Gundam W - The Start of the Toonami's Downfall

Episode 1 --- Episode 2 --- Episode 3 --- Episode 4

This is another Fan Sub I picked up at Chicago's Visions Science Fiction Convention, so my reviews may get a little confusing. If I'm correct, Gundam was the first giant mecha series created which in turn, inspired all the others, so I was sure that this was going to be good.

Of course being a huge Macross fan may prevent me from saying it's the best, but the show's story makes this great and unique from every other mecha show. My basic impression of Gundam W is that it is Macross without the comic bits or the songs. If that doesn't make it its own series I don't know what does. The animation, artwork, and soundtrack are also great which makes this a title every anime fan should check out.

And it seemed like everyone did. Soon, Cartoon Network's Toonami block was filled with every possible spin off Gundam had to offer. It was just too much for me. Each series had different characters (unlike Tenchi Muyo!), so it was the Gundam that I loved. I lost track of Rurouni Kenshin and it seemed that everytime I turned Toonami on I'd just be screaming "that's nothing compared to Zero". Soon, Toonami was just a fond memory of my adolescents.

The Meteor the Girl Saw

The World Federation, after successfully gaining control of most space colonies, is trying to prevent rebels from succeeding with Operation M. Lt. Zechs has run into one of the enemies trying to bring a weapon to Earth. Little does he know that he is dealing with a Mobile Suit made of a very strong Gundamium alloy. With several other attacks occuring on Earth, has the Federation met their match?

There isn't much done for drama until the end when the pilot, Heero, is planning to kill the girl who found him, Relena, for knowing who he is. This doesn't really hurt the episode since the action sequences are very well done. Really the only noticible problem or something one will soon realize as they watch a few more episodes is that the characters are very one dimensional. It seems that it will be difficult to make these characters dynamic.
The Gundam Called Death

Heero, a new student, is the topic of many questions at his new school, especialy by Relena. I guess we'd all be curious if of someone who threatened our lives. On the military front, the Federation and Zechs are searching for the downed Gundam, but so is another Gundam. The situation becomes more heated when the pilot of the downed suit seems to be willing to stop the enemies from finding his suit.

We get to know the character of Relena better, who seems to be who the series will use to pull all the events in the together. The introduction of Duo is cool, but otherwise there isn't anything to scream and shout about when compared to the first episode. Fortunately, the action is kept up to par and the more intense scenario between the two pilots and Relena are played out well which allows the show to remain worthwhile.

Five Gundams Confirmed

Heero has been under the survalence of the Naval Hospital, and he wants to escape. This hope does seem to become a possible reality when somebody he ran into before his accident is ready to break him out whether he like the guy or not. In the meantime Zechs has predicted that the next Gundam attack will be at a military ceremony at Corsica, but even if the Federation knows where the attack is going to be, are they ready to face all possibilities that could occur during the attack?

This is a pretty fast paced and well organized episode, and the action keeps one glued to the screen. Afterwards one should realize that there is nothing to the episode character wise except for the alliance between two of the pilots being formed. Maybe the show is trying to gain the HK Cinema crowd. I shouldn't be so hard on the episode for this because the action makes this episode possibly the most fun to watch.
The Nightmare at Victoria

The WF's enemy has gone and taken a cheap shot by destroying the Space Academy's cadet dorm which has really pissed of the base commander and instructor Noyn. As for Heero, he's driving Duo nuts with his antisocial behavior, but Duo will soon be relieved of the nuscanse since he has just been assigned a new mission.

This is probably the best episode thus far. It's indeed the best written episode especially dialogue and character building wise. We are made to sympathise with the "real" enemy, and that is something hardly done well in any form of media. Fey also gets under our skin as a great anti-hero, but more importantly, Noyn and Zechs prove to be great characters, and we finally have a character which adds a lot of depth in Zechs.