Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
"Gundam Wing" was a greater success in North America, however, and is credited with single-handedly popularizing the "Gundam" franchise among Western audiences. Just over a week after its premiere on Cartoon Network on March 6, 2000, the series was the top rated program in all age groups. During the summer of 2000, it remained as the first or second top-rated show among kids and teens during its twelve airings per week on the Toonami block. "Gundam Wing" was ranked the 73rd best animated series by IGN, calling the series "so good that even those opposed to anime have to give the show its due credit".
History of anime
In the United States, the popularity of "Star Wars" had a similar, though much smaller, effect on the development of anime. "Gatchaman" was reworked and edited into "Battle of the Planets" in 1978 and again as "G-Force" in 1986. "Space Battleship Yamato" was reworked and edited into "Star Blazers" in 1979. The "Macross" series began with "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross" (1982), which was adapted into English as the first arc of "Robotech" (1985), which was created from three separate anime titles: "The Super Dimension Fortress Macross", "Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross" and "Genesis Climber Mospeada". The sequel to "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" (1985), became the most successful real robot space opera in Japan, where it managed an average television rating of 6.6% and a peak of 11.7%.