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".
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
The series premiered in Japan on the terrestrial Tokyo Broadcasting System and Mainichi Broadcasting System networks, where it occupied the Saturday 6 pm timeslot, replacing "Ultraman Cosmos". "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" aired between October 5, 2002, and September 27, 2003. Each episode was streamed on the Internet the day after broadcast, for users subscribing to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone services, in Windows Media or Real format. The series was sold in Japan as thirteen DVD volumes released from March 28, 2003 to March 26, 2004. On March 26, 2004, a five-minute epilogue called "After Phase: In the Valley of Stars" was released on the thirteenth and final DVD of the Japanese release. A DVD box set of the series was released on February 23, 2010. A fifty-episode sequel titled "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny" aired in Japan from October 9, 2004 to October 1, 2005, airing on the same stations as "Gundam SEED". "Gundam SEED Destiny" takes place two years after the original series and follows Shinn Asuka, focusing mainly on his involvement in the new war.