Turning Back to the After Century Calendar

Before I watch Gundam Unicorn or Gundam 00 (in its entirety), I've decided to revisit some old friends and watch Gundam Wing.  This is actually the first time I've returned to it since its run in 2000 on the Cartoon Network.  Fortunately, my fond memories of the series were not just nostalgia.  All the memorable characters are just as memorable.  I did forget all of the "wheels-within-wheels" plotting and counterplotting and just how fractured the different characters' allegiances were. 

Now, for a quick aside that will explain the thinking of the rest of this post.  I usually grit my teeth and squirm when something is described as "re-imagined for the post September 11th world," like the remake of V and the proposed remake of "Red Dawn."  It sounds too much like fear-monger-led-profiteering.

Now, back to Gundam.  I don't want to belabor the point or overthink anything.  BUT.  I saw this in 2000.  I had no reason to think much about the fact that our protagonists (the five Gundam pilots) for the most part teenage fanatics, recruited out of mostly tragic lives to pilot secret weapons into the heart of a superpower and, in the first several episodes, BLOW THE SHIT OUT OF THINGS.

Am I alluding to the 9/11 bombers?  Sort of.  After the first few episodes, certain things were emphasized about the five pilots: their youth, their absolute dedication to the mission (mostly exhibited by Heero Yuy, but Duo, Trowa, and Wu Fei just have fewer opportunities to threaten people, y'know, like Relena).  And nothing demonstrates fanaticism like that scene where Heero BREAKS AND RESETS HIS OWN MOTHERFUCKING FEMUR!  That makes even Duo wince.

However, the story is complex enough and the characters developed enough that, even had I seen Gundam Wing AFTER 9/11, I'd probably enjoy it just as much.  And who knows?  I might just be projecting things no one else sees.

I think my main point is not that this is a show glorifying terrorism.  It's not.  It's that it is even more nuanced than I remember it being.  I think the fact that the story can call to mind both the 9/11 highjackers and simultaneously the desperate heroism freedom fighters throughout history and fiction is a sign that its images are powerful and infinitely applicable.

And, some fanboy trivia before I get too somber and serious.  Duo was voiced by the actor who also performed Fred in Outlaw Star.  And Zechs Marquise shares a voice actor with Gamlin from Macross 7 (and about a million other characters, being voiced by Takehito Koyasu, the most prolific japanese voice actor according to the anime news network.