Where to start with Gundam

[Wintermoot]

wasn't the first one G Gundam? I also loved that one the most. After a while, I got the same problem and lost track of the plots. One doesn't even seem to be gundams, just giant ships and stuff in space. Sad...

the first one was Mobile Suit Gundam (now renamed to Gundam 0079 to avoid confusion)

 

[megs1120]

Aslong as you start with the beginning series in that particular timeline it doesn't matter which one you choose.

Universal Century has the most stuff in seeing as it was the first one and has various series, OVAs, films and such.

EDIT: Funny to see how no-one knows that the first series was Mobile Suit Gundam. Actually, its not funny, just kinda sad.

It sure makes a person feel old! Nobody nowadays seems to have even HEARD of the Universal Century series.

 

[Julianking93]

Wing was the first and only one I ever watched, so that one.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Aslong as you start with the beginning series in that particular timeline it doesn't matter which one you choose.

Universal Century has the most stuff in seeing as it was the first one and has various series, OVAs, films and such.

EDIT: Funny to see how no-one knows that the first series was Mobile Suit Gundam. Actually, its not funny, just kinda sad.

It sure makes a person feel old! Nobody nowadays seems to have even HEARD of the Universal Century series.

I still hope that changes with Gundam Unicorn. More love for UC.

 

[John Funk]

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.

Whaaaat? Seed is MILES better than Wing. Wing's only redeeming feature is OZ.

Oh, and as mentioned, Macross Frontier or Macross: Do You Remember Love? are also great mecha options.

 

[WanderingFool]

I watch very few animes, one of those few was Gundam Wing. Watch it, Now. also I suggest trying Gundam 00 as it is a kind of retelling of the main premise, as Gundam Seed is to the original Gundam.

 

[John Funk]

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.

...Gundam 0080 may be the single most painfully realistic OVA in the series. Just sayin'.

 

[BiggityB05]

Gundam Wing and 08th MS Team are the best, only problem with Gundam Wing is the voice acting could be better, its like they half-assed translated it

 

[Comrade_Beric]

0080 wasnt about superheroes! there werent any psychich newtypes and there wer only 3 battles

...Gundam 0080 may be the single most painfully realistic OVA in the series. Just sayin'.

I find it interesting that this is always the only criticism anyone can ever find in my description. Not that 08th MS team isn't exactly as I described it or that the majority of Gundam series aren't as I characterized them. It is only because everyone is convinced that I'm either singling out their favorite version for special criticism or that their particular version is somehow an exception to everything I have said. I'm sorry, but which ever version you're thinking of is probably not an exception. I'll admit I may never have watched it fully, but if it ever appeared on Toonami any time from its inception in 1997 until I stopped my cable subscription in 2004, then I saw parts of it and I was not impressed. 08th MS team was the only version I found that did not appear to fit the archetype I outlined before. I mean your show no disrespect. I just found it to be unending drivel piled onto a plate of angst and superhero power fantasy. 08th Team is the only one that ever seemed to completely break that mold and that's the reason why it is the only Gundam I can truly stand to watch at this point. My test for whether or not you'll agree with me about 08th Team being prefaced upon one's opinions of superheroes is valid, I believe. If you want a power fantasy, you're far better off watching a different Gundam, this one is not for you.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Gundam wing is great. As well as the series that is a lot like a regular army. ( sorry i dont know the name, its been years since ive watched it)

 

[drisky]

My personal favorite was SEED, great story, great action, and its a story about the inevitable war that breaks out when humans are genetically engineered.

Watch out for all of the wing recommendations, it was the first in america and is kind of the Final Fantasy 7 of gundam because it was the first to bring in the audience, but is overrated due to nostalgia.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

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.

Whaaaat? Seed is MILES better than Wing. Wing's only redeeming feature is OZ.

Oh, and as mentioned, Macross Frontier or Macross: Do You Remember Love? are also great mecha options.

Sorry John but I just can't stand seed. But I'm not here to argue.