Gundam Wing (analysis and overall)

So now we come to the end of it I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts so far. In this critical analysis segment I will focus on some interpretations of the meaning of elements as well as the themes of the show. In the overall I will just give my final impressions.

Critical Analysis:

I'd like to start by looking into a few of the themes of the show. Some of these I've already touched on, but I'll go into more depth here.

War and Peace

The most overt theme is this one. After all this is a story of a great war as people seek peace. We have the various ends of the spectrum represented in different characters. Some fall close to the belief of total pacifism others believe in the old adage, "in order to attain peace you must prepare for war." Some fight for peace overall, others for peace for their people. Almost every character is forced to discover what they feel about the goal of peace is it possible? is pacifism the key or must force be used? This theme runs to the heart of every moment of battle, or politics.

The Role of a Soldier

Many of the Soldiers lead other lives. Treize leads Oz, Milliardo eventually leads the White Fangs rebellion, Quatre operates his father business. But every soldier is faced to determine what part they are to play? Are they merely supposed to be empty shells to carry out missions as they are ordered to like Heero? Or are they to make decisions that their leaders can't (like Noin does in creating the Sanc Kingdom's defense forces)?

Moreover they don't just call into question the liberty of the soldier to decide for himself, but the need for soldiers at all. The overwhelming view of the Romefeller Foundation is that the age of soldiers is at an end with the Mobile Dolls to replace them, but what is war without soldiers? Treize states that is is no more than a game. He abandons OZ for a time in rejection of the mobile doll policy. He and other characters (Zechs/Milliardo and the entire group of Gundam pilots) believe that to remove the soldier is to remove any weight to the cost of waging war. The life of a soldier is of utmost importance in the fighting of wars, and the weight of its loss is the only thing that brings a value to peace. Treize finds this so critical in his own life that he knows the name of every person who has died for the sake of his ideal of peace.

What is Death?

For Trowa it is something to be outrun. For Duo it is something to meet head on and enter into in a glorious fashion. For Treize it is at its best sacrifice for a greater cause. But for each character the question of death is seen. For Wufei it is the barrier between himself and his wife. For Quatre is the sad end to which so many go needlessly. Even the wood stump, Heero, is given a perspective on this, which is that death is a necessary risk in order to achieve a goal. I enjoyed the probing look into each characters ideals of what death is or should be.

These themes help to inform some of the symbols used in the program. As I've said I think that there is a metaphor for the cold war being found in the arms race between the different factions. I think the Gundam represents the greatest potential for destruction (like the atomic bomb is for us). The Sanc Kingdom represents the inability of pacifism and neutrality to last in times of great conflict. I also think that the young age of the pilots, could actually represent the youth of the soldiers we send off to fight for ideals they, have grown to believe. The Colonies are analogous to any number of groups who broke away from their motherlands (america from England, latin countries from spain and portugal) and really encapsulate the ideal of breaking away from the old to pursue the new.

Overall:

I absolutely love Gundam Wing, even more than I did as a young boy running around pretending to be Trowa in the Heavy Arms Gundam. I didn't fully understand the intricacies of the plot and know that I have a better understanding I love it all the more. The characters are well conceived for the most part, and the plot flows naturally in a setting that it believable unto itself.

This show was a game changer in the ever changing genre of anime. It promoted detail in animation (which most were moving away from in pursuit of simpler animation that you find in most of it's contemporaries). It was also one of the earliest heralds of the age of anime in America and that it an anime could contain an real plot on par with other modes of story telling. It truly gave a sense of legitimacy to a genre plagued with criticism for it's over simplified story lines, simple appearance and cheap animation, found on that list would be Pokemon, and even fellow toonami favorites Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z.

Thank you for reading and I'll be doing a review for the movie, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, shortly.

-matt