Getting Started With Gundam

So you wanna get started w/ Gundam, eh? Well dude, you couldn't have come to a better place. I will help guide you into Gundam and do it in a Very Comfortable Matter for the series to grow on you.

My recommendation with All Newcomers of Gundam is to start it with the Universal Century Timeline Storyline of Gundam.

Now, here's the thing about Gundam:

Gundam has multiple different timeliness in which different stories take place in.

The First Ever and most Well-Told Timeline is called the "Universal Century Timeline".

This is the best timeline for ANYONE new to Gundam to go with to get into Gundam itself. The Universal Century Timeline will give you a proper view of what Gundam is really all about, and overall, it's the most professionally made Gundam Timeline out of everything that is Gundam. And when you eventually make your way into Alternate Universes of Gundam that are Outside the Universal Century, you will be able to spot key elements that were adapted *from* the Universal Century Timeline in Other Gundam Universes as well.

The Universal Century Timeline of Gundam consists of MULTIPLE Animes to watch, but to make it easier for you, I have taken the liberty of making a list of them in Chronological Order for you to watch them in at your own pace from top to bottom.

Here they are in Chronological Order from Top to Bottom:

- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0079
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt
- Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO - The Hidden One Year War (PART 1)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO 2 - Gravity of the Battlefront (PART 2)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO - Apocalypse 0079 (PART 3)
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
- Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam **(NOTE: Start on Episode 2)**
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn
- Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (Coming Soon)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash (OVA Movie Trilogy Coming Soon)
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91
- Mobile Suit Gundam Crossbone (Manga Only)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Crossbone: Skull Heart (Manga Only)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Crossbone: Steel 7 (Manga Only)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Crossbone: Ghost **(NOTE: Manga Translation isn't done yet. Continue to Victory for now)**
- Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
- Gundam: Reconguista in G

Out of all of these, there are some things to note with two Gundam Animes in particular from the U.C. Timeline. The first one being Gundam ZZ. The thing with this one is that with Zeta Gundam, the predecessor to ZZ, it was an extremely dark Gundam Anime. ZZ however, takes that usual style of Gundam and does a complete 180 with it, and Gundam's Creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino, wanted to try something new with it to try and make it different from the usual routine he had. And well....it was EXTREMELY Jarring to adjust to his sudden mood whiplash that he caused. So take note that the 1st Half of ZZ is....Extremely Goofy. But thankfully, ZZ does start to get a lot better by Episode 20. So just hang in there until then, and you'll enjoy the rest. But I still think even despite it's change of mood, ZZ wasn't that bad. I'd give it a 7/10. Still enjoyable, but....Tomino, WTF were you thinking w/ the 1st Half?! X_X

The 2nd one to talk about is Gundam F91. This one is actually a Movie. But unfortunately, it wasn't supposed to go down like that. Gundam F91 was originally planned to be a 50 Episode Gundam Anime, but Bandai told Tomino "NO!" with it, and they forced him to make it into a Movie, and he did his best with what he had, but in the end F91 just wants you longing for more. I would give it a 6.5/10. It's decent, but expect to be longing for more afterwards. The manga version of F91 is definitely better, just incase you wanna go check that out after you see the movie.

THANKFULLY, that's why Crossbone Gundam exists! Crossbone Gundam is a Manga Series that completely fills the gap between F91 and Victory and develops a lot more on the characters from F91 and adds new ones into the fray as well. If you wanna know what happens between the HUGE GAP w/ F91 and Victory, you can read the Crossbone Gundam Mangas, and I would seriously recommend it too! =)

Also be advised on another thing. Gundam G-Reco (Reconguista in G) has a large timeskip from the end of Victory. Taking place over 800 Years past Victory, and way after the Universal Century Timeline itself came to an end. But it is still very much canon to the events of the Universal Century, and this is made very apparent with what happens in the series. But with this anime in particular, you have to make sure to PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to the dialogues and what is going on. If you miss even a single bit of dialogue, it is very easy to get lost in the story. But thankfully, the story does become easier to follow as the anime progresses. But I'm just warning you about it now, in advanced.


I've taken the liberty of providing you with URLs that lead you to places that you can watch the entire Universal Timeline of Gundam ONLINE from your Browser.

Here they are:



Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-The-Origin-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-the-origin-dub.z2rl
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Mobile Suit Gundam 0079:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-the-origin-dub.z2rl
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Mobile Suit Gundam - The 08th MS Team:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-The-08th-MS-Team

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-the-08th-ms-team-dub.4vkx
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Mobile Suit Gundam - The 08th MS Team: A Battle with the Third Dimension:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-The-08th-MS-Team-A-Battle-with-the-Third-Dimension
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Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Thunderbolt (SEASON 1)
http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Thunderbolt-2nd-Season (SEASON 2)

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-thunderbolt.5279 (SEASON 1)
https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-thunderbolt-2nd-season.j6x8 (SEASON 2)
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Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO - The Hidden One Year War (PART 1)

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-MS-IGLOO-The-Hidden-One-Year-War

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-ms-igloo-the-hidden-one-year-war.924m
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO 2 - Gravity of the Battlefront (PART 2):

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-MS-IGLOO-2-Gravity-of-the-Battlefront

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-ms-igloo-2-gravity-of-the-battlefront.1vrv
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Gundam: MS IGLOO -  Apocalypse 0079 (PART 3):

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-MS-IGLOO-Apocalypse-0079

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-ms-igloo-apocalypse-0079.5kv0
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 - War In The Pocket:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-0080-War-in-the-Pocket-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-0080-war-in-the-pocket-dub.r4jm
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 - Stardust Memory:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-0083-Stardust-Memory-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-0083-stardust-memory-dub.2522
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Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Zeta-Gundam-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-zeta-gundam-dub.py8j
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Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-ZZ

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-zz.4qn7
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Mobile Suit Gundam - Char's Counterattack:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Char-s-Counterattack-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-chars-counterattack-dub.5vkm
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn:

http://kissanime.to/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Unicorn-Dub

OR

http://www.watchcartoononline.com/mobile-suit-gundam-unicorn-episode-1-english-dubbed

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Mobile Suit Gundam F91:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-F91-Dub

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-gundam-f91-dub.z81w
__________________________________________________________________________

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Mobile-Suit-Victory-Gundam

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/mobile-suit-v-gundam.w1r6

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Gundam: Reconquista in G:

http://kissanime.ru/Anime/Gundam-Reconguista-in-G

OR

https://9anime.is/watch/gundam-reconguista-in-g.595v
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Gundam: Reconguista in G - From the Past to the Future:

https://9anime.is/watch/gundam-g-no-reconguista-from-the-past-to-the-future.0w5k/7z66w8
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So basically, you start off with Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, and make your way down the list as you finish that anime and move onto the next one, all the way to Victory Gundam. There consists of Two URLs there. A Main One and a Backup One just incase one isn't working. But always go with the 1st URL if possible.

You may do so at your own pace, of course. =)

Now once you get through all of that, you may ask: "Wow! So....where do I go next?"

Once you finish up the Universal Century Timeline (and G-Reco), you are then able to check out all of the Alternate Universes and Spin-Off Series that exist in the Gundam Metaverse as well. These Altnerate Universes and Spin-Off Series have absolutely nothing to do with the Universal Century Timeline; story wise. But they are heavily inspired and derive a lot of their source material off of things from the Universal Century. To be honest, after you finish up the U.C. Timeline, you're pretty much a free bird. You can go wherever you want with Gundam afterwards. But if you wanted my personal recommendation, I would recommend checking out Gundam 00 as your first Alternate Universe of Gundam. As 00, from what I have seen, is without a doubt: THE BEST Mainstream Gundam Anime up to this point.

You might raise an eyebrow as to why I call Gundam 00 "Mainstream" as if I kinda sound like a Hipster for using that word. But when I use that word, I don't mean that it's Bad at all. I just mean that The Vast Majority of Gundam Fans are more familiar with them compared to other universes.

The 4 Big Mainstream Gundam Animes out so far are:

- Gundam Wing
- Gundam SEED
- Gundam 00
- Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans

Out of those 4, Gundam 00 is EASILY the Best One of that bunch. And I really think it'd be a good idea to check that one out after you finish the Universal Century Timeline.

What's interesting is: Gundam 00 takes place in the Anno Domini Timeline; which is currently the timeline we live in right now, except WAAAAAAAAAAY into the future. The interesting thing is, the Universal Century Timeline also at one point took place in Anno Domini before it became "Universal Century". It's said to be between 2055 and 2134 or something like that. Gundam 00, however, is in the year 2300's. So that's Hundreds of Years past anything Universal Century had.

Which raises the question: Maybe in some way or form they might just be secretly in the same timeline.....??? Nah, probably not! XD

However, just be warned about two things regarding Gundam 00:

First of all, Gundam 00 has Two Seasons. Season 1 was absolutely amazing in almost every possible way. But Season 2 on the other hand kinda takes a very slight dive in quality. I'm not saying Season 2 is bad, absolutely not, but it is definitely inferior to Season 1. You will probably notice this as well, since most 00 fans acknowledge this openly.

Second of all, the 00 Movie Sequel "Awakening of the Trailblazer". The Gundam 00 Movie was a Huge Disappointment and is one of Gundam's Low-Points. If you wanna go check that one out after you finish the Gundam 00 Anime, go ahead. But you have been warned that it's pretty bad.

Now after you finish 00, I would then probably recommend checking out After War Gundam X, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz - The Glory of Losers, and then finally Turn A Gundam.

Gundam X is an Extremely Underrated Gundam Anime, and even though it was forced to cut itself short, it still turned out to be a GREAT Gundam Anime regardless. Gundam X is basically a "What-If" Universal Century Timeline, and takes a lot of elements from the U.C. Timeline and kinda changes them around in it's own way. It's not part of the official U.C. Timeline in any way, shape, or form. But it re-imagines it from a different perspective, and in a damn good way! Be advised, the ending is a bit rushed due to the fact that it was cancelled before it could reach 50 episodes during its initial TV Airing period at the time, but even with that in mind, the series is still great! =)

With Mobile Fighter G Gundam, it's definitely an Oddball of the Gundam Franchise, as this Gundam Anime is actually a Spin-Off Gundam Anime as kind of a "What If Gundam was a Super Robot Anime?" kinda of scenario. Kinda like say....."DragonballZ X Street Fighter X Gundam" type of situation. It's an EPIC Gundam Anime, and as long as you don't take it that seriously, you will probably end up Loving this one. Mobile Fighter G Gundam's Timeline is called "Future Century", which again has absolutely no relation to U.C. whatsoever. So don't be too confused with that one. It's just a simple Super Robot Spin-Off Alternate Universe. =)

Now with Gundam Wing, it has an.....interesting fanbase. The fact of the matter is, and I know everyone in the Gundam Community who has a brain can agree with me on this one:

Gundam Wing is BEYOND Overrated.

But even despite that. As a whole: Gundam Wing is still a pretty good. It's just nowhere near as Amazing as everyone overhypes it to be. Gundam Wing's Timeline is called the "After Colony Timeline". No relation to the U.C. whatsoever. It created a whole new one that stands on its own with it's own themes in play here. Now, even though Wing does have an Anime and a Movie OVA Sequel. I would not recommend watching the anime anymore, as the anime is now no longer canon to Gundam Wing's Story. For you see, Gundam Wing just recently as of 2010 got an Entire Continuity Reboot under the new name of "Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz - The Glory of Losers". It tells the same story of Gundam Wing, but HEAVILY IMPROVED on almost all fronts. It redesigns the Main Gundams, gives more backstory to the 5 Main Gundam Pilots, completely re-does major events in Wing in a WAY more well-written matter, and even re-organizes the order in which some of the events in the anime took place in to make them feel more natural and make more sense.

Granted, it's still not AMAZING, but it's WAY better than the entirety of the Gundam Wing Anime as a whole, and I would definitely recommend checking it out:
http://mangakakalot.com/manga/shin_kidou_senki_gundam_w_endless_waltz_haishatachi_no_eikou

But heed my word on one thing. Gundam Wing has a Dark Side. A Dark Side that everyone should avoid. It's name is "Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop". A Novel Series created in 2010 that takes place Several Decades after Endless Waltz. If you dare try to read these novels, you are going to get nothing but a migrane w/ severe vertigo out of it. This novel series is nothing but a horrible bad fanfiction that WAS unfortunately canon before Glory of Losers came along and thankfully fixed that up. It contradicts virtually everything that Endless Waltz ended on and the shit that it picks up on makes absolutely no sense.

Turn A Gundam, the one after all of that, is another Underrated One of Gundam. It did what everyone originally thought was impossible, and actually Combined all gundam continuities into One Timeline known as the "Correct Century Timeline", and it did it in a very well-done matter! I won't say Too Much on it, since there would be spoilers involved, though. Not to mention, this series has some of the Best and most Memorable Characters in Gundam History, and on-top of that, some of the most Original and Unique Mobile Suit Designs I've ever seen in Gundam even to this day. I would definitely recommend checking this one out as well once you get past the U.C. and those Alternate Universes I've mentioned before hand, as it does mention elements from each of those alternate universe in this Gundam Anime.

Now what about Gundam AGE? Well, I wouldn't recommend looking at that one until you're more into Gundam. AGE being one of your 1st Gundam Animes is a very bad idea, cuz that will give you an even more False View on what Gundam is all about. Granted, Gundam AGE is nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but it's definitely not really that good. I would rate it a 6/10, except the problem is: At the last 10 episodes, the story basically falls apart, almost as bad as SEED Destiny. But the 1st two Arcs are actually pretty good.

As for Iron Blooded Orphans, well here's how that one went. Season 1 of it was just flat-out fucking awesome. Season 2, however, dropped the fucking ball. Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?! Season 1 was so great, and THIS is how it turned out?! C'mon, Sunrise! You're better than this! But granted, even with the shitty second season, IBO as a whole was Alright. I'd give it a 6.5/10 if I had to rate it. Still worth a watch.

Now about Gundam SEED.... Well, here's my recommendation on that one: Until you've covered a vast ground w/ Gundam and get to know exactly what the series is all about and what all the themes are and everything, I would not recommend checking it out until you've watched the U.C. Timeline as a whole. SEED was more or less a re-imagining of the U.C. Timeline in the eyes of another person and he called it the "Cosmic Era Timeline". And well...... I can't say it was that great. The 1st Gundam SEED I admit is not terrible, but it's not great either. I would give it a 5/10, right smack-dab in the middle of Mediocrity.

But, the one that everyone always bashes the shit out of the Cosmic Era Timeline of Gundam with, is Gundam SEED Destiny. Heed my words on this one, dude: Gundam SEED Destiny is GOD-AWFUL. It is easily The Worst Gundam Anime Ever Created up to this point. The only thing you're gonna get outta that one is a massive headache. If anything, if you're *that* curious about it, you can check that one out AFTER you checked out the Universal Century first, that way you'd have a better understanding of Gundam's Roots, Origins, Themes, etc... when going into this one. You'll see what I mean when you eventually get into it. But I warn you: IT'S NOT PRETTY.

Thankfully, there is One Gem out of the Cosmic Era that got itself a 3 Episode OVA called Gundam SEED Stargazer C.E.73. This is probably the Best Anime Adaptation so far that the Cosmic Era has ever received. When Gundam SEED & Destiny did so many things *wrong*, Stargazer did so many things *right* that it's like you're almost watching a completely different Gundam Series entirely! I seriously wish it was more than just 3 Episodes, I wanna see MORE out of it! That's how much I enjoyed it! And I'm willing to bet that you will too! ;-)

There's also another Mini 3-Episode OVA Series called "Mokei Senshi GUNPLA Builders" that I would also Highly Recommend checking out as well, as it's probably The Most Realistic Gundam Adaptation I've ever seen. It's based around kids building their own Gundams / Mobile Suits with their GUNPLA Kits, taking their GUNPLAs to an arcade, putting them in a machine that scans their GUNPLAs, and being able to Pilot their own GUNPLAs in a virtual environment and beat the shit out of each other! It's 3 Episodes Only, yes, but it's FUN AS HELL! =D

And finally, there's Gundam Build Fighters. This one I would not recommmend checking out until you've gotten very familiar with Gundam as a whole, and are well aware about Mobile Suits and Characters from all series before hand. This whole entire series is just nothing but a massive love-letter to the entirety of the Gundam Franchise. Now in terms of quality, the 1st Gundam Build Fighters is Absolutely Fucking FANTASTIC in almost every way possible. Once you finish it, then check out Gundam Build Fighters: GM's Counterattack, as it is a direct sequel to it and STILL just as awesome! Now as for Gundam Build Fighters Try.....that's a different story. Don't gemme wrong, though. As a spin-off series, it's okay at best. But in comparison to the first Gundam Build Fighters Anime, Build Fighters Try is, without-question, highly inferior to the first Build Fighters in nearly every single way possible. But even despite its inferiority, it's still worth a, and I'd still recommend watching it after you finish the First Build Fighters. But always remember, that Build Fighters and Try are both SPIN-OFF ANIMES just like G Gundam. Do not take them seriously. Hell, they don't even take THEMSELVES seriously. So why should you? Just wanted to clarify that last thing there, because there actually are idiots out there who hated Build Fighters because they made the stupid mistake of actually trying to take them seriously.

I hope this helps clarify your confusion you had with the Timelines of Gundam and helps you make the right choice on what to go with.

Welcome to Gundam! =D


- WackyModder84