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".
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
As a film fanatic, Imagawa perceived that referencing world cinema would help illustrate the real world settings in "G Gundam". The production staff primarily wished to utilize sightseeing guide books, but found that these books did not show the locations from the perspective of everyday people. The battlegrounds in the first several episodes were conveyed using a number of multimedia works including films by Federico Fellini, Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, and Yılmaz Güney; films based on Wong Fei-hung; video clips of the band Swing Out Sister; music by the groups Genesis and Magma; and scenery from Monty Python acts. Each episode's introductory narration, provided by the character Stalker, was inspired by American television dramas such as "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone". In the same manner, certain "G Gundam" character names and their techniques were drawn from films, most prominently the Hong Kong "wuxia" genre. For instance, the alternate name of antagonist Master Asia, , is taken directly from the Japanese-translated title of a film of the same name. Additionally, the villain Wong Yunfat is based heavily on Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, specifically the actor's appearance in the movie "God of Gamblers". Some elements in "G Gundam" were taken from other anime and manga. A key scene at the series midpoint involving the Shining Gundam's gold-colored "Super Mode" was inspired by "Saint Seiya". Another instance towards the show's climax, where the hero's rivals join him to fight a greater opposing force, was a commonly used motif in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" comics, most notably "Ring ni Kakero".