Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
"Gundam Wing" was not the first series in the "Gundam" franchise to be dubbed and distributed in the U.S. (the compilation movie version of the original "Mobile Suit Gundam", as well as the OVAs "" and "", preceded it by about two years), but it is well known as the first "Gundam" series to be aired on American television. This dub was produced by Bandai Entertainment and the voice work was done by Ocean Productions. The series aired on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon after-school programming block Toonami; premiering on March 6, 2000. In the first extended promo leading up to the series' premiere, voice actor Peter Cullen narrated the back story, evoking memories of "Voltron's" opening credits. The promo was said to be so riveting that Bandai decided to use it as the official promo for the series.
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.