best. gundam. ever.
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Tagged: gundam
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I’m not as hardcore as Konata or her father, but I have watched my share of Gundam. Through the years, the level of quality from Gundam has waned and waxed, and it’s enjoyment variables have changed.
Trying to understand the enormous scope of Gundam is difficult, and I won’t try. What I will try to do is present some of the more popular Gundam series (read: non-OVAs) and the argument for which one is indeed the greatest toy commercial Gundam series ever.
(Note: the number in parenthesis is the current average score as reported by ANN on 8/25.)
Mobile Suit Gundam (7.5): The original, from which all mecha fanboys were spawned. I’m mixed on it as it is hugely, overly dated, and I had already plowed through most of Macross before watching it. It is the original with the “freshest” plot for its time, but it really needs to be updated properly for the modern day. And when I said, “remade,” I mean something other than Gundam Seed.
Zeta Gundam (8.5): The highest rated non-OVA Gundam series, and, of course, I haven’t watched one episode. Insightful work by the AoMM crew!
G-Gundam (6.5): I’ve only watched a few episodes when it was on Cartoon Network, but, seriously, DBZ + Street Fighter + mecha = reconsider the project before starting production.
Victory Gundam (7.4): Never watched this. From what I understand, Victory Gundam occurred during the Sunrise and Bandai merger, and, not surprisingly, it is one of the first Gundam series where toy sales prompted surgery on the script.
Gundam Wing (7.4): There’s a lot to like about Wing: Heero piloting Epyon, Heero blowing himself up over and over again, the sheer ridiculousness of the Gundams being virtually invincible, the mecha design, and the music. There’s a lot of other stuff too… I think Relena is the greatest wet blanket Gundam heroines, which is probably why the boy band cast went gay on each other. Wing is probably the best series to sit back and fire off sarcastic comments about… world needs a MST3K drubbing of Endless Waltz.
Gundam X (7.3): Contrary to mainstream ratings, I actually enjoyed this series. Watching Garrod hijack a Zaku (?) is about on par as watching Kamina hijack Gurran. The thing about Gundam X that stood out to me was the strong relationship between Garrod and Tiffa. I also liked the comedy of how everyone fights to steal each other’s mecha. What I don’t like about X is that it does take a while to go anywhere, and because the series was cut short by the ratings, the pacing is really screwed up.
Turn a Gundam (8.0): The mustached Gundam! Honestly, I couldn’t watch more than seven episodes of this before gnuffing at the mecha design. Seriously, what was plan “B”? Mickey Mouse ears? Not sure why, but I never got into this series and never finished watching it.
Gundam Seed (8.1) and Gundam Seed Destiny (7.4): GS/D was supposed to be a reboot of Gundam for the modern era, and, for the most part, it worked. The beginning through middle of Gundam Seed had some — gulp — strong and compelling stories, and I remember going “OMFG CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK” (much like Gurren Lagann now). But Sunrise really, really blew a great opportunity with the wreck that was Destiny… “uneven” doesn’t even begin to explain the narrative quality.
Gundam 00: It can’t be worse than Destiny, can it?
What do you guys think is the best Gundam series ever? And will I get a comment from a real Gundam fanboy who over analyzes what Zeta Gundam means to the anime industry?
52 Responses to “best. gundam. ever.”
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compared to some of you nutjobs, im rather new to the anime scene – i’ve been watching anime all my life but didn’t really get into watching up-to-date fansubs until gundam seed rolled around (mind you i was also watching naruto back then). it had the sweet mech designs, the constant action, the epic drama, and real purty lookin characters, and really got me acquainted with this new-school gundam franchise. looking back a few years later, i still believe it was a great show and think fondly of it – my fanboy mojo was pumping on turbo when kira played wedding crasher… just to name one of the many great moments.
destiny wasnt too hot but i still watched it religiously “just because” – still not willing to shoot it down to the same basement as otome though…
Um, I somehow watched all of gundam seed, and now I hate all mechas.
Sorry, I have to admit code geass was good.
White not that much of a Gundam nut, I’ve watched a fair share of Gundam anime, both UC and AU. No, not all of Tomino’s works were masterpieces of plot or pacing — in fact, even his ‘best’ series (Zeta and the original MSG) suffered from uneven development and often flipflopping characterization, but there are series that bare more than a first look.
Of the series Jason mentioned, it is surprising to note that it is actually Turn A that has the best balance of characterization, pacing, and action. The only reason that it never seemed to have taken with the Western fandom is the fact that the Turn-A itself (and its sister unit, the Turn-X) had rather unconventional designs (they were designed by an American). Okay, there is the fact that Rolan looks androgynous enough to be mistaken for a woman (which actually happens), at least he’s not a whiny adolescent.
Then there’s Gundam X. Like Turn-A, it’s a nice little gem that never got the attention it should have.
Hate all mechas? You obviously haven’t watched Gurren Lagann.
For me, best Gundam was Wing. Of the series, I saw Z, part of ZZ, Wing, G, X, Seed and Destiny. I still think Heero Yui is the coolest Gundam hero.
Oh, and for a AU series, G Gundam was actually pretty good… As a Super Robot show that parodies the cheesiness of the genre, that is. For a military-drama show, it’s an utter failure.
miyamiya: Jason actually loves Gurren-Lagann to death (heck, it’s on this blog).
I think heero yui forgets to take his meds. He’s like one of those instrospective emo people. So far i’ve watched only Wing and Seed. Hopefully i’ll get one of the 0080 teams ones. Wing was ok for me, just that you can only have so much of constantly recycled footage of Leos getting blown up. It’s like they can explode in only 3 ways. Seed had pretty mechas, but was kinda meh compared to wing imo.
I’m quite sure Turn X was the only one designed by an American (Syd Mead), not turn A.
Tidal: It was definitely Turn-A, as Gundam-X’s credits list Kunio Okawara (correct me here, my memory is fuzzy, since I keep on thinking Hajime Katoki) as the mechanical designer for the series.
As for the best-liked Gundam main(s), I’m split on the folks of the 08th MS team and the resistance in Turn-A. No emo teens, no siree.
@Myssa Rei: I was quoting Chumara’s post, not Jason. We all know Jason loves GL to death.
Vidi, fappi, vici.
Pshaw. I never got into Gundam and probably never will. The only “mecha” series I’ve ever gotten into have been the ones that are more deconstructions of the genre, like Big O (spoof, epic soundtrack), or Code Geass (fanservice/trainwreck factor), or TTGL (win and awesome), or the first 12/13 of Eva (self-explanatory). FMP! (most of the above) has got some nice mecha involvement, too, but it’s not the focus of the series.
Still, even though I’ve yet to hear of any Gundam punching their enemies right out of space-time, I have seen and heard of some goodness in Gundam. Which one was the one with the moustached guy who was such a badass that he defeated a Gundam with his f’n scarf?
thank god GL isn’t sunrise then.
Wing rocks my boat best.
I can’t stand to sit through Seed or Destiny, I want to kill everybody… I would rip off my own finer nails just to dig them directly into their eyeballs, then gnaw off their ears before killing the cast.
Am I the only person who liked Releena? I enjoyed her, she wasn’t an insane bitch who pulled out hammers from no where to smash people in the face. I just felt she was a break away from cliche female characters in anime.
Yes she fell in love with Heero a little too easily, but she didnt go around trying to give him a Bento or blush like a red balloon every time he enters the room. Despite having feelings for him, she remained fairly level headed the entire time, with the occasional “Run infront of a laser beam.” But she still didn’t act like a love sick school girl begging for his man juice, which is what MOST anime girls have become.
I just like Releena, and if thats a crime, then come get me.
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And to anyone who is thinking “it’s dangerious to give that info out!” It’s pretty damn easy to get it by getting my IP address which isnt all that hard.
My favorite is definitely Zeta Gundam, with a lot of competition from various UC series and no competition from non-UC series. Yes, I’m a UC fanboy :P
I prefer the original series to Zeta. Amuro was more believable as a kid who knew nothing about piloting a mobile suit yet worked his way through the battles at an even pace and became an ace than Kamille was. Not only that, but it seemed more of a struggle for Amuro and crew to survive the war than it did for the Zeta crew. MSG had an exciting sense of impending doom and desperation. Zeta was just a Newtype-power showcase with cooler mobile suits, by comparison.
I liked Zeta too (ranks up there with Turn-A and 08th MS team), but the plot and characterizations started to flipflop after Four died, and the series neared its climax (here’s looking at you, Rosamia/Psycho-II arc). As for it being a newtype and high-grade MS showcase, well, ZZ had MORE newtypes and MS than you could wave a stick at (it also had the worst transitioning of tone ever for a Gundam series).
Myssa Rei: Tidal was refering to Turn X, not Gundam X.
Tidal: Both the Turn A and Turn X were done by Syd Mead.
http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gund.....-x-612.htm
http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gund.....m-a-99.htm
quigonkenny: G Gundam’s Master Asia.
As for my favourite? Turn A because it broke all conventional Gundam stereotypes.
Not much of a Gundam watcher… but 08 MS takes the cake. Enjoyed X too and yeah, becos of the relationships.
Seed was…. like a drug. I could not stop watching it, no matter wat I did. It had solid music and the plot was…. nice… for half a season. Then it went to the pits. Ah well.
And truth be told, I sat through all of Wing. Wins for character mecha designs! Who can resist sandrock!!!!
Z ZZ Char’s Counterattack 0083
Syd Mead did Turn A too? news to me then.
On a seperate topic, whats GaoGaiGar like? I’ve never seen it before, but i’ve heard a lot…
Quite frankly, I don’t really like any of the series that much. The only thing that keeps my hopes up was 08th MS Team, the only Gundam anything that I know of that did not involve mass amounts of useless cannon fodder produced by uber Gundams.
You jinxed it… D:
I haven’t watched that much Gundam, none of the UC… I actually first got into anime with Gundam Wing so even though some parts are hard to resist making fun of, it has a special place in my heart… somewhat…
Destiny was such a wreck i didn’t get past a few episodes. How the series turn out seems very hit and miss to me…
Screw Gundam. All of it. Every last single bit of it.
Tan, I wholeheartedly agree with you.
I have an “infinite plot armor” fetish. Gundam Seed and Destiny PWND.
If it weren’t for the silly choice of aethetics (*coughs*Pirates*coughs*) and the appearance of yet another teenager newtype lead, I’d also throw in Crossbones Gundam, for entertainment value AND the ridiculousness of the main antagonists’ backstory. The Jupiter Empire behind ALL the uprisings in the UC Era after the Zeons (with hints here and there in Victory too)? Came out of left field, that one.
Most enjoyable for me is 08th Mobile Suit Team, hands down. Odd that Jason didn’t mention that series at all, at least it was more popular than Gundam X (pity, that).
And G Gundam wasn’t really a “Gundam” series (affectionately called “Real Robots”), but a Super Robot series disguised as Gundams. The director, Yasuhiro Imagawa, probably took the job to raise money so he can finish the Giant Robo OAV, and it shows. Notice the similarity between the Shuffle Legion and both Experts of Justice and Big Fire’s Magnificent Ten in GR–hell, after the Shuffle Legion was fully introduced, you don’t really NEED the Gundams to fight, but because of the half-baked tournament rules (and Bandai’s obligatory toy advertising strategy), they need to add those in.
My recommendation is to watch the Zeta Gundam movie compilations. It was pretty well done, retcon ending notwithstanding.
@ Myssa Rei:
Sad, isn’t it? We could’ve gotten a Crossbone Gundam series instead of the F91 movie, but no, Sunrise dropped the ball on that one.
Well, having seen every single Gundam series to date (and rolling my eyes at people who think all Gundam and Sunrise series are like Destiny and that Sunrise doesn’t know how to produce a quality series. If that were the case they wouldn’t be around as fans would have ditched em long ago, Gundam or not) my favourite is still Zeta. I like what it manages to get out of it’s characters, I like the pacing of the story, how very few if any episodes give you the feeling that they were wasted. I like how it brings in all the characters you will eventually see throughout the series right up until Char’s Counterattack (some come and go, but it’s the only series that has the most important ones taking part in the events), as well as giving them some of the more interesting character moments we see in the Universal Century.
And man do I tire of the fashion trend of Sunrise bashing. People say that Kyoani get’s bashed a lot, but that’s nothing compared to the day in day out comments people throw at Sunrise based off of one or two series that went sour recently (Unless people are talking about old duds like Daiohja, or Garzey’s Wing, but I doubt anybody really knows what those are)
@Tidal: To me Gurren-Lagann gives me the same feeling that Gaogaigar did. the difference is Gaogaigar is 50 episodes long and is episodic for the first 23 or so episodes, using a monster of the week formula (and yet always managing to introduce something new to the mix, be it a new hot blooded companion with their own unique and off the wall personality, or a new piece of technology). After that it get’s a lot more epic, introducing all new opponents, revealing the mysteries of the plot up until then, and ending with some of the most explosive and metal-grinding hot blooded action and screaming I’ve ever seen. Of particular note is how it uses a false ending to the story not once, but twice. Then the OVA comes along with vastly improved animations and character designs, a more mature storyline for the older audience GGG TV scored, and even more zany characters and hot blooded battles. If you like Gurren-Lagann I think it’s safe to say you will like Gaogaigar if your are willing to stick with it through the admittedly slow opening arc.
Sunrise *can* produce quality series, it’s just that people easily forget the great shows (coughs* Keroro Gunso *coughs*) and focus instead on the small percentage that are trainwrecks. It’s like saying that Lucky Star is mostly a Haruhi infomercial, yet the KyoAni references barely take up 5% of each show; the rest pretty much sticks to the subject material.
It easily applies to everything else: in Gundam people tend to notice the series that went wrong in one way or another (ZZ, Victory, Wing, and the latter half of Destiny), and forget the good ones (Turn A, Gundam X, some parts of SEED).
One more thing… Of all the UC stories I’d like to see animated, I vote for either Crossbones Gundam (as I said earlier, for entertainment value), Ecole du Ciel (an all-girls Pilot Academy? In UC?!), Gundam Sentinel (for the older set, since none of the characters are either adults or in nearing middle-age) and Gundam Unicorn.
For AU shows, the Gundam SEED ASTRAY series gets my vote.
As I said before, I’m only taking into account the longer 35+ episode series. I think there’s a disparity between the OVAs and the longer series as the OVAs seem to be under less pressure to sell toys. Plus, for most of the Gundam OVAs, they don’t run out of plot and just start making up crap as they go along.
Actually it’s the OVA’s that have been plagued by some of the largest problems. 08th MS Team had an ending that felt tacked on and 0083 (the original director died in a car accident) went through 4 directors causing some major plot holes involving Nina and Anavel Gato’s relationship, technology versus Zeta’s era and Kou and Nina’s relationship which jerked along awkardly, with key moments in their development suddenly forgotten. Likewise, Endless Waltz was completely unnecessary in the long run with it’s plotline that even the characters admit is part of a repeating series of war, peace and revolution. Gundam 0080 is just about the only OVA to make it through without some trouble along the way, while series like Zeta, Victory, X, Turn A, G (given what it is) and Seed keep things moving along quite nicely. Only ZZ had the sudden plot twist that made Gremy Toto the main villain out of nowhere and Seed Destiny had it’s plot that went absolutely nowhere. So that’s 3 OVA’s + F91 the movie which was sliced down from a full series (fixed partially by Crossbone, Silhoutte F91 and Gundam F90) that had plot/production difficulties, versus two series that had plot issues.
Correction: 08th MS team was the one that had the director who died in the car crash, 0083 had four script writers and two directors. I got my people mixed up. Regret the error.
I am the only one who sees some parallel between G Gundam and Gurren Lagann? They’re really both ridiculous, but a lot of fun to watch. Characterwise, I just can make faint connections. Master Asia is like a cross between Lord Genome and a proto-proto kamina, Nia and her whole save me from the anti spirals reminds me of Rain and her save me from the Devil Gundam bit, Simon is sorta like Domon with less angst (they both power up their mecha with their emotions too). And they’ve got the complimentary badass character. Gurren Lagann has Yoko, and G Gundam has a German android NINJA. I’m still grasping at straws, but they do remind me of each other.
As for Gaogaigar and Gurren Lagann: I’d say that’s a more apt comparison, because of the overarching theme of the series. And Gaogaigar is also absolutely awesomely hot blooded.
As for Canon Gundam series, I liked 08th MS Team the most because it was one of the few to take a patently unrealistic concept and treat it realistically with a straight face, (kinda like Full Metal Panic! in that regard). Some people hate that though.
By the way Jason, about Victory Gundam… This was the last UC series Tomino worked on, and it was produced at the height of his depression (think Anno, but with twice the destructive urge). The man was clearly not enjoying himself. Heck, during pre-production storyboarding Tomino exploded, literally taking (a MG-grade Victory gundam scale model) and throwing it to the floor, stating “THAT is your show.” Nevermind the DVD extra…
As you might guess, it REALLY affected the series (after all, a work is just a mirror of the creator’s mindset at the time) — the plot was disjointed, the characterization uneven, and there was characters dying left and right (I still pity the Shrike team, even now). And the main lead was a twerp for most of the series.
Now THAT was a trainwreck.
Compare it to post-depression Tomino’s works (I’ll harp Turn-A again here, but also throw in the Zeta movies), and you’ll notice a major difference in tone to the previous shows. And quality too.
Yeah, when Tomino aint depressed, he does job quite right…still people enjoyed Tomino’s kill them all stuff then his non kill them all stuff. But I find Jason rather reasonable with GS:D (Although I found his reasoning a little biased with his fandom for Rie Tanaka and all)
How dare you. G-Gundam is awesome in its stupidity. TEQUILA GUNDAM, dammit.
As always, I’m here to help:
1st Gundam / MSG: Yes it’s dated. Yes, it’s badly animated. But it’s worth watching since it’s the most true form of “real robot show” you’ll ever get without watching the Gundam OVAs.
Single Zeta: Mr. Tomino spares nobody. It’s also worth watching.
Double Zeta: Worth watching because it’s a train wreck “in a good way.” $unrise, Tomino, and associates were too busy doing “Char’s Counter” to give it a proper cleaning.
Char’s Counter: OWNED.
Formula 91: OWNED regardless of what it was suppose to be.
Victory Gundam: Even if Tomino says that Usso is not related to Char, he might as well be. The best, saddest, OWNest Gundam series ever. Also a good example of how NOT to create an anime series for the only purpose of selling toys.
Gundam Wing: Prettier boys, stronger women, longer hair on Char, a more likeable Gihren, a dove that doesn’t pilot an MS. BTW, I liked Kai Kiden because he was a coward, manned the hell up, left after the series, and came back in Single Zeta.
Gundam X and G Gundam: Didn’t see ’em. Never will.
Turn-A Gundam: Tomino calms down and bit and brings us his second last gift to the true Gundam-loving crowd. A Gundam pilot who’s black and a crossdresser. What’s this about Turn-A’s “mustache” again? –_^_^_–
Garbage Seed / Destiny: And here we have this hygiene-challenged otaku and his yaoi-loving wife screwing over everything people know and love about Gundam. They even screwed up some characters because their voice-overs DARED challenged their mad skillz. I wonder where Fukuda and Morosawa are now? In hiding? (Protip: Rumors and news travel fast. So rumors about “some voice actor being spit on by haters” means suicide interms of international releases.)
Gundam 00: The “Full Metal Alchemist” guys is a Gundam newbie. But I’m more concerned over what $unrise will do with him. Will he get broken by them?
[quote comment=”153015″]Sunrise *can* produce quality series, it’s just that people easily forget the great shows (coughs* Keroro Gunso *coughs*) and focus instead on the small percentage that are trainwrecks. It’s like saying that Lucky Star is mostly a Haruhi infomercial, yet the KyoAni references barely take up 5% of each show; the rest pretty much sticks to the subject material.[/quote]
Nobody’s saying that a quality series can’t be produced. But, for the record, Lucky Star IS (around 50%) a Haruhi Infomercial. (Or else, Shiraishi Minoru would be a true secondary character with a different name instead of himself being a punching bag on “Lucky Channel.”)
$unrise, maybe it’s because of the post-Victory Gundam mergers, became the Japanese anime industry’s “Fox.” They continue to spew out garbage and train wrecks and 50-episode toy commercials; living in their little bubble world with the idea that no other company’s better than them (which is a lie).
They’ve taken popular musicians like TMRevolution, popular artists like CLAMP, and Fullmetal Alchemist guy, and otaku knows who else. Only to repeat the same scenes from their old works. Over and over and over again. Even going as far as to break up some “happy time” of the “happy couple” Akane and Kazuya of Mai-ZHime with guys looking like the represent the Ku Klux Klan. (Moe Quota shows tend to do that; introducing cool ideas only to screw off a portion of viewers by pulling off stunts like that and believing they can get away with ’em.)
>> By the way Jason, about Victory Gundam… This was the last UC series Tomino worked on, and it was produced at the height of his depression
—
He was depressed because Sunrise and Bandai merged. He wanted to sink the franchise after they told him that waiting until episode 4 before showing a mobile suit was unacceptable. They also had him rewrite the plot to feature more mecha than what he wanted.
>> Actually it’s the OVA’s that have been plagued by some of the largest problems.
—
The OVAs have a different set of problems, but you can argue that they are OVA-specific rather than Gundam OVA specific. I mean, you can’t count a frickin’ car crash. Hence, again, why I’m not considering OVAs… it’s like trying to compare the Oakland A’s to the St Louis Rams. (Gah, my own dumb quoting script misbehaving. Gotta look into this now.)
I really recommend 08th MS team… It was great with a decent story and good character development. It was also nice to see gundams stumble and trip during rough terrain battles… believe it or not I think the idea of the over powerful, back flipping acrobats from other series was a bit to much DBZ and not enough gundam.
Also if you saw the series on carton network please don’t call cut the series short due to teh ending because… cartoon network never showed the last episode! This Gundam actually had a good ending!
(oh and don;t worry about the movie… it just goes int more detail on shirow’s trial.)
@Tyrenol: My god, it’s always the same thing with you isn’t it. I’m starting to think I may have competition for the number of times I make denouncements about a studio (usually Kyoto Animation), but at least I have something new to add each time.
You can shout about Trainwrecks (The use of this word is just getting absolutely ridiculous) all you want, but the term is so overused in reference to Sunrise I think people are starting to see that it’s a load of crap. I hardly even know what you mean by this anymore, it’s just you screaming it at the top of your lungs at this point. Heck your not even giving Gundam 00 a chance as your so caught up on ways that Sunrise, or $unrise as you call them suck. And like no other studio has ever used musicians, popular directors and popular artists *Cough*KyoaniAyaHiranoNoiziItoYamamoto*Cough*to get an edge on the competition.
You’re more biased against Sunrise then I am about Kyoani as at least I gave Lucky Star a good 16 episodes and Kanon a Full 2 character arcs and a fair chance before deciding I didn’t like them all that much.
For the record I also intensely dislike Mai-Otome, Gundam Seed Destiny and shows that try to have Moe for the sake of having Moe, but I still am not so hung up on trying to hate any studio that I’m not willing to at least give them a chance or forever hold my peace and not watch.
I’m giving Gundam 00 the benefit of the doubt (like all shows that appear each season), since I’m not really picky with the shows I watch. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Shakugan no Shana 2, I might fit it into my schedule too.
I come back to this poll to see that SEED is winning? How is this even possible? I could hardly call it a gundam series ;___;
Getta_Wing: I have to. People tend to have this thing called “short attention span.”
And yes. Kyoto Animation as well. After creating the monster that was Haruhi, they seem to be telling anime fans how scary and dangerous it is being an otaku and being in the business.
I can also include SHAFT because their shows are becoming unfocused, filled with filler, and getting high on memeii.
There are a lot of anime companies in Japan that aren’t afraid to use bad business practices. (Probably due to their current troubles of high unemployment, high suicide, high numbers of otaku blobs and their troubles.)
But $unrise is the worst; bowing down to fanbase pressure, taking advantage of whatever’s popular, and screwing up otherwise good ideas. (I had my fill of KyoAni and SHAFT as well. But atleast KyoAni knows how to do “drama,” and SHAFT are good at creating some brave filler.
Oh, and then there’s Gainax. But that’ll be for another day.
@Tyrenol: Maybe people aren’t listening because they are tired of hearing the same thing over and over and in such an over the top manner as to call the studio $unrise, which really isn’t all that funny. I called Kyoto Animation, KÂ¥oani for like a day, because I thought it would be amusing, and I didn’t feel any more clever. Actually I felt like I liked quite the fool, so I stopped. Why are you even posting though? You don’t seem to like any of the studios out there.
By the way, pretty much every studio tries to please it’s fans, takes advantage of what is popular and makes bad writing decisions once in a while. Reading what you’ve posted I’m starting to think I’ve made some mistakes in my criticisms of Kyoto Animation over the past year. If I’ve come across as how you’re coming across with this Anti-Sunrise tunnel vission in my posts then all I can say is I’m truly embarassed.
[quote comment=”153055″]Maybe people aren’t listening because they are tired of hearing the same thing over and over and in such an over the top manner as to call the studio $unrise, which really isn’t all that funny.
Why are you even posting though? You don’t seem to like any of the studios out there.[/quote]
I like Xebec, JC Staff, Starchild, Gonzo and Studio Deen on a good day…
Look. There are just too many animation companies out in Japan to list. So when I list $unrise, Bandai Visual, Gainax, SHAFT, KyoAni, Himajin, and Milky on a bad day; then you should know that there are many other companies that I’d rate from “decent” to “very well.”
And I didn’t replace the “S” with a dollar sign as a joke. It’s not a joke. It’s not funny. We have “entertainers” in the States that show up late for work constantly, insult people on the air… So it’s a big deal when some voice actor gets spat on for calling out a talentless screenwriter.
So I repeat myself. I refuse to allow the same mistake to happen over and over again by these neanderthals who seem to have mistunderstood what the word “entertainment” means.
Finally: Nobody’s forcing you to listen to what I have to say. I’m just a visitor to this site; just passing through and speaking my mind.
[quote comment=”153047″]I’m giving Gundam 00 the benefit of the doubt (like all shows that appear each season), since I’m not really picky with the shows I watch. As long as it doesn’t interfere with Shakugan no Shana 2, I might fit it into my schedule too.[/quote]
I’m going to do the same as well, despite people already writing it off. I totally understand why, but a least wait till the first couple of episodes to do that.
[quote comment=”153050″]I come back to this poll to see that SEED is winning? How is this even possible? I could hardly call it a gundam series ;___;[/quote]
The same reason why it was on Newtype USA’s Greatest Anime of All Time list a few years ago: It’s the one most people remember.
[quote post=”1149″]How dare you. G-Gundam is awesome in its stupidity. TEQUILA GUNDAM, dammit.[/quote]
Bah. NETHER GUNDAM FTW!
Hrn….this is an interesting one for me, because I’ve just recently gotten “back” into Gundam. And by back, I mean I’ve just recently started watching stuff not put out by Toonami back when it was a five days a week program and not Saturday Evenings.
Mobile Suit Gundam: My main exposure was via Toonami on Cartoon Network, and that shows how much I saw of it. I thought the White Base was an interesting ship, and that Char was cool. Then I saw them pull the Gundam’s legs off and stuff a rocket engine on it to combat the Zakrello, the most hideous and ridiculous looking Zeon machine EVER. Stopped watching, stopped caring, and before long, found out CN hadn’t even shown the whole series due to sagging ratings.
Zeta Gundam: Haven’t seen any of this, but honestly, what I’ve heard sounds compelling, if still somewhat depressing(what happens to the male lead at the end of the series seems a little…brutal, given Tomino’s “Kill’EmAll” effect was going pretty high then).
Double Zeta: Same as Zeta, and as it’s not been released in the US, the truly RIDICULOUS mecha designs in some areas, and the truly stupid way they handled Haman at the end, I doubt I ever will.
Victory Gundam: Director’s depressed as hell which leads to an atmosphere where a majority of the cast don’t survive and die in often violent and pointless ways? Yeah, I *really* want to watch THAT.
G Gundam: One of my favorite Gundam shows EVER. If you don’t take it too seriously, it’s rather enjoyable and has some strong characterization. Plus there’s the fact that the big bad employs nanotech animated corpses as its cannon fodder….after it was responsible for killing them in the first place.
Gundam Wing: A guilty pleasure, honestly. I love the mecha design to death, and the “antagonists” for most of the series are likable and three dimensional. A shame the main protagonists on the whole, other than Duo, are unlikable, emo, or whiny to a degree I can’t stand them.
Gundam X: Haven’t seen it, but I plan to. It really does sound rather good and I’ve had recommendations from others on it.
Turn A Gundam: See Gundam X
Gundam SEED: My “genesis” into new Gundam fandom, SEED holds a warm place in my heart. Maybe it isn’t edgy or groundbreaking, but I liked the show(if not the clipshows) and the characters were generally enjoyable, while the mecha design was pretty damn good.
Also, Rau’s American voice actor puts in a piece de resistance on his work in Episode 45 that blows the Japanese version of that scene out of the water.
Gundam SEED Destiny: Nnnnrggggh….so much potential, so WASTED. The first couple of episodes were actually decent and cool. Then…..eurgh. It just drives off a CLIFF shortly thereafter. I love a ton of the mecha designs(Destroy Gundam, the ZAKUs, GOUFs, DOMs, Akatsuki, and others), but the plot is just PAINFUL. Characterization flies out the window, the evil plots make no sense, and logic and internal consistency are dirty words.
Honestly, when I spend about two nights rewriting the plot into something coherent with SEED’s characterization, and can do better than they did, something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Stargazer was real good for a 45 min short… waaaay better than destiny.
I can’t give SEED a 8, but I can give Gundam 00 at least that, the only thing i can knock 00 for that it is telling 7or 20 stories at once. With the direction of Seiji Mizushima (the director behind Full Metal Alchemist) I can’t help to hope it pulls off the best overall story of any Gundam Show in the 21’st century… Then again thats not hard.