Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
The series aired in Japan on the terrestrial TV Asahi network. It ran for 49 episodes; beginning on April 7, 1995 and ending on March 29, 1996. It received multiple manga adaptations, as well as video games. Four original video animation (OVA) episodes were produced including a retelling of the series, "Operation Meteor", and a direct sequel, "". In 2010, Sumizawa started writing the novel "", another sequel to the series. While the series fared modestly well in Japan, it found greater success in the United States and popularized the "Gundam" franchise in the West.
Saint Seiya
It was considered one of the biggest anime phenomenons of the 1980s. It would become the inspiration for future series, including several Gundam series such as "Mobile Suit Gundam Wing" and "Mobile Fighter G Gundam", "Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato", "Ronin Warriors", "Wild Knights Gulkeeva", and Kurumada's later work "B't X". In "The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917", Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy praises the series' complex plot and felt that animation designers' Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno had worked "magic" with both the anime series and the films. They also praised the grand soundtrack and director Shigeyasu Yamauchi's ability to stretch out the tension and chose the perfect places to stop an episode to keep audiences waiting for the next one. Clements and McCarthy did, however, find the series disturbing in that its main emotional impact comes from the audience seeing "older boys and men fighting brave but naive teenagers" and through victories earning more weapons. Jason Thompson describes the series as being "almost pure battle".