| Mobile Fighter G Gundam | |
 North American DVD cover featuring Domon Kasshu (center) and Rain Mikamura (right) | |
| 機動武闘伝Gガンダム (Kidō Butōden Jī Gandamu) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Yasuhiro Imagawa |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Fuyunori Gobu |
| Music by | Kohei Tanaka |
| Studio | Sunrise |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | ANN (TV Asahi) |
| English network | |
| Original run | April 22, 1994 – March 31, 1995 |
| Episodes | 49 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Kōichi Tokita |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Comic BonBon |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | April 1994 – April 1995 |
| Volumes | 3 |
| Light novel | |
| Written by | Yoshitake Suzuki |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Imprint | Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko |
| Demographic | Male |
| Original run | August 29, 1995 – March 1, 1997 |
| Volumes | 3 |
| Manga | |
| Kidō Butōden G Gundam Gaiden Shōryū Densetsu | |
| Written by | Toshiya Murakami |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Deluxe BonBon |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | December 1994 – April 1995 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| Kidō Butōden Gaiden Gundam Fight 7th | |
| Written by | Kitarou Ototoi |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Comic BonBon Special Edition |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | March 1996 – December 1996 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| Chōkyū! Kidō Butōden G Gundam | |
| Written by | Yasuhiro Imagawa |
| Illustrated by | Kazuhiko Shimamoto |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Magazine | Gundam Ace |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | July 26, 2010 – August 26, 2011 |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Manga | |
| Shinjuku Tōhō Fuhai! | |
| Written by | Yasuhiro Imagawa |
| Illustrated by | Kazuhiko Shimamoto |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Magazine | Gundam Ace |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | September 26, 2011 – January 26, 2013 |
| Volumes | 8 |
| Manga | |
| Bakunetsu Neo Hong Kong! | |
| Written by | Yasuhiro Imagawa |
| Illustrated by | Kazuhiko Shimamoto |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Magazine | Gundam Ace |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | February 26, 2013 – 2015 |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Manga | |
| Saishū Kessen-hen | |
| Written by | Yasuhiro Imagawa |
| Illustrated by | Kazuhiko Shimamoto |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Magazine | Gundam Ace |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | 2015 – August 26, 2016 |
| Volumes | 4 |
Mobile Fighter G Gundam, also known in Japan as Mobile Fighting Legend G Gundam (機動武闘伝Gガンダム, Kidō Butōden Jī Gandamu) (and commonly referred to as simply G Gundam), is a 1994 Japanese animated television series produced by Sunrise and the fifth installment in the long-running Gundam franchise. The series is set in the "Future Century", where space colonies representing countries have agreed to hold an organized fighting tournament known as the "Gundam Fight" every four years to settle their political differences in place of war. Each colony sends a representative fighter piloting a giant, humanoid mecha called a Gundam to battle on Earth until only one is left, and the winning nation earns the right to govern over all the colonies until the next tournament. The events of G Gundam follow Domon Kasshu, the pilot of Neo Japan's Shining Gundam during the 13th Gundam Fight. Domon's mission is to both win the tournament and to track down his older brother, who is believed to have stolen the mysterious Devil Gundam (AKA the Dark Gundam outside of Japan/Asia) from the Neo Japan government.
Commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Gundam brand, G Gundam was produced to reboot the waning popularity of the long-running franchise. It is the first Gundam series with a self-contained plot set in an alternate calendar era from the original "Universal Century" timeline. Additionally, the show casts aside many of the conventions set by its predecessors and takes many new steps for its franchise, such as a focus on martial arts and decisive, personal duels as opposed to large-scale military conflicts. G Gundam was directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, with its settings and characters significantly influenced by the director's interest in world cinema. The anime's real-world locales were drawn from numerous foreign films and were planned using location scouting. G Gundam ran for 49 episodes on Japan's TV Asahi from April 22, 1994, to March 31, 1995. An English-language version produced by Bandai Entertainment aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's Toonami block beginning on August 5, 2002. Since its original broadcast, G Gundam has spawned manga, audio albums, video games, guide books, and several lines of scale models.
During its conception and Japanese television debut, G Gundam was met with controversy among its production staff, sponsors, and fans because the show takes a wildly different turn from all previous entries in the Gundam universe. However, for that very reason, the series is cited as a milestone in its long-running franchise and ultimately proved very popular in the region. Reception for G Gundam has been generally positive in North America. Reviewers praised the primary characters and mecha as unique and stylized, but strongly disagreed on the plot. While some critics enjoyed the bold and campy divergence from the more dramatic social and political undertones traditional of Gundam, others found G Gundam's story diffusely shallow, repetitive, or not up to standards set by its anime predecessors.