You're correct on Giant Robo! Though what we were scanlating on ANWO is an alternate universe retelling of sorts. You watched the OVA recently, yes? What'd you think? It's generally regarded as one of the best anime OVAs in existence and w/o a doubt Imagawa's most well-received work.
Haha, I'm pretty passionate about E7. I think it's because the first time I watched it back in '05 as it was airing, I absolutely loathed it. I revisited the show in '09 as an adult and really learned to appreciate it. There are few anime I've seen I'd say can match it in its ability to build a world and develop its characters. Are you familiar with the Itano Circus (Google it if not)? E7 has tons of itano and the camera work in its battles in general are impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2UNfGAbKW8
What'd you think of Zambot? It's pretty shocking, yeah? I'm of the opinion when the cards line up for Tomino he directs some excellent, excellent stuff. By the way, the Ideon film (Be Invoked) was quite good - I can't say it's necessarily worth slogging through the TV series for it tho! I'd put it on the back-burner.
Hmm... glancing through your list. You've watched the Patlabor OVA and movies. Thoughts? I'm an avid fan of Oshii so I love discussing his directorial work w/ others. I spent a good portion of last year studying his chronology via translated texts, books, and interviews.
I'm sure you're aware by now, but yeah I do play a lot of video games. I'm a really old school JRPG player - Earthbound on the SNES was my first back in 1994-5. My favorites are Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Grandia. I'm a huge fan of the Xeno-series (esp. Gears and Saga 1). Currently playing Xenoblade as you might have noticed on Twitter!
And yeah, I'm a huge GUST fan. Their games are what I've latched onto when it comes to modern JRPGs. I played Iris 1-3 and Mana Khemia 1-2 back in 2008-09 and really enjoyed them. Atelier Rorona - while a bad game - somehow charmed me and I've been stuck with the Atelier franchise ever since! And of course, there's Ar Tonelico which I absolutely adore. I really like its mix of fantasy and sci-fi and the music is fantastic.
By the way, it's cool seeing you around on Twitter. IDK why but I never really thought much of you from FEFF/ANWO. You were just kind of a guy who existed. But turns out you're pretty cool and we share some mutual interests. Did you ever get Skype? You should, it'd be neat to chat.
(The E&L anime is not terribly good, but it does sort of fill in gaps in what I felt were the game's weaknesses. Mainly in that Escha's purpose for existing comes off as extremely vague in the game and it's well enunciated in the anime. Also Wilbell gets tons of screentime. GUST finally realizing what the fans want, heh.)
Cool! Interesting - I'd say your assessment of your experiences so far is pretty fair. Usually newcomers have pretty extreme polarizing opinions on Gundam (especially UC), but seems you're a lot more approachable in that regard. The final 0079 movie is probably my favorite UC-related franchise entry. Tomino is a master of ethereal beauty when it comes to conflict finales, regardless of if it's good or bad. CCA's conclusion was beautiful to me too, even if largely silly.
Do give 0080 a second watch! If you go in with the correct mind, it is a phenomenal piece of work. I rewatched it for the Xth time this past Christmas and it holds up. It's not my favorite franchise entry but I still believe it's probably the best.
Yeah G is well-loved. It's so so fun and genuine in what it's trying to do. It was directed by Imagawa, who was handpicked by Tomino and had worked with him during 0079/Zeta. Imagawa is a master director: Giant Robo is often considered one of the greatest anime productions of all time by many, and the more recent Shin Mazinger Z is amazing too.
You're spot on with SEED, very well put. And don't bother with SEED Destiny... IMO it is still the worst TV Gundam... even AGE is slightly better. Give X a shot! Despite it being canceled early, it has an interesting premise and there are a lot of cool things about it. I see you have Eureka Seven as a planned-to-watch series. E7's neat because it borrows heavily - in good ways - from the original MSG and Gundam X. For instance, the relationship b/t Renton and Eureka is very similar to Garrod and Tifa in Gundam X.
G-Reco's okay... it's not particularly good but I am enjoying it. I've been checking out some of Tomino's older stuff. Zambot 3 is shockingly cruel and fantastic. It's become my second fav Tomino anime after Turn A. I'm tearing through Ideon atm which's okay at best. I hear the sequel film Be Invoked is fantastic, so that's what I'm excited for!
I guess the general rule of thumb is to go by production order. If you have the interest, just dive right into Zeta Gundam. Sure 08th MS team, 0083, and 0080 are side story OVAs which chronologically fit in before Zeta but they were made much later and are more appealing to the vested fan.
Hmm, Turn A Gundam. I have a long, deep-rooted history with that show and I can talk about it for hours. I'll try to keep it short though: it's technically an AU (Alternate Universe) series and can be watched as a standalone but I wouldn't recommend it.
Turn A's directed by Tomino (franchise creator; 0079, Zeta, ZZ, CCA, V, etc.) and it suggests a theoretical merging of all Gundam timelines into a single one - the Correct Century (CC). Turn A's set in a far-far-far-far-future in which the wars of past are referred to as the "Black History" and it contains loads of references, mainly to UC Gundams. http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/71/Gundam-Century.jpg
A lot of people like to view Turn A as a good "finale" of sorts and I think I'd agree w/ that. But don't feel all too pressured to make it the "last" Gundam you watch.
Hm, Gundam starting recommendations are hard, and you'll get varying responses depending on who you ask. I'm of the opinion one should skim through the Gundam titles and read what they're about and dive into a series that interests them. Because it interests them - there's so much a vested interest can do for a person. If you force yourself to watch something, it can become a bit of a chore and I try to avoid that in my recommendations. Especially with a franchise as big as Gundam, where there's no real "right way" and what's more important is easing into it.
But anyways! Yes, if you want to dive into the Universal Century from the beginning, the original 0079 movie trilogy is excellent. The TV series is not bad! But it's 43 episodes of an old title you may or may not like. The movies are solid stuff, and I personally consider them some of the better entries to the Gundam franchise. I'll note that there tends to be a split amongst the fandom on TV vs. Movies. My take is that both are good, but the movie trilogy is simply easier to recommend.
You may want to consider 08th MS Team. It's a 12 episode side-material OVA set during the One Year War, which is the story the original series (0079) covers. It's generally considered a good starting point by many and I'd probably agree.
Other entries you may consider,
Gundam 00 - if you want modernity, this is not a bad option
Gundam SEED - despite its "reputation" one cannot simply overlook this as a decent starting point
G Gundam - you might've heard of this, it's slightly atypical and shares elements with super robot shows
Gundam Build Fighters - it's atypical, and longtime Gundam fans will find more enjoyment from it, but it's very accessible and good fun. You can check it out for free on the Gundam Info YouTube channel.
Feel free to send any other questions/queries you may have, if any. I check my MAL frequently and wouldn't mind at all.
One Piece and LoGH are always competing for #1 and #2 for me. They announced they are going to be donig a LoGH remake some time in the future, but I'm not sure if they can improve upon perfection.
Hey there! I do recall an HJ now that I think about it. You were originally more active on FEFF though, right? Yeah, ANWO's long been dead. Those forum days were good while they lasted and will remain as fond memories to look back on.
We do keep in touch actually. Many of us are still around on Twitter and/or Skype. Feel free to add me on both if you want (info in my profile). We do technically still have the #anwo channel on Rizon, but it's pretty quiet most of the time.
All Comments (9) Comments
Haha, I'm pretty passionate about E7. I think it's because the first time I watched it back in '05 as it was airing, I absolutely loathed it. I revisited the show in '09 as an adult and really learned to appreciate it. There are few anime I've seen I'd say can match it in its ability to build a world and develop its characters. Are you familiar with the Itano Circus (Google it if not)? E7 has tons of itano and the camera work in its battles in general are impressive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2UNfGAbKW8
What'd you think of Zambot? It's pretty shocking, yeah? I'm of the opinion when the cards line up for Tomino he directs some excellent, excellent stuff. By the way, the Ideon film (Be Invoked) was quite good - I can't say it's necessarily worth slogging through the TV series for it tho! I'd put it on the back-burner.
Hmm... glancing through your list. You've watched the Patlabor OVA and movies. Thoughts? I'm an avid fan of Oshii so I love discussing his directorial work w/ others. I spent a good portion of last year studying his chronology via translated texts, books, and interviews.
I'm sure you're aware by now, but yeah I do play a lot of video games. I'm a really old school JRPG player - Earthbound on the SNES was my first back in 1994-5. My favorites are Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Grandia. I'm a huge fan of the Xeno-series (esp. Gears and Saga 1). Currently playing Xenoblade as you might have noticed on Twitter!
And yeah, I'm a huge GUST fan. Their games are what I've latched onto when it comes to modern JRPGs. I played Iris 1-3 and Mana Khemia 1-2 back in 2008-09 and really enjoyed them. Atelier Rorona - while a bad game - somehow charmed me and I've been stuck with the Atelier franchise ever since! And of course, there's Ar Tonelico which I absolutely adore. I really like its mix of fantasy and sci-fi and the music is fantastic.
By the way, it's cool seeing you around on Twitter. IDK why but I never really thought much of you from FEFF/ANWO. You were just kind of a guy who existed. But turns out you're pretty cool and we share some mutual interests. Did you ever get Skype? You should, it'd be neat to chat.
(The E&L anime is not terribly good, but it does sort of fill in gaps in what I felt were the game's weaknesses. Mainly in that Escha's purpose for existing comes off as extremely vague in the game and it's well enunciated in the anime. Also Wilbell gets tons of screentime. GUST finally realizing what the fans want, heh.)
Do give 0080 a second watch! If you go in with the correct mind, it is a phenomenal piece of work. I rewatched it for the Xth time this past Christmas and it holds up. It's not my favorite franchise entry but I still believe it's probably the best.
Yeah G is well-loved. It's so so fun and genuine in what it's trying to do. It was directed by Imagawa, who was handpicked by Tomino and had worked with him during 0079/Zeta. Imagawa is a master director: Giant Robo is often considered one of the greatest anime productions of all time by many, and the more recent Shin Mazinger Z is amazing too.
You're spot on with SEED, very well put. And don't bother with SEED Destiny... IMO it is still the worst TV Gundam... even AGE is slightly better. Give X a shot! Despite it being canceled early, it has an interesting premise and there are a lot of cool things about it. I see you have Eureka Seven as a planned-to-watch series. E7's neat because it borrows heavily - in good ways - from the original MSG and Gundam X. For instance, the relationship b/t Renton and Eureka is very similar to Garrod and Tifa in Gundam X.
G-Reco's okay... it's not particularly good but I am enjoying it. I've been checking out some of Tomino's older stuff. Zambot 3 is shockingly cruel and fantastic. It's become my second fav Tomino anime after Turn A. I'm tearing through Ideon atm which's okay at best. I hear the sequel film Be Invoked is fantastic, so that's what I'm excited for!
Do you have plans to watch Gundam Build Fighters?
Hmm, Turn A Gundam. I have a long, deep-rooted history with that show and I can talk about it for hours. I'll try to keep it short though: it's technically an AU (Alternate Universe) series and can be watched as a standalone but I wouldn't recommend it.
Turn A's directed by Tomino (franchise creator; 0079, Zeta, ZZ, CCA, V, etc.) and it suggests a theoretical merging of all Gundam timelines into a single one - the Correct Century (CC). Turn A's set in a far-far-far-far-future in which the wars of past are referred to as the "Black History" and it contains loads of references, mainly to UC Gundams.
http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwiki/71/Gundam-Century.jpg
A lot of people like to view Turn A as a good "finale" of sorts and I think I'd agree w/ that. But don't feel all too pressured to make it the "last" Gundam you watch.
But anyways! Yes, if you want to dive into the Universal Century from the beginning, the original 0079 movie trilogy is excellent. The TV series is not bad! But it's 43 episodes of an old title you may or may not like. The movies are solid stuff, and I personally consider them some of the better entries to the Gundam franchise. I'll note that there tends to be a split amongst the fandom on TV vs. Movies. My take is that both are good, but the movie trilogy is simply easier to recommend.
You may want to consider 08th MS Team. It's a 12 episode side-material OVA set during the One Year War, which is the story the original series (0079) covers. It's generally considered a good starting point by many and I'd probably agree.
Other entries you may consider,
Gundam 00 - if you want modernity, this is not a bad option
Gundam SEED - despite its "reputation" one cannot simply overlook this as a decent starting point
G Gundam - you might've heard of this, it's slightly atypical and shares elements with super robot shows
Gundam Build Fighters - it's atypical, and longtime Gundam fans will find more enjoyment from it, but it's very accessible and good fun. You can check it out for free on the Gundam Info YouTube channel.
Feel free to send any other questions/queries you may have, if any. I check my MAL frequently and wouldn't mind at all.
We do keep in touch actually. Many of us are still around on Twitter and/or Skype. Feel free to add me on both if you want (info in my profile). We do technically still have the #anwo channel on Rizon, but it's pretty quiet most of the time.
I noticed you're a fan of LoGH. Good man.