When Gundam Wing first came out on Toonami, it was groundbreaking. The audience never saw an anime so untouched before. Other anime series on Toonami, such as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, were heavily-edited and even "Americanized" (changing last names to American last names, for example). They even had the original music replaced. Gundam Wing did not do that. Those of Toonami's audience who were new to anime - and there were a lot, myself included - saw what anime truly was for the first time (minus the original voices, of course). This is why Gundam Wing is so beloved in the eyes of many.
Once one delved further into Gundam fandom, they will realize that they had been kind of duped. While not the worst Gundam series by far (*ahem* SEED DESTINY *ahem*), most of the other Gundam series are much better and much different. The Gundam series is supposed to be about the horrors and heroics of war, usually seen through the eyes of one young prodigy pilot. Gundam Wing is about five boys with their own indestructible mobile suits fighting against evil, which seems too Justice League-like and ridiculous for most fans (how can one stage guerrilla warfare with a towering robot that can be seen miles away?). Of course the Gundam Wing plot is a bit more complicated than that, but when it tries to be philosophical, it just gets confusing and pointless.
The original Gundam, Zeta Gundam and Victory Gundam (maybe ZZ Gundam's latter half) seem better to me, but I still like Gundam Wing for introducing me to "real" anime, so to speak.
Once one delved further into Gundam fandom, they will realize that they had been kind of duped. While not the worst Gundam series by far (*ahem* SEED DESTINY *ahem*), most of the other Gundam series are much better and much different. The Gundam series is supposed to be about the horrors and heroics of war, usually seen through the eyes of one young prodigy pilot. Gundam Wing is about five boys with their own indestructible mobile suits fighting against evil, which seems too Justice League-like and ridiculous for most fans (how can one stage guerrilla warfare with a towering robot that can be seen miles away?). Of course the Gundam Wing plot is a bit more complicated than that, but when it tries to be philosophical, it just gets confusing and pointless.
The original Gundam, Zeta Gundam and Victory Gundam (maybe ZZ Gundam's latter half) seem better to me, but I still like Gundam Wing for introducing me to "real" anime, so to speak.