Mobile Suit Gundam Wing - Operation 2
Gundamis one of the oldest and most popular franchises inanimehistory;Gundam Wing, a 49-part series that was broadcast  in Japan in 1995-1996, is currently airing on the Cartoon Network.Several story lines unfold against the background of a rebellion by the Space  Colonies against the United Earth Sphere Alliance; at the same time, the OZ  Special Forces mount acoup d'étatagainst the Alliance. The  Colonies send Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatra, and Chang, the pilots of the Gundam  Mobile Suits, to Earth to wreak havoc on military installations. The wiry  teenagers find themselves caught up in these interconnected conflicts,  fighting OZ leader Treize, his glacial, sadistic, assistant Lady Une, and the  masked pilot Zechs, who pursues his own agenda. Although they're heroes of  the series, the Gundam pilots often come across as cold, arrogant, and  needlessly brash. In the middle of one battle, Chan leaves his indestructible  Gundam to fight a duel with Treize using swords. But fans of the series  aren't interested in character arcs or plot development: every episode offers  lots of elaborate battles between the splendidly designed transforming  Gundams and the lesser robot-suits of the villains.Rating: 8 and older: no nudity or sex; occasional profanity; violence largely  restricted to machines attacking each other.--Charles Solomon