For 35 years, the Gundam franchise has existed as a pillar of anime fandom. The fact that so many folks, even those who aren’t fans of the franchise, are aware of it to some degree is a testament to its profile and longevity. Select installments have been international hits. Both influence from and references to the franchise have appeared in countless other anime series. And the proliferation of the franchise in multiple forms, including manga, novels, video games, and of course model kits, has resulted in a multi-billion yen juggernaut that continues charging forward to this day.
The existence and availability of the franchise in anime form thus far here in the U.S. has been something of an uneven adventure. But thanks to the licensing and distribution deal struck between Sunrise, the franchise’s Japanese licensor, and The Right Stuf International, domestic fandom is now poised to be able to enjoy the franchise in anime form in its entirety for the very first time.
And, also , fandom, particularly newer fans, are now faced with the dilemma of deciding what the big deal is, whether the franchise is worth getting into, which installments to watch.
That’s what we’re going to help make sense of.
How did we get here?
The franchise first manifested 35 years ago in the form of a television series created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, named simply Mobile Suit Gundam. The idea was to tell a story of war with more realism and nuance than had previously been depicted in most anime, and to do so with a new and unique spin on the concept of the already-established giant robot. The characters would be soldiers, the robots would be considered war machinery, and the story would incorporate the ambiguity and tragedy of war through aspects such as questionable motives and tactics by both sides of the conflict.
The series underperformed in the ratings during its initial broadcast, and was trimmed down to 43 episodes from a planned 52 as a result. However, the licensing of the show for merchandising purposes, particularly in the form of plastic model kits, proved to be a lucrative success. Subsequent rebroadcasts performed better as the show gained popularity, leading to the creation of three compilation films made from reused TV footage and new animation.
From there, Tomino would shepherd the story through several sequel installments, while simultaneously new OVA side stories were being produced by different creative teams. In the mid-‘90s, Tomino departed the franchise, and Sunrise launched the first of many alternate universe reimaginings of the Gundam concept in an ultimately successful attempt at breathing new life into the Gundam concept and toylines. Amidst the subsequent reimaginings, Tomino would return on several occasions for new projects, and Sunrise itself would commission new installments as new chapters in the original story.
So, what are we dealing with?
With the exception of the lighthearted SD Gundam titles and the more recent Gundam Build Fighters TV series (which, in somewhat meta fashion, deals with the Gundams as plastic models built to compete in virtual combat), the various anime installments are all set amidst wartime situations or conflicts, where combat is waged through the use of giant robots, the most predominant of which are termed “Gundam” for a variety of story reasons.
Numerous series revolve around the typical device of introducing the viewer to the story and setting via a teenaged protagonist, who is caught up in the events around him, and inevitably becomes deeply involved in the conflict at hand as the pilot of the primary Gundam in the story. Alternately, various other installments have presented the story through the eyes of more mature or established characters, yet still with the same focus on the Gundam robots.
Many of the installments are set both on Earth and in space, featuring a wide variety of robots, weaponry and vehicles. The stories are large in scope and feature large casts of primary and secondary characters, often oddly named.
There are many recurring elements throughout the franchise, to the point where fans have come to expect certain aspects as a given in each new incarnation. The replacement of the main Gundam with a new machine partway through the series. Increasingly powerful and imposing enemy weaponry. A journey that traverses settings from space stations to the moon to the desert and back, with trips to the ocean or the jungle as well. Nuclear weapons and giant space lasers. Main characters dying. Main characters getting punched in the face. It almost feels like something is missing when one of those things can’t be checked off the list when viewing.
Franchise installments that are part of the original storyline also incorporate the concept of “Newtypes,” posited as a new stage of human evolution stemming from humanity’s expansion into outer space, which endows a person with extrasensory abilities. The various unrelated installments have incorporated the concept to varying degrees.
And what about these “Gundams” anyway?
Most Gundam franchise installments incorporate what are termed mobile weapons, utilized in the story as wartime weaponry and machinery. Within that broad classification are various types of mobile weapons, among them a wide variety of humanoid robots termed mobile suits. Specific mobile suits carry the designation “Gundam.”
Gundams typically stand 16-18 meters in height, loosely comparable in size to other piloted non-sentient mecha in many other anime titles. They are usually easily discernible from otherwise similar mobile suits by the appearance of their samurai armor-inspired heads, with distinct faceplates, cheekplates and crests that remain largely the same at a glance throughout every installment. Coloration is often the same for the primary hero Gundams, though not always; predominantly white, with blue and red sections and yellow accents. The pilot is positioned in a cockpit often located in the Gundam’s midsection, with external cameras displaying the surroundings on internal viewscreens.
The stories usually present Gundams as mobile suits of notoriety, with protagonists and antagonists alike recognizing them immediately, and provoking reactions of amazement or fear. They are typically one-off designs, sometimes being prototypes or testbeds, and are always more powerful or tactically superior to all other mobile weapons they confront; other Gundams or certain enemy mobile armors are required to match them in battle.
Throughout the history of the franchise, the evolution of the storytelling and the increasing consideration for production of interesting new toys has led to numerous enhancements and modifications to the Gundam concept.
The original Gundam was a fairly straightforward, unadorned humanoid robot, with two laser swords known as beam sabers on its back, two built-in guns, and an equippable rifle. Almost immediately the enhancements would begin, with the Gundam wielding powerful additional weapons such as a bazooka and the infamous Gundam Hammer during the course of the series.
Subsequent Gundams would appear with more sturdy basic designs, adorned with more imposing armor and built-in weaponry. Transformation capabilities would come into play, with alternate forms optimized for different environments. Increasingly powerful secondary weapons would be utilized, with some Gundams eventually docking with gigantic mobile weapons platforms.
