Sunrise producer Masahiko Minami protested that it sounded so "unseemly" that he even confronted Imagawa about it at the director's home. However, Imagawa not only thought the phrase had a nice ring to it but wanted to include it because he had already found success in defying convention with G Gundam. Imagawa was prepared to take the risk of any harsh criticism for its use in the finale. "I didn't even care if I wouldn't be able to work in the industry because of that 'Love-Love'," he said. "I truly believe that one cannot work as a director without enthusiasm and a love of challenges." Media Anime The Mobile Fighter G Gundam television series originally aired in Japan the terrestrial channel TV Asahi from April 22, 1994, to March 31, 1995, for a total of 49 episodes. The show would not reach North American audiences until many years later. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, a series that succeeded G Gundam on Japanese television in 1995, was first localized in North America by Bandai Entertainment in early 2000. Gundam Wing was a huge success in the United States while being broadcast on the popular afternoon Toonami block of Cartoon Network often beating block stalwarts Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and was the highest-rated program on all of Cartoon Network for a time. In late 2001, Bandai acquired the rights to distribute an English-dubbed version of G Gundam with voice casting recorded by Ocean Productions in their Blue Water studio in Calgary, Alberta. The English-language version of G Gundam premiered as a free screening at the Sony Metreon Action Theatre in San Francisco on March 30, 2002. G Gundam began airing on Toonami on August 5, 2002. Due to the channel's censorship policies, some edits were made for the broadcast. This mainly involved altering the names of several mobile fighters, such as changing God Gundam and Devil Gundam to Burning Gundam and Dark Gundam respectively. The show was also aired on the channel's "Midnight Run" and as part of its Saturday programming in November 2002. Cartoon Network officially dropped G Gundam from its afternoon schedule the following June. The series has since been re-broadcast on the Japanese cable network Family Gekijo and the satellite channel Animax. Bandai Entertainment released G Gundam on DVD in North America in four box sets and in twelve separate volumes (each disc containing four to five episodes).