Story & Characters
Come UC Vets! Attack me! My hand is burning red and its telling me to defeat you!
LOL
Once again, I'm back. Reppin' the 
crew.
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Jak is back with his favorite thing to review: 90's anime. This time 'round we got Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Kidou
Butouden G Gundam). This title is the first one off the UC continuity that wasn't
SD/humourous/chibified and established the precedent for later (I repeat, LATER)
successful later series' like Wing and SEED. So let's get started...
Actual Story Rating: 3.8943221
RACIST Rating: 5
To give those who haven't watched an idea, the story focuses on Domon Kasshu,
representative of Neo-Japan in the Gundam Fight. The Gundam Fight is a tournament
held every four years to determine who gets total control of the universe (this thing bothers me as it was not mentioned
as to how it can actually be accomplished). Gundams of competing nation's slug it out and attain rights to enter the
Gundam Fight finals and determine who's the one who gets control. Domon holds a deeper desire on why he participates in
these battles... Along the way, he finds friends and foes alike while he fights his way towards the finals... and
discovers more about his brother's disappearance and the Devil Gundam...
Analysis:
Storywise, this isn't something new and isn't something great. The overall development of the story is very predictable
and quite repetitive at most and with no actual plot twist that prove significant nor interesting, we are left with what
is actually good about this title: the fighting. As childish as it sounds, the only thing good about this title is the
amount of fighting it has. And the fight scenes are quite good, which I'll explain later in the Arts section.
Going on to Character... well... they're shallow and transparent. The
protagonists a jerk... plain and simple. The supporting casts are dull and uninviting which makes me wonder why there
are so much original characters in this title. Noteworthy though is the amount of diversity and the well-balanced
presentation of chemistry amongst the cast. I suppose in the Future Century all people will be speaking only Japanese or
English... depends on which DVD version they buy. But seriously, the characters go well together.
After squeezing out every bit of love I have for this title, I can oanly still manage to expose the painful truth about
it... its GENERIC! It gets a 4 for Story.
Rating: 4
Art
Actual Art Rating: 4.6
RACIST Rating: 1,000
Ahhh... what can I say... Mech's turn guys on. And Gundams are the epitome of mecha.
In general, the focus here shall be on Character Design, Mech Design and Detail. Overall, G Gundam wasn't
something that stood out graphically. Of course, Sunrise is involved here so we can expect the norm for them.
So going into much detail we look into Character Design. This part of the title
is somewhat misunderstood. Yes, the characters are shallow in terms of development and presentation but they are very
well-designed in terms of looks. Since this is a title that involves numerous cultures and races, we expect some sort of
diversity in the way the characters look... and boy does G Gundam shows it. I have never seen character design so racist in my life. I kid you not. The vast array of characters in this show is so mixed
up and stereotypical its horrifying you should see it to believe it. I get the feeling those Japs (I state that in a
friendly manner) are very proud of themselves back when this was airing. But that thing with the tights was a stroke of
genius... excellent work. Allenby and Rain were eyecandy worth chewing.
Then we arrive at Mech Design which is another thing that involves stereotypes.
The main Gundams are very well made and, to a point, beautifully detailed. To some extent, accurate depictions of the
nation concerned are well presented in their Gundam... which also adds RACIST Points. But in all seriousness, the
Gundams are well designed. Aesthetically, they are a thing of beauty... technically, they defy physics. I could go on
all day on how great the Gundams are because you're lookin' at a figure collector but I bet you wouldn't believe me
since I for one don't like the fact on how biased, stereotypical and plain stupid some of the mechs are.
Now we come to what everyone likes in this title, the fights. We got generic animation helpin' here that was like the
trend back then and of course this is Gundam... like duh... Don't expect DBZ-like action here, what this show boasts is
very good mech battles. No matter how sucky the mech design is, no matter how sucky the moves look... nothing compares
to seeing mech's go at it. This is something that every man should know. You can diss all you want but you're lying to
yourself if you say you don't like metal-to-metal combat. Its a part of the male genome information... so if you're male and plan on commenting that you don't like
mech-fighting, then do not proceed any further... you will be forever branded either as inhuman or
gay.
I forgot to mention that this show has excellent OP and ED video sequences. Which gives an additional .4 cool
points.
So lookin' at it as a whole, this title's art packaging is well-made but certain quirks in the more technical aspects
leave so much to be desired and pulls this title's art down.
Rating: 5
Sound
Actual Sound Rating: 5.2
RACIST Rating: 1
Next up, we got the Sound Department.
This review factor of G Gundam wouldn't take that much because only a couple of things will be covered: a) the OP and ED
themes and b) those weird sounds the characters make.
First off, we got the OP and ED themes. The soundtrack is actually pretty decent... well the OP themes that is. We're
presented with Flying to the Sky and Trust You Forever both by Ushima Hitofumi as
OP themes... which are both excellent songs in their own rights. Heck, these are the only songs I know that an actual
hermit liked. Which is saying something because if you can pull someone that has chosen solitary confinement just by
music alone then that soundtrack has something of value that's certainly a major asset to the one that utilizes it.
Anyways, I'm just sayin' their great songs and worth listening to. It actually fits the show's theme excellently. Then
we got the ED themes that I don't give a crap because they're not that great. I don't even remember their titles. All I
remember was the cool ED video. I'm actually lookin' at their titles right now at Wikipedia, but for some reason... my
vision blurs when I look at it. How uninteresting can something get...
To finish this agonizing experience, we proceed to Voice Acting. How do I say
this... hmmm... ahh f*ck it, the VA is subpar. I'm forcing myself to overlook the fact that they all speak Japanese
(English version is also available) yet they all differ in nationality yet, my conscience eats at me and I won't be able
to sleep if I do so... but I can live with that. Back to business, the VA lacks feelings and emotion. There's a
considerably narrow gap between sounding cool and sounding stupid and Domon has a habit of bridging that gap with
ease... so as the other characters.
Depending on which localization you've seen this title on, you could've enjoyed it or drowned in it. I've personally
seen the Japanese, English and Tagalog versions and I'm gonna be bias and say that the Tagalog version is best for me
since most of the stupid racial slurs and annoying repetitive lines of Domon are removed. The same goes for the English
version, but goin' verbatim with some of the terms used is kinda dumb.
So to close things in this section, I'll just say that Sound is average. Because
with all that pent up hunger for mechs, viewers tend to overlook this factor and let's all be real... not all of us
listen to the same thing. Especially when we're reading subs while watching.
G Gundam gets an average 5 for Sound.
Rating: 5
Presentation
Actual Presentation Rating: 7
RACIST Rating: Does not compute... Immersion ruined
Finally we come to this... the Presentation Factor. Where do I start?
Let start off with the main premise of the show. This is as straightforward as you can get. In your face action is what
you get from this one and it'll serve it plenty.
You can forget everything I said when you look at the enjoyment value of G Gundam. Certainly, the target audience here
are children and mech-lovers and if you're part of those masses then you are certainly gonna get one massive dose of
your medicine with this title. If you're like me, that has watched the show once as a kid then loved it then seen it
again as an adult and got completely disappointed then be lenient and at least take into consideration some things
before you go brand this title as crap.
In the eyes of a child, all those technicalities and detail and sh*t aforementioned are completely worthless but to keep
it real, since this review targets people of a certain knowledgeable degree in anime then it is completely insignificant
to cut the show slack and review it with a handicap.
As incoherent as I'm startin' to sound right now, I am just giving a reality check to those people that sometimes forget
that enjoyment comes in different forms. One of 'em is checkin' out some shows that may not actually conform to their
lifestyle or age but still provide them engrossing entertainment no matter how unlikely the said person would view a
certain title (e.g. shoujoboy + shikaider).
So back to the task at hand, we then check out Humour which is, in fairness, a
strong point of this show. There are plenty of situations that would put a smile on a viewer's face on this title. They
are well executed and sometimes come in the most inconspicuous of times which add to that humour value. Especially that
Jap and Chink jabs from one of the characters.
Oh, and the ever so important ECCHI factor comes in. Yes, there are some... gotta love
those tights on Rain and Allenby.
So for Presentation, I give G Gundam a good 7 for pure enjoyment.
SO there you have it. G Gundam reviewed. This is recommended for those that are lookin' for mech-action....
strictly.
LOL @ Haters
Rating: 7
Final Verdict
5.33 (moderate)
Reviewed by jakulito, Jan 24, 2008