Forum - View topicWhat's the best entry point to the Gundam franchise?
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8467 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Mecha anime isn't for you. Watch something else. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3492 Location: Back stateside |
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Um, except that I love Macross and numerous other mecha series, and have been repeatedly told by fans that what makes Gundam great is the parts of it that aren't tied to the giant robot battles. The only thing I resent is when people claim they're somehow "rooted in realism." They're not: they're rooted in Rule of Cool. Which is fine, just don't claim they're realistic. Edit: Let me give you an example of something I might consider relatively realistic: Flag. In it, you have a military force on a secret ops mission in "Udanniya" (read: Nepal), a heavily mountainous country with few true roads. On straight and level areas, the mecha in that fuction as traditional tanks; for uneven and alpine paths, however, they convert temporarily to bipedal mode for easier mobility. They also use the elevation of being bipedal during stationary gunfire and missile launches. I don't know why these mechs had to have hands, but otherwise, they made sense otherwise. Or to take another possibility: the arc of military technology right now is moving in the direction of unmanned drones, but we still use men on the ground for "peacekeeping" measures. So why not have humanoid robot drones controlled remotely by human pilots for busting in doors and capturing prisoners? It doesn't have to just be military, you could use the police to. Think of the possibilities of contemplating how we in developed countries distance ourselves from war in the contemporary era, how keeping violence remote can lead to callousness towards its victims, etc. etc. But like I said, mecha battles can be awesome; they're just not realistic. |
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Animehermit
 Posts: 964 Location: The Argama |
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only about 40% of the original Gundam takes place in Earths atmosphere, and 90% of Zeta and Double Zeta take place in space. It doesn't neccessarily work better, but it does make more sense, you don't have to worry about aerodynamics in space. Mobile suits probably resulted from technology designed to build the space colonies.(which is probably why zeon came up with the technology first.)
not all of the Mechs in gundam are humanoid in shape, there are plenty of mobile armors and non-human shape mobile suits. although most of the suits are humanoid in nature, i bet the size and shape has more to do with the size of the weapons, you can a lot of advanced technology if you can do it on a larger scale.
UC gundam has the most realism, which is what people praise, that i can go through as see the advancement of the technology. I know most of these are just excuses but i enjoy thinking up reasons for this stuff 
8th MS team is probably the most realistic portrayal in the series, as in, the giant mechs actually act and behave like machines (IE they break down due to wear and tear, take realistic damage) |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3492 Location: Back stateside |
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That doesn't explain why they have legs or feet; in space you wouldn't need either. The humanoid shape still makes no practical sense.
Why do large weapons have to be attached to humanoid forms? What advantages does the human design have in terms of using larger weapons? We're actually somewhat poorly designed in that regard.
So in other words, it makes sense within the universe it takes place in, even if in real life it would be unrealistic? That's fine. I mean, come on, I watch stuff with much weirder things than giant humanoid mobile suits all the time. If it stays consistent with its own set of rules, I'm cool with that.
It's what us nerds to best. I don't personally "buy it," but if a story is good enough you can bracket the bits that don't make much sense. Visual flair covers a lot of impracticality.
So... some consensus seems to be on the 8th team stuff? Makes sense if it takes place in the timeline at roughly the same point as the first series: go sideways instead of forwards! |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Start with Gundam Seed Destiny like I did. All the hate it gets is from Gundam nerds, so unless you're one of them you're likely to enjoy it.
Or Gundam 00 is a good idea, too. It seems the Japanese dub is pretty popular with the ladies. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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You are at complete liberty to view or avoid series as you wish, though I predict that this choice imposes a notable limitation on the degree to which you're likely to appreciate the UC canon. If you find your inclinations such that the development of an approval of 0079 in either its televised or cinematic version is at least conceptually impossible, my advice would be in much the same spirit as that of penguintruth. |
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naninanino
 Posts: 680 |
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The only people I hear claim stuff like that are people like you. Here is a tip. Read up "real robot" and "super robot". Then familiarize yourself with the word "spectrum". Then learn to watch shows as what they are and not by your or anyone elses confused standards. If it still doesn't work, then mecha isn't for you. |
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ThePoliced
Posts: 130 |
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Seed.
Its the only one with sex in it. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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The in-universe explanation for mobile suits is due to the side effect of using Helium 3 engines in battleships creates unique particles that disrupt long range communication and targeting systems. Which meant that warfare had to be line of sight, in close quarters. As for having limbs, the explanation given is that they are used in lieu of manuevering thrusters to create balance in zero-g environments.
Actually, most of the weapons used in MS warfare are of a small scale variety, typically bazookas and beam rifles. The giant machines/armors are typically posessing higher power weapons driven by built-in reactors, as well as beam negating shields or psychic guided remote weapons. And there are a very small amount of these machines, only 13 in the core UC universe, and 1 in F91.
The whole "Real" and "super" thing is just a gameplay classification from Super Robot Wars. Shows like Dunbine and Evangelion buck the classification system, and depending on how you look at a bunch of newer shows the classification gets even more murky. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Although there is always going to be some that cross over, Real Robot and Super Robot are fairly definable. Super Robot shows have little to no consistency in their internal physics, usually require a higher level of Willing Suspension of Disbelief, and do not treat the robots as war machines such as tanks and planes, but something akin to demigods. Real Robot shows often portray the robots as just another arm of the military - a technologically advanced one, but still vulnerable and unable to function properly without proper support and tactics. |
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Nerv1
 Posts: 601 |
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It really depends on you actually. You can start with UC timeline which is the main "story" that encompasses a lot of the Gundam franchise or go with the various AU series that are all self contained. If you want to start with the original timeline, here is the order to watch it:
-Gundam trilogy, the tv series isn't bad, but it does have a lot of dull episodes which makes it hard to watch, so go with the movies as it gets straight to the point without losing any development even though its a compliation -08th MS Team, takes place in the middle of the original series focusing on different characters. It has a very good pace and story even though it is short. I have to warn you though, the last episode weak, but you don't really have to watch it. It was just a bonus epilogue episode that doesn't really add anything. If you want the best out of 08th MS team, watch up to ep. 11 instead of 12, it is technically the true ending of the series. -0083, its only 13 episodes long and explains how the Titans are formed in Zeta. Even though some find this to be the weaker ova series, I really liked it. I found Gato to be an even more interesting Char-clone than Char himself. The art was great, along with the action. spoiler[There are some "plot holes" in the story, but they're resolved in side works. ] -Zeta Gundam, this is the definite MUST WATCH series. It is often considered the best because of its story and it influenced at lot of the other series to come. spoiler[The second season of Gundam 00 can be considered a remake of Zeta.] -ZZ Gundam, you can skip it as it doesn't feature Char or Amuro, but it is still fairly good if you can get pass the first 18 comedic trainwreck episodes. -Char's Counterattack, wraps up the main storyline revolving around Amuro and Char -Gundam Unicorn, still ongoing, its fairly good so far but you need to have at least seen the original series or movies in order to understand it. -Victory Gundam, it doesn't require any knowledge of the previous series as its timeline is far apart from the others. It has the darkest and saddest storyline as many people die throughout. As for the AU ones: Gundam X, if you want to watch the AUs, I would recommend this one. It gets a lot of flack since it was cut short and cancelled, but its not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. The characters are like-able and not annoying( such as the ones in Wing) and the storyline is a "what if" approach to the original UC timeline. The only bad thing about it is that the ending is rushed, but its still handled well. If you've seen Eureka 7 before, that's basically what it is like( or the other way around actually) Gundam Wing- it is what got many people into Gundam, but I don't think its that good of a place to start of Gundam. The main characters are either mental, boring or whiny(except one) and the fights are extremely one-sided. The pacifist theme of the show comes across poorly though, But it does get better later on in the series. Turn A- Its the weirdest Gundam series, but I consider it the second best after Zeta. The storyline and characters are fairly interesting even though the designs are odd. You'll appreciate more if you've seen the other Gundam series [spoiler as] it basically takes all of the timelines(except Seed and 00) and ties them together[/spoiler], but its not a bad place to start either for an AU Seed- remake of the original Gundam. Its decent overall, but its not that great as people make it out to be. Avoid Destiny at all costs. 00- Newest series, its another good place to start but almost all the male characters are androgynous and the story is somewhat laughable at times. Don't watch the movie sequel as it resolves none of the loose ends(save one) and has a horrible conclusion. I can't comment on G Gundam, F91 or 0080 as I have yet to see it. |
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John Casey
 Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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Mental. That's a really good way to put the characters of Gundam Wing.
When I think about it, it's almost as if Gundam W was the biggest inspiration for Mark Millar's Kick-Ass. |
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Generic #757858
 Posts: 1354 |
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Not unsurprising, since it was directed by Super Robot afficionado Yasuhiro Imagawa. He was originally commissioned to create a simple Gundam tournament series, but ended up rewriting the plot to suit his own tastes. Damn, I really need get around to properly watching this. |
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Ian K
 Posts: 250 |
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As a newcomer to Gundam, I found that for me personally the best place to start was with the stories set in the One Year War: The original Mobile Suit Gundam TV show/compilation movies, Gundam 08th MS Team, and Gundam 0080: The War in the Pocket. These stories gave me an appreciation for what Gundam can be at its best, and gave me a foundation and an interest for enjoying the rest of the franchise.
The Gundam 0080: The War in the Pocket 6-part OVA is very, very good ( see this Buried Treasure column), and worth seeing for everyone who considers themselves anime fans. However, it so tonally different from every other Gundam show it is of limited utility as a gateway Gundam. Not to mention, as arguably the best story in the entire Gundam universe, it might raise expectations too high. The 08th MS Team's 12 episodes feature what is probably the most realistic combat in the franchise, as a small unit of Gundam pilots and their mechanics face credible threats from not just the latest Zeon uber-mech but regular old Zakus, tanks, air craft, and even partisans; while fighting in a variety of terrain types and locales. While I found the story rather silly, I am pretty much in a minority of one on that count. Certainly the fights are great fun. The original MSG tv series gets a lot better than what you saw in the first episode. Unfortunately, it really doesn't get any less silly. It does set up the conflicts and themes that are continued throughout the Universal Century stories. I've heard that the compilation movies cut out most of the stupid BS that was forced on the director to sell toys (like introducing a new enemy mech every week and the stupid, repetitive transformation sequences), so they are probably the way to go. Not to mention you can watch them subtitled! So basically, I'd suggest watching the 08th MS Team, followed by 0080. If you want to continue exploring that world, then I'd go to the MSG compilation movies, or, if you can't stand revisiting them, skip 'em and hit up Zeta Gundam. Otherwise maybe you'd be best off trying an AU show like Gundam Wing (which I believe was the first mech show to gain a large female following, and did very well on Cartoon Network back in the day) or Gundam SEED. Or you could just check out this guide to Finding Your 'Gateway Gundam' compiled by anime blogger par excellence ghostlightning of We Remember Love. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3492 Location: Back stateside |
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Dude, did you read my comments? I know the difference between super robots and real robots and how the spectrum works. And yes, I hear people talk about mecha being "rooted in mechanical realism" all the time (Hiroki Azuma used that exact term). And I don't have a problem with accepting it for "what they are" -- I mean, I watch Fringe, and dear God but that is totally unrealistic, but I love it for what it is. And I love most mecha series I've seen for what they are... I just do sort of prefer some kind of handwave about why they opted for humanoid robots if it's going to be in a more realistic setting (as opposed to defeating a series of evil aliens and whatnot).
Oh man, thank you!! That opening paragraph describes me: I got into other mecha series, now I am interested in Gundam. Thanks a bundle -- to you and everyone answering here! Keep the conversation going, though, it may take a while before I have time to watch any other series.
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I also don't buy how "giant robot" works more in space than on the ground; why? Why not every other model of spaceship ever imagined? Why 
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