Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (新機動戦記ガンダムW: ENDLESS WALTZ), also known as New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, is a 1997 original video anime series directed by Yasunao Aoki, and produced by studio Sunrise. Staff credits also include writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa and music composer Kow Otani. The OVA series was first released in Japan starting January 1997.
This is a continuation to the 1995 television anime series Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, so any images and details mentioned below will be considered as major spoilers for those who have yet to watch the previous series.
Background:
“After Colony 196.
Tranquillity has spread through the Earth Sphere and the colonies are at peace.
The Gundam pilots find themselves attempting to rebuild their lives in this new era. No longer having need of their weapons of war, they have sent their Gundams into the sun to be destroyed. But suddenly, Relena Darlian, who has become a high-ranking government official, is kidnapped by a colony with aspirations of total domination.
The Gundam pilots and their allies find themselves called into action once again. The Endless Waltz has resumed…”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, April 2020.
As mentioned with my unboxing posts for the main series, the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing franchise takes place in the After Colony timeline, which is a separate continuity from the Universal Century where Amuro & Char’s saga is covered. That means a whole new cast of characters but the series keeps the same themes of war and the idea of using Gundams to fight.
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing was one of the more popular titles from the franchise that actually grabbed the attention of UK fans. The main series was shown on Toonami and the whole franchise was once released on DVD by Beez Entertainment. Eventually when Bandai Entertainment in the United States discontinued, so did Beez Entertainment since the two were pretty much one and the same with some slight differences here and there. The Gundam licenses were eventually rescued through a partnership with Sunrise between US distributor Nozomi Entertainment and UK distributor Anime Limited.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
UK distributor Anime Limited is the main distributor for Gundam on home video. During 2019 they managed to release Mobile Suit Gundam Wing however the final part of the franchise only received a re-release until now (Gundam 00‘s remaining part is also expected to see a release in 2020). The packaging matches the previous UK Gundam Blu-ray releases from Anime Limited with a box to house the Amaray case and any added extras if available.
The size of the box for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is more akin to Char’s Counterattack and Thunderbolt. A standard edition Blu-ray will release later down the line.
Like the other Anime Limited sets, the main regular collector’s edition release is 1000 units only, but the shop exclusive box that houses the whole set is 450 units and had already sold out so it’s no longer available to purchase. I received my copy early as part of pre-ordering the set during their early bird sale. The SRP is £59.99 and the early bird price was £34.99.
Physical Contents:
- Shop Exclusive: Rigid Outer Box with clean artwork to house all CE sets
- Rigid Box with Amaray case packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specs and sticker on wrapping for BBFC logo
- 28-page Booklet
- 5 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 20th April 2020
The collector’s edition release for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz contains both the 3 OVA episodes as well as the theatrical film version, in addition to the Operation Meteor specials across 4 Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by Nozomi Entertainment & Rightstuf. Note that due to how the series was made, this show is presented in 4:3 and not widescreen.
The audio options included are the main Japanese audio with English subtitles for the whole package as well as the Bandai Entertainment English dub for Endless Waltz‘ OVA and theatrical film versions. Operation Meteor was never dubbed and as such remains subtitled only. The discs are region locked to B and the subtitles are unlockable during playback. The colour of the subtitles is yellow for the main dialogue and white for secondary dialogue or on-screen info.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVAs & Film: English, Japanese Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor: Japanese |
| Audio | Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVAs: English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz Film: English Linear PCM 2.0 English Linear PCM 5.1 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor: Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVAs: 1 BD-50 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz Film: 1 BD-50 Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor: 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor
- Episode Previews
Disc 3: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz OVAs
- Clean Endings
- Promo Video
Disc 4: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz Film
- Promo
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray (non-Shop Exclusive variation) and standard edition Blu-ray are available to order on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
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