Mobile Suit Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam is the first serious mech anime to do well not only in japan but across the globe. Its predecessors like Getter Robo, Space Runaway Ideon, and Mazinger Z, while all fine animes, did not have the cultural impact as Gundam. From this series has 6 distinct timelines are created and over 25 animes, ovas, and movies have been created because of this show. Gundam is by far one of the greatest animes of all time, and anyone who dares call themselves a lover of anime must watch Mobile Suit Gundam

The storyline is beyond anything that a fan could ask for. The story goes off in one direction and that direction as a fan is more then enough. But the story then takes a twist giving more then what is asked of it. The story also leads into squeals which are amazing. The characters through the story are developing and are indepth characters that one can relate to. The music is good and goes well with the situation when it is in uses. The animation is good considering the show is about 30 years old. Also the animation is very old school but is bright and colorful and will attract anybodies attention. I highly recomend this gundam series it is the best gundam to start with and this review could not explain how great this series really is. honstely you just have to watch this series and give it a few episodes. also this has the greatest rivally in all of anime which is Amuro Ray verus Char Aznable.

Due to over population mankind leave Earth to settle in the stars in giant man-made colonies called: Sides. The year is Universal Century 0079. The space city of side 3, the colony furthest from the earth, declared itself the Principality of Zeon and initiated a war........blah, blah, blah. To be honest if you don't know this part then in some form or another you have failed yourself as an anime fan. This is Gundam. The one that pretty much started it all and i dont mean just this franchise but other series as well and it demands a look. But i'll be reasonable; yes, the animation is old; yes, the music is dated and super Japanese and the English voice acting isn't always the best, but it's a flagship and a rather large one at that. Without this one show many of the anime shows you know and love, would not have existed and trust me, that is no exaggeration.

You know all those arguments you got into with people about how anime isn't just cartoons, well guess what, it is because of this show. Everyone had counted it out at the beginning, stating a giant robot cartoon is for kids, that it would never beat the grace of Space Battleship Yamato, which was said to be an opera set in space with real human emotions and meant for adults. Gundam was written off as an excuse to sell toys and it did just that. During the first airing of the show ratings were so low it was nearly cancelled but slowly the toys started to sell and soon people wanted the show back on the air, reluctant to do so, the company did and the rest is history

There are larger Gundam shows, with more flash and bang, better music and slightly better voice acting, but there is one thing they don't have that this Gundam series has and that is, soul. This show from start to finish is a labor of love. The people who truly benefit from this is: us the viewers. I could beat you over the head all day with numerous facts and tidbits of knowledge of all things Gundam, but there is just no comparison to watching it for yourself. Just sit, relax, stop nitpicking with your modern eyes at all the problems and actually pay attention to the characters and the horrors of war.

Once you watch it, you'll want others to watch it and if they give you that tired out excuse that the animation is too old for them to watch, ask them if they dislike the old Star Wars movies because they used puppets for some of the scenes. If they say, yes; you should abandon them for they are lost.

I am one to say that in many ways that things that we look fondly upon through nostalgia is often proved wrong when we look at it later through life, Mobile Suit Gundam (or Gundam 0079) is an example of when something stands the test of time and proves that what can make or break a anime is the characters. Characters in Gundam show dynamic levels of development, charisma, and overall really easy to like. Hell even the enemies show something different then just mwhahahahaha we are evil. One of the most memorable characters of the enemy is Garma the first of the Zabi family to actually be show. His reason . This troph i guess you can call it is some what overused but honestly its has a nice feel. Another thing this anime has in a dark tone without flashing it like many of current day anime one big example used is that the earlier on that continues throughout the whole anime is that most of the characters that fight are under 25 aka children soldiers. While many of anime use youth as the main characters in a story thats a the youth join the military its a dark tone that they bring up but don't choke you with it.. Unlike many series made after it. Also the story though some times poorly written still is firm and solid. Though like having a very nice room that though while a some what small but has one bed made for you and only you and is overall something that would make any college student want to murder you comes the annoying roommates that are loud and though are nice will wake you up and will make you not want to be even close to them. These flaws are those roommates while the anime is that room. Ok first off some of the dialog is so cheesy that cheese oozes from my computers which is a pain to clean and at sometimes its a wait for Amuro to kick it into badass mode and start destroying the zeon forces, which is sometimes in very barbaric ways. The animation is lacking compared to modern day animations mainly cause of the overuse of the certain scenes example at times the gundam would have the rocket launcher then would switch to the beam rifle only for what was obvious cost saving method. I also here people say that the english dubbing is bad and though it is lacking at times it goes from average to great. In my honest opinion its hard to find flaws with this anime. Its just that good and if anyone asked me what is the least amount of things that needed to be done to make something great i would point them to this. My final words about this masterpiece is that while it has its flaws watch it as its one of the best things that was ever made.

I can understand why some people may be put off from watching this show. Yes, it may have the Gundam name on it (which you can argue that Gundam is the biggest anime franchise of all), but with how animation has improved, gone HD and all that, everything, you can argue, is better than it was when this aired all the way back in 1979. So of course, it's not at the same standards as current anime. But this is still a brilliant show that you should watch, especially if you're a fan of Gundam in it's other forms (Zeta, Wing, 00, G, UC ect.).

Like I mentioned, animation isn't the series strong point. You can see many moments where they just re-used animation. It's a bit jerky and, despite being a mech show, is actually quite static. Battles, especially. However, despite this, and I can't seem to put my finger on it, the animation has a 'charm' to it meaning that you know to yourself and even think that it's bad, but you love it for it.

Completely the opossite of that, the story is brilliant even by todays standards, and probably standards to be set in 10, 20, 30 years time. The characters react how they should, and you really do feel like you want them to win and rooting for the good old White Base crew to pull through and win the day. It develops in ways that always keeps you on the edge of your seet willing to find out what will happen next, wanting to watch the next episode to see what will happen.

The characters help this especially. You really do feel for the White Base crew, like I have already said, but you also feel for Amuro. You also feel for Fraw Bow, the kids she looks after, Hayato, Kai, Ryu, even Char, M'Quve and Ramba Ral. They all feel human, and that is a huge compliment when shows even today feel like they fail at this.

Music is alright, not brilliant but still good. However, unlike some people in the comments, I actually liked the opening theme that played in the first 14 episodes and was honestly dissapointed that it wasn't there for the remaining 28 (there were actually 29 after that, but this is the dub and episode 15 never got dubbed). Same with the end.

Like the title says, retro isn't bad. I can understand people passing it up due to it's primitive look, but those people are missing out. Missing out on a show with one of the best stories out there to date, a fact that will probably stay for many tyears to come.