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.
History of anime
Alongside its super robot counterpart, the real robot genre was also declining during the 1990s. Though several "Gundam" shows were produced during this decade, very few of them were successful. The only "Gundam" shows in the 1990s which managed an average television rating over 4% in Japan were "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" (1994) and "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing" (1995). It wasn't until "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" in 2002 that the real robot genre regained its popularity.