History YMMV / MobileSuitGundam

** Also from the original show, the very concept of the newtype is something that just suddenly appears near the show's end and with everyone suddenly talking about it as if it had always been there. The movies rectifies this by having it introduced and properly discussed much earlier.

** Even Gihren Zabi gets it himself in some circles of the fandom, especially the Japanese fan circles. That is despite him being behind the bulk of Zeon's war crimes in the One Year War and taking comparisons to Hitler as a compliment. There are even games allowing Zeon to win that envisions an Earth Sphere led by Gihren as a glorious future!

* AmericansHateTingle:
** Downplayed with [[TheEvilPrince Gihren Zabi]], who is far less tolerated in western countries than by Japan for [[ANaziByAnyOtherName obvious reasons]]. However in Japan, while he is not as popular as the massively-popular Char he is the poster boy for the Zabi Family and is significantly popular enough to have his own game series [[VideoGame/GihrensGreed named after him]]. His Sieg Zeon speech is also considered a major moment in Gundam history and has been repeated in various conventions. This is possibly due to lax laws on the depiction of Nazi aesthetics in Japan along with possible influence of Japan's infamous record of [[ValuesDissonance war crimes denial about its actions in WWII]]. Interestingly enough, [[MisaimedFandom this appeal in Japan was a far cry from how Tomino wanted to audiences to view the character.]]
** The show itself was dubbed and shown on Cartoon Network right after the surprise success of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', but failed to take in the hoped-for ratings, probably due to the animation being 20 years old by then. It was pulled after 9/11 four episodes from the end, though the final episode nevertheless managed to air that December when Char was voted surprisingly high in Toonami's "New Year's Evil" contest.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** Inevitable, given the number of homages the later shows in the franchise did, it means many plot points in the show don't stand out now as much as they did when they were first done. An unfortunate side-effect of being the TropeMaker of an entire genre is that most of the shows of the genre made afterwards will be trying to bring something new to the table to avoid being seen as a poor clone of the original, which after a while makes it look too simple and unimaginative. If you have already watched a reasonable number of series of the RealRobotGenre, you may have a hard time figuring out what's so special about the first Gundam.
** When Gundam had a BreakthroughHit in the West with ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' on Cartoon Network, Sunrise decided to push the Universal Century shows out and started at the beginning. Unfortunately, the dated animation and EarlyInstallmentWeirdness tone of this show didn't appeal to many newcomers 20 years later. Echoing its original run in Japan it got shuffled to Saturday night Creator/AdultSwim before fading away, never airing all the episodes.

* VindicatedByHistory: It's tough to believe that this show was canceled early due to poor ratings. And it's now the progenitor of one of the most renowned franchises in anime history. It also helps that reruns of the show helped it to find its audience and rocket into a groundbreaking, timeless masterpiece.

** Inevitable, given the number of homages the later shows in the franchise did, it means many plot points in the show don't stand out now as much as they did when they were first done. An unfortunate side-effect of being the TropeMaker of an entire gnere is that most of the shows of the genre made afterwards will be trying to bring something new to the table to avoid being seen as a poor clone of the original, which after a while makes it look too simple and unimaginative. If you have already watched a reasonable number of series of the RealRobotGenre, you may have a hard time figuring out what's so special about the first Gundam.

** From the movies, the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHdYXUHl06o Beginning]] by Daisuke Inoue is a dead ringer for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCA3-c3Mar8 Prince Rupert Awakes]] by Music/KingCrimson.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Pretty much. Of all the UC series it's always this period that gets side stories, video games, and such. Even though Zeta Gundam was more popular at the time of its airing, these days it's overshadowed by its progenitor. Some fans refer to this as "the Star Trek syndrome;" while the sequel series may be vastly superior, the original show inspired a fandom.

* LoveToHate: Char is this to the parts of the fanbase who aren't giving him leather pants, as is Kycilia Zabi. Gihren Zabi qualifies as well. There's no doubt he's a total bastard, but he's just so ''good'' at it.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Most of the changes in the compilation movies (other than those made for time constraints) were basically done to fix problems caused by ExecutiveMeddling or that Tomino didn't like in the original. Ironically, some of these (like the Gundam Hammer) were actually quite well liked by fans.
** The G-Fighter, a complicated SuperRobot-esque support fighter with several outlandish combinations with the Gundam was replaced with the much more Real Robot-y Core Booster, just a simple support and weapons booster for the Core Fighters.
** The Gundam's more exotic weapons, like the Beam Javelin and Gundam Hammer are absent as they were originally mandated by the network to sell toys.
** As seen under {{Asspull}}, the Gundam's heat-proof film was widely disliked, and replaced with a more realistic cooling system.

** The Principality of Zeon were originally intended by Tomino as an allegory for UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and to be a faction which [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist uses the veil of fighting oppression to commit horrible atrocities]], but the high number of {{Punch Clock Villain}}s and other sympathetic characters among Zeon's ranks, a lot of fans in Japan as well as other parts of the world have come to see them as less "[[ANaziByAnyOtherName Space Nazis]]" and more a morally gray faction with a legitimate cause against the corrupt and ineffectual Federation. Ironically, the opposite is more true among western fans, who first believed Zeon to be {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s fighting for freedom until the perception of them as villains who only put up the pretense of a heroic cause became more widespread. Nowadays, westerners like Zeon just fine but tend to prefer them as outright baddies more in-line with Tomino's original vision and dislike works which depict them as sympathetic or try to [[GreyingMorality grey the One Year War]]. The AdaptationalVillainy of the rest of the Zabi family in ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin Gundam: The Origin]]'' and a growing perception that Side 3 was ''not'' excessively brutalized by the Federation only furthered this.
** Char Aznable has also had his perception vary among western audiences, who initially believed him to be a badass AntiVillain (or even AntiHero) who fought for Zeon but wanted revenge on the Zabis for killing his father and to bring Zeon closer to the ideals of Zeon Deikun, a view that was further bolstered by his role as Kamille Bidan's mentor in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' further boosted his reception. Many of his fans cried foul when he made a FaceHeelTurn in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]''. However, when one re-watches the first ''Gundam'' show it's easier to pick up on Char's more negative qualities, including his selfishness, self-righteousness and even megalomania, and suddenly his character arc culminating in ''Char's Counterattack'' makes a lot of sense. As this perception has become more popularized, Char's reputation shifted from that of a misguided hero to a LoveToHate villain.

** Inevitable, given the number of homages the later shows in the franchise did, it means many plot points in the show don't stand out now as much as they did when they were first done. The show wasn't very successful when it initially aired, in fact leading it to end nine episodes earlier than originally planned, meaning it didn't have the animation budget that later Gundam shows did, which can be clearly seen in how its animation is a lot less detailed and a lot slower paced. Most fans agree the series shook off its growing pains with Z Gundam, which in turn helped affirm a lot of the signature Gundam tropes.

** The Principality of Zeon were originally intended by Tomino as an allegory for UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan, and to be a faction which [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist uses the veil of fighting oppression to commit horrible atrocities]], but the high number of {{Punch Clock Villain}}s and other sympathetic characters among Zeon's ranks, a lot of fans in Japan as well as other parts of the world have come to see them as less "[[ANaziByAnyOtherName Space Nazis]]" and more a morally gray faction with a legitimate cause against the corrupt and ineffectual Federation. Ironically, the opposite is more true among western fans, who first believed Zeon to be {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s fighting for freedom until the perception of them as villains who only put up the pretense of a heroic cause became more widespread. Nowadays, westerners like Zeon just fine but tend to prefer them as outright baddies more in-line with Tomino's original vision and dislike works which depict them as sympathetic or try to [[GreyingMorality grey the One Year War]].

** Char Aznable has also had his perception vary among western audiences, who initially believed him to be a badass AntiVillain (or even AntiHero) who fought for Zeon but wanted revenge on the Zabis for killing his father and to bring Zeon closer to the ideals of Zeon Deikun, a view that was further bolstered by his role as Kamille Bidan's mentor in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' further boosted his reception. Many of his fans cried foul when he made a FaceHeelTurn in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]'', believing it to be CharacterDerailment. However, when one re-watches the first ''Gundam'' show it's easier to pick up on Char's more negative qualities, including his selfishness, self-righteousness and even megalomania, and suddenly his character arc culminating in ''Char's Counterattack'' makes a lot of sense. As this perception has become more popularized, Char's reputation shifted from that of a misguided hero to a LoveToHate villain.

** Among western fans, the Principality of Zeon was initially seen as a morally gray faction with legitimate grievances against the Earth Federation thanks to the number of sympathetic characters among Zeon's ranks, the Federation's corruption, and the various heroic factions' ineffectuality. Gihren Zabi was the only member of Zeon truly seen as evil, and some fans even felt that a Zeon victory would be beneficial. However, as fans became more aware of Zeon's nature as an allegory for UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan and of the prevalence of war crime denialism in Japanese society, their perception of Zeon became more critical. The AdaptationalVillainy of the rest of the Zabi family in ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin Gundam: The Origin]]'' and a growing perception that Side 3 was ''not'' excessively brutalized by the Federation only furthered this. Today, a large chunk of fans prefer to remember Zeon for its war crimes, and any work that focuses on sympathetic aspects of Zeon or emphasizes the negative aspects of the Federation will receive significant controversy.
** While still immensely popular in Japan, BreakoutCharacter Char Aznable saw his reputation dip among western audiences. When first introduced, he was seen as a total badass with a tragic backstory of seeing the Zabis kill his father, and his quest for revenge and desire to bring Zeon closer to the ideals of Zeon Deikun were seen as heroic. His role as Kamille Bidan's mentor in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' further boosted his reception, and fans cried foul when he made a FaceHeelTurn in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]''. However, over time, he was increasingly reevaluated as self-righteous, megalomaniacal, and out of touch, with his plans doing more harm than good and catching innocent people in the crossfire. Combined with ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin Gundam: The Origin]]'' recharacterizing both Char and Zeon Deikun in darker lights, Char's reputation shifted from that of a misguided hero to a LoveToHate villain.

** Inevitable, given the number of homages the later shows in the franchise did, it means many plot points in the show don't stand out now as much as they did when they were first done. The show wasn't very successful when it initially aired, in fact leading it to end three episodes earlier than originally planned, meaning it didn't have the animation budget that later Gundam shows did, which can be clearly seen in how its animation is a lot less detailed and a lot slower paced. Most fans agree the series shook off its growing pains with Z Gundam, which in turn helped affirm a lot of the signature Gundam tropes.

** Amuro is quite often interpreted to be on the autism spectrum. He has an inability to read social cues and he obsesses over fixing things or reading to the point of neglecting his surroundings.

* {{Asspull}}: