Glory of the Losers

The birthday present from myself for myself fully arrived belatedly on Friday. I ordered all in one order at Book Depository but each book was sent individually, even for those notified as sent as a group by email. That is why the books were sent and subsequently arrived one by one.

I have been excited with the new Gundam Wing manga which bears the title Glory of the Losers now. I got even more excited when a US publisher picked it up for translation but I promised to wait until all volumes were translated before buying. Honestly I was hoping for a boxed set but after realising that Vertical Comics seldom has boxed set, I decided to buy. In fact, I knew about its completion rather late. The final volume was released in November last year but I only knew about it last month just before Circuit Breaker.

The original Gundam Wing manga only has 3 volumes. It was released in Japan in 1995-1996 and Tokyo Pop did the US version in 2000-2001 (for $9.95 each). Epizode Zero is a prequel and the US version was done by Viz in 2002 ($16.95).

Glory of the Losers covers the original story as well as some elements from Epizode Zero. Still, it is quite impressive on how a 3+1 volumes originally can become 14 volumes now although certainly the original 3 volumes are too condensed considering the story in anime is 49 episodes long. The Japanese manga ran from 2011-2018 while thank goodness Vertical Comics published the English version quite quickly from Jul 2017-Nov 2019 (for $12.95).

The mystery of the title is answered in the manga. It is quite interesting to note that actually in Gundam Wing, the protagonists keep losing and that is how the title is derived. The G-team is initially sabotaged by OZ on Earth which results in them being disowned by the colonies which they think they are fighting for. Subsequently they are captured by OZ in space and when they return to Earth to protect Sanc Kingdom, Relena surrendered to Romfeller to stop the war. The G-team escapes to space again while Relena is soon disposed by Treize just before the final war. Only in the final war that the G-team stops the madness from both White Fang and Earth, while Relena subsequently becomes the central figure of the ESUN in the aftermath of Eve War.

There quite a number of differences in the details of the plot between the original 3-volume manga and the Glory of the Losers. I cannot really remember the full anime so I am not sure if they also differ. I am not that bothered with the minor changes with details of the plot (as the main plot is unchanged) but I am quite irked with the most stark difference which is the mobile suits. In the last part of the Glory of the Losers, the G-team is already using the Endless Waltz versions of their mobile suit. In my head, these cool versions are always the Endless Waltz versions so it is quite peculiar to see them before Endless Waltz. To add to the confusion, the full title is Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers but the story does not include the original Endless Waltz.

I am very happy with the Glory of the Losers as the art style is prettier than the original manga. I miss the gag manga strips included in the original manga, though. Anyway in terms of the story, I think it is a very good re-telling and now it makes me want to buy Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin which is also by Vertical Comics.

My reason for including the price (the $ is USD by the way) is to make a point about the price. Indonesian comics almost tripled their prices now compared to 2000. Compare that with US comics which hardly changed in price. In addition, these comics are printed in US and not in China to suppress the cost.

Just for further record, the other old Gundam Wing mangas are: Blind Target ($12.95 by Viz in Nov 2001 for first print and Jun 2002 for second print), Battlefield of Pacifists (1997 release in Japan; 2002 release by Tokyo Pop for $9.99), and Endless Waltz (1997 release in Japan; 2002 release by Tokyo Pop for $9.99).

Note: for those I do not indicate the original Japan release, it is because the US version did not indicate so. Anyway let's enjoy the art of the manga covers hehe...

Episode Zero and the original Gundam Wing Manga

Glory of the Losers 1-4

Glory of the Losers 5-8

Glory of the Losers 9-12

Glory of the Losers 13-14

Blind Target, Battlefield of Pacifists, Endless Waltz

I normally do not consider comics as my precious toys or collectibles but Gundam Wing is my bias so this is an exception haha.. After all, the new covers are really pretty :D