Which Gundam series is worth watching?

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Rommie2006
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Which Gundam series is worth watching?

Post by Rommie2006 »

Have been trying out Gundam anime for the past week or so, and I'm really not sure what to choose as there are so many anime series out there. Honestly, I'm not too impressed with what I've seen so far.

Basically, what I am looking for is something like Robotech/Macross. Lots of ships, lots of mechas, etc. So will I find that in Gundam?

I've tried watching the original Gundam, but the fact that they have just a few mechas and one puny ship has put me off. Endured until episode 30+ before I quitted, it got too boring. So far, I haven't watched any Gundam series from that continued from the original Gundam so far (i.e. Gundam 08th MS Team, Gundam 0080, Gundam 0083, Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam & V Gundam). Are any of these worth watching?

I also understand that there is an "alternative timeline" for Gundam, where the series are not connected with the original Gundam, namely:
1) G Gundam
2) Gundam Wing
3) Gundam X
4) Turn a Gundam
5) Gundam SEED
6) Gundam SEED Destiny

So far I've checked out Gundam Wing, and it is just enough to keep me in the show, but my attention is fading too. I heard that Gundam SEED and its sequel Gundam SEED Destiny is not bad... so any other recommendations?

Or at the very least, some recommendations on what to avoid. Thanks in advance folks.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

First, watch First Gundam again.

I recommend Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ, on the UC side of things. ZZ is pretty dumb for the first ten episodes or so, but it vastly improves once it gets going somewhere.

Of the UC OVAs, I recommend 0080 far over 0083 and 08MST, simply in terms of story quality.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

Oh and SEED should rot in Hell. The less attention given to that garbage, the better.
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Post by General Zod »

G Gundam is really the only AU Gundam show worth watching. If only because it doesn't take itself seriously and actually tries to be something besides a Mobile Suit clone. Also, avoid Gundam Wing. Not only is it a piss poor Mobile Suit clone, its characters are horribly boring and cliched.

Movie-wise, I'd strongly recommend Char's Counterattack after you've watched some of the original series. It's very excellent and worth watching once, at the very least.
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Post by Sharp-kun »

AU wise, G Gundam as its simple great fun, or Gundam X, since it has an extremely likable cast.

I would say try the original again. Go with the movie versions, since they cut out a lot of the crap. After that move on to Zeta, skip ZZ then watch Chars Counterattack.
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Post by Vehrec »

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Oh and SEED should rot in Hell. The less attention given to that garbage, the better.
Agree. The Sooner people forget SEED the better. Every damn Mobile Suit in that series has as many parts as Wing Zero Custom. That offends me on a design level. The characters do nothing to redeam the series.
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Post by Icehawk »

Don't bother with any of the Alternate Universe Gundam shows especially Gundam Wing and SEED. Stick with the UC timeline.

If your going to watch the orginal Gundam, don't bother with the TV
version. Get your hands on the Gundam movie Trilogy. Its the TV series re-edited by the creator Gundam into 3 two and half hour movies. Its much better as it cuts out alot of the filler and streamlines the story into a better package IMO.

After this, I HIGHLY suggest 08th MS Team. I havent seen it yet myself but from what I've heard Zeta Gundam is also very good.
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Post by SylasGaunt »

I'd reccomend-

Mobile Suit Gundam (As others have said, go with the movie version)
08th Mobile Suit Team
0080: War in the Pocket
0083: Stardust Memory
Zeta Gundam
Char's Counterattack

I haven't seen ZZ so I can't reccomend it myself. Gundam F91 is okay but you can tell it was meant to be a TV series instead of a movie. On the other hand if you want to see some spiffy mobile suits it's a good one.

Seed.. well if you can sit through all of Wing and enjoy yourself you might want to try it. Destiny is from what I've heard not worth watching at all.

Wing I thought was great right up until I saw some of the UC timeline stuff so I'd reccomend skipping it.

G Gundam.. well that's a matter of taste. I'd heartily reccomend it if you're looking for something that takes itself less seriously, or if you're a fan of super robot shows.
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Post by Dark Hellion »

Watch all of UC gundam. If you stomach the slow parts you will really appreciate it later on.
As for alternates, watch Gundam X. It has the one character in any anime that should actually be anime angsty, and he isn't. It's worth watching for that fact alone.
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Post by Icehawk »

Another Gundam I that I highly recommend which I just started recently is MS IGLOO. Its a 6 episode OVA series all done in CGI animation. Its separated into two arcs, first 3 OVAs are called "The Hidden One Year War" which is what I have seen so far.

Heres a link with more info and detailed reviews of the episodes: MS IGLOO
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Post by Seggybop »

No one cares about Turn-A Gundam? T_T
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Post by Darwin »

SylasGaunt wrote:I'd reccomend-

Mobile Suit Gundam (As others have said, go with the movie version)
08th Mobile Suit Team
0080: War in the Pocket
0083: Stardust Memory
Zeta Gundam
Char's Counterattack

Throw ZZ in there after Zeta for completeness. It's not the best, but it's not horrible. This is the core story. After 08th MS team, you may also want to watch MS Igloo, a short 6-parter about a zeon experimental weapons crew. only the first 3 parts of that are readily available so far.

Turn A gundam is also a neat bit of alternate reality to watch.
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Post by SylasGaunt »

You'll notice I did mention ZZ but like I said, I couldn't reccomend it because I haven't actually seen it.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

Seggybop wrote:No one cares about Turn-A Gundam? T_T
I like Turn-A. I like it a lot, actually.

I mainly recommended ZZ Gundam for the sake of completeness concerning Zeta, but also because once you seriously get past the first block of episodes, it's actually pretty good (at least I think so). Sure, you'll hate the first ten or so, but without them you'll miss stuff.
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Post by Erik von Nein »

What, no love for SD Gundam? Those poor, deformed Zakus.
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Post by Sharp-kun »

ZZ will never be forgiven for what it did to Yazan.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

The new CG kids series?

Probably because it blows. Semi-serious speculation/rumour was that the series was Sunrise's revenge for UC toys not selling in the US. ;)
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

Sharp-kun wrote:ZZ will never be forgiven for what it did to Yazan.
That I admit was a terrible low point. They turned a cold-hearted killer into a total clown.

Fortunately that was about as low as the series got, and it happened right at the start.
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Post by Pulp Hero »

The UC storyline is by far the best. I original show suffers pretty badly from the aged animation, but the story is good.

My favorite UC show is 8TH MS Team,. It's about a team of federation gundam pilots during a campaign. Great animation and action. Plus it has some really sympathetic bad guys (remember that Zaku pilot who gave the little kids a gift?) that makes the battles heartwrenching and tense no matter what because you almost always want both sides to survive.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

08MST really benefitted from getting a new director after the fourth episode. Of course the terrible thing was that only happened because the original director was killed in a car accident...

But it seriously propelled the series forward into a real dramatic shift, rather than just being repeats of the "we got it does as a team!" formula that were the first few episodes.

Frankly, though, I liked 0080 much better. Better drama and impact, I think.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

And the old animation of the original is damn fine, thank you very much. :P
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Post by lance »

Vehrec wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Oh and SEED should rot in Hell. The less attention given to that garbage, the better.
Agree. The Sooner people forget SEED the better. Every damn Mobile Suit in that series has as many parts as Wing Zero Custom. That offends me on a design level. The characters do nothing to redeam the series.
Well it was a vast improvement over Wing.
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Post by Spanky The Dolphin »

"Poor" isn't really that much of an improvement over "bad."
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Post by General Zod »

lance wrote:
Vehrec wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Oh and SEED should rot in Hell. The less attention given to that garbage, the better.
Agree. The Sooner people forget SEED the better. Every damn Mobile Suit in that series has as many parts as Wing Zero Custom. That offends me on a design level. The characters do nothing to redeam the series.
Well it was a vast improvement over Wing.
That isn't saying much. Frankly Wing was utter garbage.
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Post by VF5SS »

You sure you don't want to avoid this drama and just watch Armored Troopers VOTOMs? Chirico Cuvie is the best damn young soldier with blue hair.
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