so if i wanted to check out gundam where would i start
so best place to start with gundam is with the 0079 timeline, aka the universal century aka the UC aka the original mobile suit gundam; the best place to start with gundam is at the beginning, the original 43 episode anime. for my money it still holds up today (except for the animation, it’s a little dated) but if you’re not interested in watching the full anime there’s 3 compilation movies (mobile suit gundam, soldiers of sorrow, and encounters in space) that cut out filler and improve the animation a bit.
after that, you could go right on to zeta gundam which is the direct sequel to the original anime, but personally i never really got into it. before that i’d recommend watching some of the UC OVAs; ESPECIALLY The 08th MS Team, which is usually rated as one of the best gundam OVAs and is one of my personal favorite animes, period. honestly, i’d reccomend 08th MS team even if you’re not trying to get into gundam, it’s that good.
beside 08th, there’s war in the pocket, which is the very first gundam OVA made and gives a way more personal look at the UC timeline. if you’re planning to move on to zeta, then stardust memory helps bridge the gap between the original anime and zeta.
if you do watch zeta (i mean, i didn’t, but if you want to more power to ya) i’d also highly recommend gundam unicorn; a seven ep ova with FANTASTIC production quality. if you don’t watch zeta, you might be a bit confused at all the names and factions being thrown around at first, but watching zeta isn’t a requirement to enjoy unicorn’s great animation, mech designs, soundtrack, solid plotline, etc.
for even more recent stuff, and a pair of quick watches, there’s gundam thunderbolt, a four-episode OVA that finished airing just a few weeks ago. great animation, interesting characters, very hard-hitting story. there’s also gundam the origin, a prequel to the UC timeline focusing on char aznable, the main antagonist of the original show and one of gundam’s most iconic characters; it’s a bit light on mecha action, but it’s also a REALLY good look at char’s character.
beyond UC stuff………….honestly, i haven’t watched that much (there’s definitely a lot of UC favoritism that goes on in the gundam fandom lol). the most recent full series, iron blooded orphans, was……okay (lots of unfulfilled potential, rip) and it’s got a second season on the way later this year (which hopefully is better than the first). if you’re looking for something a little goofier, there’s mobile fighter g gundam, which is basically gundam: the fighting tournament and has some of the wackier mech designs
and if you don’t want to take my (admittedly limited) word for it, here’s a handy-dandy chart that lists every gundam series up to gundam the origin along with the general strengths and weaknesses of each
alright this post went way longer than i expected it to so just GOOD LUCK and enjoy watching
