Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Early in the show's North American run, Bandai reported that "G Gundam" had the top ratings of any anime show for the period. The company considered the show to be a "hit" at the time. However, officials for Toonami recounted in 2006 that no "Gundam" series earned significant viewer ratings after the first North American airing of "Gundam Wing" in 2000. "G Gundam" received an overall positive critical reception amid its mainstream exposure in the United States. Nonetheless, views on "G Gundam"s plot remain largely mixed. 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. AnimeNation writer John Oppliger considered "G Gundam" to be "the plague of the "Gundam" franchise" and "one of the biggest mis-steps in anime history" due to its elimination of such serious subtext. Both Bamboo Dong of the Anime News Network and Duncan Scott of "Protoculture Addicts" were also initially disappointed for the same reason, with the latter writer feeling that the series features "Gundam" in its title purely for marketing reasons. Derrick L. Tucker of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews called the series' episodic storyline its "most profound weakness", whereby "the narrative exists to move the viewer from fight to fight". Tucker also found that the potential for its more dramatic themes, such as tension between Domon and Master Asia or Domon's romantic relationship with Rain, is "overshadowed from start to finale by the show's domineering, if repetitive action sets".
Kunihisa Sugishima
Sugishima started his career on Sunrise in the 1980s, having worked as the setting producer for "Heavy Metal L-Gaim"s episodes 1 to 18, as well as the director and storyboarder for other episodes. Another major work in his early career was his involvement with the "Gundam" series; he directed some episodes of "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" and "Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ". His first work as main director was in 1994 when he directed at Sunrise a single-episode special titled "Shinizokonai Kakarichō". His subsequent works were not at Sunrise; he directed "Gokudo" (1999) at Trans Arts, "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters" (2000–2004) at Gallop, and "Speed Grapher" (2005) at Gonzo. For the latter company he also directed the original video animation "Strike Witches" in 2007. After directing "Nabari no Ou" at J.C.Staff in 2008, he went to direct four "Beyblade"-related television series and one film at Tatsunoko Productions and SynergySP between 2009 and 2012. He returned to work for Sunrise where he was the director for two "Battle Spirits" anime; "Burning Soul" (2015) and "Double Drive" (2016).