Gundam

[Pearly]

I kinda get why he isn't fond of Zeta, given what he did with Ideon and some of his later series and Zeta is admittingly pretty bleak with it's ending and probably saw an opportunity to do what he saw could have been done. Tomino shows can be dark and very somber, but there is a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel and some hope and Zeta just doesn't have that if you look at it's ending. I don't think it detracts from the show, but I think it shows why he views it differently from the rest.

CCA actually has a lot of little nuances and details packed within itself and I'd say it's one of his biggest accomplishments. If you weren't on board with the movie, I would highly recommend checking out Beltorchika's children, which is a more expanded version of CCA and shows more of what his vision was for the story in a different way. I think it really helps in understanding it as a whole, and I personally feel it has some advantages over the movie. They both work very well as complimentary pieces of each other and I think CCA also benefits from multiple viewings.

War in the pocket is good, but I have grown to prefer the other UC ovas to it. It does a good show showing a more human side and smaller scale to the OYW. The final episode is a very stand out and highly emotional end that fits right at home. There's a few things about it that I don't feel quite match what I like about UC gundam, but it's still a very good ova.

I think being burnt out on UC gundam is understandable and IDK how far you went, but if you only did just 0079 up to CCA, then you're basically done with that particular main era, since after that is when you have F91 and Victory which branch off a lot and do different things, I personally love Victory and regard it as one of the best and F91 is cool, and the further UC material is just side stories with 0080 up to MS igloo, all are good and worth watching. and that's also before they started doing different series with their own continuities that are all pretty seperate from one another.

I would think it's one of those things were the creator wasn't aware of just how great their creation was, he would've been told it was too dark etc. by staff members and such during it's original run, since it was a daytime tv show in Japan during 1985. The reception of the show at the time caused him to view it negatively, which as far as I am aware, it was received poorly and merch wasn't selling etc., causing ZZ to have a tone shift. It was fans that watched Zeta years after it's original broadcast in Japan that viewed it as his best Gundam series. So he likely always wanted to fix zeta as he had a long held belief it was bad, because he was told as such at the time. He likely had full creative freedom on Zeta and a bigger budget than the OG Gundam, due to how well the Gundam movie trilogy did and he made what he wanted. So I'd take it as the original Zeta was his actual intent and a new translation trilogy was his effort to address the complaints he heard nearly 20 years earlier.

I am curious about Beltorchikas children as it is essentially what he had in mind for CCA, Amuro was married to Beltorchika from Zeta and it was just much more tied to his series than the movie we got in many ways, he was great at tying his works together if anything. If I recall correctly the Hi-Nu Gundam was in that as well, as a much more ambitious design for the nu-gundam and clearly the animation staff said "F**k off" when they saw it, so it was given a simpler design. Super saiya-jin 3 in Dragonball was abandoned in favour of simpler designs in super for this reason, which is a shame given that it is iconic, even Akira Toriyama had to rein himself in for an animation team and he was royalty in Japan at that point. I'll try to get around to reading Beltorchikas children at some point.

Basically what made me interested in Gundam is no longer involved and that is Tomino as the writer. He was great at doing character dynamics, it would make the slower human focused episodes quite enjoyable as the mech parts weren't what was great about Gundam, it was genuinely the human element. I noticed that outside wing and Tominos own stuff, the rest of gundam doesn't really hold my attention as much so I stopped following it. I've heard amazing things about Iron-blooded orphans, I tried witch of mercury and Gquuux, I enjoyed the reimagining of Char getting the Gundam in GQuuux but it lost my interest after that. I've gone from a mega fan to it's something I enjoy when they focus on OG, Z or ZZ gundam. I've had war in the pocket on my list for a while because it's considered to be superior to Tominos work.

 

[MD Chaos]

I am curious about Beltorchikas children as it is essentially what he had in mind for CCA, Amuro was married to Beltorchika from Zeta and it was just much more tied to his series than the movie we got in many ways, he was great at tying his works together if anything. If I recall correctly the Hi-Nu Gundam was in that as well, as a much more ambitious design for the nu-gundam and clearly the animation staff said "F**k off" when they saw it, so it was given a simpler design. Super saiya-jin 3 in Dragonball was abandoned in favour of simpler designs in super for this reason, which is a shame given that it is iconic, even Akira Toriyama had to rein himself in for an animation team and he was royalty in Japan at that point. I'll try to get around to reading Beltorchikas children at some point.

Basically what made me interested in Gundam is no longer involved and that is Tomino as the writer. He was great at doing character dynamics, it would make the slower human focused episodes quite enjoyable as the mech parts weren't what was great about Gundam, it was genuinely the human element. I noticed that outside wing and Tominos own stuff, the rest of gundam doesn't really hold my attention as much so I stopped following it. I've heard amazing things about Iron-blooded orphans, I tried witch of mercury and Gquuux, I enjoyed the reimagining of Char getting the Gundam in GQuuux but it lost my interest after that. I've gone from a mega fan to it's something I enjoy when they focus on OG, Z or ZZ gundam. I've had war in the pocket on my list for a while because it's considered to be superior to Tominos work.

I think you'd be missing out in not giving a chance to some of the other shows and judge them on their own merits, and if you wanted more Tomino, I'd say go for some of his other series, I personally find most of them more interesting than his gundam shows since they're so different. Ideon, Dunbine, and Brain powerd are my favorites of his, but I also really like L gaim, King Gainer, and Xabungle as well.

I feel like from G all the way up to G-reco they all have their merits as their own series, X and 00 are my personal favorites and show how versatile and flexible the series can work, which is what Tomino thought was best for it to evolve otherwise he wouldn't have made Turn A, which every gundam timeline leads to and is his way of him being cool with other interpretations of his work. Doing both of that, as well as other sunrise mech and sci fi shows, I think will you lead to some really great stuff in seeing the bigger picture, but that's just me.

I've seen 2 of those 3 shows, and I can say I don't think either IBO or G-witch are any good. IBO has 2 different visions and neither mesh well at all in a way that's neither interesting or exciting, despite having a setting with plenty of potential. The designs are good, but the Frame things with the gundam is as model kit ish as you can get in a boring way and makes each feel bland. I do feel the 2nd season is entertaining, but not exactly something good. It's not a terrible show, not by a long shot, but I'd best describe it as Mediocre.

WFM is just a waste with nothing going for it. It has some cool designs and potentially cool things, but they do nothing substantial with it. It's a gundam show that feels like it was aimed at people who would never check out these shows, Rather than anything genuine attempt at modernizing and bring new life to it like Seed or 00.

Gqux I've never seen and have Zero intent on doing so. It's a big complicated, but The idea of Studio Khara(An anime studio who I don't like) doing a gundam show I knew had all the warning signs found in their other works and rather reductive. It sounds like a real shit show of a series from what I've heard and even aesthetically, I find it super boring and unimaginative. Saying this as someone who likes FLCL and Diebuster, both by the same director, and none of Gqux grabs me that those 2 ovas do.

also yes BC has the Hi nu, which I do like, and the nightingale, which replaces the Sazabi. Sazabi is probably my favorite MS besides the Turn A, but the nightingale is pretty fucking sick.

 

[Ephemera1_]

If you like this series, comment below about your experiences with it.

I knew of the franchise when i was a kid because thats when seed was airing, but i never watched seed, and there was a portion of my life where i had stopped watching anime as a whole so i didnt really get into Gundam until maybe 3 or 4 years ago? I started out with 00 and ever since then ive pretty much hooked (even though i have my fair share of problems with 00 second season and the movie) Im rewatching zeta right now getting ready to lock into ZZ and CCA

 

[Super Funky Piece]

i'd known of gundam for like 20 years back when Seed first aired but then finally picked up the franchise the past couple years and am sitting on like 30 gunpla built now whoops. my favourite entry is probably still After War Gundam X because i think out of any non-Tomino work it is one of the ones that gets the message most, that being irreverence for the brand. I dont think it would have landed that as well as it did if its director hadnt gotten stuck with the back half of Wing either.
i dont really have much investment in trying a whole lot made after Turn A though. I watched GQuX as it aired and it just pissed me off by the end. but also made me love X more for doing so many similar things but not so autofelating!
also on the subject of CCA and the like it still kind of drives me mad after all this time and a billion UC spinoffs there still isnt any alternate take on Zeta onward where Sayla gets to be an actual character instead of written off by voice actor scheduling.

 

[LXXXROMonteVIdEOII]

I've always loved the original timeline but couldn't stand Gundam Wing on the begining and for superrobots was Space Runaway Ideom (basically a blend from Gundam's RX 77, RX 78-2 and RGM 79). But then one day I learned to love the new stuff after watching Mobile G Gundam and that's the show I recomend you watching following Gundam Wing Endless Waltz.

Now If I had to explain Mobile G Gundam withouth revealing barely anything from the series I'd say its as if the FIFA World Cup was played as a WWE Wrestlemania season but with giant mechas instead of human wrestlers who brawl with each other in order for the eventual triumphant nation to sit at the front of the UN headquarters as the one true reigning nation on Earth. There's also a sort of MachGoGoGo's Racer X subplot, old people doing karate, copious geopolitical drama played like Inspector Gadget shenanigans, and lots and lots and I do mean LOTS of butt shots.

Clear motive, clear plot, instant action.

 

[SpikeSlania]

Oh lord what have I gotten myself into? Not only are there a bunch of animes to watch, but there's a ton of mangas that never got anime adaptations! Now I need to find a complete list of these mangas... (someone help)

Edit- OMFG THERE'S LIKE A MILLION MANGAS I'LL NEED TWO LIFETIMES FOR THIS SERIES

Luckily like none of the manga are considered canon except for a few like MSV-R, the Seed ones, and possibly Crossbone? For the most part they only consider Anime canon while manga and games are spinoffs that give a reason to sell a new Gunpla.

My personal tastes I semi dislike it when it just feels the MCs are OP which does put me off from some series. Wing starts off with 5 gundams being OP but it isn't like a super easy slaughter like compared to how 00 starts where the armies of the world are like a house plant that the Gundams are kicking over. First Seed does have some decent balancing but after that especially that movie I probably should have skipped watching bleh.

Generally I love the UC series especially ones without newtypes like 0083. Origin and Thunderbolt are also amazing for being alternate time lines in UC. I will give far warning about ZZ. The first half starts off more comedic and light hearted and then halfway through the series they flip a switch and goes extremely dark. It was a struggle to get through the first half.

 

[AceWhatever]

Oh lord what have I gotten myself into? Not only are there a bunch of animes to watch, but there's a ton of mangas that never got anime adaptations! Now I need to find a complete list of these mangas... (someone help)

Edit- OMFG THERE'S LIKE A MILLION MANGAS I'LL NEED TWO LIFETIMES FOR THIS SERIES

You can get an approximate list by going to Manga Updates and using the advanced search to list all Gundam manga. Most importantly you can filter to include only mangas that have full translations. You can also do that by searching for completed series on your preferred manga site. Don't be surprised when you find a completed series that wasn't mentioned in Manga Updates. Some lower quality translations tend to slip through the cracks. And there's also the matter of manga that got official English releases.

You don't HAVE to read all of them. Most of them are side stories that ran parallel to or between the animated shows. But if you regularly read manga and are currently in a rut you can definitely do much worse than random Gundam manga.

There's a very old statement that gets trotted around claiming that Sunrise doesn't consider mangas/video games canon unless they get animated because some of them get a little over the top with contradicting established events or messing with in-universe technology progression. This is pretty much wrong and grossly misinterpreted. Gundam animated works retconned things so many times that it's silly to just disregard mangas for the same reason. This also means that you can jump into nearly any Gundam manga and follow along unless it's explicitly a sequel to another manga (and there are a couple of those).

 

[Pudendum]

So it’s like Power Rangers x Transformers? Sounds cool!

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

So it’s like Power Rangers x Transformers? Sounds cool!

Err... not really.

 

[Sleepstate]

err not at all