GUNDAM WING: ENDLESS WALTZ
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Review by Justin Swartz:
History is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace, and revolution continue on forever." Even though it's been a year since Endless Waltz made it's U.S. debut on Cartoon Network, Mariemaia's words continue to ring in my head. The movie itself was spectacular in plot and animation, but none of these things would have gelled into the masterpiece that they were without the music, and the music is what made me buy this CD.
The soundtrack runs in chronological order to the movie, beginning with the eerie prolouge/flashback to AC 195 and the final battle at Libra. A small orchestral number with horns and snare drums brightens the mood, and then we shift into high gear with a small version of Two Mix's White Reflection, the song that got me hooked on their music. The soundtrack subdues itself again with Journey To The Sun, the song used during the Gundam pilots` flashbacks (the violin in this song sounds...well, dreamy). There are numbers of desperation and frustration that follow, such as AC196 Christmas Eve (when the Gundams are faced with overwhelming odds of Mariemaia's Serpent troops & when Duo and Heero break into X-18999's control room) and The Powergame (when Heero and Duo are looking up info on the Barton family). Heero's Dream is the suite of Heero's dream about the girl and his first taking of an innocent life. Enforcement Rush is the song of heroes, with the brass lines that give you chills and the electric guitar that hints at 80's cartoon theme songs.
Duel continues with the battle themes, although it's the only number I can think of that actually bored me, despite its large brass section and space sounds. The Dangerous Game reminds me of Alfred Hitchcock movies if they had been Anime'd, and Codename: WIND is the ultimate musical tribute to Zechs Marquise in two parts: the first, with a slow orchestral number that is a picture onto his warrior soul; and the second, which is a song that seems to describe the fury that Gundam Wing fans only saw when he dueled with Heero. Battlefield continues with the fury, and adds the infamous "angel wing" scene of Wing Zero to the mix, along with the music that made the fight scene between Wing Zero and Nataku that much more exciting.
More numbers of specters and ghosts of the past awaken with Perplexity and Wufei's Irritation, while Holy Night contrasts both of them as a kind of inspirational song, on the verge of belonging on a Gundam Wing christmas album. Clash at the Stratosphere had tunes that I had never heard before, but one of them featured a nice mix of keyboard, guitar, and saxophone solo. Sorrowful Memory features Wufei's flashback to his colony being destroyed, along with a song that seems to describe his change in attitude after the flashback, or anyone changing their feelings for the better. Final Attack paints the picture of the desperate Gundam pilots, along with Noin and Zechs, standing up for the rights of the people in the face of overwhelming adversity. Riot of Citizens seems to announce the end of the battle in grand fashion, and Endless Waltz contains the scene where Relena hugs Heero (look! Heero's getting some!) and the Olympian-clad song that ushered in the narrator's line of "Mobile suits, such as the Gundams, were never seen again."
We end this incredible mix of classic Gundam Wing music with the full version of White Reflection, that has too many orchestra hits and synth riffs to count, but enough that I love it and many other Two Mix songs; This soundtrack is a must-have for any Gundam Wing fan, for not only does it give the backdrop for a great movie, but also is the orchestral farewell to a great Anime show, and only improves on the show's original musical style.
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