Gundam Wing: Episode Zero

by Katsuyuki Sumizawa

A powerful saga of galactic discord and universal upheaval follows a group of clever young pilots from the colonies as they prepare for battle against the militant United Earth Sphere Alliance. A Graphic Novel. Original.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comics, Shonen, Comics Manga

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Katsuyuki Sumisawa (隅沢 克之; born on November 8, 1961) is a Japanese screenwriter focusing on anime scenarios.

Katsuyuki Sumisawa entered Takao Koyama's school in 1987. He wrote screenplays for Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Z Kai, as well as the TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku.

Outside of the Dragon Ball franchise, Sumisawa worked on Bakusou Kyoudai Let's & Go, Blue Dragon, Chō Seimeitai Transformers: Beast Wars Neo, Clamp School, (The) Daichis - Earth Defence Family, Girl From Phantasia, Happy Lucky Bikkuriman, InuYasha, Kaze no Yojimbo, Lord of Lords Ryu Knight, Miami Guns, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Naruto, Rave Master, Sailor Moon, Saiyuki Reload: Burial, Tokyo Underground, Yakitate!! Japan, You're Under Arrest, Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files, and Zoids/ZERO.

Reviews

[Megan M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words for how great it feels to sink back into Gundam Wing, one of the first anime I ever watched. Now I'm 10 years older and the characters get better with every revisit. In this volume, we learn about the pilots before they were pilots, from Wufei's wife to Quatre's frustration over his birth. It's amazing to read this, then rewatch the series, understanding where they pilots are coming from. I definitely suggest this manga if you're a fan of the series. It fills in so many details that your experience of watching Gundam Wing will be completely changed.

[karmadillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading for fans of the show! It was originally supposed to be part of the anime, but production issues prevented it from making the cut. Such a shame, as the removal of the characters' backstories left major gaps in what motivated them.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I re-read this manga for old time’s sake. It has a home on my bookshelf. Loved Gundam Wing and I still do.

[Gisella Maldonado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating peek into the lives of the Gundam Wing characters! If you watched the series in its entirety, you'll want to get this manga!

[Airiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have a penchant for prequels, because I tend to like 'origins' stories too much. This is perhaps why I love Episode Zero the most among the Gundam Wing mangas.

The pilots as shown in the TV series are pretty much cloaked with mystery, and this well-written and well-drawn volume sheds light on some of those enigma. We learned who Heero is before he decides to pilot the Wing; we discovered how Duo Maxwell got his name and why he always wears priest's clothes; we found out a little about Nanashi (Trowa Barton) in an unexpectedly fractured love story backdropped by circuses and wars; we learned that the halo above Quatre's head that we saw in the series is not as squeaky clean as it is when he's but a rebellious little brat; and then we found out how different the former Wufei was to the one we saw in the series in yet another heart-breaking love story. And of course, there's a Relena episode Zero too, a very enjoyable one because little Zechs, Treize, and Heero (Heero look-alike?) appeared in her story. It provides a lot of answers that fans have when watching the series. I wish more characters have their Episode Zeroes though, like Treize or Dorothy...but yeah I guess it's just for the main characters. *shrugs*

Four stars for the story and the artwork!

[Sergio Zheng]

In this manga it is taking place in our world. The unadequate thing is that in this manga there are robots. This robots are the size of skyscrappers. This robots are also very advanced. They are so advanced that they have the same mobility as the human body. The bad thing is that it requieres a pilot. This pilot is located in the head of the robot. The name that they give to this robots are gundams. The pilots of the gundams are bad and evil. Most of the gundam pilots are very greedy. So they fight the other gundams. They fight the other gundams for the posession of the enemy gundam. So the pilots put their lifes in game the first time they touch a gundam. The pilots have a lot of changing personalities. At the end all their personalities change to be bipolar. The reason is for wasting their life learning how to control a destructive robot.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for character’s backstories and tie-in expansions for worlds I’m already a fan of, and this book falls smack dab in the middle of both.
You get to see the pivotal moments that make the Gundam pilots who they are and how eerily connected everything is in the Eve Wars.
The reader gets to see how Heero got his name, how Duo got his braid, Quatre’s silly goggles are explained, Trowa´s mercenary background, and why Wufei refers to his Gundam as Nataku. Everything is capped off with a quick peek at how the pilots save the day with Preventers after the wars are over and they’ve gone on to live their lives.
The art is clean yet detailed enough that you really get to enjoy the mobile suits and the world they inhabit. The writing is pretty good and to the point.
A must read if you’re fan but I’m not sure a casual reader will get as much enjoyment out of it.

[James Zanghi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gundam Wing is probably the first anime series I ever watched that was completely serious and mostly mature. I've recently started re-watching in on DVD and, after reading Episode Zero, it's an even more epic story.

Episode Zero is aptly named because it is the prequel to the Gundam Wing series. It was also supposed to be an actual pair of episodes for the show, but instead they did two recap episodes of the previous events in the series before the whole Sinq Kingdom and White Fang story-arcs began. It's a shame that these episodes never made it to the series, as I can imagine the actors doing the voices still. It would be cool if they did a mini-series of it, also.

May the Force be with you!

[Juushika · Rating 2 out of 5]

A manga miniseries that explores the early lives of the five Gundam pilots, as well as the events that directly precede Operation Meteor. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, the writer of the series, this is the most "official" of the Gundam Wing manga; it's still not great. Some of the backstories work, but they as often undermine or merely reiterate aspects of the show. Condensing angsty backstories into 30 pages makes them both rushed and heavyhanded. But the Operation Meteor chapter is fantastic, well-cut and less redundant, not as far reaching but filling in some interesting missing details.

[Courtnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to see the back-stories of the boys (and Relena). So much more about the show makes sense now. Just little things here and there, but this really helps everything have a deeper meaning. I really enjoyed reading it.

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the background we get from this book. Little Trowa is so cute.

[Zedax · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was awesome and now I'm into the whole gundam world

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I haven't read it recently, I enjoyed Episode Zero during the days when Gundam Wing was playing on Cartoon Network. It was a great prequel to the series, giving insight to character histories.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fun, if you're a GW fan. I bought the book just so I could have Wu's story ;)

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable and wonderful companion to the anime.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little light on story

[Mia Siegert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very partial to Gundam Wing in general, but Episode Zero was so spectacular with its backstories. Most impressive, by far, was Wufei's tragic past as it explains future character development.

[DevilCrying]

THIS MECHA FIGHTING WAR IS AWSOME...this story will keep you reading I won't spoil the fun so get inside that gundam protect the earthfederation from the princubility of zeon