rants and opinions: GW vs GX
Well, I finally got to finish Gundam X the other night, and I totally enjoyed it! And I got to thinking about the GW story, and how they're different. This probably counts as an essay, but it's really just a random bunch of thoughts I tried to string together. ^_^;;
Ok, lets see if I can explain this...
And this may contain spoilers!!!!! I'll try to keep the worst ones out, but if you've not seen GX or GW, you may not get some of this. And you may have GX spoiled for you. Fair warning!!
If you look at GW, it's actually rather hard to pick out the plot the first time
you see it through. There's so much symbolism and twists that the lines been
good and evil are much more blurred. You're left toward the end trying to
decide who the bad guys really are. That's part of the reason Quatre went
insane in the Zero system. And Heero too, at first, if you think about it.
For example, take Treize. At first, he's the bad guy. He's the one in
the shadows pulling the strings to get the world to do what he wants, or at
least what he thinks is right. But
after he resigns from Romefeller, he's basically powerless. He realizes that
the world has simply changed to much to really accept his ideals. He should
have been born in a century where wars weren't just for control or power, but
were ways to test one's skills. Think about it, back in the Middle Ages,
before wars starting using guns, every battle was hand to hand. Warriors had
deep respect for each other, and defeating an enemy on the field of battle was a
sign of that respect. If you could defeat an enemy in battle, not only were
you proving that your skills were better, you were giving them a noble send off.
That's almost like the way Treize feels, if you think about. Think
about how he reacted to the mobile dolls. In his mind, (and I have to admit in
mine), using the mobile dolls was reducing wars to computer games. That's
against everything he believes in. And at the end, he leads his army into
battle against the mobile dolls. That's why he has such a high respect for the
Gundam pilots, especially Wufei. Because even though they all do want peace,
they realize that fighting with mobile dolls turns wars into games. They've
spent all this time fighting, so they have a very high regard for human life.
And to use the mobile dolls really does cheapen that regard. It's
like Romefeller is saying humans aren't necessary anymore.
I guess the point I was making is that the plot of GW makes you think. You have to
see it a couple times through before you can start to pick out exactly what's
going, and can appreciate the little intricacies of the plot.
Now, in GX, the plot is a bit simpler. Don't get me wrong, I still loved
it. But it was more of an action/adventure series than a drama. The lines
between good and evil are more clearly defined. For example, the Frost
brothers. You can tell they're the bad guys from the beginning, even if you
can't figure out what they really want. (I didn't realize that until the
end) And you call tell Jamil isn't a bad guy after the first couple of
episodes. I didn't really think he was a bad guy at first, but the first
time that Tifa registers the GX so it can use the Satellite Cannon, I realized
that he was a good guy. I mean, he tried to stop her because he knew it was a
mistake. He knew it would hurt her, and that the blast would kill so many
people. And he tried to stop her. (That's when I started to kinda like
him) Once Garoad settles in, the Friedan and it's crew becomes his home.
And after that, you can tell who the good guys are and who the bad guys
are soon after we meet the characters. (It's actually an interesting thing
with this series. Garoad and Tifa end up changing several people for the
better. And you can really see this happening) The real thinking points
don't happen until the last couple of episodes. Where you realize that
everyone has a different concept of Newtype, and no one has it right. And you
start to wonder for yourself. (Which I'm not going to go into because there's a
really big spoiler in that)
Anyhoo, if you have any comments, feel free to contact me and we can discuss it. I think it'll be interesting to see what others think about this after they've seen both episodes. ^_^
Want to reply to this? Fill out the form below. ^_^
Replies:
Boy, that title was misleading. I'd thought you're going to make a
"who'd make a better shooter: Trowa or Roybea?" question.
Back to topic:
I wouldn't call GX a simple plot, only it keeps track on its characters
better than GW. Although I do admit that GW was much more complicated
regarding politics and such, it somehow lacks character development
(example of this would be Heero being very nice in the last episodes all of
the sudden w/o proper explanation, as if he was abducted and was
replaced by a pod alien). The Frosts were also a victim of poor character
development (I'm sure they weren't really that shallow, and that they had
a very good reason for their hatred and should have built up but the GX
series made a cut). Not to mention Caris and Paula.
Well other than that, you've made a good point. More power to you then.
- Ran & Van_Fan
i think you're absolutely right...gundam wing isn't a surface series at
all, although there are a lot of people that want to make it out to be just
that...they're so worried about who should get together with who that they forget
the point of the series: it doesn't matter...the pilots are all fighting for the
same thing...they're supposed to be united...
But some people don't get it...
- ~Seiryu~
So glad to see someone who has seen both series. I love Gundam
Wing and I love Gundam X, and as far as my experience goes, GX is more of
the kind of show I'd expect out of Gundam than GW. GW is very heavy (maybe
TOO heavy) into politics, while GX has much better balance of politics and
action. Neither of them have as much character development as they
probably should have. With that said, I would say that I am surprised at
the popularity of GW, because it is a much less accessible show plotwise
than the other Gundam series. Perhaps this is why the creators went to
such lengths to create "pretty" characters, as they figured no one would
watch a show that was mainly about politics and philosophy unless the
characters were pretty.
I do love both Wing and X. Wing fascinates me with its implications of the
debate between good and evil and war and peace, and it is too bad that X
ended early because I could tell they were going to do a marvelous job
with the original ending.
- Gerald
It is my sincerest belief that GW is one of most incredible animes that I have ever seen in my life. Now I'm not claiming to have seen too many animes, on the contrary, I didn't even see GX in the first place. Yet, after seeing the entire GW series, I came to realize the depth of the story, and how people's perspectives really come into play here. While many fans still argue over the coupling factor, there basically was not much romance involved. And all romances that were shown in the series were implied to created the ambiguity of which many confirm to their own likings. Yet, with the plot so heavily set on politics, it gives many views a deeper insight of how poitics reaaly effect the world. Not that we would achieve any of these mobile suit technologies in the near future, but it still is interesting to investigate. The plot of course thickens even more when viewers find out about the Endless Waltz and the Episode Zero series which explain more about what the main plot is. I just hope that many more fans have gained much insight as well, to see that history is not only beautiful through an anime, but everything is connected. Well I guess I've said enough now. Hope whoever reads also give some more thought to the plot rather than the pairings.
- LoraFelina
Errghh. After two years, I realized something. I should have written this instead...
Don't take it against you but I think GW is shallow, and it has no deep politics for one that claims it has. It wasn't deep enough. What I do see is GBoys vs. Enemy Group of the Week. Kinda like Mazinger Z, but at least Kouji Kobuto was a lot more fun to watch.
Sorry. I saw Zeta Gundam and Turn-A Gundam a few years ago, and realized it done much better than Wing would ever do. Watch other Gundam series before saying it was a deep and human story. Belive me, it's definitely not...
- Anti-R OKA Ran&Van_Fan
I think that Gundam Wing is the series with the better/deeper, more complex storyline, but GX ihas a better theme, and the main characters (i.e.Tifa and Garoad) are portrayed very well and are almost brought to life. I don't know how it is with other people but for me i felt like i got to know them very well. The action and the effects in both of the series are about the same and enjoyable. In conclusion i give GW 8/10, and GX 9/10
- Aragorn167
I think that Gundam Wing is brilliant. I mean what's the point of watching something that has no meaning to it. I admit the GW does go a bit too far in to politics but then that doesnt matter. The story was great and the characters were great too, esp Duo. I think that to understand GW, you must watch Endless Waltz as well, as it finishes off everything. However GX aint that bad too. =D
- Kevin
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