I'm hosting a new Gundam Wing Fanfiction by Jane!!! My favorite GW fic by far. I hope you'll check it out ^o^
Okay, before I officially begin, I suppose I have to tell you what this is all about. I have seen all of Gundam dubbed and in Japanese. I’ve also seen dubbed and subbed Endless Waltz. I have read translations to the character image songs, Episode Zero, and summaries of Blind Target and Ground Zero. Just so you know I’m not pulling this stuff out of some unsavory part of my anatomy.
Soon after I got into Gundam Wing, I did what any good fan would do--check every GW page available to me. I even tried to read a few fanfics. And I found that there are some…..pretty substantial crackheads out there.
Therefore I decided to write this essay, showing my ideas on the story, characters, author intent, which couples everyone seem to make, etc. This is a serious debate, with real facts and thoughtful interpretation, exploring every viewpoint (that I could think of, naturally). Which means that some popular ideas will be contested, and perhaps even disproved. DO NOT TAKE THIS PERSONALLY. I am not referring to any specific fanfics or authors in this essay. These are my own ideas (with some help from friends), and all I'm trying to do is get people to think about the show more, and what it means to them. If you’re offended, please read it anyway. Even if you don't agree with some parts, there may be others that you agree with.
If you flame me, I will ignore it. I will not post it just for the sake of insulting you—that's stupid. However, if you provide me with evidence--some kind of REAL proof--I will add it to my debate.
This page contains references to homosexuality--personally, I am happily heterosexual but support the rights of all people, no matter their preferences. Please don’t take any of the following debate material to place me in the category of a yaoi/non-yaoi fan. I write what I write. Some of that is yaoi, some is not. I believe in fact and reasonable assumption, not biased opinions.
Big hugs and kisses for Tanith, for co-writing this with me!!!!!!
I’m sorry if I’ve offended you already with the introduction, but the ideas I’m posting here are quite different than what I’ve come across in the normal fan interpretations. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and read until the end—you may even find some things that make you like the show even more than you did.
Just a bit about the sources used in the essay
For all the debates on this page, I will be referring mostly to show proofs, Endless Waltz, and sections from the comics I have seen. Doujinshi are not official art, and are no more admissible than any other fanart.
For the comics: yes, I do realize that the comics were not created by the original writers for the show. They were made and then made official by the creators. Because of this, there are slight differences in the way each author interprets the characters, which is to be expected.
However, the comics ARE official. Just as there were probably hundreds of different people working on the original series, the comic authors were continuing the story with the blessing and support of the creators. The events that took place in those comics are considered to be part of the Gundam Wing universe now, and are official. I tried not to rely on them too much, however, keeping in mind that events from the show take precedence over anything else.
General Topics
Just Wild Beat Communication
I believe that every truly great anime holds a message--and I’m not talking about “Brush your teeth after every meal.” I’m talking about the deep intent of the creator, the message that reaches out to everyone and says, “Hey, this show is cool. Remember it.” Sometimes it’s fairly obvious: Fushigi Yuugi--“love conquers all”; Escaflowne--“believe in yourself”; Slayers--again, “believe in yourself”; etc. Sometimes it’s very obvious, and can be picked up simply by the actions and beliefs of the main character. Opening and ending songs can also be a big clue (Especially in Escaflowne; doesn’t work well in Rurouni Kenshin, though).
Well, anyway, finding the core of an anime story can sometimes be very easy, sometimes complicated. In the case of Gundam Wing, I was forced to think for a while. Believe it or not, it was finally Dragonball Z that gave me the answer--are you ready?
The message in Gundam Wing is the Just Wild Beat Communication. So brilliant--so simple. Let me explain.
This is not a show about romance--the creator said that himself in an exclusive interview with Animerica (which I’ve seen around a few places). He was not worried about the physical love between the characters (specifically Heero and Relena) but the connection they made. There are hundreds of things that connect one person to another: love, friendship, trust, camaraderie, duty, hatred, fear, resentment, envy, on and on--NOT JUST SEX. Whether or not Zechs belongs with Noin or Treize doesn’t matter--whether Heero is straight or gay doesn’t matter--the point is, everyone in the show shares an understanding. They meet, they affect each other, they continue on.
Obviously they affect each other in different ways (but I can go into that later). Even the side characters get into the act and do amazing things! This is a story about the hearts of people, joining together with a common goal--Relena’s ideal pacifism, gained through the combining of the wills of humanity as per Treize’s vision. The end of Endless Waltz shows the truth--that in order to gain peace, everyone has to want it. Everyone has to protect it with all their hearts. As long as everyone wants peace, it will remain.
More importantly, this story does NOT focus specifically on the Gundam pilots. Did you ever notice that more time is spent with Relena, Zechs, Noin, Treize, etc, than on Heero and Duo and the rest? The Gundam pilots are the symbol of the show’s intent--hope, strength, the desire to protect peace, and--of course ^o^--justice. Everyone who comes in contact with them is affected by it, as well. Every once and a while you’ll see a normal person, devoid of the super-human training the others seem to have, alter their beliefs and way of life after a very brief encounter with a Gundam pilot. At first I was annoyed that such minor characters had major roles to fulfill, then I realized--the pilots have such a strong spirit, such pure intentions, that everyone they come in contact with is changed.
This effect is most noticeable in the characters that closely surround the Gundam Pilots. I'll show more specific examples in the character sections.
And there you go! Now that wasn’t so painful, was it? I’m not saying that romantic Gundam stories are stupid or wrong--simply that the author should be aware of what they’re dealing with. Not everyone HAS to be paired up. The point is connection--not necessarily romantic pairing. If Heero doesn’t get Duo or Relena, so what? He’s young and sexy--he’ll have other chances. And even if you subscribe to 1x2, 3x4, that doesn’t mean you have to get someone for Wufei just for the sake of him getting laid! Sex and true love are only a small part of the connection between these characters, and everyone needs to realize that.
Oh, and in case you need a little food for thought, let me share some excerpts from “Just Wild Beat Communication,” the opening for GW:
“… JUST WILD BEAT COMMUNICATION
Don't be afraid of anything
Because no one's going to take away the shared feelings of now, our youth…..”
“…Don't surrender anything
Because, if we both understand each other, we'll be able to fight as one…”
These lines just kinda jumped at me as being significant.
Youth Against the World
Obviously, the Gundam pilots are kids, all aged fifteen. But what’s even more interesting is that by the end of Gundam, only one main character above the age of nineteen survives (Howard). This means that all the characters are children. Do you remember what you were like at age fifteen? Hey, I know a lot of kids that age, and they are CRAZY. Fifteen is way too young for you to have decided on your entire way of life--Jerry Springer and Maury proved that to me ^_-. Conditioning children doesn’t mean they’re going to stay that way--the pilots are all young enough that they have a lot of growing space left.
To think that you can find the person perfect for you at fifteen is absurd. Or even at nineteen! I mean, people go through their entire life and never find anyone that special. Psychologically, there's no way you can be developed enough to know exactly what kind of person you're going to want when you're fifty. Sure, it's nice to say, "Ten years later Duo and Hilde have 2.5 kids and are living in a nice house with a white picket fence." But the reality is, you don't necessarily marry the person you dated when you were younger. You lose contact. You develop different goals. I'm not saying that any of the pairs in Gundam won't work--just step back for a second and think about it. Sure Sally Po was able to help Wufei when he needed to get his head removed from his ass, but is that the basis for a relationship? A long-lasting relationship cannot be based on connections that were made in life-threatening situations. It has to be made on trust and love and compatibility.
College students are bound to understand this argument better: have you ever been forced to live with a friend? There's a lot more to people than what you see on the outside. People have quirks. They have beliefs, methods, and--I'm afraid--even favorite foods which cannot be fully explained in a 52 episode show that takes place during a war. Sometimes in a relationship there might even be bad sex! (I know, it's shocking, isn't it?). The physical relationship is important too, after all, and sometimes people just don't connect on that level.
Putting the romantic intimacy thing aside, there are certain things that kids can't do. There is a limit to what they can endure and what skills they have. Sure Heero can do just about anything when it comes to fighting, assassination, piloting, etc, but do you think he can cook or sew? After all, he only wears one outfit most of the time. What about Duo--can he swim? Have you ever seen him swim? Do the colonies even have lakes and stuff? And don't forget that Duo, Quatre, and Wufei weren't associated with the Gundams (or mobile suits in general) until very soon before Operation Meteor itself--less than two years. That is not enough time to learn everything about everything.
Oh, and Sally Po is not a complete doctor. She is a military intelligence officer that was once a field doctor. She was at the hospital because of Heero--she no longer practices medicine. She may look thirty, but she's nineteen--too young to be in medical school let alone to have finished it. I’m sure she has all the basic knowledge that goes into setting a broken limb, stopping blood flow, medicines and drugs and that stuff, but no open heart surgery or what have you. Thank you.
So please, keep it in mind. These are kids and they are going to need serious therapy when they're older. They simply have not matured all the way yet.
Baka Baka Baka~!
Let me state right out that I hate reading random Japanese words in the middle of a story. You don't say, "Arigatou very much." How stupid does that sound? Why bother confusing your readers by making them look up the words in your story? It breaks the flow, and in many instances is simply incorrect. I've seen a lot of mistakes that confused the hell out of me, because I do have a good grasp on the language. I understand the want of authors to help their readers learn, but they won't learn it if you do it wrong. And even if it's right, it still sounds comical.
For Gundam it's even worse. It may be a Japanese anime, but no one in the show is really speaking Japanese. It's just easier for the sake of the Japanese viewers. True, they could have subtitled the entire show and gotten voice actors to speak in the real languages used, but that would have turned the casual viewers away.
But really, can you really imagine the Maganacs running around in their Arabian outfits talking to Chinese Sally Po in Japanese? It doesn’t make sense. Why would they know Japanese? If the entire world suddenly decided on an official language (which seems to be the case) Japanese would not be it simply because there are so few places where it is commonly spoken. Japanese characters are only used in Japan (and China) but English letters are all over the world. It would make more sense for one of the romance languages to be spoken.
In fact, the only Japanese character is Heero, and that's only a matter of ethnicity. He was supposedly born on a colony, where there are dozens of different cultures. He was raised as an assassin by a man who was blonde, most likely not Japanese (in the ep. Zero comic). Nowhere near Japan or Japanese speaking people.
So next time you have Duo exclaiming, "Heero no baka!" stop and think for a second. Did he really say that?
This section is, obviously, devoted to characters. There will be no mentioning of romantic couples in this section. I’ll be summarizing what is known for sure about each character, followed by explaining my views on them and disproving fan-created accusations. I’ll even have a section on interpreting images songs.
Note: I took translations for the image songs from a number of sources, reviewed them, fixed them, added interpretation. Therefore I consider these translations my own work--I looked at what other people did and improved on it. Because I combined so many separate sources I really can't give specific credit to separate people for each song--in some cases, even, the translator was not named. However, I would like to thank the people at Gundam.org, from which I gathered most of my information.
Also keep in mind that in the interpretations I didn't post the entire song.
Note: The screen captures are all my own, and the other pics are from pages that were open for stealing. However, please don't attempt to steal the section heads—they were created by Mage Tanith and myself specifically for this page, even if they're not much.
Zechs
Marquise/Milliardo Peacecraft
Treize Kushrenada
I could probably write an entire opening explaining which couples I advocate and what have you, but I’m not. The reason is, I want everyone to read all the sections. If I said right away “I don’t like this couple,” I’d lose audience; in short, you gotta read them all ^_-.
For each section I will have portions for evidence in the show, pros and cons, etc. For evidence, however, I will not consider such lame excuses as “They stood next to each other in one scene—it must be love” or “Heero and Trowa were together for over a month on their own—they must be screwing.” Come on, please. Though spending time with one of the other characters is important as far as development goes, I assume nothing. It’s not fair to the characters, for one, and sometimes it’s just ridiculous. As always, I intend to be very thorough and fair in my interpretation.
This is also not to say that certain couples are impossible, per say--just stop assuming things! These sections are taking the relationships as they stand in the show. It does not account for extenuating circumstances brought on by well-written fanfiction. In other words, if a section suggests that two characters can't/shouldn't be together, that doesn't mean an interesting situation can't change a few things.
As couples depend very much on the personalities of the characters involved, I strongly suggest you read the above sections before you read the following.
Trowa and Quatre
And To Wrap Things Up
The Essay Poll
Why Am I Taking This So Seriously Anyway?
For the Yaoi
Fans
Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read this essay. Please direct all comments, questions, suggestions, and wasted attempts at flamery to this address: chibipotato@hotmail.com. This account is specifically for this debate—if you write to me about this essay through my regular account, chances are I'll ignore it. I'm not trying to be rude or complicated, just organized. Thanks!
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The Essay is Over
After much thought I've decided that there will be no further updates/additions to this essay. The fact is, it's been over a year since I've watched anything Gundam related, and I'm on to new things. I really appreciate everyone who read and responded to my work--it was great hearing from you all! The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and it's great to know there are so many people out there that love Gundam Wing. This essay was for you most of all, and I've enjoyed reading your responses and stories. So please, don't stop sending things in!
In the end I know that fanfiction is purely a means of entertainment and expression--that's why I love it so much. The point of writing this wasn't to say that all fanfiction should be perfect cannon; that would just be boring ^-^. I just want people to recognize that a lot of people put great effort into making Gundam Wing enjoyable, and the least we can do is care about our own work, even if it is for fun.
So keep at it, fans! Enjoy Gundam Wing for all that it is, and express yourself any way you can. They made it for you--you should be thankful ^_~
--Croik