The Eve Wars have begun.
Treize and the World Nation forces clash with Zechs and his army of
White Fang Mobile Dolls. Heero, Duo,
Trowa, Quatre and Wufei find themselves right in the middle of the action, each
with their own mission and scores to settle.
As Wufei has his final battle with Treize, Duo, Quatre and Trowa hurry
to stop Dorthy Catalonia and the Mobile Doll Control System. As Libra descends on Earth, Heero battles
Zechs one last time, with the fate of Relena and the planet at stake. How far will Heero go to protect the people
he cares about the most and how far will Zechs go to satisfy his own ends? The final chapter is here.
So it’s finally come down to this. Even as I start to type this out, I’m trying
to figure out how to word my final thoughts, not just on this finale, but on
the series as a whole. Were the final
episodes good? From an action
standpoint, yeah it was good. From a
plot and character standpoint, even the excuse that Endless Waltz does follow,
it doesn’t excuse that somethings were not brought to the best conclusion
involving most of the cast. I expect I’m
going to get a lot of judgement out of this part more than any before it, so
let’s not waste anymore time and just get to it.
We finally got the promised all out war that Treize and
Zechs both wanted, the war to end all wars so that peace could finally be attained. Whoever came up with the idea that total
destruction is the ultimate path to total pacifism should be slapped,
especially since it ended up being Zechs’ motivation for these last few
episodes. In retrospect, it seemed like
making Zechs the leader of White Fang was just an excuse to get him to fight
Heero one more time. Could this have
been done a bit differently, perhaps, but I’ll get into my thoughts about how I
would have done things differently with this finale as I continue along. My gripes with Zechs’ motivations aside, his
final battle with Heero was as intense as it should have been for one last
duel. Thankfully, the animation was
given a last bit of “umph” and really, the rest of the show should have looked
this good from the get go.
As the final battle raged, it was time to wrap up
everyones stories as best as the show could with four episodes left. Dorothy finally revealed that she wanted this
war to happen because she wanted humanity so afraid of war that there woudnt be
another. Her and Quatre’s back and forth
was interesting and I can see why these two are “shipped”. Quatre’s honest heart is something Dorothy
could have used a long time ago and a relationship developing throughout the
show would have benefited both. As for
Treize, it really is hard to believe he was once the big bad of Gundam
Wing. Now he’s leading the charge, in
person, to start the road to total pacifism, one he intended to give his life
for. I will say this, Treize has been
one of the most complex but well written characters in all of Gundam Wing,
probably the best overall (besides maybe Heero). I have no qualms about him dying in the
end…but I kind of wish maybe he didn’t.
Wufei even admits he never expected to win and I think Wufei would have
actually been ok if he had fallen to Treize giving it his all. Think about it, losing Wufei would definitely
have upped the ante, since Quatre getting stabbed was the only point I ever got
to be worried about any of the pilots getting out alive. Plus, it would have forced Treize to work
with Relena to see the new world bloom as a result. Still, Treize went out as he wished, few can
say they ever do so on their terms. He
was a man who saw the world he helped create and sought redemption for it. Hats off to you Treize Kushrenada, you
magnificent bastard.
With so much going on in space, it was ballsy to have the
writers throw in everything they could, even if it meant some head
scratching. Killing off Doctor J and his
buddies, that’s fine but suddenly having Quinze reveal he was also part of
Operation Meteor and this whole White Fang operation was basically Plan B…WHY
DIDN’T WE LEAD WITH THAT? The return of
the original operation to defeat the Earth powers that be in a darker and
deadlier form would have been a much better plot device to drive the show to
the end, rather than suddenly there’s a colony rebellion we never saw creep up
til it was too late. Operation Meteor
never had a proper conclusion, rather it was halted after it began. Seeing one of the original masterminds step
up to finish what he started would have been a great endgame and make the White
Fang more threatening to begin with.
Also, we got the return of Lady Une…who much like a certain “speedster”
developed super powers in her coma and used them to fly Wing Gundam up to space
in under ten minutes and save Treize’s life while sacrificing the Gundam to do
so…ok, that’s a leap of logic but I’m more miffed that Wing comes back for one
more fight and that’s all it does, save Treize’s life. How cool would it be if Treize swapped out
his “eh” Tallgeese II for the Wing Gundam, which I’m sure he could pilot.
What about the Gundam boys? Well Heero, Quatre and Wufei seemed to be the
only ones with any meatier plot points to wrap up. Wufei got to have his final showdown with
Treize, while Quatre faced Dorothy.
Trowa kind of just flew around blowing up stuff...he actually had
nothing really to contribute in the end at all.
I could harp on Duo but he’s Duo and he always gets a free pass to blow
stuff up and look cool doing it. Again,
here’s where picking off one or two of them could have raised the stakes and
made you worry about who was going to come out of this alive. I’ve always thought Trowa should have died at
the mid point of the series and I already discussed how Wufei dying would have
been a good plot development had Treize won.
Heero’s story benefited from actually coming full circle with
Relena. The second half of Gundam Wing
has done both characters true wonders, especially Relena. Relena’s strong leadership inspired the
former bad guys to change their ways, even Treize. And it gave Heero hope. The moment he and Relena share before he
heads off to find Zechs is one of the most touching of the finale (besides the
teddy bear at the end). Heero has
changed so much from the killing machine he thought he was. Sure he jabs at Relena’s optimism. But he also asks Relena to have faith in him
as he flies off to battle. I gave Relena
a ton of crap for being the creepy stalker she was in the very beginning. But here, I can see now why she and Heero
would work as a couple.
So what happens after Heero saves the day and blows up
the asteroid…sorry the battleship heading for Earth (sorry I was confused with
Char’s Counterattack for a moment)?
Nothing. We cut to a little while
later, where Relena receives a birthday note and a cute little teddy bear
gift. She sees Heero trying to sneak off
but gets his attention and tears his note up.
Heero smiles, walks away…and that’s it.
We’re told that Earth and the Colonies were finally coming together and
peace was almost certain. But what about
the others? Besides Noin and Dorothy
visiting the graves of loved ones (Noin of course knows Zechs is still alive),
we don’t see any final moments for Duo, Quatre, Wufei, Trowa, Lady Une or Sally
Po. Not even a little glimpse. I guess if time was a factor, Heero and
Relena would get the final scene for themselves. Still, even if we didn’t know Endless Waltz
was coming, some more closure would’ve been really nice.
Sigh. Ok. It’s time.
What are my final thoughts now that I’ve finished the last episode of
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing? *deep
breathe* It has been more than 17 years
since I first saw this show on Toonami.
In my heart, Gundam Wing is the reason I am still in love with Anime,
more than Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon or even FLCL.
Heck, it made me a Gundam fan in general and I have delved head first
into the mythos far beyond the After Colony era where I began. I love Gundam and the reason for that is
Gundam Wing. However, Gundam Wing isn’t
exactly the shining gem it once was for me when I first saw it and the flaws
are there, even if some aren’t willing to accept them. The plot is fine but too many developments
happen off screen and we just have to accept their coming to be. The reused animation happens more often than
I want to admit. Several characters are
either unnecessary (Sally Po) or don’t really live up to their potential because
they have no real story until the end (Trowa).
Many of the character motivations towards the end, especially Zechs,
feel a little forced and there are many things I would have done differently
with the finale itself.
There are better Gundam stories out there: the original
Gundam 0079, 08th MS Team, 0080 to name a few, with better pacing,
character and plot development and more consistent animation levels. But let me be absolutely clear about this:
Don’t think for one second that I’m writing Gundam Wing off as a bad nostalgia
trip or an unimportant entry in the Gundam franchise. Without this show, for better or worse,
Gundam would not be the name it is in the US Anime community. Like many others, the images of the
characters, battles and the Gundams themselves, are the first that come to mind
often when I hear “Gundam”. That, in and
of itself, is a negative with “die hard” fans who think that Wing’s popularity
overshadows better entries in the franchise.
It’s tough to try and get others into other Gundam entries but not
impossible (I found the original series and 08th MS Team a year
later and love them to death). In the
end, I’m on both sides of the fence as to whether or not Id recommend Gundam
Wing as the starting point for new fans.
I could easily say, watch Mobile Suit Gundam first because it’s where
everything began for Gundam. For me, I’d
say start with Wing…because at the end of the day, this is where Gundam started
for me. Flaws and all, I will never
forget that and as much as I’ve ragged on it, I will stand up for this show
until the day I die.
Impossible, you say?
I say…Mission Accepted.
7.5/10
Whew, ok. Time for
a bit of a break. There’s not Otakon
this year for me but I’m still taking a planned week off to breathe a little
bit. I’ll see you back on the Anime
Corner in two weeks for the start of our next series, Peacemaker Kurogane. Til then, TOBE GUNDAM!!!
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