gundam Wing characters anymore; you're dealing with pale, shallow simulacra who bear only the looks of their namesakes.

"And unfortunately, that's the way some people want it. They don't care for the setting, or the politics, or even some aspects of the character's personalities. All they like are "teh hawt bishies". So they rip the guys' looks out of the world and force them into new worlds and new personalities, just to suit their immature sexual fantasies that would probably make the staff sad or disgusted to see their creations mistreated so. And you know what the sad thing is? People out there consider THAT kind of person to be representative of Gundam Wing fandom as a whole. They ignore the existence of people like ourselves who are able to analyze the characters and the setting and the subtle political maneuvering, and focus solely on the people who make us all look like a joke. That, my friend, is the reason Gundam Wing gets practically no respect in America."
Honorable Mentions:
G Gundam - The first and most bizaare AU series. Master Asia and Schwarz Bruder = AWESOMENESS. Hotbloodedness FTW.

Gundam SEED - Kira pre-Freedom is badass. Mu La Fllaga is an awesome character. I still believe that Neo is a product of a conspiracy by aliens living under the Earth, which actually controls Blue Cosmos.

Gundam X - Supposedly great series, totally ruined by local station dub. What the hell are Newtypes again? And I have never heard Garrod confess how religious he is.
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