Mobile Fighter G Gundam Review
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Synopsis
In the year F.C. (Future Century) 60, various countries from Earth have developed space colonies, on which their elite from each country dwell. To avoid all out war between the colonies, a tournament called The Gundam Fight is held every four years to determine the next temporary ruler of the Earth Sphere for that four years. This year marks the beginning of the 13th Gundam Fight tournament. However, this tournament is different from its predecessors. A nanotechnological monster called the Devil Gundam is running loose. Enter Domon Kasshu, Neo-Japan’s Gundam Fighter, who is participating in this Gundam Fight to find the whereabouts of the Devil Gundam, his missing brother, and to clear his family name.
Review
For those of you who are not aware, G Gundam was the first AU (Alternate Universe) Gundam series, which had absolutely nothing to do with any of the UC (Universal Century) Gundam series. Mobile Fighter G Gundam also strays away from the tradition that we have known in the UC Gundam universe. Meaning that unlike the previous Gundam series, G Gundam has the look and feel of a Super Robot anime, much like old school Super Robot anime like Mazinger Z. You’ll notice that unlike the Gundams from the UC era, which were basically the same in general appearance, along with a similar color scheme, the Gundams in G Gundam are of much greater variety in terms of design and color. Each Gundam seems to reflect the characteristic of its own Gundam Fighter that pilots it, and its country of origin. A good, but silly example would be Neo
The Gundam Fighters themselves are also rather distinctive and stylized. Most of them come from an immense range of backgrounds and circumstances, and are reasonably complex when considering G Gundam’s not-so-thick plot, which is a constant succession of battles. One of the most characteristic things about each fighter though is their reason for fighting in the Gundam Fight tournament. Just about every Fighter has their own and unique reason for fighting it, as we find out through the progression of the series. As for the animation, I personally didn’t find it to be bad, considering it’s a Gundam series that came out in 1994. However I do admit there are times when the animation looks good and then just seems to be below average other times.
Musically, well… All I can really say is, that I thought it was average. While there was a good amount of background music from the series I enjoyed, there was also a lot of background music that felt rather bland in my opinion. I would have expected more powerful pieces of music with as much good battles that take place in this series. Vocal wise, while I did not care for either of the ending themes, I however did love both the opening themes and their respective opening animations. Flying in the Sky, the first opening theme, and Trust You Forever, the second opening theme, were both great songs in my opinion with great opening animation that fitted the songs almost perfectly.
As for the dub vs. sub debate, while I do admit to have not really watching any of this series dubbed, I think I already have my reasons for why I would not recommend watching the dub on this one. Unfortunately, Bandai was forced to change the names of several things in Mobile Fighter G Gundam’s dub. Some of them being changing some of the original Gundams names, such as the God Gundam and Devil Gundam, to the Burning Gundam and Dark Gundam. For more complete information regarding this, I’d recommend checking out the following link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Fighter_G_Gundam#Name_changes
As for the original Japanese version, I thought the voices fitted the characters and their personalities perfectly. Tomokazu Seki voicing Domon Kasshu, who is also known for his other great roles, especially as Yzak Joule in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny, just sounded spectacular in my opinion as Domon. When he makes his speeches before he uses his attacks like the Shining Finger and God Finger, he puts so much power into his voice in my opinion. You’d have to hear it for yourself to know what I mean. Another voice role I was quite fond of was Houchu Ohtsuka as Chibodee Crocket. Many Zeta Gundam fans will know him for his role as the voice of everyone’s favorite Titan pilot, Yazan Gable. I thought he really brought Chibodee’s character to life and I loved how he would occasionally say lines in English, even though he would primarily speak in Japanese. Anyway, like I said before, this is one series where I feel watching the original version would be recommended over the English dub. Not only because I loved the original Japanese voice acting, but also of course of the name changes that are apparent in the English dub.
Obviously this series isn’t going to please everyone. Many have painted this show as being horrible for various reasons. One of the main reasons is being that it is more of a Super Robot anime and doesn’t have the same feel to it that its UC Gundam predecessors have. To say that G Gundam is horrible for a reason like that, I find that unjustified. While it’s true that G Gundam is very different from any other Gundam before its time, I think it remains strong from the beginning and to the very end. My final thought being that the plot was unique, not to mention the characters, which had always left me wanting more. I really liked the ending as well and I thought it was the perfect way to end the series. For fans of action that find themselves partially interested in the mecha genre, this would definitely be a title worth checking out. Next to Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny, this would definitely be one of my favorite Alternate Universe Gundam series and one of my most favorite Gundam series overall. Not just for it’s uniqueness, but because I loved the plot, characters, and action.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam Rating: )))).gif)