Kidou Shinseiki Gundam X

Gundam X gets a bad reputation much of the time due to the fact that it was canceled—the only Gundam since the original to get cut short. We'll probably never know what set of circumstances led to the early end of its broadcast in Japan, but there is one thing I can say. Much like the original Gundam series, Gundam X was extremely underappreciated in its time. In a technical sense, the art, music and sound effects are roughly equal to Gundam Wing. They were produced back to back, so this is expectable. If you've seen Gundam Wing, then you know what Gundam X looks andsounds like. What really sets Gundam X apart, especially from its immediate predecessor, is its characters. Gundam X is full of characters that you can actually care about. In particular, Garrod and Tifa's relationship is extremely genuine and endearing. This is quite a feat for a genre of anime not particularly well known for being able to develop a believable romance. The plot of Gundam X is well paced, keeping a good momentum and tension throughout. Each episode tends to leave you hanging, and craving more. This structure worked well for Escaflowne, and it works very well here too. Overall, don't write this Gundam off just because you heard it got canceled. I consider this the best of the AU Gundam series, and enjoy it on the same level as the original series. Any Gundam or mecha fan should see this series.

Alll I can say is, this is definitely one of the most underrated Gundams of the franchise, and an underrated anime in general. I don’t get why the hell they can bring SEED and SEED Destiny, and not X and/or Turn A? What I really liked about this series was it took a different direction with the newtype concept that was a re-occuring element in the UC sagas, mostly in Zeta and CCA. Yes, newtypes can be elite pilots, but Tifa demonstrates that newtypes aren’t exclusive to this rolel. Granted the extremity this anime took with that concept felt out of place for Gundam, inno ways did I feel any sense of intensity or suspense was ruined, but I felt it built it up. I would elaborate how unique this series makes its own interpretation of the newtype concept but it would be a spoiler and I encourage you to see the series for yourself to understand what I mean. But other than that, it still retains the other characteristics from other Gundam series, and redefines and advances them. Garoad you can say is more of a modern day interpretation of Judeau Ashita from Double Zeta. He’s young, but he’s a guy who is out doing his job and circumstances just led him to where he is. What’s also unique is that he’s not a newtype but yet, he just naturally develops his piloting skills. Tifa’s character was just new to me, and I felt the nature of her character felt out of place for Gundam, but because this isn’t the original Gundam and the intention was to go for something different and new, I felt she just simply served her purpose though I don’t personally call her a top 5 female Gundam character. And as usual, the series will still have villains and antagonists you can relate to which the Frost bros do well at. The series does have some interesting twists and turns that will keep you guessing in relation to the characters and the overall story. I feel that because it’s uniquely both characteristically and not characteristically Gundam at the same time give a new distinction it’s trademark characteristics. Well, this series premiered after Gundam Wing, so most of the color schemes and gimmicks of the mechs will probably not really stand out since it mostly follows the approach that Gundam Wing has. But I guess some of the features of the GX where its main weapon needs to be powered by a satellite brings a new element to the engineering and the firepower that hasn’t been used in past sagas makes it more fresh. And as I stated earlier, the mechs in general don’t have any qualities that are necessarily fresh or new. Like the Leopard is pretty much a green colored firearms, and the design of the GX looks like the Wing Gundam but with a different set of wings. The character designs mostly in relation to the costume are a little wilder than your typical Gundam series, thus giving some reflection to its post apocalyptic nature. But other than that, you have generic bishounen and bishoujo designs but very tolerable. My favorite design is that of Jamil with a modern day old school approach. He wears a very ancient military style uniform, and his side burns and hair style is something more characteristic of a 1970s anime hero. And Tanya is just simply hot.The character design is nothing really cutting edge but still appropriate for its setting at some capacity. The battles are pretty interesting since a majority of this Gundam series takes place on Earth and I was wondering if there was ever going to be any traditional space battles, which has always been an iconic trait of the franchise. But I feel that the engineering and the gimmicks of the Gundams presented justified keeping the battles on earth territory for most of the series. But the battles are still intense and they excellently know how to apply land and air war fare with a different approach with more reliance on transforming mechs. Personally, I loved Takagi Wataru’s unique approach to playing Garoad Ran. Even though he’s achieved world fame as Onizuka Eikichi from GTO, I loved how he still retained his nasal voice and make Garoad come across as a teenager and as a wise ass. I thought it was a very brilliant performance. Granted Garoad has comedic traits, I think Takagi’s addition who mostly does comedy roles does a great job in a more serious role such as this one himself. I think Jamil’s voice actor, Horiuchi Kenyuu who is famous as playing Raiden in the Metal Gear Solid games brought a unique charisma to his character and also made him sound very intimidating. And another unique actress is Mitsuishi Kotono, who was also still playing Sailor Moon at the time is also the voice of Tanya, the bridge captain. Later she would come back to Gundam SEED. as the Captain of the Archangel. With her role in Gundam X, she brought Misato’s party girl side to her character. The music is just intense and beautiful. The opening theme DREAMS just has this militaristic feel with how it opens, but yet transitions to this powerful song about hope and determination, and the ending themes sung in English sound like Love Lift Us Where We Belong, but brought a refreshing feel to the series. The background music is very appropriate for the series. Well, sadly, this Gundam had to be cut due to low ratings, but I heard that this series is finding rejuvenation in Japan with the DVD releases and people are appreciating it more. Artistically as I said earlier, it really does nothing to advance Gundam but I think it still maintained its spirit and really brought a unique and distinctive redefinition to some of its original foundation. Such as the themes and concepts behind the series with new types was what made it unique and was first brought into an alternate universe of Gundam which would later be brought back in SEED which I think they did a bad job of that concept in that series. I say it is required to have some familiarity with the original Gundam to understand the origin of its concepts such as colony drops and newtypes, and some familiarity with Gundam Wing to understand the mech design and style. This is something truly made for Gundam fans, and I think this is probably something that a casual anime fan or a hardcore anime fan that isn’t into Gundam could probably handle.

Before watching Gundam X, I often heard how it was considered to be one of worst Gundam series out there since it only ran for 39 episodes, since it had been canceled due to low rating. But after finishing it just now, I have to say, its probably one of the best Gundam series I've seen and quite possibly one of the more under appreciated anime out there. Story: Gundam X takes place 15 years after the war between the Earth forces and Space Rebellion which wiped out almost all of the Earth's population due to the use of Newtypes, individuals with advanced abilities. The storyfollows Garrod Ran, a 15 year old boy who runs into a mysterious girl called Tiffa and later decides to join the Freeden, a ship led by Jamil Neate, a former "hero" in the war(think Amuro Ray), in order to protect Tiffa, while traveling the Earth to prevent the abusive use of Newtypes and eventually to stop a war that could result in the same tragedy 15 years ago. The plot set-up can almost be thought of as a pre-cursor to Eureka 7, the main character chooses to join a group of ragtag individuals in order to protect a girl they've taken interest in,not to fight for peace or anything close to it. Art: Being released in 1996, the art looks dated but still holds up fairly well 14 years since its release. For those who have seen Gundam Wing, you know what you're expecting Sound: The sound effects and background music are fairly well done( despite the fx sounding a bit old-school and thus similar to Wing again), but the opening themes are very well done and quite catchy too. Characters: Despite the high enjoyment quality of all other Gundam shows, most of the main characters, were rather annoying, throwing out angst and other "emo" actions that seemed rather siily. Gundam X has a decent set of characters that are all fairly fleshed out and really likable and don't display any of the cliches established by its predecessors. Garrod is a rather interesting main lead and often displays some traits that most teens could relate to. Despite some "angst" he displays in the few beginning episodes of the anime, it actually makes sense why he acts this way. Jamil is a mix of Char, Amuro and even Bright, and acts as the leader figure among the crew of the Freeden and his past involvement in the war only makes him more interesting. Roybea and Witz, the other 2 Gundam pilots, are interesting characters as well and they even have good intentions being involved with the Freeden. The Frost brothers are the ones who truly shine in this show, they are the very definition of evil and will do whatever they want to get what they want. Enjoyment: Every episode was well done and did a good job of building up to the conclusion. It started out as showing out with showing how the entire cast only worked to find Newtypes scattered around the globe, but slowly begun to realize that encountering them would lead to them becoming involved in a war once again. The only flaw I can think of is that the show was cut short, so starting around episode 30 to the last episode, it felt a bit rushed as I was hit with so much information in a few episodes, but was wrapped up really well overall. Overall: Don't let the fact that Gundam X gets a bad vibe from many Gundam fans steer you away from watching this. The plot is well paced and the characters are all done fairly well and even has a bit of the political themes found in almost every Gundam series( but to a more limited extent here). This under-appreciated gem is a must watch for anyone who is a fan of mecha, romance or anyone who is an anime fan in general.

Before I even watched Gundam X. I have been told by people that Gundam X is either one of the most underrated Gundam shows or one of the worst Gundam shows. Also, notice that Gundam X only had 39 episodes instead of 49 episodes like Wing. Well after finishing Gundam X from start to finish I really have to say this. Gundam X is not only one of the best Gundam shows that I have seen but it’s one of the most underrated animes I have ever seen in a long while. Why is that you may ask? You will soon find out. Story. It is the year afterwar fifteen. Fifteen years after the 7th space war which ultimately destruction of the whole world and killing billions of people. Many of the surviving residents of Earth now try to make a living as best as they can in the new post apocalyptic world with many of the mobile suits and the technology that was left over from the war becoming extremely valuable to many civilians and organizations. The story of Gundam X mainly focuses on a 15-year boy named Garrod Ran who make a living by selling and taking old jobs. He eventually gets hired to rescue a mysterious young girl named Tiffa who is later revealed to be a special kind of human called a newtype. During a struggle between Garrod and the people who hired him, he discovers a powerful mobile suit that took part in the 7th space war and that mobile suit is called the Gundam X. He uses it to fight off his enemies and protect Tiffa. The two young teens meet up with a crew of vultures lead by Jamil a man who wants to rescue and protect new-types like Tiffa from being exploited by enemy organizations. Soon Enough Garrod and Tiffa part of the crew and throughout the series they will come face to face with various opponents that as the prevent another war. The story of Gundam X is really good and well executed Aside from some typical elements from the Gundam franchise like the young boy discovering a Gundam as the presence of char clone kinda character, it's unlike most of the other Gundam shows that are out there. All of the Gundam shows minus G Gundam, this show Turn A, Build Fighters and G Reco revolve around a full-scale war between two factions but Gundam X in a post apocalyptic setting where people are trying to prevent war and most of humanity is trying to regain their lives. Out of all of the alternative universe shows Gundam X has the closet with the universal century timeline.as it has a lot of elements that we all familiar with within the universal century such as the appearance of newtypes. The newtypes in X play a much bigger war in X than any of the Universal Century shows. Themes of exploitation, power abuse, moving forward in the future instead of being clinging to the past were well explored and they expanded as the series progresses. If I had minor complaints of the story in X it would be the pacing for certain story arcs. Unlike in Gundam Wing constantly had bad pacing as well as having too much info-dumping from that stupid narrator. Gundam X mostly had good pacing but some of the arcs were either pacing way too long or way too fast like the final arc which I will explain now. Gundam X was originally gonna to have 49 episodes like Gundam Wing and G Gundam but it was reduced to 39 episodes after the decline of the ratings. This explains why the ending of Gundam X was kinda rushed as well as having no time to build up a proper climax. Despite that, the ending of Gundam X does ties up most of the loose ends giving us the feeling of satisfaction. Overall despite Gundam X being cut down to 39 episodes, I thought the story of Gundam X was really good and well written. 8.5/10 Characters. The characters in Gundam X are mostly great as they are very likable, relatable and they were enjoyable to watch from start to finish. Garrod is honestly one of my favorite Gundam protagonists. He may have an outgoing personality who is filled with life but he's not afraid to get serious when he needs to be. Also unlike Heero his a well-written character who gets great character development. What makes Garrod stand out from other main protagonists from Gundam that he is just a normal kid. No special powers( Amero), no intense military training( Heero) and no martial arts mastery (Domon). He is just a normal human like you and I. Even though his a normal human being he still proves himself to be a badass pilot. Tiffa is one of the best female characters from the franchise. She is quiet and tends to hide her emotions but she starts to open up more as the series progresses especially around Garrod. Tiffa's role in Gundam X is unique in Gundam since she is a newtype with extraordinary powers thus making her a very valuable target for many people that tried to capture her. The relationship between Garrod and Tiffa gives a lot of Eureka Seven vibes even though Eureka Seven came out after this show. The one thing that I really loved about it is how different they personalities are. Garrod a loud mouth while Tiffa is calm and collecting. Aside from that, it's a really down to earth relationship that was build up extremely well and it makes you believe that they are really made for each other. It’s personally one of my favorite pairings in the Gundam franchise. Another character that I really like is Jamil who is one of my favorite captains from the franchise. His background is based off Amuro Ray but his adult personality is very similar to Bright Noa with a little bit of Char mixed it making him a great badass combination of three of the most iconic characters in the franchise. Roybea may be a lady's man and Witz may be a hot headed but they much more dimensional to them as characters as opposed to the Wing boys in Wing, The Mary sues in Seed, and the Try Fighters from Build Fighters Try The other characters are also great and very likable with some of my other favorite Gundam X characters being Ennil El, Malme Toniya and Kid Salsamille. The only characters I was not a fan were the Frost Brothers aka the main villains as they come off as generic villains’ They were not bad characters but they could have been much better but the end of the day I pick the Frost Brothers over the Try Fighters and the Wing Boys. Minus the Frost Brothers, I thought the character cast for Gundam X to be pretty great as they are very memorable likable, interesting not to mention they have a purpose and have an important role in the story. This is one of my favorite characters casts from the Gundam franchise. 9/10 Visuals. Visually Gundam X is very similar to Wing, however, it a massive improvement over Wing in every field. The characters designs are well designed and they are mostly consistent. As for the actual animation, it's a big step from Wing. The mecha battles are fun to watch and we actually see a lot of skill being shown by the pilots throughout the fights. Also, the mecha designs are really good. The Gundam X may appear like average Gundam but once the moon is out and it charges its satellite cannon. It will terminate anything in its path. The X divider is pretty cool but its big brother the double X is in my top 3 favorite Gundams. Gundam Leopard The other Gundam designs also great Gundams like the Air Master, Gundam Leopard, and the Versago. Overall the visuals of Gundam X are really good as it a massive improvement over Gundam Wing and the battles were very exciting. 8.5/10 Sound. The soundtrack of Gundam X is just beautiful filled with memorable tracks. The first opening Dream is a very hard hitting J POP song. The same thing can be said to the second opening theme Resolution which is one of one of my favorite opening themes in Gundam. The first ending theme Human Touch is easily one of the best composed in all of Gundam as well as being one of my favorite ending themes in anime. The second ending theme Gin-Iro Horizon is pretty good. The voice acting of Gundam X is amazing that is filled a lot of talented and high profile Seiyuus. Some of my favorites performances were Knyuu Horiuchi as Jamil, Mika Kanai as Tiffa, Chieko Honda as Ennil, Motoko Kumai as Kid Salsamile, Kazuya Nakai as Witz and I could go on. Sadly Gundam X didn’t get a dub which is honestly sad because if anything this was the show that needed a dub. 9/10 Final Thoughts. Overall I really liked Gundam X. I think is one of the best Gundam shows from the franchise. The story was well written, almost all of the characters were great, relatable and likable, the visuals still hold up well compared to Gundam Wing, the mecha battles were exciting to watch and the soundtrack is just amazing. If this show were to have all 49 episodes as well maybe having an English dub than I would have giving it a 10/10 as well as being my favorite Gundam show but sadly that isn’t the case. Gundam X ended getting canceled making it the only other Gundam show besides Gundam 0079 to get canceled before finished. There’s has been a lot of speculation on why it was canceled. One theory stated that it got low ratings due to a sudden timeslot switch and an another theory state that people were just burned out from watching Gundam after four years of back to back releases. Whatever the case may be I still thought Gundam X was an amazing show and I consider it to be one of the best Gundam shows in the franchise. If you are tired of Gundam having the same old formula from past Gundam shows then I highly recommend watching Gundam X as it offers a different yet amazing experience for anime fans as well as hardcore Gundam fans. Gundam X has been licensed by Rightstuff in the US on DVD. Final Score 8.5/10

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