List of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam episodes
"Mobile Suit Victory Gundam" is a 1993 Japanese science fiction anime television series created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino and produced by Bandai Visual, Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, and TV Asahi with music production by Starchild Records and Apollon. Spanning 51 episodes, "Mobile Suit Victory Gundam" is the final television series following the Universal Century timeline in the Gundam franchise. The series premiered in Japan on TV Asahi on April 2, 1993 and concluded on March 25, 1994.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Like other early mecha anime, the "Mobile Suit Gundam" franchise was backed by sponsors whose main interest was having television programs advertise plastic models and toys. "Gundam" fiction set itself apart from others in the same genre with its dramatic plot devices, morally complex characters, and depictions of the horrors of war. These aspects, combined with its "Real Robot" mecha approach, made "Gundam" immensely popular for several years. After the broadcast of "Victory Gundam" beginning in 1993, Imagawa, a young protégé of Tomino, was selected as the director of the next installment in the franchise, titled "Polcarino Gundam". However, as "Gundam" popularity dwindled and sales began to drop by this time, the sponsors forced the creators to reboot the brand with the newly titled "Mobile Fighter G Gundam". Conceived as a less realistic "Super Robot" series, "G Gundam" abandoned its military roots and was aimed at younger viewers to increase toy sales. Alterations including a lack of a warfare-centered plot, Gundams stereotypically based on nationality, and Earth as a ring were originally seen as blasphemous to Imagawa and much of Sunrise's staff. Notwithstanding, Imagawa became more supportive of the changes after seeing some impressive, complex designs in "G Gundam"s sponsor-created toys. He eventually settled into his position, taking advice from his mentor. "If you continue to make a copy of a copy of a copy," he stated, "eventually the image degrades to nothing." Imagawa thought it was important for creators and sponsors to buy into each others ideas for the benefit of a product's success. The director also commented that in order to sell a product like "G Gundam" to an audience resistant of such ambitious changes, creators must instill their own personalities to overcome hardships and make the work unique. By the end of production, Imagawa considered it meaningless to compare "G Gundam" to other parts of the franchise and disregarded the concept of a "conventional" "Gundam" series. "This is MY "Gundam"," he proclaimed, "And I've made a "Gundam" that I can be proud of."