The plot takes place directly after Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and stars a group of teenagers who are junk collectors, the main character being another Newtype by the name of Judau Ashta. Now here's where things get a little different story-wise. The first half or so of the series is very lighthearted and comedy filled, contrasting greatly to its predecessor Zeta's intense drama. Then the story later takes on a more serious persona, which causes some little inconsistencies. There have been a lot of shows that integrate comedy with seriousness very well, and Tomino claims that he did wish to cheer up audiences, but the comedy-seriousness shift wasn't all that great here, causing the show to suffer some points.
The deaths, which are a part of every Gundam series of course, weren't really handled very well in the series either. The overall tragedy and impact of the events was just missing a tad, which is definitely a disappointment because those moments deserve some good emphasis.
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ aired very shortly after Zeta finished, and thus the art is just of the same caliber. It's pretty good animation for the time, which is to be expected of a Gundam title. The sound department, however, falls a bit short of Zeta's outstanding musical quality. Not to say that it is bad, but it does not touch Zeta's work here. But, I will add on a positive note, that the first opening theme, "Anime Ja Nai", is a very memorable song. Also, elaborating on that point, the contrasting theme songs display exactly the difference between the two halves of ZZ. The former, "Anime Ja Nai", is close to a kid's tune, whereas the latter, "Silent Voice", exhibits a more somber mood.
Due to the whimsical first half, the characters aren't quite as developed as they probably could have been. Some of the main crew aren't really too appealing as characters, but there are some significant persons that deserve mention; Chara Soon being the first one to immediately come to mind. Several characters from the past series make appearances as well, but most of the said appearances are just cameos, with the exception of everybody's favorite captain Bright Noa and the Axis leader Haman Karn.
The enjoyment factor is a little hard to judge, again because of the split tones of the show. The comedy half is enjoyable, but in my opinion the serious half is much better. That is of course just a matter of opinion though that will vary from person to person, depending on if you find the first half a nice change of pace, or if you condemn it for not living up to the previous stories.
Overall, I think Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ gets cut down a tad too much because it simply doesn't match up to the standards and strong qualities set by Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. However, it is still definitely worth the watch for any Gundam fan, and you could certainly turn out loving it if you're the right person.
