Wednesday, August 22, 2018

T5W#158-Top 10 Gundam Entries



Three years ago, the very first Top 5 Wednesday I ever did was my Top 5 Gundam Entries.  Yeah, that was purely just because it had to do with the blogs namesake.  But three years is a long time.  Ive seen more Gundam and become reacquainted with other titles id seen but had forgotten how much I’d enjoyed them.  Id been wanting to do a Redux list, like the one I did for My Top 5 My Hero Academia Heroes a couple weeks back, for a while now but never knew when to do so.  Well…would have been last week but Otakon happened.  So I just decided to push it back another week.  Also, I wanted to do a double sized list to commemorate the update of my three year old list, though I know some people will still complain about a couple of notable absences…but that’s just because ive never seen those shows all the way through or I still want people to realize there’s more to Gundam than just Seed and Wing (though you can guess one of those titles is def on the list).  Anyway, enough yapping, enjoy this double sized Top 5 Wednesday of my Top 10 Gundam Entries.

 


#10-Gundam Build Divers

As of this post, Build Divers is still going on in Japan but it has won my heart.  This is the sequel Gundam Build Fighters Try never wanted to be and failed because of it.  Build Divers takes everything that made Gundam Build Fighters fun and puts it on a new, digital stage with a cast of enthusiastic (and hopeful) characters who have fun and learn important life lessons about loving Gunpla and team building.  Even when this show tries to go the Build Fighters Try route of trying to darken a fun hobby, Build Divers always bounces back with an inspiring message that will make anyone with a heart cry.  Like the original Build Fighters, this is more than just a 30 min ad for Gunpla, it’s a love letter to all Gundam fans out there.

 


#9-Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

While I do have issues with many of its characters (Banagher and especially Riddhe), Gundam Unicorn is still a very important and well put together sequel in the Universal Century saga.  It is a well explained history lesson about the era with a few big and brilliant surprises and offers some interesting hints at the future to come (set between this series in UC 0096 and Gundam F91 set in UC0123…unless that gets jettisoned but who knows).  It’s also obvious that the time in between episode releases did wonders for the animation.  This is how Gundam was always meant to look.  Factor in the kick ass Unicorn Gundam (a worthy addition to the pantheon) and some great battles featuring new mobile suits and the return of some old favorites and a great soundtrack and you’ll see why Gundam Unicorn is considered required viewing for anyone who calls themselves a Gundam fan.


 

#8-Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

You know it had to be on here right?  Without this show, I wouldn’t know Gundam or love it as much as I do.  This was the one that started it all.  Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Zechs Merquise, Wing Zero, Deathsythe.  This was the series that briefly replaced Dragon Ball Z as the show every kid had to talk about at lunch the next day.  Having just rewatched the series on Blu Ray recently, I can tell you the show does have faults both in animation and storytelling. Gundam Wing may not have aged as well as other entries on this list but the place it holds in my heart cannot be moved.  And, whether we want to admit it or not, without it’s huge presence on Toonami back in 2000, Gundam might not have caught on at all in the States as it did.  I for one choose to love it and always will.


 

#7-Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Having just finished another yearly watch of this series, I can honestly say that, similar to Wing above, 00 has problems but it’s a show I still like a great deal.  The story might teeter into absurdity but I like its ideas and its nods to previous Gundam stories.  Many of the characters irritate the crap out of me but I still really like the stories of several of the more central ones like Setsua and Tierria and both versions of Lockon Stratos.  In the end, it’s all about having fun with this one, even if it doesn’t make sense.  Oh and there’s the Gundam 00 Raiser, one of the best Gundam units ever made (especially if you’re using it in Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3…same goes for the Unicorn FYI).  In the end, 00 is a good successor to the legacy of Gundam Wing for me: it made a big splash in my life as an Anime fan and continues to be a title I will always return to for a watch every year.


 

#6-Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Few Anime can do in 26-50 episodes what War in the Pocket manages to do in just six.  Set nice and snug towards the end of the original series, Gundam 0080 is a heartbreaking side story about the horrors of war seen through the eyes of a child.  Al Izuruma fantasizes about the action but could never imagine how dire the consequences of war really are.  And yet, Gundam 0080 makes you feel and hurt for every single character from Al to the Zeon Cyclops Team to eternally doomed lovers Bernie and Chris.  This OVA is about characters first…but it’s Mobile Suit Gundam so theres still plenty of action and Mobile Suits to go around.  This is almost as close to truly perfect Gundam has come in a total package and was worthy to be created for the 10th Anniversary of the franchise…frak it’s almost 30 years old.


 

#5-Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

08th MS Team made a bold move to return to the One Year War and elect to focus on an Earth based Federation Unit with no Newtypes and no appearances from any of the original series cast (though Ghirren Zabi’s speech is heard briefly at one point).  And it works.  Much like Gundam 0080, 08th MS Team prioritizes the titular squad first and foremost, molding them from a rag tag bunch into a closely knit unit.  The love story at the heart of this tale is pretty touching too, Shiro and Aina make a cute couple.  However, the action is one of the reasons this show rocks.  The emphasis on ground combat gives a very dirty and realistic vibe to the action scenes.  The showdown between Shiro Amada and Norris Packard towards the end of the series is the absolute high point of the show and also stands as one of the greatest duels in Gundam History.

 


#4-Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

How do you close out the first (and arguably) most important chapter of the Gundam legacy?  By going as big as possible that’s how.  Char’s Counterattack had a lot of work to do when released, mainly concluding a saga spanning 14 years of the Universal Century and 3 Television Series.  To say it does it’s job with a bang is an understatement…it does so with a great many bangs.  Everything about Char’s Counterattack feels epic.  The space battles were the largest to date and on a scale few Gundams have yet to match (though Gundam 0083 managed to do so).  And, of course, the titular bad ass himself and Amuro Ray are back for one last tussle.  Who will win in the end, who is on who’s side, who will live, who will die?  So many questions keep you guessing until the shocking final moments.  The first chapter of Gundam History ends on an incredibly strong note here.


 

#3-Mobile Suit Gundam

Universal Century 0079.  The fictional year that would live in infamy.  While we can all see the popularity of Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed and many others, said popularity would not have been possible if this show had not succeeded, and it still holds up today.  The animation? Classic.  The characters? Timeless.  The story? Still one of the most important in Anime history.  Just how would humanity fight a civil war with giant robots and what costs would come with it?  Mobile Suit Gundam doesn’t hold back at the harsh realities of war time but still maintains an air of fantasy and infinite possibility.  This is where the legacy began and I still think that, of all the entries on this list, Mobile Suit Gundam remains one of the most important titles in the world of Anime that should be watched at least once.  It blazed a trail for most of the Giant Robot Genre to follow.


 

#2-Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

Years of questions have finally been answered with this Godsend of a title.  While the main focus is on the rise of Char Aznable (one of Gundam’s most legendary bad asses), The Origin does just what the title implies: explores pretty much every nook and cranny of the road to The One Year War.  We get stories dedicated to several other Gundam legends like Ramba Ral, Garma Zabi, the Black Tri Stars.  Heck even later episodes give us glimpses into the lives of Amuro Ray and his future White Base comrades before they entered the greatest conflict in human history.  Who would’ve thought that the original series had all of this gold that came before it?  That’s exactly what Gundam: The Origin is, a goldmine.  If you loved the original series and had a ton of lingering questions or theories about characters and events, this is the title you have been waiting for.

 


#1-Gundam Build Fighters

I was never sure what to expect checking out a Gundam series about building Gunpla and making them battle each other on a specialized digital arena.  Low and behold, I ended up discovering, what I feel is, the ultimate love letter to one of Anime’s most endearing franchises.  Gundam Build Fighters opens the mecha toybox filled with Gunpla, dumps it on the floor and tells the fans to have fun.  And fun is what you get.  From spectacular battles to an amazing central duo of protagonists to literally hundreds of blink and you’ll miss Easter Eggs from literally every corner of the Gundam Universe, Gundam Build Fighters has it all.  The show spoke to the 7th grader in me who first gazed upon that 15 second teaser trailer for Gundam Wing and reminded me of the kid I was back then and how I first fell in love with this universe.  Gundam Build Fighters wasn’t an Anime made for me…it was made for all of us Gundam fans who have loved this franchise forever…and always will.

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