Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation 1

Great Movie

So, why do you hate Relena? Let us count the ways. This is the first five episodes of the legendary anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Five giant Mecha vs Earth's military! What's not to like?

I apologize if this turns into a review of the series, but this is more a response to it currently being in the "Essential DVD" Anime section. Some good points of this series are its animation and general production quality, which both seem above par for a TV show. However, I never found that I could identify, or sympathize with any of the characters. I don't even like most of them. There seems to be no middle ground, either their too cruel or too nice, too aloof, or too outgoing. The plot is the same, convoluted to a point that if you miss an episode or two, whole groups of characters have changed sides and you will essentially have no idea what is going on. In all honesty, if you have the resources, see Gundam X which was released after GW in Japan(not yet released in US). Having seen the first twelve episodes, it has a plot that understands its limitations, and allows you to focus more on a few pilots and the main characters. Versus 5 pilots and who knows how many others in GW. Lots of characters and a complex plot are not bad, but I think GW is too confused in later episodes, trying too hard to impress the viewer, both with its outlandish plot and numerous upgrades to the mobile suits. Check out professional reviews of this show before you start buying this series. Basically, if the other 44 episodes aren't good enough, the first five shouldn't be "essential."

no comment

This DVD gets you under way in the gundam wing series. Like a lot of anime I have run across, you spend the first two episodes trying to figure out what is what. Once you get an idea of who is bad and who is good, the story really grabs you. It has a good mixture of action (mechas fighting mechas) and drama between the characters (surprisingly, even the 'bad guys' are well developed and offer more than an evil chuckle here and there). Overall I am sure you will be pleased with this purchase if you are an anime fan or are familiar with other gundam series.

Child hood memory, something i realized i wanted to revisit in college, worth it. Good quality, beats the series box price a bit last couple of times i find it.(of course got to buy each one now.)

Good

It pains me to be so negative about a piece of my childhood... I recently went to Comic-Con and stumbled on a boothe with all the gundam series models and so I explained about the Gundam Wing ones to my fiancee. I then thought.... hmmm maybe I could share this with her. Luckily I had enough foresight to just buy Operation 1 for $8 and not the whole series for $65. The dialogue was clunky and awkward. Heero was even more emo then I remembered and Relena managed to become more annoying to me. It was just unpleasant an a horrible watch. After watching it I went through the five stages of acceptance and admitted that I liked this show at one point, but it doesn't hold up when your 26.