What makes Gundam Wing so popular?

[Torreyjs 64]

now im not bashing the wing

its my fav anime

i remember at 5:30 i think everyday recording it on my vcr with tapes

i was maybe 12 i cant remember

and i then remember recording all the unedited eps of GW on midnight run(i miss that with Lupin and such)

but anyways ive noticed that Gundam wing is revered by i think every fan of anime anywhere

and why is that?

i know its good (to this today i still use Treize as screen names and such he was the man, i even named my big grey kitty Treize, which my parents still hate)

Trieze was the best ever and i remember gettin sad when he died. Tallgeese 2 was best mech ever

but yeah why is it so uber omni popular

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Don't say every anime fan reveres it cause I certainly don't, both as a self-respecting anime fan and as a Gundam Otaku (I'm crazy about everything Gundams except G Gundam, Gundam Wing, the atrocity known as SEED, and the even worse atrocity SEED Destiny).

The big popularity with it is the pretty boy pilots, the uber powerful Gundams, and the lack of political intrigue (ok others will say it has lots of political intrigue, I found it rather lack luster. Total pacifism is a dream, it'll never happen and the premise of this bogged down an otherwise ok plot). Also, one of the few reasons why Wing has a huge following is because the majority of Wing fans are girls because, as stated by the creator, Wing was the first Gundam series made to appeal to the opposite sex (meaning females here, Gundam is and originally was targeted at the male audience until Wing was made. Since then it's been shifted to appeal to both audiences (as seen with the ever so craptacular SEED and SEED Destiny).

Also I have a feeling that this belongs in the Gundam subboard but it'll get moved eventually.

[BlitzZ 1,078]

I totally agree with Strider-most of the popularity cam from the bishie like guys and the mechs. Although I did find the mechs designs sleek and original, having them take out like 5000 suits equivelent to GMs or Zaku 1s is crazy, even a Neue Ziel or Dendobrium (did I spell that right?) can't do that. On the political subject, I found that it was a little interesting, and in my mind Gundam Wing is the worst Gundam series, but certainly not one of the worse animes. It give it a 5/6 out of 10

[Dubird 6,815]

You're forgetting one key element: Cartoon Network. GW is the first gundam series aired on Cartoon Network. Up until then, anime was mostly a subculture over here. You had your choice of crappy-dub Sailor Moon (the original is actually pretty good), Ronin Warriors (which is still one of my favorites), or Pokemon. Well, Fox did play Escaflowne, but they didn't do a good job of the dub and it didn't go over well. I don't consider Power Rangers in this catagory. >< Then CN comes along, gets ahold of GW, and pimp the living hell out of it. They put it on right after school, so a lot of kids can rush home and watch. And an instant fangirl-base was born.

Personal, I love GW. The story is a lot deeper than people realize, but then, I've also read all the manga for it. That does help. (yes, Strider, pacifisim is a dream, but Relena is increadibly naieve). And yeah, you have to watch the whole thing. I didn't get it all when I first watched it. Most of what I got the first time I saw it was pretty characters and explosions. A lot of the political stuff went over my head. I've watched it several times since then, read essays and manga and discussed it a lot, and I enjoy it more now than I did. I'm not saying it's for everyone, and I'm not saying it's the best anime around, but there's a lot more to the series than it looks when you first see it.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Thats one of the reasons the series rubbed me the wrong way, Relena's naieve ideas. Others were the uber powerful mechs and what not.

Frankly GW ranks higher then G Gundam and both SEEDs on my list of what Gundam shows are good and what not (probably because it was the first Gundam series I had ever seen). As you said Dubie it's not for everyone and sadly being the huge Gundam fan I am I find myself having to discuss the topic of Wing more then I'd like.

Dubie is right though, CN had a big role to play in it's popularity in the US. I was just going by a general aspect of it around the world (the reason it was a big hit in Japan was the Bishie pilots and the multitude of Gundams int he show).

[gokuDX7 2,871]

ahh I was to slow, Dubird posted before me lol. Ya I agree CN was the major push that made GW so popular. I like Gundam X and Gundam 0083 way more then wing but thats just me. The mecha in wing where way to powerfull and made it seem like nothing could beat them.

[Dogmatix 735]

Don't say every anime fan reveres it cause I certainly don't

Hmm... yeah. I remember a few other people on the some board way back when (don't remember which one anymore) saying they didn't like it either. Usually, the people that liked the universal century ones/earlier series.

And yeah, Relena ticked a lot of people off...

Anyway, I've gotta agree with what's already been said here. The two biggest reasons were definitely the bishies and cartoon network's exposure of the series. Dubie pretty much hit it on the nail. The show didn't have any competition at the time. And... *remembers the arguments about the g-boys on GF* The group of characters was also diverse enough, that most people could pick a favourite.

[D_Marx 604]

ahh, CN. Actually I was turned on by the artwork and CN made the dubs popular. I like the blood and gore, none of this "Destroy me!" crap.

[Eli 474]

I still heart GW. For all the reason above. Heh.

[Torreyjs 64]

theres nothing wrong with it to me

i like GW a lot

[Dubird 6,815]

OK, again I find I have to post this: the GW gundams were not so over-powered as everyone seems to think. It's just that a majority of the Leos and other MS they had to fight were crap. Serious crap. Put Heero and ZERO against Gerod and GX, and you'd have a damn good fight on your hands. Every single gundam in GW got destroyed at least once, except for Heavyarms and that's only because it was hidden for a large part of the show. Besides, how can you have a hit show when the main characters are constantly being beat by the bad guys?

*ahem*

*gets off soap box*

And yes, Relena is annoying in the anime. She's a lot more bearable in the manga. I hated her until I saw EW. Then I read the manga. She's not my favorite character by any means, but she's not as bad as the anime made her out to be.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Overpowerfull to the show Dubie, at least thats what I mean. For example it would be like putting superman vs a clay human size doll. Its no fun seeing fights like that over and over again. I sence a gundam battle comming! lol j/k

As for Relena, she just wanted some s*x thats all . Can't hurt the girl for wishing.....or can you .

*end of crappy joke*

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Besides, how can you have a hit show when the main characters are constantly being beat by the bad guys?

Oh I don't know. Take quite a few of the UC series where, until the pilot learns how to use the suit to it's full extent, get the crap beat out of them. I don't now about you but too me that what makes the UC timeline great. Adds more of a realistic spin to it instead of having suits that can easily take a suit out without even trying. Then again thats just me.

Oh yes and remember two of those GW suits got destroyed because of the pilot self-destructing them, not due to fighting (Heero self-destructing Wing and Quatre self-destructing Sandrock, can't say I remember Deathscythe and Shenlong being destroyed). Just thought I'd point that out. Not trying to start anything, just wanted to point that little point out. Wing didn't get mostly destroyed in a fight until it took the direct hit from Libra when Une was piloting it.

[Dubird 6,815]

Quatre only destroyed Sandrock because he was out of power, out of ammo, and wanted to provide a diversion so Duo could get into space. Shenlong was destroyed by Wufei later on in space (when it was in the same condition). Deathscythe was destroyed in space as well. Trowa blew it up. Duo had been captured because he couldn't fight with it anymore as it was out of power of basicly everything on it was broken. Yes, Heero self-destructed, and he's the only one to do so when his Gundam was still in good working order. Tallgeese was also run until it broke by Zechs. These guys are really hard on Gundams.

Another thing you gotta remember, the timeline for this story is about one year. The Gundam pilots didn't just start piloting at the beginning or shortly before. They've had years of seriously intense training on how to fight with a MS. Yeah, they kick the crap out of the Leos (which isn't really that hard) with their Gundams, but they do just as well with any other MS they use. They're all exceptional pilots, and you give an exceptional pilot and exceptional weapon to pilot, of course they're going be good.

I'm not debating about other Gundam series. The only other one that I saw all of was Gundam X (which I did enjoy). I tried watching the original, but I just couldn't get into it. *shrugs* I can't compaire other series, so I can't say if I believe you're right or wrong about the MS in those. This is just what I got out of GW.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Ah thanks for the info on Shenlong and Deathscythe. Been years since I saw it so I couldn't remember when they were destroyed and why (I have a bad memory).

True, give an awesome pilot an awesome suit and they'll be a powerhouse (as seen with Char and a few other pilots in the UC series as well as AC series). It's just that the GW Gundams are actually more powerful then you believe them to be as compared to other timeline series (UC series and GX). Only real reason I know this is not by having seen those series but because I actually read and understand the technical specs that are out on the net for them (MAHQ is my bible for mech tech specs). I'm somewhat of a nerd for specs. I could care less what a suit looks like, I want to know what it's truly capable of and that can only be seen thru the technical specs. This is why the GW Gundams are considered so powerful. They're capable of things that nothing could realistically be capable of even a 25 meter humanoid weapon.

UC Gundam isn't for everyone thats why I can see you not getting into it. Sadly this is what I don't like about the new generation of Gundam fans. They only watch it for the flashy Gundams, pretty boy/girl pilots, and fanservice (as seen in SEED/SEED Destiny). None of them are in it for the story or awesome character development that was seen in the original Gundam and subsequent UC series (Tomino is the man, all I have to say about that).

Meh, I'm done now. Enough Gundam spouting out of me. Need to turn this back on track to GW and why it's so popular.

[Dubird 6,815]

I don't watch shows that are just eye candy (although, it doesn't hurt *wink*). And I do like explosions (which is one reason I watch Mythbusters *L*). I don't care if it doesn't have explosions or great mecha as long as I like the characters and feel like they're real people. GW has that, which is why I like it. If I can't get into the characters early on in a series, I just don't care what happens to them. That was my problem with the original show. I just couldn't get into the characters at all. I dunno, maybe I should go back and try again. *shrugs*

And GW really is an eye candy series. I'm not denying that at all! But there's a lot more to it than that, and it always bugs me when people just dismiss it because of the eye candy. (That's not directed at you, Strider, just in general. ) I think a lot of people, espically younger people, gravitate towards the eye candy and don't really pay attention to what else goes on. There's probally lots of reasons for that, but I think that's one of the main reasons why GW is so popular here in the US. (see, I got back on topic! )

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Dubie I'm not trying to start a Gundam fight but if you havent seen the other shows then how do you know that their not as indepth if not more then GW? You don't so what your saying is kind of one sided. I'm sure everyone here thats seen Wing understands that there is depth to the story but there are other series that have far more depth and action going on.

End of ranting, Happy to see you like Gundam X

[Dubird 6,815]

I'm not saying they're not more or less in-depth. What I'm saying is that there's more to GW than what looks like on the suface. I'm not trying to compaire GW to anything because I know I haven't seen it. I'm just trying to clear up some misconceptions about it.

[Torreyjs 64]

Gw rules end of discussion

doesnt matter how or when or anything its good people like it rawr

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Gw rules end of discussion

doesnt matter how or when or anything its good people like it rawr

Now if only that could end the discussion. I know a fair share of GW fans who'd like to end a discussion like this.

Frankly it's good to state why you like it or don't. It draws out conversation which are what boards are for.

As I said before this is why I hate this generation and the new generation of Gundam fans. They don't state reasons as to why and they don't want too. (Just for your info I break Gundam fans into three groups: Old School, GW Gen, and New Gen. The majority of AC falls into GW Gen with a few of us having moved to Old School and a few of the n00bs being from the Next Gen (aka SEED Gen)). You guys just want to end the discussion without having to provide backing info because you're afraid to make yourself look bad when someone comes in and destroys your argument.

Dubie it's always good to have a Gundam discussion with ya. Great info and I commend you for trying to destroy the misconceptions that people have a GW (I know you destroyed a fair share of the ones I had, though those were few in number). I just wish more GW fans were like you, I might actually get more intelligent Gundam conversations out of people. Also w00t for Mythbusters, best show on TV to date.

Anyways I'm done in here now. Don't want this to go down the wrong path plus we need this to stay on topic (more then a fair share of Gundam discussions have been derailed in here). Continue on with why GW is so popular (beyond the reasons already stated).

[Dubird 6,815]

*bows to Strider* I know you and I don't agree on a lot, but at least we respect each other, which is good. Makes conversations fun. *EG* And I must admit, you've made me curious about UC Gundam. If I could find it again, I may give it another shot. Then at least I can compare. *G*

It's not just the current generation of Gundam fans that think like that, though. A lot of younger people make up their minds basied on the eye candy and what other people think and don't really take the time to go out and figure it out themselves. But then, we did that at one point in our lives. *shrugs* *feels really old now* >< And I think a lot of Gundam discussions have been derailed by us. ; Ah well, at least we're trying to keep good discussion alive!

And yes, Mythbusters ftw, but that should be another topic.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Wow. So many good points were made in this topic about Gundam Wing's popularity and Gundam in general. ^__^

Aside from the previous comments concerning GW's popularity, for me, I was addicted to GW because of the devastating battles and policital plotline. And the timeslot worked perfect for me, I never missed an episode. I still remember the commercials and looking forward to the start of the show. I remember it being defining for me because until then I never saw an anime with so much killing in it. I think websites helped in the show's popularity as well. Around the time GW was hitting the air, AOL was having a crazy explosion of new signups and I remember "Gundam Wing" being in the top 50 lycos search for over 6+ months.

In a comparision to CN's affect on a Gundam anime's popularity.. I noticed that CN dropped their promotions and popularity run for Gundam Seed by removing it from it's initial saturday night lineup, stopped commercials and then moved it to Fridays at 1 am. That right there helped drive the nail in the coffin for that show in the US. But when Gundam Wing came out years before, they commercialized the afternoon airing, then throughout the night they would air commercials for the uncut version at midnight. Often they'd get double ratings because the people who watched the afternoon show would watch it again uncut, five nights a week. Those were the days tho.. CN would actually air a series through the week, often with 5 new episodes every week. I think their current plan of 1 episode a week late night on a weekend just doesn't spawn the fanboys and fangirls like the old format did.

[Torreyjs 64]

You guys just want to end the discussion without having to provide backing info because you're afraid to make yourself look bad when someone comes in and destroys your argument.

oh getoff your high horse

i just enjoyed watching it mostly because the politics weer so well done i liked it

the fights were cool and all that since they could go through like anything and live, not ot mention i was always hoping to see treize in every episode and i remember being almost anxious everyday if i'd be able to see him

but im not obligated to explain myself to anyone especially if i dont want to, just becuase they watched more Gundam?

in case youve forgotten i didnt know why it was so popular which is why i asked

oh yeah btw what was the name of the gundam series with a Ball gundam thing it was blue with 2 lil arms and a ball and this guy has the hots for the rebel chick etc etc

i liked that a lot but i forgot its name i know it showed with bigo and outlaw star(2 other top notch animes)

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I'm not on a high horse, sorry. When you start a discussion you should be more then willing to discuss it. Not end it by just saying a half assed answer like "Wing Rules and thats that". You just backing out. I'm not asking you to explain yourself since I've seen more Gundam or because I research Gundam as a hobby, I'm asking you to explain yourself more in hopes of getting a discussion thats interesting and worth my time to post in (like Dubie, goku, and everyone else in here have done).

Sorry if I seem to be on a high horse or an ass but when it comes to Gundam discussion (whether it's about one I like or not) I expect a certain level of understanding of the show and a willingness from the person that posted the topic to discuss it and be able to support their info. As I said I'm a Gundam Otaku, I want discussion. Not just one liners with no backing info.

As for the one you're talking about you'll need to be more specific. The only Gundam shows to ever be shown on Cartoon Network were:

Gundam Wing

Mobile Suit Gundam (though it never finished airing)

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 8th MS Team

G Gundam

SD Gundam (or whatever the hell it was called)

Gundam SEED

As far as I know it could be any of these. SEED is the most recently shown Gundam. I can't say much on this. What time frame can you give us for the answer? Like was it shown real recently (it'd be SEED then) or a few years back (then it could be any of the others but Wing and MSG).

[Dubird 6,815]

Backing information?

Lets see here, shall we?

Watched the entire series: 5 times.

...In Japanese: one time

Watched Endless Waltz: 2 times.

...In Japanese: 3 times.

Read the manga: at least 4 times.

Read the offical dounjinshi: more times that I remember.

Owned and operated a full Gundam Wing fansite: 7 years in October.

Had this discussion with Strider: what 3 or 4 times now? *and we're always coming up with something new to throw at each other *

I have plenty of backing to be discussing this anime. I don't know everything about it, no one but the creators do, but I've seen this from many angles and defeded it many times. It's not like the UC series, anyone agrees with that. No, I'm not qualified to compare it to any other Gundam series (except maybe GX). That's not what I'm trying to do. I'm always happy to clear up misconceptions or defend certian characters in this show, and belive me, I can pull backing out if you really want it. I'm not just getting this opinion from some unsavory part of my anatomy. I've actually sat down and seriously disccused this with people in r/l as well as online, so I have my own opinions formed from my own little twisted brain. You may not feel 'obligated' to give your reasons to someone that's watched as much Gundam as Strider has, but how about me? I'm curious. Why is Treize your favorite character? Can you give me good, solid reasons? Was it his outfit, his voice, his attitude, what? If you want a good conversation about anything, you need details!