Any Gundam fans out there?

[Pozatronic]

In a case of impulse shopping, I just dropped about $70 on the Gundam Zeta Boxed set over at Amazon market place. 50 episodes. Can anybody tell me if I just wasted my money.

I know next to nothing about Gundam. My introduction to it was finding a Gundam ZZ model book when I was in Junior High. It was all in Japanese, but the depictions of the Gundams themselves drew this giant robot fan in. It's been more than 15 years later and I figured it was about time to quench this thirst. Assuming I like it, can anybody suggest where I should go from here?

 

[argo]

You have made a great choice, Gundam Z is a terrific series.

If you know "next to nothing" about Gundam then I might suggest that you view some of the origional series. Not only does it introduce you to the universe but, more importantly in your case, the events of Gundam Z are a continuation of events started in Mobile Suit Gundam. Though the main character of Zeta is new many of the other characters are returning from that first series and I think that much of the emotional impact will be wasted if you aren't familiar with them.

If you are interested then I suggest you pick up the "film" versions. The first series was re-edited and re-cut into three feature length movies. Wierd as it sounds it works and it will give you all the info you need on the political events and characters to enjoy Gundam Z.

Actually I perfer the movie version as it cuts out the hokey saturday-morning-cartoon stuff from the series (repetitive giant-robot transformation sequences, annoying sidekicks, etc)

The amazon listings for the movies is
http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-G...-7612903?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1173594463&sr=1-33

Hope that helps.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

In a case of impulse shopping, I just dropped about $70 on the Gundam Zeta Boxed set over at Amazon market place. 50 episodes. Can anybody tell me if I just wasted my money.

Zeta Gundam is by far the best of the original Universal Century Gundam series (Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam and Gundam Double Zeta). You'll should watch the original series in the form of the 3 movies to truly appreciate some of the relationships in Zeta.

There are going to be some people who eventually will come here and tell you that either Gundam 0083 : Stardust Memory, Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket or Gundam 08th Team are very good and they are. 0080 is very good as far as being a good drama and 0083 is good as far as it has very good mecha action, but the core UC story lies with the 3 series that I mentioned earlier. 0080, 0083 and 08th team were made after the conclusion of the original series (except maybe for 0080 if I remember correctly).

The UC story actually ends with the movie Char's Counterattck.

Also be warned, dont get too attached to people in Zeta, it has a relatively HIGH body count.

 

[Pozatronic]

You have made a great choice, Gundam Z is a terrific series.

If you know "next to nothing" about Gundam then I might suggest that you view some of the origional series. Not only does it introduce you to the universe but, more importantly in your case, the events of Gundam Z are a continuation of events started in Mobile Suit Gundam. Though the main character of Zeta is new many of the other characters are returning from that first series and I think that much of the emotional impact will be wasted if you aren't familiar with them.

If you are interested then I suggest you pick up the "film" versions. The first series was re-edited and re-cut into three feature length movies. Wierd as it sounds it works and it will give you all the info you need on the political events and characters to enjoy Gundam Z.

Actually I perfer the movie version as it cuts out the hokey saturday-morning-cartoon stuff from the series (repetitive giant-robot transformation sequences, annoying sidekicks, etc)

The amazon listings for the movies is
http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-G...-7612903?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1173594463&sr=1-33

Hope that helps.

GREAT! Thanks for the advice and the link. I looked it over and I believe I'll go with your suggestion. I'm pretty broke right now, but that "Buy with one click" button over at amazon sure is tempting. So, thanks Argos and Shin! It looks like Zeta will have to wait till I get these and Char's Counter Attack.

 

[Pozatronic]

Wait a minute. Does Char's Counter Attack take place pre or post Zeta?

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Wait a minute. Does Char's Counter Attack take place pre or post Zeta?

Post. It's the conclusion to the UC saga.

 

[argo]

Wait a minute. Does Char's Counter Attack take place pre or post Zeta?

Char's Counterattack takes place after Zeta. It is, in fact the finale for the UC story.

UC is short for Universal Century. The timeline in which the the original gundam series takes place. After finishing the UC timeline they have "reboted" the series several times, each time in an "alternate universe" timeline.

Future Century (FC) - G Gundam (I hate this series sooooo much)
After Colony (AC) - Gundam Wing (decent series, a mostly for the 12-14 year old crowd)
Cosmic Era (CE) - Gundam SEED (the newest thing, I'm not a fan)

There are a few others but I'm blanking on them at the moment.

In any event, back to the UC timeline. The series were not all actually produced in cronological order. However if you are interested in following the timeline you will want to see them as follows.

Mobile Suit Gundam - the one that started it all. Link already posted above. Set durring the One Year War in the year UC 79 it tells the story of Amuro Ray and the crew of White Base as they fight Char and the Zeon forces.
Zeta Gundam - set in the year UC 87 it is the "sequel" to Mobile Suit Gundam. Amuro and Char play supporting roles and other characters from the first Gundam return but the main chararacter is Kamille Bidan. Very dark in tone, lots of moral ambiguity and some very bad things happen.
ZZ Gundam - I have not seen this series. It is a direct follow-up to Z Gundam which ends with quite a cliff-hanger.
Char's Counterattack - set in UC 93 it is the finale to the storyline begun in Mobile Suit Gundam. Amuro and Char take center stage again for their final showdown.

Other series in the UC timeline include:

Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team - this story takes place durring the One Year War in UC 79 but has nothing to do with the characters on White Base. Instead it follows a single squad of Federation pilots fighting on earth. A war story told from the eyes of the front-line grunts. I have a soft spot in my heart for this series.
Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket - set at the very end of the One Year War. It takes place on the Libot colony which had tried to stay neutral but the war comes to them. Main character is a kid named Alfred. A real tear-jerker about lost innocence.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory - set in UC 83, the main characters are rookie federation pilot Kou Uraki and Zeon ace Anavel Gato. This series explains the events that took place between the original Gundam and Zeta Gundam that led to the Federation creating the elite Titans unit and giving them such power but otherwise doesn't tie in to the "main" storyline. The action scenes are top-notch.

There are also a couple of other series set in the UC timeline about 100 years following the events of Char's Counterattack, but I have not seen them so I have no comment. Likewise there have been a ton of "side story's" released in manga that fill in little bits and pieces here and there. The franchise has been going for over 25 years now. But the above listing hits most of the highlights.

Hope that helps.

 

[Pozatronic]

Hope that helps.

Does it ever. I'm going to be adding this page to favorites for future reference. Thanks for all your time Argo.