Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers (新機動戦記ガンダムW ENDLESS WALTZ: 敗者たちの栄光, Shin Kidō Senki Gandamu W ENDLESS WALTZ: Haisha-tachi no Eikō) was a manga retelling of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa and illustrated by Tomofumi Ogasawara, serialized in Gundam Ace from 2010 to 2017. The manga presented a “more complete” retelling of the TV series by incorporating elements from various side stories, including the prequel manga Episode Zero and the concurrently-running photonovel Frozen Teardrop, whilst featuring Katoki Hajime’s Endless Waltz Gundam redesigns throughout.

Overview

Glory of the Losers followed the plot of the Gundam Wing TV series very closely whilst incorporating backstory and side-story elements to create a comprehensive, unified narrative. The manga began running concurrently with Frozen Teardrop as part of the 15th anniversary celebration of Gundam Wing in Japan.

The manga’s most visible change was replacing all of Okawara Kunio’s original Gundam designs from the anime with Katoki Hajime’s Endless Waltz redesigns. This included not just the five original Operation Meteor Gundams but also their upgraded variants. Additionally, Okawara’s Wing Gundam Zero appeared in a minor redesign called the Wing Gundam Proto Zero, which was later rebuilt into Katoki’s “angel-winged” design. Some OZ mobile suits also featured slightly altered appearances and names.

The manga’s English release was published by Vertical Inc, the same company that published the English release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, running from 2017 to 2019 across 14 volumes collecting all 85 chapters.

Story

The narrative followed the Gundam Wing TV series’ plot from Operation Meteor through the Eve Wars, incorporating expanded backstories for the Gundam pilots and additional plot elements. Key additions included more detailed exploration of:

The Gundam pilots’ pasts before Operation Meteor
The development and sealing of the Wing Gundam Zero Proto Zero
Zechs Merquise’s activities as Milliardo Peacecraft
The Tallgeese variants including the Tallgeese Flugel
Additional weapons and equipment like the Drei Zwerg beam weaponry
More comprehensive coverage of the final Eve Wars battles

The manga treated the Endless Waltz Gundam designs as the canonical appearances, creating visual continuity with the OVA sequel whilst retelling the TV series’ story.

Development

Creation and serialization

Glory of the Losers was created to provide a definitive manga version of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing that incorporated all supplementary materials into a single coherent narrative. Writer Katsuyuki Sumizawa, who had written the original TV series, ensured continuity whilst adding new elements.

Illustrator Tomofumi Ogasawara adapted Katoki Hajime’s Endless Waltz designs for manga format, creating dynamic action sequences that showcased the redesigned Gundams’ capabilities. The serialization in Gundam Ace magazine ran for seven years, allowing comprehensive storytelling across 85 chapters and 14 volumes.

Reception

Glory of the Losers was well-received by fans who appreciated the comprehensive retelling that unified disparate Gundam Wing materials into a single narrative. The manga’s use of Katoki’s designs throughout provided visual consistency with Endless Waltz whilst offering detailed exploration of events only briefly mentioned in the TV series.

The English release by Vertical Inc made the manga accessible to Western audiences, with high-quality translation and production values matching their work on other Gundam manga series.

Appearances

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers is a manga series (14 volumes, 85 chapters, 2010-2017).

External links

Glory of Losers at Zeonic Scanlations (English scanlations)
Official Kadokawa page (Japanese)
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers on the Gundam Wiki