Wednesday, January 6, 2016

T5W#21-Top 5 Gundam Series I still want/need to see


Last year, it was announced that Sunrise studio was partnering with Rightstuf.com (aka the Anime Super Store of the web) to become the release vehicle of the Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise.  The franchise was super big in the early 2000’s thanks to a little Toonami legend called Gundam Wing.  Thanks to Bandai Entertainment, several series, movies and features were released on home media.  In 2011, it was announced that the eagerly anticipated Turn A Gundam would finally see a US video release…only for that news to be dashed in subsequent months with Bandai Ent USA closing it’s doors.  With the announcement of it’s new release run coming this year thanks to Gundam parent studio, Sunrise, fans are more anxious than ever to finally look upon these entries, some of which we’ve heard about for years.  I should also point out that as of late summer last year, the Gundam roll out has begun, with all of Turn A Gundam and the original 0079 series fully released as of now.  Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is next up and spring is apparently the set date for the long awaited return to DVD (and maybe even Blu-Ray) of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM WING!!!.  So with that in mind, here are my five big picks for the shows that are still forth coming and, as far as I know, have been confirmed for sometime in the next year or two.  It’s a good time to be a Gundam fan, that’s for sure.
 
 
#5-Victory Gundam

Universal Century 0153.  Sixty years after Char’s Neo Zeon rebellion, a holy war rages across Earth.  The Zancare Empire wont stop until all resistance has been eliminated and the Earth Federation is on it’s last breath.  The League Militaire and it’s crew of child pilots, complete with their own iconic Gundam, are all that stand in the way.  This was the last Gundam entry to be worked on by series godfather Yoshiyuki Tomino until Turn A Gundam in 1999.  It is also one of the grimmest entries of the franchise, sporting a kill count higher than Zeta Gundam (if that was even possible).  The behind the scenes drama could mean some sweet extra features (doubt it though).  This was one of the first other entries id heard of back when I was first discovering Gundam through Gundam Wing.  I’m excited to see it finally get it’s time in the states.
 

#4-Gundam ZZ

Universal Century 0088.  The Titans have only just been defeated when the dormant forces of Neo Zeon emerge to wage war against the weakened Federation.  With it’s roster of pilots either incapacitated or dead, Bright Noa and the AEUG turn to a group of junkyard kids to join their forces and hold back the return of Zeon.  Following the incredibly dark Zeta Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino sought to lighten things up a bit with Gundam ZZ.  The end result is legendary: a series that is half loved and half reviled…or somewhat lived and mostly reviled.  The humor never struck a cord with audiences, resulting in a halfway gear change that returned the franchise to it’s darker, more intense storytelling.  Is the humor as bad as the image of a chicken on Bright Noa’s head looks?  Does the second half do a good job of setting up events for Gundam: Char’s Counterattack?  This might be one im excited just to see so I can say ive seen it.  Whether or not I enjoy it, is a whole other matter.

 
#3-Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans

The most recent entry in the Gundam Multiverse, IBO follows a young PMC that uses child soldiers on a colonized Mars.  As the youth rebel against their masters, they find themselves with their first job as masters of their own fate: escorting a high profile advocate for Mars independence to Earth.  Armed with their own ancient Mobile Suit, the Gundam Barbatos, and outfitted with youth with nothing to lose, the newly formed Tekkadan is determined to make a name for itself or die trying.  I have mixed feelings about this series already since I started watching it on Crunchyroll.  On the one hand, it’s cool to see Gundam expand it’s horizons to other worlds outside of the space colonies.  The action is great and I’m oddly enough reminded of Mad Max with all the grunge and dirt.  On the other hand, lead protagonist Mikazuki scares me, he’s as far a broken human as Gundam pilots come, worse than Wing protagonist Heero Yuy.  And it looks like his best friend, Orga, is determined to die looking cool even if his crew of misfits dies along with him.  The cast is always the make or break of series like this.  But for now I’m with it and I wonder what kind of an impact this show will have when the dub comes out soon.

 
#2-Gundam Build Fighters

I think I’ve said more than enough about this one.  Just go back and look at my review and previous Top 5’s where it’s come up.  I love this series and cant wait to hear an English Dub.

 
#1- Gundam X

Set in the year After War 0015, Gundam X is a nice little “What If?” for the Gundam franchise.  With many call backs to the original series, it produces the scenario what if more than one colony was dropped on the Earth during the One Year War?  Of course, this isn’t the Universal Century, this is a whole new universe to explore the answer to that question.  Gundam X was the show that succeeded Gundam Wing in Japan.  Much like the original series as well, it’s run was cut short before it’s intended end, resulting in the ending being pushed up.  Word has it this is one of the biggest sleeper hits of the Gundam franchise, a show that has never been given it’s proper due, especially since the shadow of Wing’s popularity exploded in the U.S.  But now this classic is coming to the states.  And im more than excited to see if it lives up to it’s little told legend.

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