Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Additionally, the show casts aside many of the conventions set by its predecessors and takes many new steps for its franchise, such as a focus on martial arts and decisive, personal duels as opposed to large-scale military conflicts.

[1] Aside from winning the tournament, Domon's mission is to track down his fugitive, older brother Kyoji, who allegedly stole the experimental Devil Gundam from Neo Japan's government, leaving their mother dead and their father (Dr. Raizo Kasshu) to be arrested and placed in a cryogenic state.

[2][4] The Gundam Fight finals are presided over by Wong Yunfat, Neo Hong Kong's prime minister, and the current ruler of the space colonies and Earth.

[2][4] Having gained possession of the Devil Gundam, Wong secretly plots to revive and control it as his trump card to inevitably maintain his own power over space.

[4] Though the schemes of both Wong and Master Asia are foiled, Ullube quietly claims the Devil Gundam and transports it to Neo Japan's space colony for his own purpose.

Having been corrupted by DG cells with ambitions of supreme power, Ullube kidnaps Rain and places her into the Devil Gundam's core to act as its energy source.

[1] Hirotoshi Sano, previously credited for Tekkaman Blade,[2] was responsible for directing the mechanical animation in G Gundam, but also produced much of show's promotional artwork seen on home media covers.

[7] Like other early mecha anime, the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise was backed by sponsors whose main interest was having television programs advertise plastic models and toys.

Conceived as a less realistic "Super Robot" series,[10] G Gundam abandoned its military roots and was aimed at younger viewers to increase toy sales.

[8] Alterations including a lack of a warfare-centered plot, Gundams stereotypically based on nationality, and Earth as a ring were originally seen as blasphemous to Imagawa and much of Sunrise's staff.

[8] The director also commented that in order to sell a product like G Gundam to an audience resistant of such ambitious changes, creators must instill their own personalities to overcome hardships and make the work unique.

[15] Additionally, the villain Wong Yunfat is based heavily on Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, specifically the actor's appearance in the film God of Gamblers.

[18] Another instance towards the show's climax, where the hero's rivals join him to fight a greater opposing force, was a commonly used motif in Weekly Shōnen Jump comics, most notably Ring ni Kakero.

[15] Changing countries every week in the show's early run was overwhelming for the set designers and background artists, yet the crew felt Imagawa "over-elaborate" on Shinjuku.

[20] Imagawa mentioned that Neo Hong Kong does not possess its own space colony in G Gundam, so he wanted to accurately depict the country as one that continues to thrive on Earth.

The director worked closely with mecha artists to create these "one-shot" opponents and found many of the comical and eccentric designs very charming, especially the windmill-shaped Hurricane Gundam of Neo Holland.

[21] Imagawa polarized the production studio staff when he decided to insert the English phrase "Love-Love" into Domon and Rain's final attack against the Devil Gundam.

"[21] The Mobile Fighter G Gundam television series originally aired in Japan the terrestrial channel TV Asahi from April 22, 1994, to March 31, 1995, for a total of 49 episodes.

[25][26][27] In late 2001, Bandai acquired the rights to distribute an English-dubbed version of G Gundam with voice casting recorded by Ocean Productions in their Blue Water studio in Calgary, Alberta.

[54][55][56] A light novel adaptation of the TV series by Yoshitake Suzuki was published in three books by Kadokawa Shoten under its Sneaker Bunko label between August 29, 1995, and March 1, 1997.

[68][69] A total of four soundtrack albums containing the background and vocal music of Mobile Fighter G Gundam were released during the show's original television run in Japan.

[72] The final album, Round 5, features vocal image songs performed by the voice cast as well as instrumental versions of the show's two opening themes.

[92] Hobby Japan published a book in its Gundam Weapons series in July 2002, dedicated to collecting and building scale models based on the show.

Negative reactions to the plot mostly stem from its stark contrast to preceding Gundam entries that have traditionally focused on deep political and social issues in the midst of war.

Animerica editor Mark Simmons, Martin Ouellette of Protoculture Addicts, and anime journalist Mike Toole have all shared opinions that the show can be immensely enjoyed by not taking it too seriously.

"[106] Simmons concluded that the addition of components like "nanotechnological plagues, evil armies, zombie legions, betrayal, and heartbreak [...] make the end result entertaining for more sophisticated viewers as well as for youngsters enticed by the colorful shiny robots".

[1] Toole stated that despite valid criticism that the plot is "silly and exaggerated" and its introductory episodes suffering from "battle of the week fare", the debut of Master Asia triggers "some great character development".

[9] Dong similarly appreciated the show more in its Neo Hong Kong story arc and perceived it much easier for a new viewer to begin watching at any point in the series than with other Gundam installments.

[21] Granted its large number of manga side-stories, Imagawa surmised that it would be "impossible" to create an animated sequel or OVA series to G Gundam and disclosed he would not direct it if there were.

He said, "I believe G Gundam is a series that started as a program for kids and eventually worked out because I stayed vividly aware of that until the very last moment, overcoming a lot of obstacles and bad situations (in terms of directing).

The design crew scouted areas of Hong Kong to faithfully depict the region on the show.
The manga adaptation, written by Yasuhiro Imagawa and illustrated by Kazuhiko Shimamoto , was serialized from 2010 to 2016.