This page was created March 15, 2000. Last updated November 23, 2004.
SIMONE MAXWELL: I only saw half of yesterday's episode.
KQ: Well, we can do the day before, too.
SM: I can't remember the day before!
KQ: The day before is...uhh...your favorite person goes back to Earth...
SM: Oh yes. And the party. And happily slips back into her rich, privileged life...
KQ: That's it!
SM: ...completely uncaring about people dying horribly...
KQ: That's it!
SM: ...and studly young guys piloting giant robots. Now, I know that she gets involved later on, because she gets to be the queen and all that shit...
KQ: But that hasn't happened yet.
SM: I know, but why doesn't she say, "Well, I want a giant robot too?" Or is that just unladylike?
KQ: [in a Good Witch of the North voice] She's just waking up to the possibilities that this new life offers!
SM: The hell with the new possibilities--she wants to plook Heero! [laughter] She wants to marry Heero and...
KQ: But, see, now she understands where he's coming from, because...
SM: Well, maybe.
KQ: ...her father just got killed. So she said she's on his side now.
SM: He's not sure he believes her! I think it's cool that the shuttles actually look like the space shuttles we have now. It makes you kind of think that there's actually hope for the space program. "You guys, we have to keep doing the space program, because otherwise there aren't going to be shuttles by the time Gundam Wing takes place, and then there will we be?" [laughter]
KQ: So, he couldn't kill her.
SM: No. Well, he could, but he didn't oblige the audience...[laughter]
KQ: But he tried.
SM: He tried.
KQ: But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
SM: [rubbing thumb and forefinger together] It's the world's smallest violin, playing "My Heart Bleeds For You"! [laughter] Nawww, he just choked in the big inning. But I do think it was interesting in yesterday's episode, after the G-Boys are standing around going "we've been had!", that Wufei is the first one to figure it out.
KQ: Wufei is the brains of the operation!
SM: He's like, "You guys, you know, we've been getting fucked with pretty good up 'til now." And the expressions of shock are wonderful, and Heero's like, "Oh, no, I fucked up! This is the first time in my life I've fucked up! I don't get a cookie, do I?" Poor Heero...So, I didn't see much of yesterday's episode, so I'm afraid I...[laughter]
KQ: Basically, they assemble everybody for the big meeting. And then you got there!
SM: And then I got there. I like how they tell Heero, "Oh, Heero, you just blew up the shuttle with all the peace guys on it," and Heero's like "What?" and turns on the TV, and there's that guy going "We declare war on you guys!" It's like, well, that's convenient!
KQ: That's the Septum guy that's on the...
SM: General Septum!
KQ: They have General Septum get on the other shuttle, and then he makes the announcement, and then Lady Une dumps him out the door, and then she shoots him. Now, unfortunately, they cut the scene where she shoots him through the head...
SM: I bet they had it on the midnight show.
KQ: Yeah, I bet they did.
SM: I remember, I was like, "Wow, what a great shot!" You would think the fall from the plane would kill him, y'know, and...I think that "Septum" is supposed to be S-E-P-T-E-M, and I think it's a Latin word for a number, which would kind of fit with the rest of the names. But unfortunately the way they're pronouncing it, it sounds like, you know, that part of your nose..."Hey, General That-Part-Of-Your-Nose!" [laughter]
KQ: "I Am Joe's Septum!" [laughter]
SM: I suppose we were lucky they didn't call him "General Scrotum"! [laughter] It would be like in Life of Brian where they have Biggest Dickus and his wife, Incontinentia Buttocks [laughter]...I have the script of the movie, you can see that's exactly what her name is! And I thought it was interesting that the title of tomorrow's episode is "The Treize Assassination," which, in fact, doesn't happen...
KQ: Bummer...
SM: They try to, but I think...doesn't Treize tell Wufei that he stinks and he needs to take a bath or something? Or is that just from looking at all those damn doujinshi?
KQ: You've been looking at too many doujinshi. [laughter]
SM: Yeah, I guess I have. I saw a really awful Trigun one last night, and I'm not going to even bother to tell you what happened in it, because it was pretty horrible!
KQ: Oh no...
SM: Because I know if I do, you'll record it and put in on the Web page for all posterity!
KQ: That's right--for all posterior-ity!
SM: And believe me, there were a lot of posteriors involved in this story...[laughter]
KQ: Okay, so, in the "Party Night" episode...
SM: [singing] "Oh, yes, it's Ladies' Night, and the feeling's right..."
KQ: They took out the blood where Catherine throws the knife, she cuts Trowa, and the whole scene completely loses any impact! People must wonder, "Why is she apologizing to him afterward?"
SM: Yeah, it's like, "What's the big deal? She's throwing a knife at him. She's been throwing knives at him!"
KQ: Do they just not worry about it not making sense because they figure, "Well, if someone is really actually paying attention, they're going to watch the midnight show and then they'll see what really happened? But for now we'll just do something that doesn't make sense?"
SM: They may figure that, because they probably figure, "Oh, well, little kids are used to seeing stuff that doesn't make sense." From what I understand, Dragonball is pretty bloody too--that they cut the hell out of that. I've heard people saying that a lot gets cut out of Dragonball, And from what I've seen of Dragonball, it's like, "What's there to cut? People throw each other around and scream insults at each other--it's just like Saint Seiya, except they don't wear the interesting armor." But I understand that people actually land on their heads on the ground and a big red puddle spreads underneath them.
KQ: Wow. Well, at least there's a realistic result of...
SM: But from what I understand, some of the episodes wind up being 10 minutes long because of that! [laughter] Actually, doesn't that happen to Heero, like in the tenth episode?
KQ: Yeah, it'll be Friday's episode.
SM: Doesn't he land on the ground and a huge, big red puddle...
KQ: Remember when we first saw that episode?
SM: And we were like, "Whoa!"
KQ: We were like, "Oh my God!" And then Dr. Ann happened to come over, and we were like, "Ann! Ann! Is he dead?!" And she's like, "What?" And we're like, "Look! Look at this episode! Now, see, he falls from there, and there's all this blood, and his eyes are open, and there's this blood...do you think he's dead?!"
SM: Uh-huh!
KQ: And she's like, "It's a cartoon." "Well, yeah, but based on your medical training..."
SM: [laughter] Yeah! Poor Dr. Ann!
KQ: ..."do you think he's dead?!" [laughter]
SM: We were so upset! [laughter] But, you know, a scalp cut will bleed a lot. Remember when Steve told us Maya climbed onto the dresser and pulled it over on herself when she was a baby, and he picked her up, and *blorp!* He said, "I almost passed out!" Personally, I think it would be worth the price of admission itself--"See Steve pass out! Details at 11!" [laughter]
KQ: I'm on a completely unrelated mailing list, and a few people have been talking about Gundam Wing on there. The initial reaction when the show was coming on was, there were a couple people saying, "Well, yeah, Gundam Wing is gonna start, but, you know, it's more of that Gundam stuff, but I wish they would've done the first series, 'cause that must be the real Gundam, but they're doing this thing 'way down the line, so eeuw..."
SM: Well, they'd have to have the first series on at 3 in the morning, because it would be a wonderful cure for insomnia.
KQ: Now that it's a little ways along, there are a couple people who are into, like, military strategy and mecha and all who are really taken by it. One guy says he really likes the "La Femme Nikita" aspects of Heero. So that's pretty cool. I'm just so used to people going on about how cute they are, it's kind of nice to hear...
SM: Yeah. Well, there is more than one level to its appeal. I mean, every single Gundam series ever has had a lot of militaristic plotting in it, and basically what's politics. That's a large reason why I haven't given a shit about any Gundam before this. But this one actually has good-looking guys in it [laughter], and then it was like, the 'bots are interesting, and the 'bot combat is interesting to me, but, y'know, the psychological is interesting, too.
KQ: Yeah. And like, the dark tone to it...it's got a dark, serious tone that...
SM: Yeah. These people, their lives are getting pretty fucked up by this...
KQ: I honestly thought someone was going to die. I really, really thought Heero was going to die by the end of it, and if not Heero, maybe Trowa. If not Trowa, maybe Quatre. But I really thought Heero was going to die by the end, and I thought that would be really appropriate. And actually, at the end of it, I was kind of disappointed--much as I like the characters--I was kind of disappointed that none of the five did die. Because I thought that would have been appropriate.
But, watching the first episode of Turn A Gundam yesterday...
SM: You want to slap everyone! [laughter]
KQ: It's nice that Ringo Starr has employment, there in the opening titles...
SM: That's so nice of them. [imitating Ringo Starr] "Turn A Gundam!" [laughter]
KQ: But there's such a difference...
SM: [imitating Ringo Starr singing] "What would you do if I..." [laughter]
KQ: There's such a difference between that--the opening episodes of that--and the opening episodes of Gundam Wing. Because you're immediately drawn into the Gundam Wing characters...it's not like in Turn A, where it's like you're looking at those characters from a distance...In Gundam Wing you don't know what all of their motivations are right away, but you definitely get a distinct feel for the characters. As opposed to in Turn A Gundam--you're kind of watching the whole thing through binoculars--"Yeah, that's...nice..."
SM: So he goes to this planet, and takes his clothes off. That's nice. [laughter] Now, Gundam X came right after Gundam Wing, and I remember, we were like, "Oh, cool, this is going to be just like Gundam Wing"--and then it was like, no, it's business as usual in the Gundam universe, where you have nutty kooky kids...
KQ: It had a great opening theme, though.
SM: But, you know, the little kid--I was about ready to bash my head against the wall, because I hate the Gundam tendency to have little kids...
KQ: Well, in Gundam Wing you've got Duo there for some levity, but he isn't...
SM: But he's not an 8-year-old brat.
KQ: In the first Gundam series you had the three kids, the three little brats...
SM: Exactly. And in Gundam X you had that obnoxious little 8-year-old who was like a mechanic...
KQ: And even in Turn A you've got that little dandelion-head pilot girl...
SM: ...Who keeps sticking her cleavage in people's faces. It's like, "Honey, you're 11 years old. You aren't supposed to have cleavage!"
KQ: So, in Gundam Wing, what is it that gets the viewer involved immediately? Is it the interaction with the characters? Is it the dark, desperate edge to what's going on?
SM: Yeah. It's like, "Look, kids--war isn't pretty."
KQ: Yeah. And these kids are ready to die for this...
SM: And they're saying, "See, they're really pretty nice people. It would be a shame if they were to die. But they're ready to. So, count your blessings, you stupid, milk-fed American pigs! Your mommy and daddy puttin' away money for your college education, and buying you $400 sneakers--just be happy, okay? 'Cause it could be a hell of a lot worse!"
KQ: ...uh...yeah...
SM: Yeah!
Go to Chapter 2 "Five Good-Looking Japanese Boys From All Walks Of Life!" (on Romper Room on Speed, Heero and Trowa and Sylvester and Daffy, the Princess Mononoke Press Guide, 'Handing It' To Paul Lynde, and More Praise For Gundam Wing Episode 1)
Go to Chapter 3 "What Were They Thinking?!" (on Bad Accents from Star Blazers to Giant Robo, Tomino's Monkeywrench, Photoshopping Heero's Shorts, the Quest for Two-Flap Swear Words, Duo Gets His Gun, and Gundam Wing Episode 2)
Go to Chapter 4 "'Dickweed' Would Gladden My Heart" (on Duo's Vintage Vocabulary, Heero's Mysterious Dripping, "Instructor Noin" Meets "Inspector Gadget," and Gundam Wing Episode 3)
Go to Chapter 5 "There Should Be About 57 Dots Between the 'Umm' and the 'Okay'..." (on the Appeal of Noin, How Sid & Marty Krofft Swayed Wufei, Crunchy Fruity Rebels, Fear of Freeza, and Gundam Wing Episodes 4, 5 and 6)
Go to Chapter 7 "Why Don't You Gundams And The Colonies Get A Frickin' Room?" (on Zechs Failing Shop Class, Quatre Raberba Jonny Quest Winner, Simultaneous Possession By Dr. Evil, Heero's Difficulties With Modern Technology, Pagan's Surfing For Smut, and Gundam Wing Episode 17)
Go to Chapter 7.5 "Silence Nowwwwwwwwwwww!" (on Heero's Holster, Explaining Headcheese, Sally and Cher Po, the Gundam Wing Voice Actors Revealed, Kudos For Correspondents, and Gundam Wing Episode 20)
Go to Chapter 8 "God Forbid Little Kids Get Ideas..." (on the Great Houdini vs. the God of Death, Keeping Duo from Damaging Impressionable Young Minds, Oz Fashion Don'ts, Duo's True-Life Nature Adventure, a Left Turn into Trigun, and Gundam Wing Episode 23)
Go to Chapter 9 "Stay Away From Those Oz Burritos!" (on the Gundam Wing Language Rules, the Great Destroyer Vs. Great Mazinger, Trowa Markets the Oz Viewmaster, the Omnipresent Mr. B Natural, and Gundam Wing Episode 24)
Go to Chapter 10 "I Don't Usually Use 'Clown' In That Context..." (on Epyon's Sex Appeal, Duo Hitting the [Soy] Sauce, Wasabi Wars, Catherine Gets a Trowagotchi, Evoking Bozo, More Language Rules, and Gundam Wing Episodes 36 and 37)
Go to Chapter 11 "Ralphie Does Not Want To Sit On Santa's Lap Any More..." (on Howdy Doody's Enduring Fashion Influence, the Real Reason the Cartoon Network Wanted Gundam Wing, Duo's Cheeks, Epyon Vs. Sam The Snowman, Feeling Bad For Freeza, Singing the Praises of "Pants," and Gundam Wing Episode 39)
Go to Chapter 12 "He's Not Having Mental Problems--He's Having an Epyon Moment!" (on Push-Up Bras of the Future, More Things To Put In Heero's Pants, Soulmates Zechs and Shatner, Epyon and Secretariat's Love Child, the Nice People at McFarlane Toys, Bandai-ing Dolls About, and Gundam Wing Episode 41)
Return to MIND EDUCATION: Kagenami Q's Gundam Wing Doujinshi Reference Digs
This page was created March 15, 2000. Last updated November 23, 2004.