Any Gundam fans here?

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Now let me just say that I have known Gundam all my life, I grew up with Toonami when Gundam Wing was a thing of course. Excluding G Gundam and SD Gundam that I watched in its entirety when I was a kid I never properly watched the more popular series, The Original 77 series, Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, and other gundam series that are not just forgettable spin offs.

So any recommendadtion or at least ranking of must watch series?

The one I was tempted to see before making this thread was Gundam Seed because well, its Orchestral Soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ihPGketlQA

I mean does that series live up to the soundtrack?

 

[Scarim Coral]

I'm too a Gundam fan since Gundam Wing and I had watched all of them since then except for Gundam Seed Destiny (which isn't so bad given to how bad I had read from other people reviews).

I suppose I would rank it like this (also no I haven't watched any UC Gundam other than Unicorn and Origin)-

Gundam Unicorn
Gundam Build Fighters/ Try
Gundam 00
Gundam The Origin
Gunpla Builders
Gundam Evolve
Gundam Seed
Gundam AGE
Reconguista in G (avoid this one at all cost, it's so awful!)

Before you asked me if I get confused about the UC war, I read several summaries from these TokyoPop Gundam books years ago.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I love Gundam, but I haven't seen many series in the franchise. Gundam Wing is my favorite, has been since it first came to the US and made Gundam a much bigger thing outside of Japan.

I enjoyed Gundam Seed, but it is very different from Gundam Wing. It's a lot slower, battles are much more personal affairs, and it's more character driven. I would recommend it anyway, but it never endeared itself to me nearly as much as other Gundam shows.

 

[Risingblade]

UC is a single universe tied in with multiple gundam series, the rest are alternative universes which means they don't have previous series to watch.

Gundam 0079 (Where it all started)
Zeta Gundam (Sequel to 79, my personal Favorite)
ZZ Gundam (Sequel to Zeta, extreme change of pace)
Char's counterattack (Movie that pretty much ends the rivalry in the original 79)
Unicorn Gundam (Takes place a few years after CCA, it's pretty new so the animation is pretty great.)


Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (Ova that takes place after wing, the suits are shown in EW style so they appear different from the tv series)


Gundam Seed (Reimagining of the original Gudam 79, it has its fanbase and it's decent. The suit designs are great.
Gundam Seed Destiny (Sequel to Seed, You might like it but I don't recommend it)

00 Gudam ( Pretty much a better version of wing, Highly recommend it)

 

[Hazy992]

The only series I've watched are the Build Fighters stuff, and I really liked those.

I like Gunpla, and I like to play Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn so it's definitely a franchise that I have a lot of interest in, it's just getting around to actually watching some more of the anime.

 

[Ygrez]

I'd recommend "Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team" it's a great side story from the UC universe and from the point of view of normal pilots, not new-types/super-soldiers.

 

[EHKOS]

I only watched G Gundam and am trying to watch Wing. I saw G when I was a kid and thought it was awesome. Watched it recently....the dialogue is TERRIBLE. Take a shot every time Domon says "Kyoji".

Wing seems meh so far but to be fair I'm only watching it for Duo and Deathscythe.

Why yes I did enjoy playing Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, why do you ask?

 

[verdant monkai]

I'm tempted by Gundam. It just seems a bit too hard to get into. I'm told it has Resident evil levels of inaccessibility for newcomers.

I tried watching the very first Gundam thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDTdcgIIP8 and I couldn't make it past episode 5, it... it was horrible.

Then a while ago I tried Gundam Wing and I had no idea who anyone was or what sides were fighting.

 

[Hochmeister]

I've been very slowly working my way through the universal century series; Gundam 0079, Gundam Zeta, and Gundam ZZ. I loved 0079 despite the dated animation, it was one of the finer space opera anime I've ever seen with great characters, pacing, and action. My favorite aspect was how the scope of the setting felt far bigger than the main cast, you got the impression that they were only an (important) part of the wider war around them, rather than Amuro and the Gundam being an insanely OP'd super robot that singlehandedly fights half the solar system. Zeta Gundam had much, much better animation, but did almost everything else far worse. The characters acted incredibly inconsistently and illogically, and the Newtype abilities were exploited for deus ex machinas or to ham fistedly drive the plot. At one point the MC literally said he had no idea why he was doing something, which was pretty typical for most of the characters. The background politics and setting were laughably nonsensical (I can't see a faction that wants to move everyone off Earth ending up any better than the good 'ol dictatorship faction), and the realistic sense of scale found in 0079 was nowhere to be found. I still enjoyed it, but by the end I had no investment in the conflict and was rooting against practically every character. I'm about a third through ZZ now, and am not sure what to make of it yet. It's a lot slower paced and lighter in tone than either of its predecessors, but hasn't really done anything impressive. I don't dislike it, but I've got very little reason to like it either.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

I see that you haven't watched Zeta Gundam. If you were a fan of the original Universal Century Mobile Suit Gundam, watch Zeta Gundam. It's probably the best in the entire Gundam franchise, with a proper balance in it's tone and excellent character development, mostly in that a lot of the characters end up losing themselves in the war they are fighting... just like real cogs in the gears of war would. ZZ Gundam has a significantly different tone... but only in the beginning. Don't let that put you off - ZZ Gundam gets really good once you give it time. The tone shifts from being light hearted to becoming something serious to reflect the characters becoming soldiers as opposed to the children they are at the start of the series.

Gundam 00 is decent, but I'd ignore the movie if I were you. Turn A Gundam is fun, even if it's tone is very different than the other series. After War Gundam X is surprisingly good, even though it has a lighter tone. Give it a look if you liked G Gundam and Gundam Wing. I can't in good faith reccommend Gundam Age or G Reconguista to anyone. SEED is okay, and serves as a decent retelling of the original series, just with more bullshit romances. No matter where you go, Gundam doesn't seem to be able to do Romance properly.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I've been a gundam fan for decades, though lately, I haven't been keeping up. Latest I've seen was Unicorn, thanks to Dynasty Warriors Gundam, and seeing some poster art of Merida Cruz letting me know it exists.
I don't think I've seen a gundam I've hated. Even Mobile Fighter G Gundam was worth it for the ending alone. Chokes me up just thinking about it. Also, Rain activating Rising Gundam was awesome.*Cough* <.<

I've thoroughly enjoyed many Gundam games, including the Warriors series, Battle Assaults (Altron vs Dragon Gundam!) and Journey to Jaburo, and encounters in space, and MS Saga to make a short list. Never got into Zeonic front too much, but I probably could figure it out coming back to it.

I think the original gundam's sound track, and Gundam Wing were some of the best. Soldier's of Sorrow is a delightful contradiction between upbeat, and sad lyrics. Andrew WK did a fantastic job on covering, and translating the original gundam's sound track, IMO.

Here's a wonderful site that's collected almost every scrap of data on mobile suits, and other series.
http://www.mahq.net/

I'd dare say Gundam is the Star trek of Japan.

 

[Zeraki]

Pretty much everything from Universal Century is great, although I haven't seen ZZ or most of Unicorn so I can't comment on those. Zeta was probably my favorite of the UC series, but it is also one of the darkest and most depressing Gundam shows.

Then again "dark and depressing" and "Universal Century" kind of go together hand in hand.

 

[Zetatrain]

I'm tempted by Gundam. It just seems a bit too hard to get into. I'm told it has Resident evil levels of inaccessibility for newcomers.

That may be true for the main Universal Century storyline (Original MSG, Zeta, Double Zeta, etc.), but their are a few stand alone side stories that are very accessible to newcomers (War in the Pocket, 08th MS Team, and Stardust Memory). And then there are plenty of alternate universes that don't go beyond one or two seasons, so I wouldn't say the franchise is anywhere near Resident Evil levels of inaccessibility

 

[FPLOON]

Just of the OG series, Wing, 00, Unicorn, Sgt. Frog, and, to a "specific" extent, SD... Otherwise, most of my knowledge of Gundam comes from "Gundam Osmosis", at best...

Other than that, I should watch more Gundam series and, apparently, play the third Dynasty Warriors Gundam game...

 

[verdant monkai]

That may be true for the main Universal Century storyline (Original MSG, Zeta, Double Zeta, etc.), but their are a few stand alone side stories that are very accessible to newcomers (War in the Pocket, 08th MS Team, and Stardust Memory). And then there are plenty of alternate universes that don't go beyond one or two seasons, so I wouldn't say the franchise is anywhere near Resident Evil levels of inaccessibility

When you don't have even the faintest idea whats going on with the main cannon, stand alone stories within said cannon and spin offs that take concepts from the cannon you don't understand, do not make for an accessible jumping in point. If anything what you just said makes gundam seem worse than Resident Evil.

A lot of people say Gundam build fighters Try (the one with the kids in the real world) is a good starting off point. But I disagree as the kids all seem to know who and what all these robots from all across the series are. More of a celebration of Gundam rather than a starting point. If I knew what any of the gundams were I'd be right there jerking off with them. But I'm not exactly on the same page as them. Plus I hate slice of life so I wouldn't suffer through the series for that.

I'd be delighted if you or someone could suggest a series that will adequately inform me as to who is who and what's happening, to me Gundam just seems like a lot of sexy young boys in white and blue mechs fighting darker coloured mechs.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

You could just watch War in the Pocket for a 6 episode microcosm of everything that made the UC shows great.

 

[Zetatrain]

That may be true for the main Universal Century storyline (Original MSG, Zeta, Double Zeta, etc.), but their are a few stand alone side stories that are very accessible to newcomers (War in the Pocket, 08th MS Team, and Stardust Memory). And then there are plenty of alternate universes that don't go beyond one or two seasons, so I wouldn't say the franchise is anywhere near Resident Evil levels of inaccessibility

When you don't have even the faintest idea whats going on with the main cannon, stand alone stories within said cannon and spin offs that take concepts from the cannon you don't understand, do not make for an accessible jumping in point. If anything what you just said makes gundam seem worse than Resident Evil.

A lot of people say Gundam build fighters Try (the one with the kids in the real world) is a good starting off point. But I disagree as the kids all seem to know who and what all these robots from all across the series are. More of a celebration of Gundam rather than a starting point. If I knew what any of the gundams were I'd be right there jerking off with them. But I'm not exactly on the same page as them. Plus I hate slice of life so I wouldn't suffer through the series for that.

I'd be delighted if you or someone could suggest a series that will adequately inform me as to who is who and what's happening, to me Gundam just seems like a lot of sexy young boys in white and blue mechs fighting darker coloured mechs.

Honestly there really isn't much to understand if want to get into the the spinoffs I mentioned. For "War in the Pocket" and "08th MS Team" all you need to know is that there is war going on between the the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon (called the "One Year War"). The opening narration to the original Gundam series (which you most likely have seen) is really all you need to know in order to get into these spinoffs. Stardust Memory is a little trickier since it takes place three years after the "One Year War", but all you need to know is that one side lost the war (which the series even shows you in the first episode). I really suggest these side stories/spinoffs as I introduced quite a few of my friends to Universal Century and the Gundam franchise in general by showing them these shows first.

As for all of the alternative universes, there is nothing you need to have seen before hand in order to get into them as they have nothing to do with the Universal Century or any other Gundam universe/series that came before or after them. Here is a list of those Gundam series and the name of their respected universes/timelines

G Gundam (Future Century)
Gundam Wing (After Colony)
Gundam X (After War)
Turn A Gundam (Correct Century)
Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny (Cosmic Era)
Gundam 00 (Anno Domini)
Gundam AGE (Advanced Generation)
Gundam Recongusita (Regild Century)

Of these alternate universes I recommend Gundam SEED and Gundam 00 the most. Gundam X is also good but it never got an official release outside of Japan.

If you are having trouble understanding who is who or what is what in any of these AUs (you said you had trouble with Gundam Wing) then it is simply the result of sloppy writing, and no amount of knowledge of other Gundam series will help you.

Here is a more comprehensive list
http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Gundam_Wiki:Timelines

Outside of the Universal Century the Gundam franchise is very much like the Final Fantasy series or the Legend of Zelda series (before the official timeline was established). There are a lot of tropes and themes that are shared throughout multiple entries, but you don't need to have played the previous entry to understand what is going on because they have nothing to do with each other.

As for Gundam Build Fighters, I'm not surprised by your reaction. I wouldn't quite say its completely impenetrable to newcomers, but I'll admit that a lot of the enjoyment that I got from the series relies on meta knowledge of the franchise. Though Build Fighters is an exception to the rule when it comes to Gundam series.

Feel free to ask anymore questions you have.