BIG. F***ING. ROBOTS
Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated! After a month+ long hiatus after my last post I wanted to do another passion bit to distract from the crazy and depressing state of the world, and what better way to do that than to gush over one of my favorite anime series chock full of the exact craziness and depression I'm trying to escape! (The irony is not lost on me I assure you) If Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z were the entry level cocktail to attune your taste buds to the unique world of anime, the Gundam franchise is a 100-proof whiskey that'll have them recoiling at the initial bitterness yet can't help yourself to having more and more. Equal parts space opera and robotic combat spectacle, the series is typically seen as Japan's equivalent to Star Trek, with just as much cultural impact that echoes on in the medium to this day. All with the same recurring message between just about all of its various series, War is Hell.
The series summed up in one satirical picture.
First, a quick history lesson! The series was conceived in the late 1970s by director Yoshiyuki Tomino, the first entry being simply titled Mobile Suit Gundam. What was notable about the series compared to others in its era was how it approached these giant robots in-story, treating them as standard weapons of war no different than a tank or a fighter jet, moreso than a wholly unique super weapon with unexplained properties. This was essentially the birth of the Real Robot genre of anime, compared to its older sister genre, Super Robot (Think Astro Boy, Voltron or Power Rangers' Megazord). Funnily enough, the series ratings were so bad its initial run had to be cut short from 52 episodes to 43. It took syndication, a merchandising push, and a compilation movie set condensing the series into a 6 hour affair for the series to really take off and solidify itself as a cultural juggernaut, with general tropes that would be a constant in series running to this day, like ordinary teenagers falling into a hi spec prototype's cockpit, getting smacked for their childishness by their adult commanding officer, or mysterious masked ace pilots with unclear motives..
The original RX-78-2 Gundam!
The series would go on to spawn a downright silly amount of sequel series, so many that I'm not even going to attempt to list them all for the sake of preserving your likely already overloaded brains. The anime branch of the series is generally divided into two distinct parts. Universal Century (UC for short) is the continuity the original Gundam series takes place in and its slew of follow up series and movies alike that it still receives to this day. Then there's the Alternate Timeline set, Gundam stories that take place in their own self contained universes, typically a standalone TV series occasionally paired with a movie.. These are a lot less daunting for newcomers to the series who may not want to wade through the massive backlog of plot in the UC timeline to understand what the hell is going on , so it was no surprise when the series would make its big debut in the west in 2000 on Toonami, it would be on the backs of these series. Including my all time favorite....
Don't mind me just rubbing my cheeks to manage the wave of nostalgia every time I hear this.
I think one of the biggest strengths of the Gundam franchise is its sheer variety within the established framework almost certainly assuring there's something for everyone. Even as a kid if I couldn't fully understand the nuance of its more adult themes I could still find myself enthralled by the spectacle of stylish giant robots duking it out.You like angst filled teenage pretty boys, you got plenty of those in series like Gundam Wing and Gundam Seed. Don't like how bleak the standard tone of the series is and want something more hammy and over the top like old fashioned Super Robot series? G Gundam is the show for you as well as the Gundam Build offshoot series! You like giant robots with a goddamn mustache, Turn A Gundam has giant robots with a goddamn mustache. You want gritty military science fiction that'll leave you clinically depressed by the end just like its creator, that's the default setting of the series baby!
Series starting from top left clockwise on desktop: Gundam Seed, G Gundam, Gundam IBO, Gundam Wing, 00 Gundam, Turn A Gundam)
There's just so many different flavors that even if you think you wouldn't like it at first, getting just a taste of it in one series leaves you curious enough to at least try the others until you find yourself wondering where all the hours in the day went like I have multiple times during this global pandemic. Another constant is the series music is just consistently phenomenal regardless of the setting. From extremely catchy opening themes, the in combat pieces that'll get your blood pumping, and the dramatic gut wrenching bits that'll take every fiber of your being to not be reduced to a sniveling puddle of tears. . This being a sample from one of the more recent series Iron Blooded Orphans
If there was a single series that fueled my love of robotics and science as a kid this was it. Of course the eventual realization that technology would likely not advance far enough in my life to the point I could make help create giant war machines kinda put a damper on pursuing engineering as a career path (as well as being really, REALLY bad at math). Wouldn't stop me from appreciating this marvel of a series however, and hopefully this post has gotten you interested enough to consider giving it a shot too!
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