Gundam thread

[Don Vito]

I want to get back into the kits once I move into place with more shelf space. I wish I still had my ones from 10+ years ago, but there is no telling where those things ended up. They must have been based on the Gundam Wing designs. They also don't seem to be as ludicrously expensive as your typical anime figure or statue, which is a nice bonus(although I'm sure there are plenty of pricey ones out there).

 

[Choop]

These are probably my favorites, though I do like a lot more! I guess it'd be hard for me to really post any that I just flat-out hate.

 

[Alberto7]

They have sooooo many model kits at the con I'm going to this weekend. Some dude bought a Gundam box the size of a dog house. I have no idea what was in there, but it must have been impressive. It made me feel like getting more involved with some Gundam stuff.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Have tons of the toys/kits at home. Almost bought some big nice ones at a con this weekend. Love a lot of the designs.

Haven't watched a lick of it in my life

Considering that the model kits are the franchise's primary source of revenue, I totally understand that. I'd love to get more than what I have but I'm a collection addict by nature so I wouldn't want to perpetuate that too much...

Also fun fact: the Nissan GT-R was inspired by the original Gundam.

 

[setsuna7]

Me love Gundams!! Check out my username... Favorite Series; the entire UC timeline, mainly 0083,Unicorn Gundam, Gundam 00. Models, I only builts MGs and PGs. I have 2 PGs standing; 00 Raiser and Red Astray, 1 in ruins; RX-78-2, as of MGs, tons of'em..

Tomino has this "Kill'em All" concept. So everybody dies.. To me the blend of politics/warfare conflicts in the series are just awesome, besides, who doesn't like giant robots?

 

[neoclassical]

I'm 39 and love me some Gundam. I read about it in the 90's and got my first MS Encyclopedia and some bootleg VHS copies (remember VHS). I was thrilled with the advent of DVD and official US releases, although my Zeta and Double Zeta discs are bootlegs out of China from 2000-2001. I also have a large manga collection of side stories that includes Jion's Fading Light, F90, Side story of Gundam Z, Sentinal, Double Fake The Origin etc.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

I just want to give a shout out to the Turn A serires. It's often overlooked and underappreciated. At first, it's mostly because the main Gundam looks like this:

Designed by concept artist Syd Mead (Bladerunner, Tron, Aliens), it's pretty ugly compared to all the other typical Gundam designs. All the other mobile suits don't look much chop either.

But MS aesthetics aside, this is actually a very solid series with a rich story and great characters, in which Tomino proves that he's not all about making bloodbaths. Quite the opposite compared to say, the Victory series. There's actually a few nice little easter eggs hidden thanks to the whole Black/Dark History thing.

EDIT: I should add that Yoko Kanno's soundtrack for Turn A is exquisite. It's among the best in the series along with Kenji Kawai's work on 00.

Also, anybody here watching the Gunpla Builders/Build Fighters series? It's bascially an anime about kids who build Gundam kits and pit them against each other. My sister told me she's watching it and says it's not bad.

 

[Miek]

gunpla builders is garbage but build fighters is pretty solid and has lots of good animators working on it

 

[HurrDurr]

Just finished a few episodes of the first Build Fighters season. Pretty cool so far. One thing I've noticed is the lack of unnecessary drama which I feel has really saturated a lot of Gundam series'. The battles seem short, but they're abundant and it feeds my nostalgia for robots beating the crap out of each other with ample explosions and weaponry.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

So I finished rewatching Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and I can't believe I didn't notice all the easter eggs in Episode 47:

The RX78, original Gundam...

The GP01 fron Stardust Memory....

The RX78 and GP01 with the GP03 (Stardust Memory), Guncannon (MSG) and the Zambolt3 from one of Tomino's pre Gundam anime.

And there's the Zeta Gundam, the Zambot3 again, the Wing Gundam and Gundam F91. Funny how they snuck in the Wing Gundam since this series predated Wing.

And finally the V2 (Victory Gundam).

This is all ancient history news and I can't believe I only noticed this now.

 

[HurrDurr]

Woah, I remember thinking G Gundam was awesome. Making me wanna rewatch the series with some good English subs. The dubbed version was pretty bad from what I've heard, such with almost every Gundam series dubbed for North America. From what I've been reading the last few months after getting back into it, the actual story of Gundam is almost completely different to what the ENG dubs are describing.

 

[Carrion Rocket]

I had tons of Gundam Wing model kits when I was a kid because that series paired with Dragon Ball Z was my childhood but my favorite was and still is the 08th MS Team ova.

 

[neoclassical]

Why am I enjoying Gundam Build Fighters so much. Btw LOL at Ramba Ral from MSG showing up in ep 2 and the cries of Sieg Jion.

 

[HurrDurr]

Been getting so into Build Fighters, I bought a model kit (Gunpla) and built it. Wing Gundam Proto Zero was always my favorite!

 

[neoclassical]

I got my 7 year old daughter into Build Fighters now. It may be time to do some models too.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

I'd love to get more than what I have but I'm a collection addict by nature so I wouldn't want to perpetuate that too much...

So instead of collecting models or even watching Build Fighters (I'll get to that eventually), I've been playing Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn viciously. It's the closest thing I'll ever get to getting Gundams and Zakus from different series built, and I get to play with them too. There's still a few missing (Schwarz Bruder is playable, but no Spiegel/Shadow Gundam, Athrun Zala gets all his suits except Saviour) but there's still plenty of characters and suits to play, Seed and Destiny actually get A LOT of love this time around so I really shouldn't be complaining about Athrun.

Also, the more I go through each different series, the more I appreciate Char Aznable as one of the greatest characters in anime history. As an antagonist, he really wasn't evil, and a lot more sympathetic.

Each series has tropes of an enigmantic masked man and a soldier who switches allegiances depending on his ideals: both either in one character or more. Char's has been the poster boy for these tropes and has also spawned a heap of influences. Zechs Marquise was my favorite character in Wing, probably because he follows Char's footsteps so closely... maybe too close. Outside Gundam, LeLouche of Code Geass is heavily influenced by Char. Japan has gone so far as to release a bunch of Char Custom branded products that are marketed to run "3 times better than average" much to Tomino's dismay. Though it is cool to have a Char custom Toyota Auris among other things.

I might rewatch the F91 movie. That would have been a great series and it does continue with the Crossbone manga series, though I can't be bothered with those.

 

[bouVIP]

^You should play Gundam Extreme VS. Maxi Boost. Literally the best Gundam game ever! Way better than Dynasty Warriors imo.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

^You should play Gundam Extreme VS. Maxi Boost. Literally the best Gundam game ever! Way better than Dynasty Warriors imo.

I should, probably wait until Full Boost is released outside Japan... though whether it does or not is a different story.

at Gackt voicing Extreme Gundam.

 

[-42-]

Really big fan of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series (if you haven't yet you should really check out the hardcover comics that cover the original MSG story, very good). I liked Zeta as well and after that I've fallen into a love/hate relationship with the franchise. Gundam Wing started off promising but eventually collapsed under the messy weight of attempting something like six to ten concurrent narratives. I didn't mind Gundam SEED but SEED Destiny was just awful and I actually just quit about fifteen episodes in. Thankfully I thought 00 was quite a bit better sans some minor issues. I still haven't watched Turn A or G Gundam, though I plan to eventually. I'm less enthused about getting around to Char's Counterattack just because I'd rather just leave the UC alone, especially after seeing Unicorn and taking so much issue with it.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

This happened to show up on my playlist last night:



I ended up loving the song purely by accident many years ago thanks to the random midi files my sister and I used to collect. Didn't realise it was an OP for a Gundam anime until much later, which leads me to the appreciation of the franchise's black sheep series:

After War: Gundam X copped the short end of the stick more ways than one. During it's airing in Japan, it's Friday afternoon slot was moved to 6am Saturday (when kids are guarunteed to never watch), then subsequently cancelled after 39 episodes (10 episodes earlier than intended). Even a majority of the mecha designs kinda sucked, which affected model sales. Naturally, Gundam X was never released outside Japan.

However, if you get the chance to dig this up, it's quite a gem. It's the only alternate universe to feature newtypes (though not as prominent as the UC universe), and has the setting that what if a bunch of colonies were dropped onto earth and turning it into a wasteland, hence the After War prefix.

What makes this a gem, is the story. The premise makes the UC ghosts looming in a sense of familiarity, but still stands out on it's own. It's real strength is it's simple cohesive story and character development. For one, Garrod Ran whines a lot less than the tropes of every other Gundam pilot. The relationship between Garrod and Tiffa is one of the 2 only believable love stories in Gundam (the other is between Domon and Rain in G Gundam). It's very down to earth. No newtype connection, no melodrama, and certainly not the Athrun/Cagali trainwreck, it's 2 humans in love. The whole series has the theme of humility, which is refreshing in the franchise.

The ending also is very different to any other Gundam series, as the final battle ends early, instead a lot is spent on the characters and has a very positive epilogue. There's a sense of real optimism that doesn't seem as contrived as the others. Turn A is the other series that ends the battle early and focuses on solid development.

The mobile suits themselves take some time to fully appreciate, but are fun to see in action. All incarnations of the Gundam X are really nice. And even the superweapons like the Satellite Cannon, as ridiculously powerful as it was, has major weaknesses. No Kira "Jesus" Yamato prancing here... as much as I love the Strike Freedom, let's face it, it's too ridiculous, with or without Meteor.

So yeah, if you get a chance to see Gundam X, do so. Highly underrated.

Really big fan of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series (if you haven't yet you should really check out the hardcover comics that cover the original MSG story, very good). I liked Zeta as well and after that I've fallen into a love/hate relationship with the franchise. Gundam Wing started off promising but eventually collapsed under the messy weight of attempting something like six to ten concurrent narratives. I didn't mind Gundam SEED but SEED Destiny was just awful and I actually just quit about fifteen episodes in. Thankfully I thought 00 was quite a bit better sans some minor issues. I still haven't watched Turn A or G Gundam, though I plan to eventually. I'm less enthused about getting around to Char's Counterattack just because I'd rather just leave the UC alone, especially after seeing Unicorn and taking so much issue with it.

You and I share the same opinions on the series overall, especially with the Wing and Destiny series. I do suggest watching Char's Counterattack as it's a fitting conclusion to Amuro and Char's rivalry (and also shows why I hated the pre Endless Waltz ending in Wing so much). It certainly ends better than how Unicorn did, such promise but goes rather pear shaped in the end...