"Gundam: am I missing something?" Topic

I love Gunpla.

I finally started watching Gundam. (79, the original).

It's ridiculous.

It's like watching Superman fight street thugs. There's no drama and no stakes. The Zeon troops and mobile suits are just pantomime enemies to get slaughtered by the Gundam. There is never any drama or concern!

I'm 20 some episodes in and there is no jeopardy other than one ancillary good guy dying.

Am I missing something?

I'm actually rooting for Zeon since they are bravely fighting against truly hopeless odds.

It sets up the premise for the conflict? Things were a Bit simpler in 79 and 80, not as much angst and emotional conflict in "heroes"? I think its appeal is mostly nostalgic, I watched it back when Anime wasn't even in North America's lexicon-I got most of my Anime on pirated VCR tapes from a buddy in the Navy :). I have them in my collection, but haven't watched them in years. I am admittedly, a Universal Century fanboy, and stick mainly to utilitarian mobile suits, not the over the top flashy stuff (as much as giant robots can be called utilitarian, lol). So, War In The Pocket, Stardust Memories, MS 08th team, MS IGLOO etc. for me. I've always found the MG series and Zeon suits to be cooler than the Gundams…The Zaku I and II will always be my favs, followed by the Gelgoog. Just my take.

I am still waiting on a set of rules and scale of miniatures that would do justice to the Gundam Universe as a table top wargame…I'll be dead before that happens I imagine, LOL.:)

Mobile Suit Skirmish rules and stats are free, can be played with 1/144 scale kits or the 1/400 ish scale gashapons (or 3D printed models).

There's also The Gundam Project, but that hasn't been released yet. I think they've released some 3D print files for some units.

The protagonist having a special, undefeatable prototype suit is an unfortunate common trope that Gundam series are saddled with, though there are a few series that more-or-less avoid it (such as 8th MS team).

Although, as a Zeon apologist, I'm glad that this flaw is driving you to root for the freedom of all spacenoids, which is never wrong. Sieg Zeon!

The show was written for young boys. The Zaku are the equivalent of SW original stormtroopers. They blow up real good.

A few years ago, I binge watched the entire OG series. The entire early arc of them being on earth is the worst bit of the series. Stick with it. It does get better, especially when they realized the show appealed to older audiences as well. The characters do grow and change.

I snipped this from a reddit thread on watch order. I'm a UC timeline guy and followed the Essential series. I dislike the modern series due to their "alternate lifestyle" plots.

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only really order needed is if you want to get into the main UC timeline. The story that has been developed since the original Gundam in 79.

AU Gundam title are just alternate universes and you can watch those whenever they all standalone. 00, Iron Blood Orphans are the most common ones to recommend to newcomers. Will throw in After War Gundam X too. The Witch From Mercury is the next big AU Gundam title coming out this fall so if you want to watch something seasonally there you go.

For UC just follow this:

Watch order for UC this is in mostly chronological order versus release order. What is absolutely essential to watch to understand UC is marked out. Personally this is how I went about watching Gundam and was pretty happy with it:

Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (ESSENTIAL) (you can choose between the film trilogy for a more condensed version or the TV series which is longer alternatively you can also read the manga The Origin which retells the entirety of the original story do not watch the OVA though if you haven't seen the original show or read the manga/I can't say much about the film series as I have only seen the TV version. TV version tends to be the one most recommended by fans but I heard the films are also fine.)

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin (the OVA only adapts the prequel additions from the manga and is recommend to having seen the original show before watching)

Mobile Suit One Year War Side Stories (MS Team, Thunderbolt, War in the Pocket) (These all take place during the One Year War around when the original show is ongoing definitely recommend watching them some of the best stuff in the UC timeline you can also watch them standalone if you want some do go past the original story though)

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory (side story leading into Zeta)

Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta (ESSENTIAL)

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ(Kinda ESSENTIAL depends if you want to see Zeta properly wrapped up)

Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack (ESSENTIAL)

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway's Flash Trilogy (first film just released/more a sequel to Char's Counterattack since it focuses on characters from that film)

Mobile Suit Gundam F91

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

Turn A Gundam (to truly complete the original Gundam story however since this was a title that tied together everything Gundam released up to that point it's also recommended to have seen AU titles like G Fighter, Wing and After War Gundam X before watching for the full experience)

Gundam Reconguista in G Like Turn A super far into the future in the UC timeline.
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Thanks. I'll come back to this after I finish 79.

Hail Zeon.

"Hail Zeon!"

Indeed!!!!