History YMMV / Gundam

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** Foreign gunpla builders ticked off by the price mark-ups and rarity of Premium Bandai model kits for people outside of Japan breathed a sigh of relief once it was announced that Premium Bandai's ''Gundam'' products would be coming to the West starting April in 2020.
** Older kits being increasingly hard to come by, either in-box or built by a previous owner, made owning your favorite Mobile Suits pretty expensive for fans of older shows. This gained some criticism within the fandoms of more popular installments, since Bandai has basically been releasing new versions of the RX-78-2 during the franchise's entire run. In response, Bandai began rereleasing the original versions of several series worth of models, as well as High, Real, and Master Grade versions of the more in-demand Mobile Suits. This even extended into more divisive installments such as ''G Gundam'', which got a mix of rereleases and new HG kits. New versions of older mecha are marked by a blue Bandai logo, while reissues use the normal red.

** "Space magic" elements not grounded in MinovskyPhysics such as Newtypes and Psychoframes. Some fans accept them for being around as early as the first installment and find them to be part of the enjoyment of the franchise. Other fans feel that a RealRobot show should not have such elements and instead focus on grounded realism (at least as much realism as a HumongousMecha show can have). Some have come to view it as something of a FranchiseOriginalSin due to it's presence leading to similar things being implemented in other series.

* TheWoobie: [[Woobie/{{Gundam}} Has it's own page]].

* FoeYay: TheHero and the BigBad or TheRival are prone to this.

* StarTrekMovieCurse: For Gundam, it's the "sequel series curse", where sequels to a series other than the original MSG tend to be poorly received in comparison: ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'', and to an extent the second seasons of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]''. Averted with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' and ''Endless Waltz''. For the moment appears to be downplayed with ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' and ''Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry'', with BF being a ToughActToFollow but reactions to ''Try'' still being generally positive, if not to the degree of its predecessor. And ''reversed'' with ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'' which is seen as a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel to the divisive ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers''

* StarTrekMovieCurse: For Gundam, it's the "sequel series curse", where sequels to a series other than the original MSG tend to be poorly received in comparison: ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'', and to an extent the second seasons of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Iron-Blooded Orphans]]''. Averted with ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' and ''Endless Waltz''. For the moment appears to be downplayed with ''Anime/GundamBuildFighters'' and ''Anime/GundamBuildFightersTry'', with BF being a ToughActToFollow but reactions to ''Try'' still being generally positive, if not to the degree of its predecessor.

** The shift from a GreyAndGreyMorality in the original work to a BlackAndWhiteMorality in the sequel complete with the antagonist faction that is LoveToHate, which often leans to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Now, this is often considered the moment the work in question will [[SeasonalRot go downhill]], as evidenced with ''Anime/GundamSeedDestiny'' and the second season of ''Anime/Gundam00'' being {{Contested Sequel}}s. This trend started when ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' transitioned to ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', the latter being generally considered an EvenBetterSequel. The reason ''Zeta'' (mostly) got away with the morality shift was because its overall improvements with better writing, action and animation compared to the original overshadowed any complaints about the villains being LoveToHate. Meanwhile, later entries usually didn't improve their other aspects when shifting the morality or have a similar reception due to a more perceptive and hard to please audience thanks to the internet.

** The presence of TechnicalPacifist characters has generated this. Some fans find it groan-worthy on the grounds that it takes the WarIsHell message to {{Anvilicious}} levels and that it is [[{{Wangst}} grating]] to watch characters participating in a war have qualms about killing people. Other fans feel that [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped adding extra content to the anti-war message isn't a bad thing]] and that it is reasonable for a character to have qualms about killing people instead of [[AngstWhatAngst showing no remorse about killing others]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Almost every ''Gundam'' work has heavy themes of WarIsHell, and many consider it to be one of the franchise's main strengths.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Foreign gunpla builders ticked off by the price mark-ups and rarity of Premium Bandai model kits for people outside of Japan breathed a sigh of relief once it was announced that Premium Bandai's ''Gundam'' products would be coming to the West starting April in 2020.

* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: Some fans dismiss any Gundam series not set in the UC continuity or made by Tomino regardless of their actually quality.

* PopCultureHoliday: There are two main holidays for the franchise: Gundam Day (7/8), chosen to mimic the model number of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s RX-78-2, and Zaku Day (3/9), chosen as a GoroawaseNumber pun.

* FoeYay: TheHero and the BigBad / TheRival are prone to this.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTHn9GmTgSk Newtype flash]].

! The Entire Franchise:

* PopCultureHoliday: There are two main holidays for the franchise: Gundam Day (7/8), chosen to mimicki the model number of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'''s RX-78-2, and Zaku Day (3/9), chosen as a GoroawaseNumber pun.

* FranchiseOriginalSin:
** The shift from a GreyAndGreyMorality in the original work to a BlackAndWhiteMorality in the sequel complete with the antagonist faction that is LoveToHate, which often leans to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Now, this is often considered the moment the work in question will go downhill, as evidenced with ''Anime/GundamSeedDestiny'' and the second season of ''Anime/Gundam00'' being {{Contested Sequel}}s. This trend started when ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' transitioned to ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', the latter being generally considered an EvenBetterSequel.
** The "Space Magic" element is often a contentious topic with some feeling like it takes away from the [[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]] feel in many series. This is something that was first introduced in the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam very first show]] and subsequently escalated in the following series.

* NeverLiveItDown: According to many foreign Gunpla builders, Premium Bandai exclusive model kits are just unnecessarily-rare and expensive releases that could have been sold as general retail instead. This ignores how Premium Bandai is often used as a way to give mobile suits or add-ons that would otherwise be impractical for regular release (either because of the suit's popularity or release circumstances) a way to get into the market.[[note]][[PaletteSwap Recolors]] are popular for P-Bandai because most people who already bought the original release may not be interested in buying [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks what is essentially the same kit]] and most new molds released through P-Bandai tend to be of very obscure mobile suits or ones that [[ScrewedByTheLawyers have legal issues tied to them that limit their capacity for mass production]]. Having a more limited production run based around how many pre-orders are made helps to make this less of a problem.[[/note]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Proportionally speaking, the Master Grade line of model kits sells incredibly well in most foreign countries like Australia and the US. This was very likely due to the line's plethora of gimmicks, which consists of of inner frames (If you don't count even older ones), poseable fingers, excellent color separation (current kits), the usage of clear parts etc.

* HypocriticalFandom: Every part of the Gundam fandom have their own opinion on which organization or group should they root for or which series is the best in the entire franchise. This usually led to a lot of debates and despite outlining certain negative aspects that their favorite organizations had or flaws which the series presented, there would always be someone who would deny it; specifically:
** Fans who subscribe to the DracoInLeatherPants interpretation of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Principality of Zeon]]. They tend to paint TheFederation as tyrannical and cruel, but tend to be rather silent on the fact that the first thing Zeon did after declaring war was to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything kill an entire space colony with poison gas]], then [[ColonyDrop try to drop it on the Federation's military capital]]. After it failed, the only things that kept them from trying again were attrition and a treaty, and even then the myriad spinoffs show them as willing to use nukes and biological agents. A similar phenomenon is going on in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE.'' Fans who are [[RootingForTheEmpire rooting for Vagan,]] [[spoiler:formerly known as the UE,]] tend to call out [[TheFederation the Earth Federal Forces]] as corrupt and genocidal. At the same time, they tend to stay mum on the fact that the "oppressed martians" kill millions of innocent civilians, many of whom lived in colonies that were never protected by the Earth Federal Forces to begin with.
*** This only leads to {{Double Standard}}s within the fandom's reactions during discussions about Vagan and Zeon. Vagan soldiers wiping out unarmed colonies and [[spoiler:killing [[EnsembleDarkhorse Yurin?]]]] [[MemeticMutation OF COURSE!]] They are AxCrazy with no regard for human lives! The Principality of Zeon using poison gas to wipe out a colony so they could use the colony to [[ColonyDrop drop it on the Federation's capital?]] [[RootingForTheEmpire How dare you side with the Feddies!]] Yeah, [[{{Hypocrite}} TOTALLY not hypocritical.]]
** Also, some fans will rage against one continuity for having newtype ripoffs, or a CharClone, overly simplistic messages and what have you, and yet will turn a blind eye to it when such themes are re-used ad-verbatim in the original Universal Century timeline. On the other side, some fans will brand whoever complains about alternate continuities with {{Double Standard}}s. Complaining about Universal Century, however, is totally OK. ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' is well-received? Ha! Maybe it's only because it's a Universal Century series! ''Anime/{{Mobile Suit Gundam 00}}'' is well-received? Of course, it's a really good series! [[NotSoDifferent Yeah]], they're [[SarcasmMode much more open-minded]].
** The shift from a GreyAndGreyMorality in the original work to a BlackAndWhiteMorality in the sequel complete with the antagonist faction that is LoveToHate, which often leans to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' was the one that started the trend and played it straight and was considered one of the best series in the franchise. ''Anime/GundamSeedDestiny'' and the second season of ''Anime/Gundam00'' are nothing but poor knock offs for simply trying to follow it's example.

** "Space magic" elements not grounded in MinovskyPhysics such as Newtypes and Psychoframes. Some fans accept them for being around as early as the first installment and find them to be part of the enjoyment of the franchise. Other fans feel that a RealRobot show should not have such elements and instead focus on grounded realism (at least as much realism as a HumongousMecha show can have).

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The shift from a GreyAndGreyMorality in the original work to a BlackAndWhiteMorality in the sequel complete with the antagonist faction that is LoveToHate, which often leans to DarknessInducedAudienceApathy. Now, this is often considered the moment the work in question will go downhill, as evidenced with ''Anime/GundamSeedDestiny'' and the second season of ''Anime/Gundam00'' being {{Contested Sequel}}s. This trend started when ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' transitioned to ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', the latter being generally considered an EvenBetterSequel.

* AmericansHateTingle: The Gundam franchise is very unpopular in Brazil, since most of Brazilian anime fans dislike mecha series. The only anime aired in the country was ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' and the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz'' [=OVA=]s during the beginning of the 2000s in the ''Creator/CartoonNetwork'', but it was clearly overshadowed by other animations like ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' in the channel. Even the Brazilian fansubs don't have interest on it, most of them don't bother subbing any of the series that came before ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''.

** The presence of TechnicalPacifist characters has generated this. Some fans find it groan-worthy on the grounds that it takes the WarIsHell message to {{Anvilicious}} levels and that it is [[{{Wangst}} grating]] to watch characters participating in a war have qualms about killing people. Other fans feel that [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped adding extra content to the anti-war message isn't a bad thing]] and that it is reasonable for a character to have qualms about killing people instead of showing no remorse about killing others.

* NeverLiveItDown: According to many foreign Gunpla builders, Premium Bandai exclusive model kits are just unnecessarily-rare and expensive releases that could have been sold as general retail instead. This ignores how Premium Bandai is often used as a way to give mobile suits or add-ons that would otherwise be impractical for regular release (either because of the suit's popularity or release circumstances) a way to get into the market.

* RootingForTheEmpire: For UC, Zeon has far more vocal fans than the Earth Federation. In CE, just ''mentioning'' it in reference to the Earth Alliance or ZAFT is likely to cause a FlameWar over who was really the bad guy. Ditto, though to a lesser extent, for ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. The same debate over whether Vagan or the Earth Federal Forces is worse in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAge Gundam AGE]]'' is getting ugly as well. The same goes through ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans]]'' where you got Tekkadan vs. Gjallarhorn (particularly in Season 2) debate.

* BrokenBase: The fandom is generally grouped roughly based on which series brought you into the fandom, though this has died way down since Gundam's heyday in the early 2000s. The original split was between UC purists and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wingers]], with a smaller faction of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Seedlings]] arising later. ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' was divisive due to its much more SuperRobot-styled Gundams and the FirstContact plot of the movie given that AbsentAliens has long been a hallmark of the franchise. A later series, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE'', has caused some disagreements over its "kiddie" styling (to say nothing of the writing gaffes it suffered in its last two arcs).

* MisaimedFandom: Yes, the Federation has corrupt leaders. Yes, Zeon has many good, moral people who serve it. Yes, the Titans are bad. That being said, it's a little scary how many fans will knee-jerk a SIEG ZEON for a regime that murdered ''billions'' of people and continued to wipe out metropolitan centers every few years "for freedom".

%%* NeverLiveItDown: Thanks to Bandai's seemingly questionable marketing for releasing variants of most Gunpla kits as a Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusive, The name "Premium Bandai" also gained notoriety to the Gunpla modellers outside Japan.

* EpilepticTrees: ''Every'' fans are skeptical on whether the revealed prototype of the kit will be released for general retail, or as a webshop exclusive. Though the results are zigzagged on every new kit produced.

* InternetBackdraft:
** In terms of Gunpla collecting, most of the (foreign) fans are '''not''' satisfied when their favorite Mobile Suits, either main or minors, get released as Bandai Hobby Online Shop exclusives. (Unless they know how to order them and use their shipping fees.)
** Fans are ''not'' amused when some higher-priced kits still include stickers on some details instead of parts separation.
*** Some of the modelers are also unsatisfied to some kits' (mostly 2010's and beyond) little-to-no effort of parts separation (like having seam lines in ''between'' two pieces of a 1/100 No-Grade kit's shoulder armors).

* FandomBerserkButton:

* FandomBerserkButton: Go and call the Mobile Suits as "Transformers", I dare you. [[note]]It barely helped that Shōji Kawamori, the designer of the pre-Transformers Diaclone toyline, also designed Gundam-type Mobile Suits.[[/note]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Proportionally speaking, the Master Grade line of model kits sells incredibly well in most foreign countries like Australia and the US. This was very likely due to the usage of inner frames (If you don't count even older ones).