Gundam - Where's A Good Place To Start?

[Vermillion21]

Complete newbie question: I know what the Gundam franchise is, but I have never seen an episode. And I've heard that the whole series is very complex.

So, can anyone recommend a good place to start?

E.g., which anime DVD I should watch first?

Or am I asking too much?

Thanks.

[Veritas]

You know i'm not a real expert on the subject but i have seen just about every Gundam series released so far excluding Victory, Turn-a gundam, and Seed destiny. If you're looking to start in the Universal Century (UC) continuity that most series follow and is the basis for original, the best place to start would be with Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (The original Gundam series that started it all). Afterwards there's a ton of series that follow this and fall into the one year war storyline while building upon it, including but not limited to 0080 War in the Pocket and the 08th MS Team. After the One Year War portrayed in 0079, there's Stardust Memory, Zeta, ZZ and Char's Counterattack, along with Gundam F91 and Victory.

Outside of the UC continuity there's numerous Alternate Universe series that share similiarities between the original (Superior Mobile Suits named Gundams, Colonies/Earth wars, Genetically Engineered Humans/Normal Humans) but are altogether seperate. These include but are not limited to Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed and G Gundam.

There's people on this site (Zeo-mare comes to mind) and throughout the internet that know alot more about Gundam than i do, but hopefully this will give you a head start.

BTW Heres is an excellent resource to look at before you take the plunge that is Gundam!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam

Edited May 28, 2006 by Veritas

[Skippy438]

Well, the problem with Gundam is that there is so much of it. The main thing to know is that there are 2 separate "contexts" in Gundam. I use context because of lack of a better term. First there is the Universal Century timeline (or UC). The UC timeline is the one that started with the first Gundam series, and deals with the Earth Federation and the Zeon in their various incarnations in many different series. (there are other factions in that timeline, I'm just naming the 2 biggest players) It is a somewhat continuos story for about 200 years, starting in UC0079. The other context for Gundam series are the Alternate Universes, or AUs. These include the more recent Gundam series like Gundam Wing, G Gundam, and Gundam SEED that appeared on US television. These series are completely independant of the UC series as well as the other AU series, save some stylistic cues or overall storyline similarities. I recommend mahq.net for some synopsis of the overall stories. SEED is the current AU series you can readily obtain in DVD form in the US, but in my opinion the series isn't that great. I'm a much bigger fan of the UC series. Those are unfortunately more difficult to find here. If you're going to start there, I recommend tracking down the Original Gundam movie trilogy (or download it). It basically condenses the 42 ep first series into 3 movies. I've been rambling, but I'd be glad to go further in depth on any of this if you really want me to

[Fort Max]

I think that if you've never watched Gundam before then it would be a good idea to start with Gundam Seed as it is still new and very polished and all that but it stands on it's own (for now at least) save for the sequel series that has only just started being released in the west.

More importnatly it will serve as a great introduction to what Gundam is about and what the storys are like without having to delve into the massive web of intermixed shows that is the UC Gundam storys.

If you like Seed, then you should get into the UC.

[yellowlightman]

I think that if you've never watched Gundam before then it would be a good idea to start with Gundam Seed as it is still new and very polished and all that but it stands on it's own (for now at least) save for the sequel series that has only just started being released in the west.

403130[/snapback]

Ugh, no.

Start with the original MS Gundam movie trilogy.

[Ginrai]

I think that if you've never watched Gundam before then it would be a good idea to start with Gundam Seed as it is still new and very polished and all that but it stands on it's own (for now at least) save for the sequel series that has only just started being released in the west.

403130[/snapback]

Ugh, no.

Start with the original MS Gundam movie trilogy.

403137[/snapback]

Yellowlightman is right. Ignore all this confusing poo and just watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy, the ones set in UC 0079. Mobile Suit Gundam I, Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow, and Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space. That's what you want. It introduces everything nicely, it's easy to follow, and the three movies give you a complete, self-contained story.

[Black Valkyrie]

Yes start with the original Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy and also this might help :

http://www.mahq.net/animation/gundam/gundam.htm

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

For complete noobs I would start with UC stories.

link to gundam official: (written in english)

http://www.gundamofficial.com/

(under "worlds" tab go to universal century - have a quick glance of all the major mecha, major characters and major events and as you are watching try to remember the names of each character, the names of each mecha, and the locations on the map of where these events take place on earth or in space. VERY HANDY TO LOOK AT THAT MAP. I have avoided a lot of confusion thanks to it since there are so many colonies and they each have thier own sides and change them due to politics in the flow of the show - some are neutral, some are zeon, and on earth most is under federation control etc.)

Read through all the UC stuff (including timeline, characters, mecha) before even watching gundam 079 tv series to get a feel for what the show is about. Given that UC is the most developed universe I think it is one of the more important to know about.

Then later if what you see, you like, (you've watched absoluetely everything in UC and want more) later you can try all the Alternate Universe (AU) stories that came later. (Wing, Seed etc) Seed would actualy be a good start for noobs since in a way isn't that just a "reboot of UC" in an AU? (ie they even have zakus and hyayu shiki clones )

Then go out and buy some pg models.

Oh and I would not watch the movies because all they are is a compressed version of the tv series. (unless the movies or OVA were specifically NOT designed as a recap but a completely new story that you watch with knowledge of past events in the main story ie Char's Counterattack) Watch the entire tv series first instead of the compressed form first. Unlike others I like to get to know who the characters are, and there is no time in the movies. The movies move much too fast and you miss out on stuff that was in the tv series. I would only watch the movies if I want a quick recap of the major things that happened in the tv series.

See the thing about newbies is they want to know as much about something as possible before going into great depth. If you watch a compressed form of the series, you might not understand who such and such guy is, where they are, why they are there and stuff. So I think a slower paced story (tv series) helps them to understand things a lot easier because they get to know the characters, seperate factions on the same side and who is in control of certain areas at any time. (and there is a lot of them to remember)

In step-by-step summary for noobs I would recommend this order:

Step 1. Primer: read as much as you can on characters, mecha, timeline of events (taking place before episode 1) on www.gundamofficial.com about UC for the show "Mobile Suit Gundam 0079". (the "one year war" between Federation and Zeon and the use of mobile suits as weapons)

It would be the equivalent of needing to research a bit to understand the Lore of a tolkien-scale "world" before beginning. Because they use completely different calendar, have completey different weapons, and use different tactics etc from the real world - examples:

-they have anti-gravity but it doesn't look like robots can use them so they can only "hover" or "fly". (only the ships like white base can just leave the planet)

-They have superior armor called "Lunar Titanium", (can withstand shots from kinetic weapons which the zeon use) but this is alloy is very rare and hard to make. (similar to "Mithril" armor in Lord of the rings: very expensive poo but it is lighter and yet superior to standard metals so only prototype mecha has it) They also use Beam Sabers as a close range attack. Sometimes this might be useful in a colony floating in space if the two don't want to damage the walls and kill innocent people while fighting. But often it is a fancy way of killing something when ammo runs out or the two want a pissing match to see who is better in skill and the glory of "knowing" this after winning a fight with no interferance from others. These are things you wouldn't see in our world. The bad guy should just cheat to win to get any advantage they can, but that would be boring wouldn't it?

-some pilots can commuunicate using a kind of psychic energy to control machines equiped for it. Only the Newtype people with the power can use them effectively but it makes the fights interesting. The nazi like zeon seem to have more advancement in this than the federation so later the feddies make a "cyber newtype" as a way to catch up. (obviously inferiour to true newtype so it doesn't rape the hero of the glory - there is an equivalent of this in Gundam Wing in the form of the mobile dolls trying to replace the "naturally-gifted human pilot with super-human reflexes")

-core fighters are great escape capsules for space so the pilot can not only eject if he is losing, but also retreat to base, ...as well as good fighters by themselves. The expensiveness of Lunar titanium might mean they can save money if they let this be a combinable portion of the original robot because a modular design means cost savings. In V gundam, they actually have the robot split into three fighters. If the pilot got his butt whupped and you only had to repair 2/3rd of the robot you would be pretty happy with a system for docking and the ability "go anywhere" and keep a low profile and to try to keep the technolgy out of enemy hands. (since there is so much stealing each other's ideas to win the war in the show) Often what happens is the hero gets his butt kicked about halfway through the show and the core fighter saves his butt or something miraculous happens. Ie survives an explosion.

...Again reading about how this works may be good background before starting to watch. So you don't go "WTF, how is that possible? Why did they do it that way? And why don't they do it this way?"

Step 2. get the original Mobile Suit Gundam 079 (the old school when the enemy robots were all 70s looking and bad guys had those porno moustaches ) tv series. Watch through it and if you forget something, (like what number colony it was that got destroyed or who is the neutral colony again?) refer to the maps and character descriptions on the official gundam site. There is even a "glossary of technology" in the show for the tech geeks so you understand what it all means. (in UC they don't even use guided missiles. It also affects thier war strategies in the show so it is good to know this as it will explain the reasons behind the use of things - ie kid who knows about the machine ends up being the hero because his daddy made it and the machine AI "learns" and adjusts itself for him. All the original guys died so the kid takes on the responsibility - but he is a gadget freak so it makes sense for a young person from this perspective)

step 3. get the movie trilogy (compressed version of tv series) if you just want a whole story compressed into movie form.

step 4. start to gradually watch gundam UC stories that were made after the original tv series in UC calendar. (I prefer to watch them in the order of the story's timeline. Even if the ova or movie might have been made in a different period in our time (out of order of the story timeline) and the quality varies. One of my faves is 8th MS Team which is all earth based rather than in space and has main characters that aren't newtypes. So...yeah, normally you might watch Gundam Zeta after MSG, but it is nice to know you are viewing events "as they took place" in order of the calendar.

step 5. read more about AU on the respective parts of gundam official (it has those maps and timelines which is REALLY HANDY to know and study, because characters make reference to them in the shows and you need PICTURES of where they are COMING from and where they are GOING to, to help understand this stuff)

step 6. watch the AU stories and any sequels that came after them.

eg:

Gundam Wing before Gundam Wing movie (I forget the name of the movie) Gundam Seed (or alternatively watch the movie trilogy if you want compressed version) before Gundam Seed Destiny.

step 7. Complain that the newer shows suck comapared to older ones. (yet continue to support the newer ones by buying the models and feeding the bandai cash cow. )

Edited May 29, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[JB0]

Start with Wing!!!11111

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Wing = people with little beam rifles with the power of the SDF1's main gun. (armies are now obsolete because you can kill them with 1 shot)

[Phalanx]

Start with G-Gundam first, the greatest, unique and most action packed series out of the whole franchise, then go see whatever other Gundam series you think is good, second.

[Guppy]

bah. Don't listen to any of them. Watch 08th MS Team first. Definitely the best series. War in the Pocket is great too.

[Graham]

Do not touch Gundam! Step away from the Gundam!

In Gundam lies the path to damnation.

Stick with Macross

Graham

[yellowlightman]

Ugh, you guys suck.

Start with the original movies. Even if you can't stand how old and dated it is, it'll give you a better understanding of where the series came from and in turn give you a better appreciation of the Gundam universe.

ALL Gundam series are derivative of the original MS Gundam and seeing the original trilogy first will allow you to better judge which series you want to see later. DON'T see G Gundam, Gundam Wing or 08th MS Team first. Fruit cake Gundam Wing and crazy G Gundam are not particularly representative of Gundam and not a good place to start. Stick with the original and go from there depending on your tastes and what you liked about the original.

[Excillon]

Personally, I got turned onto Wing before anything else. I saw a 1/144 model in a Walmart of Heavyarms and had to have it, then I went back and bought the others. I think wing is a good place to start because I find the characters more interesting (Especially Trowa and Zex) and it stands alone, as opposed to the UC lines. Just go from episode 1-49 and then watch Endless Waltz. By then you'll know if you like the world of gundams or not. I did, and Gundam will always be my favorite, even above Macross and Transformers.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I stick by my order of 1. Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 tv series (some people call UC as 'First' Gundam), and then 2. see the movie trilogy of this show.

You need to know who everyone is. And when people die in the show you actually give a poo! Unlike seeing them die as a faceless person in the movies and not caring.

Same goes with gundam seed. Don't watch the movies and then the tv series. You will just spoil the whole thing because it moves so fast. Plus if you are curious about the world itself that the events take place in, it's a good idea to see events and how they happen. Much better pacing to see the gundam tv series as an ongoing struggle with characters that slowly evolve and change than one continuous action scene after another with people you barely care about.

When I refer to the 'movie' I mean don't watch those "compressed event" type affairs which is just tv footage mashed together and called a "movie". This is not how it should be watched unlike "true" movies like Char's counterattack which are specifically designed for movie audience to see for a few hours. "Compressed event" movies are really just a special edition for the hardcore fan to buy if he wants extra frames of animation. For example you get a sex scene in gundam seed special edition - whoopdedoo! That doesn't mean it is superior telling of the story than what the original tv series was, or that a newbie would accept this more easily. In fact he might just be annoyed at the lack of effort put into introducing the major character properly more than the story taking too long to be told.

Edited May 29, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[yellowlightman]

A trilogy of movies is much less of a commitment than a long TV series. Not to mention the domestic MS Gundam TV DVD release sucks.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I can agree with you there. But I guess it depends on the person. For example I didn't like DYRL in terms of story to SDF:macross specifically because it starts halfway through something.

I think a noob might like to know how they got there, what the setting of the story is (ie set on earth, set in the near future, taking place after a major struggle for contorl over an alien technology, and just as aliens attack etc) before diving right into action scenes. Similarly i take that approach with gundam. Because the one year war is such a crucual event in UC, maybe it is best to go slowly, episode by episode to see how this legendary amuro ray beats people one by one training himself and improving skills and getting upgrades, and the effect of this on people around him rather than assuming in the space of a few hours he can kick ass without much thought.

I guess that is just how I would see it. I feel that when a thing is paced too quickly, your mind goes a bit numb from it all whizing by and you forget details about the person or major characters and it is just a dreamy haze of a events rather than one long big war. Weeks of time compressed into minutes. The tv series has many cool things that go on in the background that might be interesting to know. (unlike macross 7 which is packed with filler and repetitive)

Edited May 29, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[JB0]

Ugh, you guys suck.

Start with the original movies. Even if you can't stand how old and dated it is, it'll give you a better understanding of where the series came from and in turn give you a better appreciation of the Gundam universe.

ALL Gundam series are derivative of the original MS Gundam and seeing the original trilogy first will allow you to better judge which series you want to see later. DON'T see G Gundam, Gundam Wing or 08th MS Team first. Fruit cake Gundam Wing and crazy G Gundam are not particularly representative of Gundam and not a good place to start. Stick with the original and go from there depending on your tastes and what you liked about the original.

403262[/snapback]

I can't speak for Phalanx, but I was joking, and thought it was blatantly obvious.

Personally, I got turned onto Wing before anything else. I saw a 1/144 model in a Walmart of Heavyarms and had to have it, then I went back and bought the others. I think wing is a good place to start because I find the characters more interesting (Especially Trowa and Zex) and it stands alone, as opposed to the UC lines.

Oddly, characters is a major gripe I have with Wing. They're all cookie-cutter stereotypes with no development whatsoever.

[yellowlightman]

I can't speak for Phalanx, but I was joking, and thought it was blatantly obvious.

403301[/snapback]

Yeah, I knew you were kidding. I figured you'd have better taste than that anywho.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

I've heard many people refer to wing as a good beginner's entry into gundam because of the fact that it is not related to older shows. (no baggage) I can agree with that. But to me it is because it is AU and that it strays from the original to add in flashy stuff that I think it might give the wrong impression about gundam.

I like gundam wing for what it is as a standalone story, but if you want to get to gundam's roots you should see UC first imo. For example in Wing, there doesn't seem to be much ships to ships combat. Kids have no normal life, (we immediately introduced to them specifically knowing nothing about them which in a way is "cool" but not in the spririt of the original. The main characters in the original were not mysterious crack killers but merely happened upon the MS by chance and opportunity.)

Gundam wing also makes no mention of newtypes and has no star wars-ish feeling to it. In many ways Heero is like Cloud from final fantasy 7. No family or friends, tries to act tough, antisocial, and not interested in girls (hinting he might even be gay - just kidding) and stark contrast to the main character in UC (who doesn't even want to kill people and whines about being there)

Wing is the backstreet boys of gundam for a mainstream audience. At no point in the whole show do you feel any sense of danger because the characters are so tough they can withstand an explosion and only get a headache or take on armies of other pilots singlehandedly simply because they have uber powerful machines and no regard for the environment they are in or tactics. When a prototype machine makes its appearance: its not a test model machine with limits, its a killing machine and the enemy is merely cannon fodder to be massacred in large numbers at any one time. But as it is a nice self contained story, I think it is one of my favourites of the AU. (the mecha design for some of them is pretty good especially the tallgeese)

Edited May 29, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Keith]

Without a doubt go for the movie trilogy, followed by Zeta. There's no reason now that Zeta is out to see Wing or SEED first.

[Twoducks]

A trilogy of movies is much less of a commitment than a long TV series. Not to mention the domestic MS Gundam TV DVD release sucks.

403296[/snapback]

But he'll miss one of the greatest intro songs ever. "Gundaaaamu".

I started out with Seed and then went to the original series, started Z and saw all the OVAs (the best UC Gundam). ZZ I haven't seen (got a bit sick after finishing Z and Destiny). G Gundam was great to purge my system with it’s crazy take on the franchise.

Soooo:

UC:

MS Gundam: must see, at least the movies if you don’t have the time.

Z: Nice but overrated.

ZZ: No idea, people say it’s one of the worst (and you can understand future series perfectly without it).

Char’s counter attack: Nice movie that ends the whole Amuro-Char thing (Beltorchika Children is the original way it was supposed to be.

F-19: It’s a 50+ series cramped into a little movie. Characters and events flash by at the speed of light.

V Gundam: Have only seen a few episodes but looks good.

UC OVAS:

8th Team: A must see. Takes place in the middle-end of the One Year War (event covered in MS Gundam)

War in the Pocket: Just beautiful. Takes place on the last days of the One Year War.

0083: The most epic I’ve seen. The ending has some plot holes. Takes place between MS G and Z.

Alternate Universes

Turn A Gundam: Haven’t finished yet but it’s a very fresh take on the franchise. See it.

Gundam X: Only seen a few episodes. It’s heavy on the “New types†thing.

Gundam Wing: People hate it, in my case, it doesn’t spark my interest.

G Gundam: Your Gundam life boat along with Turn A.

Gundam SEED: My first Gundam. A lot of UC nuts hate it. I believe it has its own elements and borrows stuff and archetypes from the original series in a (mostly) good way. I enjoyed it more than Z.

Gundam SEED Destiny: Starts real nice but later degrades into “OWNED!†Machines and endless recaps.

You need to see the original series or at least the movies to appreciate and understand better the OVAs.

Edited May 29, 2006 by Twoducks

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

But he'll miss one of the greatest intro songs ever. "Gundaaaamu".

Dont forget the "Amurooooooh" song at the end.

Really the UC stories have a certain style to the mecha that makes each one seem unique. When you see the zaku you know it is a bad guy because of the spikes and chunky body and shield.

You don't get that feeling of different manufacturers and different design philosophy in modern shows like Seed because everyone has a gundam. It would be like the zentradi had identical fighters to the humans in macross. Booo-ring. At least in Wing and G, each person's mech looked liked it was personalised for a style of fighting.

Edited May 29, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[F-ZeroOne]

UC:

MS Gundam: must see, at least the movies if you don’t have the time.

Z: Nice but overrated.

ZZ: No idea, people say it’s one of the worst (and you can understand future series perfectly without it).

Alternate Universes

Turn A Gundam: Haven’t finished yet but it’s a very fresh take on the franchise. See it.

ZZ is perhaps a touch under-rated - most peoples impressions of it are probably based on seeing a few episodes right at the start. It improves considerably after about ep. 22 when Tomino finally regains his senses. Its not perfect, and still has moments of silliness (and can't quite shake off the legacy of those first episodes), but the later half is much better.

Turn-A classification is a bit odd - Tomino makes it very clear that all Gundams are part of the Turn-A universe (with the exception of SEED/Destiny, which were produced later), and after all, he did create the franchise in the first place. However,

Turn-A is an excellent series in its own right and possibly the one most in keeping with the spirit of the original Gundam series. Recommended!

Edited May 29, 2006 by F-ZeroOne

[Twoducks]

But he'll miss one of the greatest intro songs ever. "Gundaaaamu".

Dont forget the "Amurooooooh" song at the end.

403332[/snapback]

True, true

Really the UC stories have a certain style to the mecha that makes each one seem unique. When you see the zaku you know it is a bad guy because of the spikes and chunky body and shield.

You don't get that feeling of different manufacturers and different design philosophy in modern shows like Seed because everyone has a gundam. It would be like the zentradi had identical fighters to the humans in macross. Booo-ring. At least in Wing and G, each person's mech looked liked it was personalised for a style of fighting.

I love UC Mobile Suits, specially those from the One Year War. You can’t beat the Zaku as cannon fodder. Z starts ok but degenerates into too many goofy looking MS.

Sometimes Gundam shows cross the thin line between “state of the art prototype†and “super robotâ€.

In Destiny they just said “F* it†with the Freedom and other suits (though there was a great scene where a Strike Gundam gets the living crap kicked out of it by the new standard issue grunt MS).

Edited May 29, 2006 by Twoducks

[Vermillion21]

Thanks folks for the in-depth info! Sounds like most folks recommend the original series eh? Although, I too, worry about it looking like dated anime.

Actually, I've been to the official Gundam website and got confused, that's why I posted here. Basically, I like some of the Gundam models/toys that I've seen and just wanted to get an idea of what the heck the storyline was about. Some of their mechas look way cool, none as good as the classic VF-1's though!

Man, just reading your opinions has me confused!

[Anubis]

ZZ Gundam is shown to cause cancer in lab animals.

[F-ZeroOne]

ZZ Gundam is shown to cause cancer in lab animals.

403395[/snapback]

Well thats me screwed then.

Vermillion21, if you're still confused, then the original Gundam series is probably the best place to start, as that gives you a grounding for everything that comes after. There are plenty of Gundam websites that should give you a lot of background information. SEED and Destiny are pretty good series (I've seen worse anime), but once you see the original you'll probably understand why people get a bit grumpy about them - the "homages" are rather blatant...

[Hoptimus]

Gundam 0079 Movie Trilogy.

For a few reasons.

1.) Its the begining of everything Gundam

2.) It tells the same story as the TV series but it cuts the fat and the mecha villian of the week crap.

3.) It more closley follows the story Tomino wrote in his novels where the focus is on the charicters,the evolution of newtypes and the passions of humans that cause war.

Then watch Zeta Gundam,Chars Counter Attack. That will seal up Tomino's original vision.

[Vermillion21]

Gundam 0079 Movie Trilogy. Ok.

Next question, is there a best "DVD version" to get? I haven't checked, but I assume like most anime, there have been multiple releases of this series, right?

[Keith]

I think the only way to get it right now is the 3 disc box set, which is the best way to get it (can't miss it, it's big shiny & blue).

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Actually, I've been to the official Gundam website and got confused, that's why I posted here. Basically, I like some of the Gundam models/toys that I've seen and just wanted to get an idea of what the heck the storyline was about. Some of their mechas look way cool, none as good as the classic VF-1's though!

It looks hard to navigate at first but you need to first select your "world" that you want to know more about first. (ie Universal Century) And then from there go to the relevent section (mecha, story, timeline, maps, glossary on the menu to the side of the screen) concerning that universe to see more. Because there are so many damn shows a noob has to decide which is the most relevent to them. You don't want to bog your mind down into details or you will be discouraged but it is always handy to have some reference of the various locations and places that each story is involved in so you won't get confused.

Over the course of the timeline some colonies get renamed and even moved - knowing where they are and whose side they are taking helps - think about how confusing lord of the rings movie would be to someone who didn't read the book or know where the hobbits were coming from and going to on thier journey? Also over time there are factions working on the same side who end up betraying thier own people or allying with the victors of the previous wars (for political reasons or for some other reason) so it can get confusing if you don't read up on the various groups or have some reference. Gundam imo can be confusing at first because of the amount of people involved.

We can all agree that to start with UC and then go onto the newer alternate universe stuff is the way to go since that is where it all began. Even though I am much more a fan of macross, liking that won't stop me from seeing the various shows. Some of the fighting in char's counterattack for example is really cool. (it's really the robot equivalent of two jedi but with bits and funnels and lots of other crap - ie the battle between the 'wills' of two characters and not just federation and zeon)

But seriously don't just only watch the UC stories with 'newtypes' in them: definately see 8th MS team (everyone loves this!) and gundam 0083: stardust memory in thier order of the UC timeline. The main characters in these may not move with the grace of the heroic aces, but if you like the realism in robots then these beat the tv series in overall animation quality and suspense. (ie it is because they are no-name soldiers that you are actually scared they might die in them So because it keeps you gripped to your seat, you want to continue watching until the end - no robot of the week syndrome)

Edited May 30, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Hoptimus]

Its funny but 2 different anime boards I go to have had this topic up. I had to watch Gundam 0079 Movie 1 yesterday. I will watch the other 2 this week. The DVD is soo good. The 5.1 mix really adds alot to this old film.

[Fortress_Maximus]

I think that if you've never watched Gundam before then it would be a good idea to start with Gundam Seed as it is still new and very polished and all that but it stands on it's own (for now at least) save for the sequel series that has only just started being released in the west.

403130[/snapback]

Ugh, no.

Start with the original MS Gundam movie trilogy.

403137[/snapback]

Yellowlightman is right. Ignore all this confusing poo and just watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy, the ones set in UC 0079. Mobile Suit Gundam I, Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow, and Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space. That's what you want. It introduces everything nicely, it's easy to follow, and the three movies give you a complete, self-contained story.

403139[/snapback]

Precisely! If you actually watch Seed if at all after watching the original trilogy, you will understand why Seed in particular pales in comparison. Seed reuses too many character situations, plot devices from the trilogy, and IMO seriously lacks the emotions that made the original trilogy a revolutionary classic. Yes the animation & music is dated, yes the character designs aren't as clean as subsequent series... it is no big deal. If you take the time to watch the trilogy at least you will understand the primary influences on almost ALL of the subsequent series and alternative universe characters and the cookiecutter rehashed plot devices. Try it you might like it and besides watching the trilogy is a hell of a lot shorter than Seed!