Written & Illustrated by Koichi Tokita
Published in the west by Tokyopop, $9.99 (US), available from www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk and any other suppliers of Gundam books.

Overview

G-UNIT is the original manga set in the Wing universe during the timeline of the TV series. Volume 1 covers the first 4 chapters of the tale of Odin, a mobile suit test pilot at the remote asteroid colony of MO-V. He and his brother Odel are testing the new suits designed by Dr. berg - two modular Gundams named Geminass. The story begins in the period of Gundam Wing when OZ are offering their protection to colonies that ally with them. Despite signing up, MO-V's mobile suit project attracts the attention of the an independent OZ special unit - the Stardust Knights. The manga depicts the first encounters between the ace pilots of the Stardust Knights and their OZ mobile suit variants and the brothers and their PX System (another "special system" that increases the performance of a suit when activated) equipped G-UNITs. The first volume finishes after the separation of the brothers and the introduction of a mysterious masked man (sic).

Opinion

The manga is published in the west by Tokyopop and comes in dinky, Technical Manual sized pocket book form. Luckily the size isn't quite small enough to ruin the art and text. Following the trend of almost all new western manga prints this is reproduced in original Japanese orientation. That means the book runs from back to front and the pages from right to left. As this is my fourth non-mirrored manga I had no problems but the first time or two you read them this way around can be rather disorientating. The print quality is very good for Tokyopop and I don't really see that it could be much better for a black and white manga (yes it's black and white as most mangas are). In the back as a bonus you get the very amusing "Go For It Domon! Gundam Party" chibi Gundam character strips. They're a very welcome extra.

The art depicts the mobile suit conflicts well enough but it's not up to the more dynamic standards of Blue Destiny or Gundam: The Origin. The characters are drawn in a generic anime fashion but that fits in with the feel of the book. The story of G-UNIT is hardly startlingly original but it is equally simplistic and doesn't try and overcomplicate itself like the Wing TV storyline. The whole manga is in fact a more pure distillation of the aims and level of Wing. It's firmly aimed at the younger Gundam fan, which Wing was also, but without the failed pretensions of being something more. There is no poor adolescent philosophy on pacifism and people here (at least not yet). If you like your manga fun and aimed at the younger reader then I recommend this. As I enjoyed it more (so far) than the Wing TV series then I presume a Wing TV fan would really like it. However it's not something I'd buy myself if I wasn't curious. It's a little too "kiddie" for me I guess, rather too simplistic for my personal tastes. Stop and think if you want this level of simplistic fun or if you are looking for more depth of story before buying.

Written to Pantera - Cowboys From Hell