Anime Best and worst of Gundam

[EVA Unit 100]

[QUOTE=Lady Katana][color=darkblue]That's exactly what I was saying.

A parody is a form of literature/film/theatre that makes light of (or makes fun of) something that already exists (Monty Python was a master of such, as "Weird Al" Yankovic is a master of musical parody).

Superior Defender Gundam was created to parody all of the Gundam series to date with it's childish plot and visualizations. Why I said that older Gundam fans (and most Gundam fans in general) might not like it is for that reason.[/color][/QUOTE]

I personally don't consider SD Gundam a parody. Why? Because it doesn't really do any making light of/making fun of the other Gundam series. The only thing that could be considered parody was the idea of making all of the Gundams and Zakus chibis. Other than that aspect, there is nothing parodic about the show. Now had they made fun of the Oldtypes and Newtypes, the war plotline, the typical character archtypes, the alternate universes/timelines, etc., then I could consider it a parody. However, since there aren't any jokes making fun of the other series beyond the chibi aspect, I can't really call SD Gundam a parody. At most, it is a very shallow and unfunny parody. Maybe the early SD Gundam OAVS were spoofs, but at least SD Gundam Force (the SD Gundam series I've tried watching and couldn't stand it) isn't a good parody.

[Guest Angel of Death7]

The gundam series is my favorite anime,which is your favorite?I would have to say Gundam wing is my favorite,because the storyline is great and I like how the gundam pilots have there own seperate story.

[Guest BigBoss]

I liked 08thms team beacause I was one of the most relistic gundam I liked GW my fav. series was 08th,GW,& 0083.GW was one the second to longest I liked it.0083 was most emostionly great( I don't how els to put it).It was good I wished it all three of them where all play on some cannel.

[Guest Edward1066]

I liked Gundam Wing the best. I just did, dunno why I just did. But I really liked the characters, and I liked the Gundams from GW better than the gundams from any other Gundam series.

[Darkness]

To me, Gundam Wing had a good story line and was the most entertaining of them all. However, I really like the 08th MS team and I think the battle system in G made the most sense. I don't like the chibi stuff, so SD didn't appeal to me at all.

[Twilight_Kioku]

the origional mobile suit gundam show i did not care for too much. no reason really, i just seemed to gravitate away from it. gundam wing, what i saw of it, was great. only, what i saw was about 5 episodeds, lol. so, not much of an opinion on that one. SD gundam was a disgrace. im not goin to say anymore on the subject. 8th MS team was great. i watched the entire thing twice when it aired on cartoon network. it could have been longer, but i was happy with it. the one im most into at the moment is SEED, since its on, and ive missed maby 3 episodes of it. had to vote for 8th MS team since SEED wasnt on the poles, though.

[Dragons_Bait15]

[quote name='PunkOtaku']Yes, I loved Gundam Wing. I don't know why, it was just the only one I really caught on to.[/quote]

Yeah the other gundam show made no sense to me or they were just boring, Gundam Wing had better charters and a more refined story line to me at least. So no hard feeling but the other Gundam shows wern't really good. The chibi gundams need to be destroyed.

[MoNO]

I would say gundam wing was the one i would pick on your poll. Personally I like gundam seed the most, but since it is not on your poll I will pick wing.

[Guest DemonFox]

Gundam Wing was my favorite because it had a good story, and I liked the characters better than any of the other gundam series. I didn't really like the other series, I don't have a reason, I just never really liked them much. I hated SD Gundam, I thought it was pretty pointless. I also hated the voices for that show.

[KiraStrike29]

well i think its obvious which gundam series i like the best.i think the animation is absolutlely stunning and it has some of the best action sequences around, but since its not on the list i went with my second choice gundam wing.

[Onikage]

[QUOTE=AnimeNewsNetwork]The current issue of Gundam Ace magazine has created a list of the 30 most popular male, and the 30 most popular female Gundam characters by polling 500,000 Japanese Gundam Fans.

Top 30 Male Characters: (with no surprise at #1)
1) Char Aznable - MSG/The Origin
2) Athrun Zala - SEED DESTINY
3) Kira Yamato - SEED DESTINY
4) Amuro Ray - MSG/The Origin
5) Anavel Gato - 0083
6) Kamille Bidan - Zeta Gundam
7) Ramba Ral - MSG/The Origin
8) Heero Yuy - Wing
9) Mu La Flaga - SEED
10) Yzak Joule - SEED DESTINY
11) Shinn Asuka - SEED DESTINY
12) Rey Za Burrel - SEED DESTINY
13) Garrod Ran - Gundam X
14) Judau Ashta - Gundam ZZ
15) Shiro Amada - 08th MS Team
16) Dearka Elthman - SEED DESTINY
17) Rolan Cehak - Turn A
18) Duo Maxwell - Wing
19) Bernard Wiseman - 0080
20) Kai Shiden - MSG
21) Domon Kasshu - G Gundam
22) Uso Evin - V Gundam
23) Norris Packard - 08th MS Team
24) Paptimus Scirocco - Zeta Gundam
25) Lowe Gyule - SEED ASTRAY
26) Kou Uraki - 0083
27) Gilbert Dullindal - SEED DESTINY
28) Shani Andras - SEED
29) Corrin Nander - Turn A
30) Seabook Arno - Gundam F91

Top 30 Female Characters:
1) Lacus Clyne - SEED DESTINY
2) Sayla Mass - MSG/The Origin
3) Cagalli Yula Athha - SEED DESTINY
4) Lunamaria Hawke - SEED DESTINY
5) Stellar Loussier - SEED DESTINY
6) Haman Karn - Zeta Gundam
7) Aina Sahalin - 08th MS Team
8) Emma Sheen - Zeta Gundam
9) Four Murasame - Zeta Gundam
10) Elpeo Ple - Gundam ZZ
11) Christina Mackenzie - 0080
12) Murrue Ramias - SEED DESTINY
13) Miriallia Haw - SEED DESTINY
14) Crowley Hamon - MSG/The Origin
15) Matilda Ajan - MSG/The Origin
16) Tiffa Adill - Gundam X
17) Cima Garahau - 0083
18) Flay Allster - SEED
19) Lalah Sune - MSG
20) Asuna Elmarit - Ecole du Ciel
21) Chan Agi - CCA
22) Fraw Bow - MSG/The Origin
23) Cecily Fairchild - Gundam F91
24) Meyrin Hawke - SEED DESTINY
25) Lila Milla Rira - Zeta Gundam
26) Karen Joshua - 08th MS Team
27) Shakti Kareen - V Gundam
28) Natarle Badgiruel - SEED
29) Sara Zabiarov - Zeta Gundam
30) Kycilia Zabi - MSG/The Origin

Top 30 MS:
1) Freedom Gundam - SEED
2) Zeta Gundam - Zeta Gundam
3) Nu Gundam - CCA
4) Wing Gundam Zero - Wing: Endless Waltz
5) Gundam - MSG/The Origin
6) Justice Gundam - SEED
7) Sazabi - CCA
8) Zaku II - MSG/The Origin
9) Hyaku Shiki - Zeta Gundam
10) Force Impulse Gundam - SEED DESTINY
11) Savior Gundam - SEED DESTINY
12) Dom - MSG/The Origin
13) Zaku Warrior - SEED DESTINY
14) Qubeley - Zeta Gundam
15) Gouf - MSG/The Origin
16) Strike Gundam - SEED
17) Gaia Gundam - SEED DESTINY
18) Gundam Mk-II - Zeta Gundam
19) Kämpfer - 0080
20) Gouf Custom - 08th MS Team
21) Gundam X - Gundam X
22) Zaku Phantom - SEED DESTINY
23) Acguy - MSG/The Origin
24) ZZ Gundam - Gundam ZZ
25) RX-79[G] - 08th MS Team
26) Turn A Gundam - Turn A
27) The O - Zeta Gundam
28) Z'gok - MSG/The Origin
29) Strike Rouge - SEED
30) Providence Gundam - SEED

Breakdown on how each series favored based on the above results:
MSG/The Origin - 16
08th MS Team - 6
0080 - 3
0083 - 3
Zeta - 12
ZZ - 3
CCA - 3
F91 - 2
V - 2
G - 1
Wing - 3
X - 3
Turn A - 3
SEED - 9
SEED DESTINY - 19 (most of these come from SEED though)
ASTRAY - 1
Ecole du Ciel - 1.[/QUOTE]
a penny for your thoughts... :D

[color=navy][size=1]Next time, it'd help if you explained your own thoughts in a bit more detail. Thanks. ^_^

~Dagger~[/size][/color]

[Sea Of Chaos666]

Gundam Seed probly. However I'v only seen it about twice so I don't Know who my favorite character is yet. But I like it for the plot.

[Jonexe]

Out of all the Gundam series, I'd have to say the ones that go along with the original UC time line are my favorites. This includes the Mangas (Such as Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam.)

I like that fact that it's a massive, on going story line. That, and there's not some "All powerful" Gundam. Infact, you can see the progression of the mechas through time. From the original Mobile Suits, the Zaku Is, all the way up to something as amazing as the Nu Gundam. Also, the characters from the UC series are just so much more... personalable? I guess that's the word... I can just connect with them so much more then I can the static, rather annoying characters from series such as "Gundam Wing."

That being said... my FAVORITE series out of all of those would be a toss up between 08th MS Team and Char's Counterattack.

08th MS Team had an amazing story. You were right there, in the down and dirty part of the war. The Gundams were strong, yeah, but they got messed up very easily. Also, progressions of the characters were awesome as well.

As for Char's Counterattack, it's got two of my favorite mechs in it (The Nu
Gundam and the Jadg Doga), as well as Amuro and Char. I've always loved the conflict between the two of them. It's kind of scary to think that, if they hadn't been enemies for so long, that they could have been friends. Also, the story is simple awesome... I think that's the only way I can describe it.

[Dagger]

We've had a truly astonishing number of Gundam-related threads lately. I went back and merged the past few "favorite/best Gundam series" topics... I wouldn't normally do this, but there have been so many in the past few months that I figured it might be helpful to compile all of the responses.

On a related note, there's also a [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45402][u]best Gundam[/u][/url] (as in the mecha, not the various anime) floating about. There might be a certain amount of overlap involved here; please let me know it if leads to any confusion.

~Dagger~

[Dragonboym2]

[COLOR=Blue]I HATED SD Gundam. With a vengence. It's just...stupid. This show would make Char himself vomit with rage. G-Gundam was to corny and weird. It's Gundam, not Street Fighter! And some of the Gundams looked ridiculously stupid. The Windmill Gundam? The Tequila Gundam? They must have been smoking somthing...

All the other series and movies were great! I first saw Gundam Wing. It was a great show, and very interesting. But confusing. I had to get the Tokyo Pop Techical Manual to make sense of it. And in my club, there were rabid fan-girls. One liked Trowa. Two others liked Quatra, one of my best freinds liked Hero, and two others LOVED Duo. They thought he was a God. "Duo! Duo!! Duo!!! EEEEEEEEEE!!!" One of them would sqeal. Okay...It was weird at first, but now, I think it's cute.

The first is one of my favorites. It deals with the horrors of war, and how war isn't allways black and white. Even though it's old, it's still one of the best series I've ever seen.

Gundam Seed is one of the most human Gundam series I've seen. Kira is torn between his duty, meaning he might have to kill his best freind. It's a hard road he has to walk, but thankfully he's got some good friends to help him out. Plus the fact that there is love, and freindship invovled. I'm looking forward to seeing Seed Destiny.

Zeta Gundam is one of the best. It's the first Gundam sequal, and it has a complex and involved plot. It tackles alot of the same points as the first, plus Char reveals that he would like all of mankind to live in space, which is his fathers dream. He takes it to exsteams in "Char's Counterattack", and becomes the one thing he hates most. A tyrant, and a hypocrite. Bravo, four stars!


I love all the series and movies, except for SD and GGundam, and I hear that Zeta
Gundam is becoming a movie trilogy in the near future. Oh, BTW does anyone know what Gundam series is coming next to the US? Gundam X, Gundam ZZ, Turn A Gundam, Victory Gundam, or Gundam Seed Destiney?


"KAMEHAMEHA!"

Dragonboym2[/COLOR]

[Dagger]

[quote name='Dragonboym2][COLOR=Blue']Gundam X, Gundam ZZ, Turn A Gundam, Victory Gundam, or Gundam Seed Destiney?[/COLOR][/quote]
Probably GSD. If I had my way, it'd be Turn A... but I don't often have my way when it comes to this sort of thing. :animesigh

The more I see of Turn A, the more I like it. The artwork could have used a little kick in the pants, but the animation is nice enough. It has a sense of gentle, subdued playfulness to it that I haven't really seen in other Gundam series (with the exception of G Gundam, but that show just overdoes it in terms of campiness).

~Dagger~

[zephryn]

my favorite would either be gundam seed or gundam wing. out of all of them, these two were the ones that held my interest the most - almost obsessively so.

gundam wing because it focused mostly on ideals and war. the series was mostly on the political aspects of war and peace. and gundam seed because it focused primarily on the human aspects. in seed, the characters seemed more real - more alive in some way that they weren't in wing, wherein the people mostly represented ideals and beleifs.

g gundam was interesting... for a while then it got boring. for me, it was just one gundam fight after another. there were some plot twists that kept me watching till it finished but i really didn't like it too much.

8th ms team i liked but i'm not all too familiar with the timeline.

mobile suit gundam i personally thought was too confusing.

sd gundam... i loath with a passion. if the other gundam series weren't as good as they were, i'd say that sd could have obliterated the amazing legacy that those before it created.

[Qukey]

I love these four Gundam stories equally:
Mobiile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam.

There are so much to talk about on these four stories and I am only picking one element from each to cut it short.

Character Development in Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam is the first Gundam created. It has started the subgenre known as "Real robot". MSG contains a realistic background without alien invasion. It tells the story of conflicts between human. The plot is innovating and the character development is inspiring. Take Amuro Rei, the main character, as an example. Amuro is not a likeable person. He is a whiny nerd lives in his little sand castle. He does not care about anyone else except himself. He is simply immature and annoying. That gives Amuro good character development. With a highly likeable main character like Kira (Gundam Seed), character development is not so important since he is liked by the watchers anyway. On the other hand, Amuro has to "earn" respect. He is not the "hero" type and the purpose of character development is to make him a believeable one. Amuro may not be the most popular character, but anyone who like Mobile Suit Gundam would respect him.

Plot Development in Zeta Gundam
Zeta has the most complicate plot in all Gundam. The story follows Kamille Biden, the 16 years old main character, as he fights for AEUG against Titan. The plot of Zeta contains twist after twist with conflicts from all angles. Multiple parties fight agaist each other without the definition of black and white. The watchers watch the plot unfold with Kamille in an unstoppable rate. Old events, current affairs and future predictions all blend in one large pot waiting to be sort out. With AEUG against Titan against Earth Federation against Jupiter Empire against Neo Zeon, Zeta surely has enough events filling all 50 episodes with excitment.

Tone in Victory Gundam
Victory has the darkest tone in all Gundam, darker than Zeta and Seed combine. However, Victory also has more funny moments than any other Gundam except ZZ. The swtich of the tones makes the story perfect. Unlike Zeta, which general has a very dark tone, Victory has lighten up here and there. It does not mean the story is light-hearted but it relaxes the stress through the events. These lighter moments also remind the watchers that the people doing the killing are children and they can be silly sometime. My favorite scene of the show is when the 13 years old main character Usso Ebbing plays ball with his friend and his haro before the last bloody battle. This scene may look odd but it does a great job telling about thier childhood. They are children and they should be playing, not killing.

Theme in Turn A Gundam
Turn A is unique in Gundam history in its setting. It does not follow the traditional "Earth vs Colony" formula but starts something new. However, Turn A is as much as a Gundam story as any formula followers. Gundam is about war, not peace and Turn A is about war. The different ideals and ideas crushing and the war starts. Both sides are unwilling to fight but some are willing to take advantages. Travelling with the main character and his friends from both sides, the watchers see how they understand each other as human, not people from Earth or people from moon. Only the understanding can prevent war.

My favorite does not limit to these four but these are the top picks from me.

[kabapu]

well, seing as how it's the only series i can get a hold of, i'd have to vote gundam wing.

[Konami]

Aside Qukey, I haven't seen anybody mention Zeta Gundam. I'll just assume nobody has seen it? XD.

Zeta Gundam is in my opinion clearly the best Gundam series, even the best anime series ever. It's constructed in a way that nothing that is said or done is wasted, everything in this show relates to Theme. Zeta Gundam is story telling in maximum effect. Lots of tragedy in this one, but lots of scenes that are so beautiful you may want to cry. Where else will the main hero fall in love with a basketcase lab victim and enjoy some Icecream in a park? It's the most intense series I can think of.... Ah I'll stop because I'd go on forever about the merits of Zeta Gundam.

But, I could be wrong. There's 2 things I haven't seen yet.. Turn A and V.

As for worst, I'll give SD Gundam a break (yeh it's the worst) And take some time to pick on Gundam 0083: Stardust memories... The most annoying main character ever and some of the least context for plot. Not to mention it's an OAV that seems to think it's a anime series. 4 episodes are spent with Kou just sulking. Some good action at the end; but that can hardly make up for it.

[Qukey]

[QUOTE]As for worst, I'll give SD Gundam a break (yeh it's the worst) And take some time to pick on Gundam 0080: Stardust memories... The most annoying main character ever and some of the least context for plot. Not to mention it's an OAV that seems to think it's a anime series. 4 episodes are spent with Kou just sulking. Some good action at the end; but that can hardly make up for it.[/QUOTE]

Just want to commet about SD being the worst. Again, there are 2 SD Gundams, the Super Deformed (old) and the Superior Defender (new). The old ones are very entertaining in making fun of UC Gundam. It is hardly bad. The new one is targetting 5 years old and many people don't like it because they are not the target audiences. It is the same that older Gundam fans dislike Gundam Wing or Gundam Seed because these shows are not made for them.

A side note: Gundam 0080 is War in the Pocket and Stardust Memories is 0083. Sorry for being picky for honest typo.
:animeswea

[Konami]

Doh! Yeh, 0080 war in the pocket is a good one... That's what I get for not watching much Gundam lately.. I fixed the typo to make it say 0083.

As for the different SD Gundams... I've only seen a few of the "real ones"... those are quite funny actually. Not so much a series. I was thinking of them but then it was pretty much established here SD Gundam is meaning Superior Defender.

Oldschool fans disliking Gundam Seed? Well I've seen this a lot, but it's usually because they dislike Seed being simular to MGS.. I don't think it's a very good reason. I've known a lot of UC fans to say SEED is better than Zeta, quite a few. In a lot of semi-official rankings, seed is the #1 best Mecha anime EVER. Honesly; I don't really understand at all how SEED can be THAT good.

[Roxas]

The one I like the best is Gundam Seed Astray. It is the most perfect side story for Gundam Seed. It's art is wonderful. I hace only read the manga so... It also has one of the best story lines ever. The normal Gundam Seed Astray is kinda jumpy though. Gundam Seed Astray R though has better art and a less jumpy story line.

The one I liked least would have to be The 08th MS team. The art sucked (just me) the stroy sucked (again just me) and the characters sucked (agian just me...). I mean you could have at least got good charaters. (by that I mean personalities for them.) But then agian I only saw the first episode so... guess I cant say much.

[Dagger]

[quote]But, I could be wrong. There's 2 things I haven't seen yet.. Turn A and V.[/quote]
Turn A is great, assuming one can get past the fact that the main mecha has a moustache. :animesigh

[quote name='Konami']In a lot of semi-official rankings, seed is the #1 best Mecha anime EVER. Honesly; I don't really understand at all how SEED can be THAT good.[/quote]
I don't suppose you're referring to those pesky NewType polls...

I am not a fan of SEED. However, its popularity is undeniable. It's definitely one of--if not the--most popular mecha anime since Neon Genesis Evangelion first hit the scene, and so even though I'm not really sure what you're trying to say by referencing "semi-official rankings," it's not surprising. But ultimately, popularity doesn't have that much to do with quality (although I certainly wouldn't go so far as to suggest some kind of inverse relationship). Sometimes there's just no accounting for taste. :animesmil

~Dagger~

[Qukey]

[quote name='Konami']As for the different SD Gundams... I've only seen a few of the "real ones"... those are quite funny actually. Not so much a series. I was thinking of them but then it was pretty much established here SD Gundam is meaning Superior Defender.[/quote]
Actually, I made a mistake. There should be 3 different SD Gundams: Super Deformed, Super Deformed Gaiden and Superior Defender. The SD Gaiden, a 4 episode mini-series, does not involve any plot from the any Gundam timeline.

[QUOTE]Oldschool fans disliking Gundam Seed? Well I've seen this a lot, but it's usually because they dislike Seed being simular to MGS.. I don't think it's a very good reason. I've known a lot of UC fans to say SEED is better than Zeta, quite a few. In a lot of semi-official rankings, seed is the #1 best Mecha anime EVER. Honesly; I don't really understand at all how SEED can be THAT good.[/QUOTE]
I mean older Gundam fans, not just any old school fan, can dislike Gundam Seed because they are not the target audiences. Gundam Seed is made to attract new fans into the franchise, which means it is made for people who has never seen Gundam before. The topics in Gundam Seeds has been done in older Gundams before and older fans may dislike redundancy. The general dislike of the newly made SD Gundam is caused by the same reason: wrong audiences are attracted.

The viewer voted ranking can be used as a general guideline but not facts. The result heavily depends on what is on the TV at the moment. When Gundam Wing was on TV, it dominated all post. It is the same as any other Gundam or any other popular anime. The latest will always be more popular at the moment. It will be very interesting to see if Gundam Seed is still seen as an epic after 25 years. Mobile Suit Gundam has already done that and Zeta is not forgotten after 20 years. Only time can tell if Gundam Seed is as good as Mobile Suit Gundam.

Personally, I don't like Gundam Seed at all because it does not bring any new idea into the history but many cool looking toys. I just don't think a director should change the storyline simply to encourage model sale. Maybe people really see Gundam as nothing more than a toy commercial, how sad. Well, anyway, this thread is not to discuss if Gundam Seed is good. Sorry for off-topic.