Mobile Suit Gundam

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Doctorwhovian, Jul 9, 2014.

  1. Doctorwhovian

    Doctorwhovian Fleet Captain

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    Any fans of this anime franchise? It's been likened to Star Trek-although obviously different apart from both being science fiction-it, like Trek, was not a huge hit when it came out, but developed a cult following in reruns. Eventually, it became an anime icon, and is often credited with revolutionizing the mecha genre: Although the title robot still looks fairly 'super robot'ish, it was treated more like a military machine in a devestating war, even being mass-produced (as the cannon fodder GM).

    The series of course has had many spinoffs, some set in it's original continuity (Mainly the 80's and early 90s series, movies and video spinoffs) and others which take place in alternate universes, with their own spin on the basic story (The most popular in the US being 1995's "Gundam Wing" which was shown on Cartoon Network in the early 2000s). Unfortunately the series has often struggled with an American audience, partially because of the dated animation of the older series and some poor marketing decisions, as well as the DVDs mostly going out of stock (Although thankfully some of the series are available officially streaming and subtitled)

    Of course like that other giant robot franchise, Transformers, there has been a lot of toys and models based on the robots (although Gundams are not sentient and the franchise is mostly aimed at an older audience). Some series have even been done based on the model collecting itself, such as the recent "Gundam Build fighters".




    It looks like there's some further Gundam projects on the way as well-the most hyped being Gundam: The Origin movie which adapts a manga series, this time dealing with Char and Sayla's umm...origin ;)

    There also is a new TV series on the way, Gundam: Reconguista in G which is being done by Gundam's creator Tomino and reportedly takes place in the original continuity but after the later F91 movie and Victory Gundam TV series (and thankfully decanonizing an awful live-action TV movie, G-saviour).
     
  2. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    i'm a fan. really looking forward to Reconguista in G. Age was fun, so was Build Fighters...but i'm glad this new series has a different animation style and appears to be more serious.
     
  3. M.A.C.O.

    M.A.C.O. Commodore Commodore

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    I'm a big fan of the Gundam series.

    I've watched most of the series.

    The main timeline is the Universal Century. Beginning with 1979 series. Each series has a corresponding calender/stardate. Since the wars in the Gundam series are so large and expansive, there are a lot of series retroactively included in to the timeline.

    Mobile Suit Gundam --0079 (1979)
    08th Mobile Suit Team --0079 (1995)
    0080 War in the Pocket --0079/80 (1989)
    0083 Stardust Memory -- 0083 (1991)
    Zeta Gundam --0086 (1985-86)
    Gundam ZZ --0088 (1986-87)
    Char's Counterattack --0093 (1988)
    Gundam Unicorn --0096 (2010-14)
    Gundam F91 --0123 (1991)
    Victory Gundam --0153 (1993)


    Alternate Universe Gundams
    G Gundam (1994)
    Gundam Wing (1995)


    I still need to watch Gundam X, Turn A, Seed, Seed Destiny, 00 Age, and Build Fighters.
     
  4. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm also a fan of MS Gundam in general.

    My favorite story (which still had some major flaws), that I liked overall was the 13 episode OAV series:

    Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory

    My favorite Gundam feature film was Char's Counterattack
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2014
  5. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I also like Gundam quite a bit, mecha in general really, but it's a nice powerhouse of mecha. I've seen or tried to watch most of the series and have completed most of them. I'm currently working on Victory Gundam and and after that it will be Turn A Gundam which is the only major series I haven't tried yet. I'm looking forward to checking out the two new projects.

    My favorites are:
    Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
    Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team
    Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
    Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
    Mobile Suit Gundam 00
    Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

    As for best pilot, that's obviously this one.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2014
  6. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Turn-A is interesting, I should try it again, I tried watching it years ago but the subs were so bad it was hard to follow.

    I did have a good time watching G Gundam way back when Toonami aired it. Though I could see where the purists would go crazy watching a series with sailor suit Gundams.
     
  7. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm working my way through Turn A right now (ahead of Reconguista's premiere). It's quite different than most Gundam series, but it definitely show's Tomino's evolution as an anime writer and director. This will be the last Gundam series for me and I'll finally have seen them all after 20+ years in the fandom. Mind you, I'm not counting the various SD Gundam shows, but I *am* counting the seriously awesome Gundam Unicorn CG short at Gundam Front Tokyo that I saw last year. :)

    Mark-II

    (see what I did there?)
     
  8. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    I've seen most of Gundam--there are still a couple of the more obscure movies I haven't seen yet. I'd have to say Wing is still my favorite, probably because, like a lot of people my age, it was my first introduction into anime.

    I get why people like 8MST so much, but there was always something about it that never "got."

    SEED would probably be my favorite now had it not been completely ruined by SEED D.

    And I never thought much of 00. It's just too derivative. I know that's a really silly thing to say about a Gundam show, but all the other series have something that sets them apart.

    I still enjoyed it though. There are definitely better mecha shows out there, but there's just that something special about Gundam.

    Looking forward to the new one.
     
  9. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Honestly it looks like you're confusing GUNDAM with Go Lion (Bastardized into Voltron: Defender of the Universe in the U.S.) ;)
     
  10. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I liked it for the simple fact that it took so much from Western science fiction such as the work of Clark and Asimov.
     
  11. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I call it a Meow-bile Suit. :p

    Besides Gundam has had 4 legged Suits, although the only one I can recall of the top of my head is the one in Seed Destiny.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2014
  12. Leroy

    Leroy Commodore Commodore

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    A Gundam thread! this means I have to shamelessly plug my favorite anime podcast Gundamn! at mahq.net. They do a series round up where the hosts review a particular series in a franchise. They've done the Gundam series up to this point, Patlabor, Macross, and now they are doing VOTOMS, as well as other more obscure mech anime from today and the 80's. The hosts are also big Star Trek fans. The reviews are from a mech anime fan/connoisseur perspective so it cuts down on some bias like not liking a particular show for having dated animation or not being UC or AU for example. Definitely worth checking out if you want to know what series to watch next.

    It's unfortunate that the franchise in the U.S. peaked with Wing and petered out afterwards although not complete failures (as some would have you believe) the UC OVAs and G Gundam failed to capture the huge amount of interest that Wing did as those shows didn't really fit with the typical Toonami/DBZ viewer at the time. The last time Gundam aired in the US was when the Si-Fi had their anime block and aired 00. Until Bandai left the market recently they did a good job of keeping the series and movies that were released here in print as most series and movies had at least a singles and a boxed set release.

    But it's safe to say that Gundam is still popular in Japan along with Macross it enjoys Star Wars level of popularity.
     
  13. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    I actually think that G Gundam and SD Gundam were the shows that fit the typical Toonami/DBZ viewer at the time and those did fairly well on Cartoon Network (I remember hearing that SD Gundam could even have had a second season there before things went south).

    But no Gundam series did as well on Cartoon Network as Gundam Wing, making that series pretty much a fluke there. It could be that Wing attracted more than just mecha anime fans.
     
  14. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I've only seen one Gundam series, Gundam Seed, but I enjoyed it. It had some good characters (and, to be fair, a few really bad ones) and I enjoyed the story. I've been meaning to get to Seed Destiny, but I've had other priorities when it comes to TV show watching.
     
  15. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    avoid Seed Destiny. Do Not Want!
     
  16. zakkrusz

    zakkrusz Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's not as bad as people claim it is, but it does have a lot of flaws. Watch it if you really want to see more of the SEED-verse, but don't expect greatness or pay too much for it, for that matter.
     
  17. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    Yes it is. The fact they essentially rebooted the story twice should be evidence enough of that.

    And did their best to write the main character out of it because no one liked him.
     
  18. publiusr

    publiusr Admiral Admiral

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    I would have liked to have seen more toys that weren't the mobile suits. The ships, the space colonies, shuttles/HLVs, etc.
     
  19. Doctorwhovian

    Doctorwhovian Fleet Captain

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    The ships have been available a few times in model kit form and also as toys (mainly in the early 2000s for the latter). The mobile armors as well. Although mainly those from the UC stuff.
     
  20. Doctorwhovian

    Doctorwhovian Fleet Captain

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    SEED sort of follows a lot of the story beats of the original Gundam, but with a more updated style (and a lot more Gundams!) IMO.