So... Which Gundam series should I start with?

No, seriously, the whole franchise is just so damned huge that I have no idea what's a good place to start.

A little help here, please?

Early UC Gundam (Sans Zeta) is the best part of the franchise. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the original series, it blew my expectations out of the water. However, I could see why someone wouldn't want to sit down and watch 42 episodes of 70's-ish animation. I'd say one of the One Year OV As, War In The Pocket or 08th MS Team, would be a good start for getting into UC Gundam.

If you don't want to watch forty-three episodes of shit animation, watch the Compilation Movies. They're perfectly understandable on their own, and in fact an argument can be made that they are the canon version of events.

Actually, those movies would be my rec for getting into Gundam either way. When the time comes to watch Zeta, though, you'll want to go with the series.

edited 20th Jan '11 6:04:13 PM by Nyktos

I suggest you watch the original if you like massive amounts of QUALITY.

The 0079 movie trilogy is usually considered the best starting point for the Universal Century continuity. For any of the others, start with the anime that began the continuity (G, Wing, SEED, 00, ∀). As for which continuity you want to start with...eh, got me.

0079 Compilation movies and 08th MS Team are good starting points.

Start with the original Mobile Suit Gundam, then watch Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and then Gundam Wing

Those plus Gundam 0080.

edited 20th Jan '11 7:30:20 PM by Willbyr

For UC, the 0079 compilation movies make perfect sense as a starting point. However, unlike the first answer post, I think Zeta was the best of the UC Gundam series and as such you should move right on to that once you've finished the original. ZZ is not that good at first, but overall it ends up being ok and it is nice to watch if you want some clousure on some of the characters from Zeta. Then you can watch Char's Counterattack. After that, you can really go with whatever you want. If you want a different kind of Gundam anime that is probably very different from your expectations, try watching the War In The Pocket OVA.

If you really dislike 80'ies (and in the case of the original, late 70'ies) anime, and I can't for the life of me figure out why you would, I guess you could go with Gundam Seed, which in its first half is basically a remake of the original Gundam in a different setting. It does get more original in the second half, which is ironically also the best half of it.

But to sound like a stereotypical Gundam fan, UC is where it's at. ;)

edited 23rd Jan '11 7:20:59 AM by Mathias

The most accessible series IMO would be Wing, Seed, 00 or the 0079 Movies. The must watch series would be Zeta though.

edited 20th Jan '11 11:06:30 PM by Raso

You don't need to start in a particular place—just watch whatever one sounds the most interesting to you. As far as I know, all the Gundam shows can be understood on their own even if they're part of a larger continuity.

Just be aware that the first two episodes of Zeta will probably have you wanting to strangle the protagonist with his own retina cords. He does get better though.

Imo you should start with New Mobile Report Gundam Wing. Which has an excellent dub, and very good sub, the animation has aged very well too.

Part of the reason I say this is because Gundam Wing popularized the Gundam franchise in the West, which is why I consider it a good starting point.

But Zeta Gundam sucks.

edited 21st Jan '11 2:36:14 AM by CommandoDude

It depends on what sort of show you're looking for. Do you like lots of action? More character driven stories? Political intrigue? How much do you care about animation quality?

There's really no good answer to "what should I watch" unless we know what you like.

Ignore the people saying not to watch Zeta. It's very good, and far less depressing than advertised.

But watch the 0079 movies first.

edited 21st Jan '11 1:08:15 PM by Nyktos

I'm actually gonna go against the grain and say this:

If you're interested in Gundam at all, you have to be willing to deal with the following things that are common throughout the franchise.

1. for the most part, lackluster characters and writing. let's be honest here, Gundam has a really hard time letting go of the pilot superpowers. this is made even worse that some of the most interesting characters either end up getting killed off (this is most likely in a Tomino-directed one.) or, what I would argue is worse, Demoted to Extra (Andrew Waltfeld in SEED, Sergei in 00, Yzak and Dearka in SEED Destiny.) by "lackluster writing" I mean in comparison to the Real Robot flourishings after Gundam's creation, Macross, Dougram, VOTOMS, Layzner, all of these are Real Robot shows I would recommend over Gundam in a heartbeat.

2. Char Clone 's It's just something you have to expect and deal with, just like any Kamen Rider show is going to have a belt and a motorcycle. And, when it comes down to it, Char wasn't even that well written as a character, especially if you look at Char's Counterattack. his clones all vary in accuracy and writing quality, however some manage to change up enough to be interesting characters on their own. (Master Asia, Harry Ord, the Frost Brothers.)

3. Gundams (particularly Alternate Universe ones.) are Super Robots, get this through your head NOW. if you wanna watch some good gritty japanese science-fiction, watch Macross or VOTOMS instead.

What that out of the way, Which ones are worth watching?

-If you MUST watch UC, just watch the 1990's OV As: 0080, 0083, and 08th MS Team.

-Gundam X is everything that was good about Wing, with more likable characters and a badass captain, unfortunately it has a rushed ending that hurts the hell out of it, due to being canned. I still heavily recommend it because the story was written by a known Brave Series writer.

-Turn A Gundam. If you watch ANYTHING Yoshiyuki Tomino directed, make it THIS. This is AFTER he got over his infamous depression, and it really shows due to very few characters dying and in the quality of the story. it also has THE BEST Char, Harry Ord.

edited 21st Jan '11 9:49:11 PM by Clawshrimpy

Dude, Gundams are not Super Robots. They're phlebotinum powered real robots, which is different. The AU ones could be described as more Super Robots, except G Gundam which is super robot. Additionally, Macross is no more 'real robot' then Gundam is.

Also, Master Asia was never a Char Clone and ZZ Gundam was made in a much lighter mood and few people died.

edited 21st Jan '11 11:50:18 PM by CommandoDude

While still S Uper-ey because of jets-in-space and shooting an impossible amount of missiles. at least Macross does not have pilot superpowers. Improbable Piloting Skills ..... maybe. but I'll take it over the former.

Then there is still the issue of ATs and CombatArmors

IMHO the only really good Gundam shows are ones like the 1990's OV As where they actually tired to take a lesson from Takahashi's work. and at least G Gundam is funny, Gundam X has characters that won't annoy you as much, and Turn A has some character's that you'll generally like without them suddenly dying or falling out of focus.

edited 22nd Jan '11 12:24:46 AM by Clawshrimpy

If you're talking about Newtypes. That's not "piloting superpowers" to call it such would be a gross misunderstanding of what a newtype is.

If you're talking about SEED Mode and Gundam SEED Destiny...well, that's true.

Not so much Newtypes as the devices that were later made to take advantage of one's Newtype powers (the Bio-Sensor and the Psyco Frame being the biggest offenders.) when those devices started being made, "being a newtype" sort of became a superpower. the ZZ Gundam had some really egregrious superpowers. but particularly of note is when it's used to resolve plot. i.e. Char's Counterattack.

And yes things like SEED Mode and Innovade Quantum Brain Wave powers were far, far worse.

3. Gundams (particularly Alternate Universe ones.) are Super Robots, get this through your head NOW. if you wanna watch some good gritty japanese science-fiction, watch Macross or VOTOMS instead.

...Have you watched any Super Robot anime? Gundams may be less realistic than a lot of the Real Robots they inspired, but the difference between a Gundam and your average Super Robot is still pretty large. And Macross is hardly better

Yes I have. Gao Gai Gar managed to be more realistic than SEED Destiny. Which is sad.

and How is Macross "hardly better" besides space jets and lots of missiles? Name one time a Valkyrie pilot did NOT die when his VF-whatever blew up. Say what you will about Macross being Super-ish, it lacks most of the hack kneed silly crap Gundam does regularly.

edited 22nd Jan '11 2:37:43 AM by Clawshrimpy

You mean besides the use of song as a battle weapon/enhancer?

Yea.

Dude, nobody liked Seed Destiny except Japanese fans. Why even bring that up?

edited 22nd Jan '11 3:16:34 AM by CommandoDude

It wasn't used directly in combat till at least Macross7 and even then it was Played for Laughs It was used as a subtle plot device in both the original series and Plus. not as overt space magic like CCA's "peace dust" for example.

Nah, SEED as a whole has a ton of popularity, most AU Gundam shows that got a dub do. if it weren't for the snafu with Toonami, I'm sure that SEED and it's sequel series would have eclipsed Wing in popularity with fangirls at the very least, and SEED does have a lot of though very jarring at times, Fanservice, so it would have done well with male fans too. even then, most people in the west who like Gundam pretty much like either Wing or Cosmic Era. and those groups then cross-polinated into 00. I mean, we allready had a bad taste in our mouths reguarding UC since Toonami thought the best course of action after Wing and G's sucess, was to bring over the QUALITY of the 1979 original. later Zeta finally got Dv Ds, at....a one hundred dollar pricetag. so It's easy to see why when you ask about Gundam in the west, Wing or SEED is the first thing to snap to mind.

The original Gundam is far more of a "real robot" show than the original Macross. This is not a slam against Super Dimension Macross, which I like a lot, but it's simply true. The Macross itself is basically a superrobot, a robot made by sufficiently advanced aliens that surpasses almost anything else. Of course most of the battles are fought in the decidely more "real" valkyries. Also while Macross is about war it deals with it in a completely different way then Gundam; While Gundam generally tries to deal with war within the established rules of warfare as we know them, Macross famously makes the real war be between not warriors, but between cultures. What wins the war is convincing the enemy that they are wrong (since they have basically been trained to do only one thing; fight), externalised in the figure of Lynn Minmay and her pop-songs. This seems decidedly more space-opera'ish and like a "high concept" sci-fi thing than Gundam's more down-to-earth "this is a war. War is hell. War is won by defeating the opponent". Not to say that Gundam couldn't be seen as space opera, but space opera is a pretty damn broad genre (and one of my favourites) which can encompass both military sci-fi and the more "high concept" or even fantasyish sci-fi too.

UC Gundam generally does not have the bad writing of which you speak. That is not to say that the writing is perfect, in fact it is pretty rough in places. But just claiming that it sucks seems like a pretty daring proposition to me. Gundam is very real, especially UC. Yes, I know, newtypes and their psychic abilities are not hard sci-fi as such, but I'd hardly say that this one element disqualifies it as being real mecha, a genre which it created. The defining characteristic of real mecha is that the mecha are just tools of war that can be used for good or evil, not robots of mythical origins that are "heroic" in and of themselves. In Gundam the mecha are tools of war, as is the newtype abilitites, at first at least. I'm aware that Char kind of wants newtypes to be more, but the point remains. I simply don't see how you can make the claim that UC Gundam isn't real mecha. Thinking that it's bad is one thing (a personal opnion that I disagree with), but saying that it's supermecha is just plain wrong.

edited 22nd Jan '11 4:42:06 AM by Mathias