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  • Americans Hate Tingle: Probably responsible for why the entire SD Gundam sub-franchise suffers from this trope overseas, as the timing of its release led many Western fans to dismiss it as a Lighter and Softer kids show in franchise that otherwise sticks to mature and action-focused stories. This has since died down bit-by-bit overtime, though.
  • Audience-Coloring Adaptation: The SD Gundam sub-franchise suffers from Americans Hate Tingle overseas because this was the first work in the sub-franchise to be released outside of Japan after several more serious shows had been released, and gave Westerners the impression that SD Gundam is nothing but childish plots and humor in an otherwise mature franchise, ignoring the Cerebus Syndrome that kicks in later.
  • Badass Decay:
    • The Quirky Miniboss Squad were all dangerous when they appeared initially, but were reduced to being completely harmless later. Tallgeese also suffers from this.
    • Cobramaru. He first appears with a reputation for bringing down nine castles in Ark, but time and time again success is juuust pulled out from under his nose by Shute and Captain. Eventually, Kibaomaru decides to just fire him.
    • This trope is lampshaded by the Zako Soldiers during the Zako Zako Hour.
  • Critical Backlash: Gets tons of hatred in the West, yet many argue that the show is unfairly judged and not as bad as it is made out to be.
  • Fandom Rivalry: This series has somehow attracted a lot of Transformers fans, who then put references to it everywhere in their fanfiction. The purely Gundam fans, on the other hand, many find the references from that other franchise to be incredibly annoying and highly inaccurate to the show's existing Gundam terminology.
  • Friendly Fandoms: Many SD Gundam Force fans are also Transformers fans, probably thanks to the fact that most of the main characters of SD Gundam Force are sentient robots (a trait not uncommon in various Japanese mecha animes). In some fanfiction, you'll see a lot of Transformers terminology slipped into the story (especially robot curses such as "Slag!" and "Scrap!").
  • Growing the Beard: It got better when they began introducing the story elements of Lacroa and Ark which are Darker and Edgier than the saccharine Neotopia. The depth to their stories are justified because those two are in the same world as the Dark Axis and had been in a conflict with them for far longer. The last half is particularly strong with the sub-plots about the Superior Dragon, the Warring States in Ark, and the motivations of Deathscythe and Gerbera.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • Several to Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn:
      • While General Zeong may have been conceived as an Expy of the Perfect Zeong, its bright red coloring, attack drones, ridiculously powerful abilities, and status as the Final Boss make him serve as Production Foreshadowing to Neo Zeong.
      • Professor Gerbera also has pincer hands like the Shamblo (auxiliary ones with the former) and similarly shaped "shoulder pads" more so than the mobile suit he's named after.
      • Among the tracks in Gundam Unicorn's OST is MAD NUG just like Gerbera's real name.
    • Griffin Tallgeese foreshadows Tallgeese Flugel from the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz: The Glory of Losers manga as a winged upgrade.
  • Nightmare Fuel
    • The Expies of Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Shenlong were melted down to provide General Zeong with Gundanium armor. Princess Rele even comes across what's left of them! Remember, these are living beings we're talking about here.
    • Shute's brainwashing at the hands of General Zeong takes place in an illusion of his worst nightmares. It's a world where the Dark Axis have won, his older self urges him to give up, and Captain's last actions before finally kicking the bucket is to nearly kill Shute.
  • No Problem with Licensed Games: The SD Gundam Force game for the Game Boy Advance is a very competent single-plane brawler not unlike the portable's Astro Boy: Omega Factor.
  • Older Than They Think: The roots of this series have been around since at least the 1980s. Lacroa and Ark are the default universes for the SD Gundam Gaiden and SD Sengokuden storylines respectively, and the designs for most of the Neotopian Gundams and Dark Axis characters are lifted wholesale from SD Command Chronicles.
  • Retroactive Recognition: Bakunetsumaru was one of Yuri Lowenthal's earlier voiceover roles just shortly-very shortly-before he got truly noticed for his role as Sasuke Uchiha.
  • Toy Ship: In season 2, Princess Rele crushes on Shute and is eager to spend time with him.
  • Vindicated by History: While still a divisive series, many Western fans have warmed up to it since when it first aired for feeling that the show was and still is unfairly judged. The series does have some smart Mythology Gags, rounded characters, and flashes of depth that too many dismiss. Even the Lighter and Softer premise is praised, as it helps to give the franchise some variety.


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