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Report Gundam Wing DVD: Endless Waltz Special Edition
Endless Waltz is pretty much taken as a completely separate thing from Gundam W as far as menus go. Nothing recycled here. The main menu opens with the animation from the beginning of episode three when Wing Gundam Zero Custom first opens its wings. Then the menu freezes with it there, wings outstretched. On one of the "feathers" is the option to play the movie, and on the other is the option to play the OVA. Between them is the Endless Waltz logo, and across the bottom of the screen are the four options to view movie scenes, OVA scenes, extras, or set up. Overall, the menus are actually pretty slow loading for me, but my DVD player is also close to two years old. I've heard others say the menus load pretty fast, so it's probably just my player's age.
The Extras menu features Deathscythe Hell Custom frozen in mid-attack. The five choices from here are the MS Encyclopedia, Gallery, Textless Endings, Trailers, and Credits. The MS Encyclopedia contains listings for Wing Zero, Altron, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, and Sandrock under Gundams, Serpent under Mariemeia, and Tallgeese III under Preventers. Each listing is essentially the same, with a bio of the mobile suit, then its technical specs, and finally, a short image gallery.
The Gallery features several original images. These aren't simple screen caps, they're real images. In all, there are only five pictures, but some of them are actually pretty cool. The first two center around Wing Zero and Altron, then a couple of the Wing pilots, then one of them all and Wing Zero.
As should be expected, the textless endings are just
that: Textless endings. They're just the endings of the OVA
episodes two and three without any credits. The trailers are
listed at the bottom of the page, and the credits just credit the
people who helped design the DVD.
Operation 7 has no character bios, but there is a "Gundam Epyon Gallery." The name is somewhat misleading, though. It's not a simple gallery, but a complete bio of the Gundam. Overall, it's a pretty good bio. In my original reading of it, I thought I recalled it saying Epyon is more powerful than Wing Zero. I just skimmed through it again to make sure and I couldn't find that, but if it is indeed there, then it's an inaccuracy. I don't have ability levels memorized or anything, so I can't say for sure how they stack up numerically, but because the Epyon can only fight close range and the Wing Zero can fight at long or close range, and because their strength is comparable even if one edges out the other, it'd probably be most accurate to say they're about equal, but more accurate to say that Wing Zero is most powerful. But that little tangent may not have even been necessary... Anyway, following the bio is a small image gallery with some cool screen caps of the Epyon. As usual, there were also trailers on this disc. A list of those is at the bottom of the page.
The insert features one of the images from the Image Gallery, listings of the extras, and a listing of every single chapter in the OVA and movie (totalling 33). The back of the insert advertises Jubei-Chan: A Legend Reborn!, Outlaw Star Collection 2, Gundam W Operation 3, Escaflowne: Dragons and Destiny, and Saber Marionette J Collection 1. A second insert simply advertises action figure model kits and has a picture of the Wing Gundam Zero Custom model firing its buster rifle.
Summary of the
content as provided by the back cover: "AC 196. One year
after the end of the Gundam Wing television series. Now, peace
has spread through the Earth Sphere and the colonies are at
peace. The Gundam pilots now find themselves attempting to
rebuild their lifes in this new era. And no longer having need of
their weapons of war, they have sent their Gundams into the sun
to be destroyed.
But suddenly, Relena Dorlian, who has become a high-ranking
government official, is kidnapped by a colony with aspirations of
total dominance. The Gundam pilots and their allies find
themselves called into action once again. The Endless Waltz has
resumed..."
This is probably the best Gundam W DVD yet (and will likely remain such, too). I'm not even really sure why, but I just love the movie version to death. I mean, there's only a few extra minutes of footage and nothing big, but I just really, really like it. Though they load slowly for me, the menus are pretty cool. Definitely an excellent DVD, and I would recommend it to anyone who calls themselves a Gundam fan.
Episodes:
OVA: 1. Silent Orbit;
2. Operation Meteor; 3 .Return to Eternity
Movie: Shin Kidousenki Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz Special Edition
Extras:
Trailers for Gundam
0083, Cowboy Bebop, Crest of the Stars, Outlaw Star.
Mobile Suit Encyclopedia, Image Gallery, Textless endings.
Insert with an image from the Image Gallery and listings for each
OVA and movie chapter.
Uncut English voice tracks; English 5.1 or Japanese 2.0 audio on
the movie, English and Japanese 2.0 audio on the OVAs, with or
without English subtitles.
Written by Dash.