Watching all the Gundam

Two years ago I made a solemn vow to watch all the Gundam. I've gotten through First, Zeta, Double Zeta, G, Wing, Turn A, See D, and 00, but I've been stuck on Victory for over a year. Somehow I just can't get into it. Also, as of episode 35, it's not nearly as 'dark' as people say.

I've tried starting in on See D Destiny or X (the only other full length series left) just for a change of pace, but it just doesn't feel right knowing I haven't finished Victory.

I'm also at a loss for whether the SD stuff 'counts' towards all the Gundam, since that makes my task significantly harder. I'm not counting compilation movies, despite the occasional new footage. I've seen all the original movies and one of the OA Vs (0080), so I am well on my way.

By my reckoning, works left to see:

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (16 episodes remain)

After War Gundam X

Mobile Suit Gundam See D Destiny

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

Works that may not 'count'

Various SD Gundam series

Gundam Evolve

MS Igloo

Gunpla Builders

edited 11th Apr '11 2:26:09 AM by Arsidias

My opinion: Fuck Victory.

Also, while virtual dissertations have been written on Destiny I'd advise...eh. Whatever.

But seriously, WATCH X NOW

X or Stardust Memory IMO.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Victory's drama fell a bit flat for me, though that may be because I could see all the character deaths coming from a mile away.

Victory's Kill Them All thing got old real fast compared to say Zeta.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Zeta sucked. ZZ was way better.

Skip victory and come back to it later. If you absolutely must.

edited 11th Apr '11 3:22:25 AM by CommandoDude

My other signature is a Gundam.

Zeta sucked. ZZ was way better.

You know, I feel like I should argue this, but I really can't.

Oh god here we go again...

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

Did I miss some good debates?

I'm always up for a lively argument about Zeta's status in the fandom.

There have been quite a few debates about Zeta and Destiny in the gundam thread (although there were some rather large ones in the IJBM forum back when it existed.)

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is such a hot button the IJBM page was locked due to flame wars.

edited 11th Apr '11 3:30:03 AM by Raso

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

I haven't watched very many Gundam series, but so far my favorite is The08th MS Team, mainly due to the fact that it actually goes out of its way to humanize the Zeon where in other series they'd just be Mooks.

edited 11th Apr '11 8:08:52 AM by GuyInWhite

Why I am afraid of fences.

Gundam 0080 does a pretty good job of that too.

edited 11th Apr '11 9:27:42 AM by Willbyr

0083 and Zeta do a good job of that too well some of Zeta's characters. 0083 though the Zeon get more than the main characters.

Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!

I'd say your "doesn't count" list is about right. Gundam Evolve is basically a bunch of shorts, SD Gundam is practically its own franchise, and MS Igloo is Zeon fanwankery. (Then again, so is 0083 and Unicorn. YMMV.)

I've never bought into the whole True Art Is Angsty thing, so Zeta and Victory didn't really do it for me. 08th MS Team is a solid show and definitely the most "real" of any Gundam (0080 is close, but it's too short to really show it). 0083 has sexy mecha design (for the grunts, at least — didn't care for the Gundams) and decent action at the cost of terrible plot. Destiny isn't as bad as everyone says (nothing is as bad as everyone says Destiny is), but wasn't as good as Seed. Unicorn is "lol UC rehash #7, now with OVA-level production quality", which you'll either eat up or loathe depending on how much you liked UC in general and how big of a Zeon fan you are. Gundam X is awesome and definitely worth watching.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

I got into Gundam through Dynasty Warriors Gundam, so which series would you guys suggest I watch first? This will not end well, will it?

Is that good or bad?

edited 11th Apr '11 6:22:09 PM by sirnoob

"badass" doesn't anything in after used end fail be fine.

@sirnoob

It's always best to start with First, just common sense really. I believe it's still streaming on crunchy roll. But if 'official mode' gave you the gist of the UC series, you might want to skip straight to Char's Counterattack.

CCA is about as epic as Gundam ever got, and it's a shorter time-investment than a whole series. Nu-Gundam vs Sazabi is, for my money, the best Gundam battle to date.

Of course, 00 is newest and the flashiest, complete with a Big Damn Movie to cap it all off, but DW didn't feature it at all, so I don't know if it's quite what you're looking for.

Why wouldn't MS IGLOO count? It's still a Gundam series; it just has a different animation style.

edited 12th Apr '11 10:08:00 AM by Nyktos

I guess it is.

Well, it's certainly pretty, but the fact that I feel like I've seen it all before despite not having seen any of it before is somewhat irking, at least to me. And also the fact that the Federation once again gets the short end of the stick (as they have in... basically everything since CCA) doesn't endear me to it either.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

Can somebody explain Gunpla Builders Beginning G ? I can't find it covered on this site (however, a Google search for "site:tvtropes.org gunpla builders" turned up this, even though it's an empty page).

something

according to The Other Wiki and the abridged series I saw on youtube, it's a three episode OVA, with 15-minute long episodes, that tells the story of a young boy building his first Gunpla, the eponymous Beginning Gundam.

In this world, you can plug your Gundam models into virtual cockpits and simulate a fight with someone else's Gundam models. Our young hero is a natural, but only because the Beginning Gundam (which he bought at the giant Gundam statue's gift shop) is some sort of long lost magical Gunpla kit.

And then he ends up fighting a Char Clone whose name is Boris Char.

Boris Char?

That's possibly the most awesome name ever.

"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy Ent

Just finished episode 47 of Victory. I finally made it to the part I love the most, the melodramatic final conflict in space. I'd almost forgotten why I loved Gundam so much.

Almost every Gundam series has started to drag near the middle, from the ENDLESS fights with M'Quve to Judau and company wandering in the desert, but when they get back into space, watch out!

Looking back, that may be why I liked Zeta so much, there was a lot more fighting in space, and the time spent on Earth had ZOMG AMURO IS BACK, so it wasn't nearly as monotonous.

@Nyktös

Honestly, I didn't count IGLOO because it is so very difficult to find.

I have to hand it to the villains, that giant psychic-fueled mind control weapon is a pretty cool idea, even if rather silly.

@Arsidias: It's on BakaBT...

I guess it is.