New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (新機動戦記ガンダム
Endless Waltz originally premiered in Japan as a three-part OVA in 1997 and was later released as a compilation movie containing new scenes and changes to the score in 1998. It was broadcast on Cartoon Network in the United States on November 10, 2000.
Synopsis
It is the year After Colony 196 and the battles between Earth and the colonies have ended. Treize Khushrenada is dead and OZ has come to an end. This gives birth to the Earth Sphere Unified Nation (ESUN) and the Preventers. Seeing they won't be needed anymore, the Gundam pilots (except Wufei) send their suits into the sun. However, this peace would not last, for a rebellion occurs on the newly completed colony, L3 X-18999. Led by seven year old Mariemaia Khushrenada, Treize's illegitimate daughter, the rebellion kidnaps Relena Darlian, now the Vice Foreign Minister of the ESUN, during a diplomatic mission to X-18999. As the Gundam pilots investigate further, they discover that Mariemaia is merely a puppet controlled by her grandfather Dekim Barton, a former advisor to martyred colony leader Heero Yuy, who is using X-18999 to go through with the original Operation Meteor, as a contingency plan in case the ESUN doesn't comply. The Gundam pilots must prevent Dekim from seizing power over the ESUN. The Gundams are retrieved from their course to sun to Earth's orbit thanks to Quatre and the Maganacs. The pilots use their Gundams one last time to fight against Dekim's forces, not killing anyone. In the end, Dekim is killed by one of his own soldiers, Earth and its colonies are at peace once again and all mobile suits (including the Gundams) are forever destroyed.
Story
OVA Series
| # | Episode Title | Japanese Airdate | English Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Silent Orbit | 25 January 1997 | 10 November 2000 |
| 2 | Operation Meteor | 25 April 1997 | 10 November 2000 |
| 3 | Return to Forever | 25 July 1997 | 10 November 2000 |
Theatrical Version Changes
When Endless Waltz was released in theaters in 1998 as a lead-in to Gundam's 20th anniversary, several new scenes were added, adding approximately ten minutes of new footage to the story. Most of this footage comes in the form of an extended battle scene between the Gundams, but there are a few noteworthy changes that were made between the two versions.
- The titlecards and transitions between episodes were removed, making the three episodes into a single movie.
- Many of the instrumental score cues have been shifted around from the OVA. Additionally, the OVA's ending theme, White Reflection, was replaced with a new theme, Last Impression, both performed by TWO-MIX, who also performed the opening songs of the anime.
- Duo's flashback is moved up to the shuttle flight, just before Heero's; in the OVA, it takes place as Trowa's Serpent fires at Duo's damaged Leo.
- There is a new scene which shows Zechs reading his field manual inside the Tallgeese III and his eventual reunion with Noin. This takes place after he destroys the Mariemaia Army headquarters at MO-3.
- A new scene shows Sally Po, donning a stolen Mariemaia Army uniform, rescuing the hostages on X-18999 (including Catherine and the circus manager).
- Duo, Trowa and Quatre's battle scene in Brussels is lengthened and much longer compared to the OVA.
- Another new scene, taking place after Relena's impromptu speech, has Dorothy Catalonia appear in Brussels, convincing the citizens to heed Relena's words and do things for themselves if they want true peace.
- Another additional scene features Heero sleeping inside the cockpit of the damaged Wing Zero while lying at the bottom of the sea, following his battle against Wufei. Wing Zero then re-activates on its own (awakening Heero in the process), stands up on its own, and supposedly convinces Heero to complete his mission.
- The individual character endings are changed to be longer and more elaborate, but remain generally the same in tone.
- The English Dub replaces euphemisms in the OVA with minor profanity (e.g., Zechs says "Damn you!" instead of "Blast you!"), similar to the differences between the censored and uncut versions of the series that aired on Cartoon Network.
Cast
- Heero Yuy - Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Mark Hildreth (English)
- Relena Darlian - Akiko Yajima (Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley (English)
- Duo Maxwell - Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Scott McNeil (English)
- Trowa Barton - Shigeru Nakahara (Japanese), Kirby Morrow (English)
- Quatre Raberba Winner - Ai Orikasa (Japanese), Brad Swaile (English)
- Chang Wufei - Ryuso Ishino (Japanese), Ted Cole (English)
- Mariemaia Khushrenada - Rei Sakuma (Japanese), Maggie Blue O'Hara (English)
- Dekim Barton - Eisuke Yoda (Japanese), Michael Dobson (English)
- Zechs Merquise - Takahito Koyasu (Japanese), Brian Drummond (English)
- Lucrezia Noin - Chisa Yokoyama (Japanese), Saffron Henderson (English)
- Sally Po - Yumi Toma (Japanese), Samantha Ferris (English)
- Lady Une - Sayuri Yamauchi (Japanese), Enuka Okuma (English)
- Catherine Bloom - Saori Suzuki (Japanese), Cathy Weseluck (English)
- Dorothy Catalonia - Naoko Matsui (Japanese), Cathy Weseluck (English)
- Rashid Kurama - Kazuhiro Nakata (Japanese), Michael Dobson (English)
- Auda - Daiki Nakamura (Japanese)
- Afmahd - Isshin Chiba (Japanese)
- Abdul - Tomoyuki Morikawa (Japanese)
- Trowa Barton (Real) - Hidetoshi Nakamura (Japanese)
- Doctor J - Minoru Inaba (Japanese), Dave Ward (English)
- Professor G - Yuzuru Fujimoto (Japanese), Brian Drummond (English)
- Doktor S - Shinya Ootaki (Japanese), David Mackay (English)
- Instructor H - Takashi Taguchi (Japanese)
Mobile Suits
- XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero
- XXXG-01D2 Gundam Deathscythe Hell
- XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Custom
- XXXG-01SR2 Gundam Sandrock Custom
- XXXG-01S2 Altron Gundam
- OZ-00MS3 Tallgeese III
- OZ-12SMS Taurus
- WF-02MD Virgo II
- OZ-06MS Leo
- MMS-01 Serpent
The Endless Waltz redesign
In Endless Waltz, all of the major Gundams underwent a massive redesign by Hajime Katoki. The Gundams are still the same ones that were used at the end of the TV series, although different in appearance from the original TV versions. The Gundams have more stylized and somewhat ostentatious designs; reflected in the Wing Zero's giant "Angel Wings," the even more demonic appearance of the Deathscythe Hell, and the more dragon-like appearance of the Altron. Also new to the OVA is the Tallgeese III, which has several similarities with both the original Tallgeese and the Gundam Epyon. Despite the dramatically different designs of the Gundams, the story in the OVA assumes they have always appeared this way.
Furthermore, in order to maintain a better sense of balance, Katoki also made redesigns for the five original Gundams from the beginning of the TV series. It is noteworthy that most of these changes in design do not have an overly large impact on most of the Gundams. However, the angel-winged redesign of Wing Zero removes its "Neo Bird Mode" transformation ability from the TV series; though it was later restored in the Glory of the Losers manga re-telling of the series, which features all of Katoki's redesigns for the Gundams.
Theme Songs
OVA Ending Theme
- "White Reflection" by TWO-MIX
Movie Ending Theme
- "Last Impression" by TWO-MIX
Gallery
