Shin Kidou Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

Endless Waltz is a sequal OVA concluding the "Gundam Wing" series. It takes place a year or so after the event of Gundam wing and shows how the stability of the world has changed and how the main characters have grown and done with their lives after their roles as gundam pilots are over. But even though things seem to be going in the right direction of peace a new military organization rears their ugly head and want to mess things up. Story: It still holds onto that Gundam wing feeling, but with a faster sense of pace and scale. The reintroduction of the characters~ and transition between plots and battle are flawless. There is a higher feeling of "emotion" and drama than was in the original series~ possibly because the stakes feel alot higher. While there are still politics, because ova's are shorter they thankfully lessened its role in the story~ though there are several speeches it doesn't mess up the pace of the story as much. The epic battles and character development are the high points of this series. Art: It was improved greatly from the original series. The character designs and gundams feel much more crisp and detailed. Some of the gundams actually have additional accessories... while I don't see much of a point of them Having "REAL" wings with feathers, and A cape... it does make them look really awesome=D Sound: The sound still caries that "90's" anime feel...but it was toned down a little. Both the opening and OST were superior to the series. Character: Well... they're the same old characters=D There's not much more that can be said about them if you've already seen the series, and I don't recommend you watch the OVA's before the series. But the only reason Gundam Wing is as popular as it is, is because the characters are very unique, fun, and developed. The OVA does show more into each of the characters past, and in the case of Trow~ his entire history is finally revealed. Enjoyment: I remember watching this series for the first time on the edge of my seat through all 3 OVA's. It just such an epic feeling for me, at that time this movie was just more astounding than watching Goku from DBZ go super saiyan for the first time (I was very young when I first saw gundam wing). Watching it again as an adult~ the enjoyment has not gone down after time. Its animation and story is not dated~ and it is far superior in plot, character, and battles of its predecessor Gundam Seed. (IMHO) Overall: I'm a very picky grader~ but there is hardly any argument I can make against this OVA. 9/10

In some kind of long-term masochistic exercise, I managed to watch all 49 episodes of Gundam Wing. I hated it. It's a near unintelligible series - the storytelling is utterly incompetent, character motivations vacillate wildly, the animation is poor, the drawings lack detail, the dialogue is embarrassing. Naively, I thought Endless Waltz would be a huge improvement over the television series. I was right in part. The animation is fluid and impressive, the drawings are more detailed, and the Gundam designs are really impressive. The OVA gives the characters some much-needed context, and the OVA clarifies the television show's themes of resistance against hegemony. But it's still a narrative mess (I thought Zechs Marquise wanted to drop a colony on Earth - now he wants to stop Dekim Barton from doing the same thing?). It's an improvement over the show, and it is definitely aesthetically pleasing and impressive. But the story is so incomprehensible and stupid, I couldn't bring myself to like it, no matter how hard I tried.

A sequel to the TV series, endless waltz is as good as the series. A Great conclusion to what was a great series. The animation is the same as the series and so is the sound and soundtrack. Although the story is not as strong as in the series the character evolution is. It is great to see what all the characters have been up too and what alliance have they taken since the war finished. Lots of confrontation between the main characters and a credible villain make this ova a must see. If you saw the series and haven’t seen this yet, please do yourself a favor and see it now!!!

ENDLESS WALTZ The first time I watched Endless Waltz I hadn’t seen WING yet. And while I enjoyed it, something was missing. Now that I have endured WING and rewatched Endless Waltz I know why I felt that way. Endless Waltz provides the history and motivations of the characters, providing the substance WING lacked. It allows me to empathize with the characters, providing an emotional connection to them. It’s very pretty to look at and the animation is crisp and fluid after all these years. My issues with this OVA start with the Gundams designed to sell toys, again. Cool as they look (and they are cool) they’re hardly practical. Then there’s the plot/story. It feels hastily written just to get the toys fighting again. Wu Fei’s “All I know is how to fight, so I’m joining the villains!” seems cheap because everyone else in the series found a role, why not him? If he joined the preventers he could still fight and not have to switch sides. The villains are bland unimposing. What’s missing is any real motive for anyone to follow the old man and little girl who wanna rule the world; given the events of the series that preceded it. Nothing memorable or of significance happens. But it’s shorter than WING and provides backstory to the pilots. The action is fun to watch, so it’s about average.

Rewatched Endless Waltz few days ago. Here my short review about this Gundam Wing movie sequel. Note: English is not my mother language so I apologize in advance for eventual grammar errors. --------------------------- Story Endless Waltz takes place during Christmas Eve one year after the main events of Gundam Wing. The war between Space Colonies and Earth is ended but not everyone is good with the formation of a new unified global state and while the main heroes prepare to send their Gundam on the Sun for destruction as part of global disarmament, other forces are finally ready to start the true Operation Meteor and a new war against Earth and the newly set world order. Personally i enjoyed it. It's an hour length movie so there is not much to say about the plot. An important thing of this movie is that we explore the five main Gundam pilots past history more deeply, especially the one of Trowa and the true motivations behind the Operation Meteor that set the basis for the main series events. Art Compared to Gundam Wing main series there is a bit of improvement about visual graphic also battles are more faster and graphically a bit more appealing. I quite liked the first few minutes when we see the final events of Gundam Wing series in a revamped look. Sound Besides few new tracks and especially "White Reflection" by Two-Mix i didn't notice anything worthy of mention. Characters Main cast remain basically all the same (narrator voice included) with the addition of few new ones exclusive to Endless Waltz who play the villains role like Mariemaia, which somewhat i liked, i could have liked her even more if she had been more "mature" but, most of all, more villainous. Too bad in the end she's nothing more than a puppet. We also witness the return of Zechs, now fully allied with the G-Team. Wufei on the other side is ready to turn against his team friends for his personal reasons. He remains the usual hateful character from the main series who prefer to fight alone however he becomes more likeable here, especially at the end of the movie. Overall A good conclusion for the series and a must watch for Gundam Wing fans as this movie serves as sequel and explain important parts of some of the main heroes past.

Two common practices in anime are the super short OVA getting recut and sold as a film version, an OVA or film that looks a generation better than it's original. Endless Waltz is one such example, and however you slice it we're served an entertaining piece of the Gundam franchise. A sequel to the Wing series that looks six years better in animation even though they're a year apart, giving us an epilogue for our Gundam pilots. Heero still fights for what he believes, Wu Fei still fights for honor, Duo still fights for the people, Quatre is still Quatre, and it turns out Trowa is not who says he is. Always the quiet kid. Oh, and Zechs is still alive and they give him another badass suit...just because. This time around the original architects of Operation Meteor reupload plan A in a bid to overthrow the world. And Treize's daughter is sitting in the throne, wow the nepotism in this timeline. Maybe now they're rethinking putting their suits in a rocket heading to the f***ing sun! Except Wu Fei, he knows what's up! Iconic music just like the series, amazing redesigns to the Gundams, greatly improved visuals, more behind the scenes political chaos and mech battles galore. Something to fill the gap while we wait for the rest of Hathaway to come out. Now if only they'd revive the Dynasty Warriors Gundam games and include the Tallgeese III...yeah I know, it'll never happen.