Where to start with Gundam
- Thread starter C.j. Scarboro
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I started with Wing and loved it, one of the two animes I would recommend to people who don't watch anime (Cowboy Bebop the other). Good thematic overtones and some excellent fight scenes. Never really got into the other ones.
xRagnarok19 said:
Oh wow guys, you're not even close. Mobile Suit Gundam debuted in 1979, followed by many sequels and spin offs. Gundam Wing came out in 1996, and G Gundam in 1994 so you're off by about 15 years.Xero Scythe said:
My personal favorite out of them all was Gundam Seed (not Destiny, that was mediocre). Other good ones are Gundam Wing, Gundam 08th MS Team, and G Gundam among others.
Evangelion is most definitely worth watching, but be aware it is a completely different beast than the Gundam franchise. It is more psychological and character driven, and requires you analyze quite a bit. That being said however, Evangelion is one of the hallmarks of anime so it is a must see for any fan of the genre.C.j. Scarboro said:
ok if you want giant robots beating each other up you are not looking for Gundam or Evangelion. Gundam can be generalised (very heavily generalised mind you) as war stories that focus on what the characters are going through as they have to fight in a war they might not necessarily want to be a part of. Evangelion is a stream of conciousness style anime that is essentially an allegory on going through puberty, told through a disturbing story woven with biblical mythology and a fraudian flair. Evangelion is one of the best anime you will ever see, however it is very heavy, an intellectual roller-coaster and quite disturbing, so you really have to be in the mood to watch it. It consists of the orignal 26 ep series, the movie end of evangellion which is an alternate ending to the series, and 4 new films, 2 of which have been made, that are a re-imagining/continuation (we arent really sure yet) of the original series.C.j. Scarboro said:
Now... what you want is to watch Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, aka "giant robots being awesome and beating each other up" the series. This is hands down one of the most spectacularly awesome over the top action series ever devised. It's just so damn awesome.
The problem I have with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is that the robots follow that Tatsunoku feel. The japanese super hero feel. Whereas in gundam and evangelion as well as Zoids(I suppose), have a more....how do I say this.....awesomer look.
Wing was what got me into Gundam. I'd start with that. Gundam X is a good place to start too, good story and awesome mech, a bit in the same class as Wing. After that I'd check SEED (avoid Destiny like the plague!) and maybe give Gundam 00 a go (though the second half was mostly crap IMO. Very simplistic and predictable, though the action was still ok).
If you want to get into Universal Century, try the shorter series first. 0083 and 08th MS team are the best. Those have some of the best MS battles, finest designs (love for the GP02A and Gouf Custom) and a very good story. Then perhaps 0080 and the movies (Char's Counterattack and Gundam F91 are epic). After that you might want to give the longer series a go (the original Gundam (as said, watching the movie trilogy might be best), Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam). Victory Gundam isn't really worth the trouble. Way too weird.
Oh, and don't forget the newest series Gundam Unicorn. It is made of epic win. Too bad only one episode has been released yet *sadface*.
Last you might want to check some (very enjoyable) exotics like Turn A and G Gundam.
If you want to get into Universal Century, try the shorter series first. 0083 and 08th MS team are the best. Those have some of the best MS battles, finest designs (love for the GP02A and Gouf Custom) and a very good story. Then perhaps 0080 and the movies (Char's Counterattack and Gundam F91 are epic). After that you might want to give the longer series a go (the original Gundam (as said, watching the movie trilogy might be best), Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam). Victory Gundam isn't really worth the trouble. Way too weird.
Oh, and don't forget the newest series Gundam Unicorn. It is made of epic win. Too bad only one episode has been released yet *sadface*.
Last you might want to check some (very enjoyable) exotics like Turn A and G Gundam.
oh ahah! a challenger appears! first of SDF macross = very good, never seen super robot wars though... Macross frontier = also very good.Zeithri said:
Guren Lagann is very hyped... well yeah, it is built entierly out of hype. The plot is simple as hell, the character about as stereotypical as you can get. However that not the point, gurren lagann is about watching giant robots have awesome fights and throw galaxies at each other. If you have not watched it, dont go bashing it. Evangelion is very much overrated, but it is still on of the greatest anime ever made, and very likely the most influential to modern anime. You really have to watch the entire series to make up your mind about it, and you really wont get it fully until you watch it through the second time (this is sort of a bad thing, but if you enjoy eva then you wont mind watching it again, especially since knowing how it ends really helps you see how it begins in a different light) , i know a lot of people who dont like it, but they appreciate in nonetheless. I have no problem with people bashing Eva, im no fanboy, but i would appreciate it if you try watching it all the way through before criticizing it.
P.S. There is nothing standard about evangelion, the entire first half is spent mocking and breaking down mecha show stereotypes and tropes. It is very critical of standard mecha anime, and once you get into the 3rd act there is nothing standard anything about it.
I like the idea but i just can't get over the whole Giant robots fighting when i first saw it i thought they were smaller... Good show though but i think i watched it out of order.
Actually now that i look it up i definatly did. eh it was good.
Actually now that i look it up i definatly did. eh it was good.
Well the best Gundam is Wing, the worst is seed. The original isn't that great but Zeta is. Hell Zeta, Wing, and G, are really the only ones you should watch.
I'm not a terribly big fan of Gundam, I find most of it to be really silly but take itself really serously.
The only two gundam series I liked were 08th MS team and G-Gundam. At least in G-Gundam you knew they were being intentionally silly to some to degree. Plus where else can you hear SHINING FINGER!!!!
The only two gundam series I liked were 08th MS team and G-Gundam. At least in G-Gundam you knew they were being intentionally silly to some to degree. Plus where else can you hear SHINING FINGER!!!!
I've only seen Gundam 00 and I'm almost afriad to try another one because I enjoyed it so much. (I almost cried several times and the action was awesome)
I think wing or SEED is next on my list. . . then through the others.
I think wing or SEED is next on my list. . . then through the others.
Start with the original. Then Zeta, skip ZZ, then Counter Attack. And avoid God Gundam. Everything else is okay, and the 08th MS Team OVA is the best.
08th MS Team. I used to watch other Gundam series on toonami and, while not meaning any insult to their fans, the basic pattern I noticed was that they were all about an uber-super-duper-unobtanium-forged-unbeatable-war-mecha-machine with a whiny teenage angst-stick whom everyone basically took on faith was the best pilot evar. To be fair, sometimes there was more than one of them.
08th MS Team, by contrast, wasn't about super machines or super pilots. It was a war story with a love plot under it. The battles weren't one sided, with tactical thinking, teamwork, and the occasionally effective use of guerrilla warfare being required to win and even then it never looked "easy". In the only episode to feature an "ace" pilot, he clearly displayed his superiority for tactical thinking and piloting rather than simply having the most awesome machine on the field. His appearence caused palpable terror in the hearts of the charactors and was inexorable even at the cost of his own life.
The overall storyline was kind of predictable in many places and the main charctor does the "Wahh, war is bad" thing in his quest for love, but in many places this comes off as naive idealism rather than whiny moping, so I forgive him for the most part, if for no other reason than the fact that the rest of the show is good enough to make up for most of his faults.
There's a basic test to decide if you're going to like this short series before you watch it. DO YOU LIKE SUPERHEROES? If so, you're better off with Seed or 0080 or whatever else Gundam is about when I'm working hard to ignore it. If you're more of a realist than a superhero lover, then 08th MS Team is for you, give it a try.
08th MS Team, by contrast, wasn't about super machines or super pilots. It was a war story with a love plot under it. The battles weren't one sided, with tactical thinking, teamwork, and the occasionally effective use of guerrilla warfare being required to win and even then it never looked "easy". In the only episode to feature an "ace" pilot, he clearly displayed his superiority for tactical thinking and piloting rather than simply having the most awesome machine on the field. His appearence caused palpable terror in the hearts of the charactors and was inexorable even at the cost of his own life.
The overall storyline was kind of predictable in many places and the main charctor does the "Wahh, war is bad" thing in his quest for love, but in many places this comes off as naive idealism rather than whiny moping, so I forgive him for the most part, if for no other reason than the fact that the rest of the show is good enough to make up for most of his faults.
There's a basic test to decide if you're going to like this short series before you watch it. DO YOU LIKE SUPERHEROES? If so, you're better off with Seed or 0080 or whatever else Gundam is about when I'm working hard to ignore it. If you're more of a realist than a superhero lover, then 08th MS Team is for you, give it a try.
there are multiple universeC.j. Scarboro said:
Universal Century (UC)
After War (AW)
Cosmic Era (CE)
to name a few I personaly recomend anyting from UC (yo can look the series up on the gundam wikia) my personal favorites are:
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket
its mainly about the impact of war on the people indirectly involved it does have romance plot wich kinda resembles the Romeo and Juliet story it has a sad ending
Mobile Suit Gundam the 08th MS Team
unlike most series wich are about a kid that can control a giant robot without prior training destroying wave after wave in space alone this is about a team of three mobile suits working together as a team on earth somewhere in southeast asia probaly one of the best Gundam series out there
both of theses are set in the UC timeline at this moment I am still watchin the first series (Mobile Suit Gundam 0079) I recomend these these arent that long (both 6 episodes) but realy good and dont rewuire allot of prior knowledge you dont have to worry about prior knowledege on other series since most timelines only have one or two anime,s with the exception of Turn A gundam wich is a animethat combines all the series that came before it
0080 wasnt about superheroes! there werent any psychich newtypes and there wer only 3 battlesLord_Beric said: