Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, also known in Japan as New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (新機動戦記ガンダムWウイング, Shin Kidō Senki Gandamu Wingu), is a 1995 Japanese mecha anime series directed by Masashi Ikeda and written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa. Gundam Wing aired on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon after-school programming block Toonami, premiering on March 6, 2000 and almost immediately exploded in popularity. The Gundam franchise was finally big in America, ushering in all kinds of merch and Gunpla, making Gundam more mainstream in the US than it had ever been and paving the way for a broadcast of the original Mobile Suit Gundam and Wing's sequel Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz.