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Blast-From-the-Past Gundam Wing Anime Illustrations Bewilder Fans
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The August issue of Gakken's Animedia magazine, which shipped on Monday, features special Mobile Suit Gundam Wing illustrations. The special illustrations are the anime's first in seven years.
The magazine's official Twitter account previewed a Heero and Duo image. The actual magazine also features illustrations of Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Relena with character introductions. In addition, the issue includes an interview with Katsuyuki Sumisawa, who was in charge of series composition for the television anime.
Considering more than 20 years have passed since the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing television anime debuted in 1995, the magazine's illustration feature on the series is bewildering some fans. Some commenters left responses to the announcement online such as "What year is this?!," "Gundam Wing in 2017...???," and "Time slip... ??"
However, it appears there is a simple explanation for the current publication of the special illustrations. Bandai Visual will release a special limited-edition Blu-ray Disc box set (seen below) bundling the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor original video anime on July 28. The illustrations in the magazine are celebrating the release, so fans can rest assured that they did not accidentally time travel. On the other hand, the reason why the anime is getting special home video releases now remains less clear. Maybe there is a nostalgic time traveler out there working for Bandai Visual who wanted to re-experience the series alongside today's fans.
Two special limited-edition Blu-ray Disc box sets for the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing television series also shipped on June 23. The television anime and OVAs had previous limited-edition Blu-ray Disc box releases in 2013 and 2014.
The anime's protagonist Heero ranked at #7 on the Goo Ranking website's recent poll of Gundam anime main characters with the best personality.
[Via Nijimen]
