New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, alternatively referred to as Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz in the U.S. and known in Japan as New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (新機動戦記ガンダムＷ：ＥＮＤＬＥＳＳ　ＷＡＬＴＺ), is the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, both of which are set in the After Colony timeline, an alternate universe to that of the original Gundam series.

Endless Waltz is both a sequel and prequel to the Gundam Wing series. It is a sequel as it is a continuation of Gundam Wing, but is also a prequel as it reveals details regarding the past of the Gundam pilots and the true objective behind Operation Meteor.

Endless Waltz originally premiered in Japan as a three-part OVA in 1997 and was later released as a compilation movie containing new scenes and changes to the score in 1998. It was broadcast on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on November 10, 2000.

Synopsis
It is the year After Colony 196 and the battles between Earth and the colonies have ended. Treize Khushrenada is dead and OZ has come to an end. This gives birth to the Earth Sphere Unified Nation (ESUN) and the Preventers. Seeing they won't be needed anymore, the Gundam pilots (except Wufei) send their suits into the sun. However, this peace would not last, for a rebellion occurs on the newly completed colony, L3 X-18999. Led by seven year old Mariemaia Khushrenada, Treize's illegitimate daughter, the rebellion kidnaps Relena Darlian, now the Vice Foreign Minister of the ESUN, during a diplomatic mission to X-18999. As the Gundam pilots investigate further, they discover that Mariemaia is merely a puppet controlled by her grandfather Dekim Barton, a former advisor to martyred colony leader Heero Yuy, who is using X-18999 to go through with the original Operation Meteor, as a contingency plan in case the ESUN doesn't comply. The Gundam pilots must prevent Dekim from seizing power over the ESUN. The Gundams are retrieved from their course to sun to Earth's orbit thanks to Quatre and the Maganacs. The pilots use their Gundams one last time to fight against Dekim's forces, not killing anyone. In the end, Dekim is killed by one of his own soldiers, Earth and its colonies are at peace once again and all mobile suits (including the Gundams) are forever destroyed.

Theatrical Version Changes
When Endless Waltz was released in theaters in 1998 as a lead-in to Gundam's 20th anniversary, several new scenes were added, adding approximately ten minutes of new footage to the story. Most of this footage comes in the form of an extended battle scene between the Gundams, but there are a few noteworthy changes that were made between the two versions.


 * The titlecards and transitions between episodes were removed, making the three episodes into a single movie.


 * Many of the instrumental score cues have been shifted around from the OVA. Additionally, the OVA's ending theme, White Reflection, was replaced with a new theme, Last Impression, both performed by TWO-MIX, who also performed the opening songs of the anime.


 * Duo's flashback is moved up to the shuttle flight, just before Heero's; in the OVA, it takes place as Trowa's Serpent fires at Duo's damaged Leo.


 * There is a new scene which shows Zechs reading his field manual inside the Tallgeese III and his eventual reunion with Noin. This takes place after he destroys the Mariemaia Army headquarters at MO-3.


 * A new scene shows Sally Po, donning a stolen Mariemaia Army uniform, rescuing the hostages on X-18999 (including Catherine and the circus manager).


 * Duo, Trowa and Quatre's battle scene in Brussels is lengthened and much longer compared to the OVA.


 * Another new scene, taking place after Relena's impromptu speech, has Dorothy Catalonia appear in Brussels, convincing the citizens to heed Relena's words and do things for themselves if they want true peace.


 * Another additional scene features Heero sleeping inside the cockpit of the damaged Wing Zero while lying at the bottom of the sea, following his battle against Wufei. Wing Zero then re-activates on its own (awakening Heero in the process), stands up on its own, and supposedly convinces Heero to complete his mission.


 * The individual character endings are changed to be longer and more elaborate, but remain generally the same in tone.
 * The English Dub replaces euphemisms in the OVA with minor profanity (e.g., Zechs says "Damn you!" instead of "Blast you!"), similar to the differences between the censored and uncut versions of the series that aired on Cartoon Network.

Cast

 * Heero Yuy - Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Relena Darlian - Akiko Yajima
 * Duo Maxwell - Toshihiko Seki
 * Trowa Barton - Shigeru Nakahara
 * Quatre Raberba Winner - Ai Orikasa
 * Chang Wufei - Ryuso Ishino
 * Mariemaia Khushrenada - Rei Sakuma
 * Dekim Barton - Eisuke Yoda
 * Trowa Barton (real) - Hidetoshi Nakamura
 * Zechs Merquise - Takahito Koyasu
 * Lucrezia Noin - Chisa Yokoyama
 * Rashid Kurama - Kazuhiro Nakata
 * Auda - Daiki Nakamura
 * Afmahd - Isshin Chiba
 * Abdul - Tomoyuki Morikawa
 * Lady Une - Sayuri Yamauchi
 * Sally Po - Yumi Toma
 * Doctor J - Minoru Inaba
 * Doktor S - Shinya Ootaki
 * Professor G - Yuzuru Fujimoto
 * Instructor H - Takashi Taguchi
 * Dorothy Catalonia - Naoko Matsui
 * Catherine Bloom - Saori Suzuki

Mobile Suits

 * XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero
 * XXXG-01D2 Gundam Deathscythe Hell
 * XXXG-01H2 Gundam Heavyarms Kai
 * XXXG-01SR2 Gundam Sandrock Kai
 * XXXG-01S2 Altron Gundam
 * OZ-00MS3 Tallgeese III
 * OZ-12SMS Taurus
 * WF-02MD Virgo II
 * OZ-06MS Leo
 * MMS-01 Serpent

The Endless Waltz redesign
In Endless Waltz, all of the major Gundams underwent a massive redesign by Hajime Katoki. The Gundams are still the same ones that were used at the end of the TV series, although changed from the original TV versions. The Gundams have more stylized and somewhat ostentatious designs, reflected in the Wing Zero's giant "Angel Wings," the even more demonic appearance of the Deathscythe Hell, and the more dragon-like appearance of the Altron. Also new to the OVA is the Tallgeese III mobile suit, which has several similarities with both the original Tallgeese and the Gundam Epyon. Despite the dramatically different designs of the Gundams, the story in the OVA assumes they have always appeared this way. It is noteworthy that most of these changes in design do not have an overly large impact on most of the Gundams. However, the angel-winged redesign of Wing Zero removes its "Neo Bird Mode" transformation ability from the TV series.

Furthermore, in order to maintain a sense of balance, Hajime Katoki also created redesigns for the five original Gundams from the beginning of the TV series. One of these, the redesigned Wing Gundam, has become a very popular model kit. The redesigned Wing Zero is also very popular among fans and has been commonly labeled as the "Wing Zero Custom."

Theme Songs
OVA Ending Theme
 * "White Reflection" by TWO-MIX

Movie Ending Theme
 * "Last Impression" by TWO-MIX