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".
Nami Tamaki
In 1999, Tamaki attended dance school and learned how to perform on stage. She auditioned for Sony Music Japan in 2001 when she was thirteen years old where she performed cover songs of the Destiny's Child hit "Survivor" and "Full Moon Prayer" by Core of Soul. She was selected out of 1,000 applicants and started her career in 2003 with her debut single "Believe" which was an opening song for the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed". Her follow-up single, "Realize", was also used in the series. The popularity of the Gundam franchise, and the inclusion of her work within it, helped her gain immediate popularity as a singer. Her first concert performance was opening for T.M.Revolution at the Pacific Media Expo in 2004. She released her first studio album, "Greeting", and was hailed as a J-pop princess.