Review of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing- DVD Operation 1

Introduction

In 1979, the original Mobile Suit Gundam series hit Japanese culture and neither giant robots nor epic war sagas were the same since. Now, after a generation, the Gundam franchise is one of the institutions of Japanese animation. Most fans around the world still profess their primary affection for the Universal Century set of series, OVAs, and manga that still constitute the core of the Gundam franchise. However, the alternate (or parallel, if you prefer)world Gundam series have their fans as well.

The best of these to date--barring the ultimate success of Turn A Gundam in Japan--is the 1995 series that came to American cable TV earlier this year. That series is Gundam Wing, and the secret to its success is the fusion of the now-traditional Gundam war story (giant robots, space operas, believable science fiction, and brutal warfare) with elements of one of the other institutions- the sentai show.

The Key Difference

Gundam Wing's protagonists are a (de facto) sentai team of five Gundam pilots. Each pilot is a well-trained young man from one of the space colonies. They're all about 15 years old, and they are the elite members of their respective resistance movements. Each pilot has a custom-made mobile suit made of Gundanium alloy; this is why they're called "Gundams" in Gundam Wing. Their initial mission is to take their Gundams to Earth and destroy the war machine of the United Earth Sphere Alliance, which is responsible for the miserable oppresion of the colonies after the assassination of Total Pacifism activist and colonial diplomat Heero Yuy a generation ago.

This is a Gundam series, so nothing is that simple. The Alliance is not some hackneyed Evil Empire, and neither are the space colonies a bulwark of idealistic revolution. The Gundam pilots are a diverse bunch who spend much of the series getting to know and understand each other as well as themselves. Their enemies are no less complex, no less human, and quite understandable.

What On the Disk

For your money--if you can, get it online; my copy through Amazon cost me less than $20--you get five 25 minute episodes in their entirety. This includes the opening and closing credits as well as the preview of the next episode. The original Japanese language track is there, along with the English version; the latter is as heard on Cartoon Network. There are English subtitles for the song lyrics as well as the Japanese language track, but for some reason the lyric subtitles are in Japanese for episodes 2-4. There are trailers for four other titles in the Extras section ( Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Cowboy Bebop, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, and Blue Sumbarine #6) along with short files on Relina Darlian, the pilot code-named Heero Yuy, and Heero's suit- Wing Gundam.

The Gaming Value

For those who want to use this as a setting, your going to find yourself with some work to do. As it is, the best bet is to replay the series- either directly or as a sidestory. For a system, you're best off with the Silhouette engine; buy the Jovian Chronicles book, and the Companion, and that will take care of all your needs. (You can do it with Mekton Zeta so long as you use Zeta Plus, but that's still more work due to the inelegance of the system.) Making the conversions will be difficult due to the lack of hard data on the suits in the series, but it can be done.

As a model for a campaign, it has greater value. You will have to decide whether to emphasize the sentai team aspect, or the Gundam aspect. The former is better for the fantasy side, and the latter for contemporary or science fiction, but your mileage will vary. (A Harnmaster game, for example, would be better served by taking your inspiration from the Gundam side; a Star Wars game is better off with the sentai side.)

Conclusion

You get the first five episodes in an excellant 49 episode series that features well-designed characters, themes that all adults can understand, a plot that anyone can believe, and a logical conclusion. You also get one excellant example of how to mesh two dissimilar styles of fiction into a coherent and believable whole that's equal to or better than its parts, and you get a model for a campaign that is well worth appropriating for your own use. For less than $30 (US), that's about as much value as you get out of a DP9 rulebook. Get a copy.