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Mobile Suit
Gundam General
I want to get into Mobile Suit Gundam and am wondering where to start. There's movies for it on Netflix, are these good enough or are they condensed versions of a much longer anime series? @ignika98 I think you've said you're really into this series so I would love your input if possible.
Also use this thread as a Gundam general I guess so discuss the series and post related memes.
Gundam can be an intimidating series to get into, but it's really not as bad as it looks. The main thing to consider is the fact that not all the shows are related to one another. There's the so called "main" Gundam timeline, known as the UC or Universal Century timeline, which includes the original 1979 anime Mobile Suit Gundam, followed by Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, etc. As well as a whole bunch of side story OVAs.
The latest anime entry in the UC timeline is Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway's Flash, which came out in 2021.
Then you have all the spinoff series. These include things like Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED among others. Each one of these shows is entirely self contained, and usually only consist of one or two seasons and maybe a movie. They're much shorter, more digestible shows that take the concepts and ideas from the "main" Gundam series and play with them in interesting and varied ways.
The latest spinoff show to come out was Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch From Mercury.
(It sucks don't watch that one lol.)
As for the movies, they're a condensed version of the original 1979 anime series with some important changes. Notably the complete removal of a minor antagonist, as well as giving certain characters different suits during the final act. The general consensus is that the movies are a fine way to experience the story of the one year war, but I'm personally not a fan. I much prefer the series over the movies.
That being said, I don't recommend that you start with the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime anyway. It's a pretty hard watch, mainly due to the janky animation and bad audio quality. (In the Japanese audio, that is. The English dub was recorded in the early 2000s so it sounds much better.)
Instead, I'd recommend you start with one of the spinoff shows. Any of them will do, just pick the one that looks the most interesting to you. That way you get a feel for what Gundam is like without needing to deal with janky animation or commit to a continuity that spans literal decades.
If you want my recommendation on which spinoff to start with, I'd recommend Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It's two seasons long and there's a movie that caps things off, so it's a decent length without being too overwhelming. And it has better animation than most other TV Gundam anime.
It's story and themes are also very similar to UC Gundam, so if you do decide to make the jump there after watching 00 things should feel familiar to you.
Some other recommendations would be: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, which is an absolute classic. However it's plot and presentation are incredibly silly. And it's animation is not the strongest. But it does feature a fucking banger of an OP from my favorite Japanese music group TWO-MIX.
It's actually how I found out about them lol.
Also it's the source of this meme which I'd be surprised if you haven't seen before:
Mobile Fighter G Gundam is also fantastic. It's my personal favorite Gundam show, and one of the most unique. Rather than a story about war or politics, G Gundam is more of a super robot anime. With Mobile Suits performing martial arts and fighting in tournaments. As such, it's hard for me to recommend that as a starting point. However it's absolutely worth a watch once you're more well versed in the Gundam franchise.
Gundam can be an intimidating series to get into, but it's really not as bad as it looks. The main thing to consider is the fact that not all the shows are related to one another. There's the so called "main" Gundam timeline, known as the UC or Universal Century timeline, which includes the original 1979 anime Mobile Suit Gundam, followed by Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, etc. As well as a whole bunch of side story OVAs.
The latest anime entry in the UC timeline is Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway's Flash, which came out in 2021.
Then you have all the spinoff series. These include things like Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED among others. Each one of these shows is entirely self contained, and usually only consist of one or two seasons and maybe a movie. They're much shorter, more digestible shows that take the concepts and ideas from the "main" Gundam series and play with them in interesting and varied ways.
The latest spinoff show to come out was Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch From Mercury.
As for the movies, they're a condensed version of the original 1979 anime series with some important changes. Notably the complete removal of a minor antagonist, as well as giving certain characters different suits during the final act. The general consensus is that the movies are a fine way to experience the story of the one year war, but I'm personally not a fan. I much prefer the series over the movies.
That being said, I don't recommend that you start with the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime anyway. It's a pretty hard watch, mainly due to the janky animation and bad audio quality. (In the Japanese audio, that is. The English dub was recorded in the early 2000s so it sounds much better.)
Instead, I'd recommend you start with one of the spinoff shows. Any of them will do, just pick the one that looks the most interesting to you. That way you get a feel for what Gundam is like without needing to deal with janky animation or commit to a continuity that spans literal decades.
If you want my recommendation on which spinoff to start with, I'd recommend Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It's two seasons long and there's a movie that caps things off, so it's a decent length without being too overwhelming. And it has better animation than most other TV Gundam anime.
It's story and themes are also very similar to UC Gundam, so if you do decide to make the jump there after watching 00 things should feel familiar to you.
Some other recommendations would be: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, which is an absolute classic. However it's plot and presentation are incredibly silly. And it's animation is not the strongest. But it does feature a fucking banger of an OP from my favorite Japanese music group TWO-MIX.
It's actually how I found out about them lol.
Also it's the source of this meme which I'd be surprised if you haven't seen before:
Mobile Fighter G Gundam is also fantastic. It's my personal favorite Gundam show, and one of the most unique. Rather than a story about war or politics, G Gundam is more of a super robot anime. With Mobile Suits performing martial arts and fighting in tournaments. As such, it's hard for me to recommend that as a starting point. However it's absolutely worth a watch once you're more well versed in the Gundam franchise.
Oh dang thanks for this. Tbh I don't mind janky animation, especially since the early episodes of Legend of the Galactic Heroes had loads of it, so I might start with the original series and go from there. That Char prequel series looks really interesting too, funny how he seems way more popular than the actual main character.
Late to the conversation, but I could say jump into anything that catches your initial interest if you're not overly concerned about watching in order. Wing is my rose-tinted series from my childhood, but it was Unicorn that gave me interest in the earlier story of the original series. I really enjoyed IBO too even though many didn't.
There's plenty of people that will say ___ is bad and that's fine as their opinion, but with the right mindset I think there's enjoyment in any of the series.
Going in blind can often be more enjoyable regardless of any personal review out there.
Having watched a ton of this series together with my friend this is my opinion on all the shows so far. I think Gundam has a ton of pretty meh/bad shows but is held up by some awesome ones.
Having watched a ton of this series together with my friend this is my opinion on all the shows so far. I think Gundam has a ton of pretty meh/bad shows but is held up by some awesome ones.
