T5W#294-Top 5 Gundam Anime Corner Season Premieres

Today, the Gundam Anime Corner celebrates its 7^th Anniversary YAY!!!  As excited as I am to share my thoughts on Weathering With You as the celebratory title for the event (link to that review is right here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/weathering-with-you.html), the end of one year means its time to begin another.  Kicking off the next era of reviews for the Gundam Anime Corner wasn’t so important to me as when I started but in time, it’s become more fun to think of what title can start things off with a bang…more difficult to think of what comes later to maintain that momentum haha.  So, to commemorate what’s coming tomorrow, let’s take a look at the Top 5 Gundam Anime Corner Season Premieres.

#5-Eden of the East (March 31, 2014)

This is where it all began: with a simple idea and a not so well tested method: take a single series off the shelf and review however many episodes were on a DVD or Blu Ray week after week until I was done.  Not realizing some DVDs still had like 7 episodes on a single disc, im surprised how well my coverage of Eden of the East went.  In retrospect though, I wonder if it could have been better had I done the TV Series in 3 parts instead of 2, followed by the movies: The King of Eden and Paradise Lost.  As it is, Eden of the East may be a bit of an obscure title to begin one of the longest projects ive ever worked on in my life but man is it a fun show.

 

#4-Rahxephon (April 18, 2016)

I talked about this show a few weeks back during another Top 5: my Top 5 Anime that borrow from or are inspired by other Anime (if you missed it and the other examples you can check that list out here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/t5w288-top-5-anime-that-borrow-from-or.html)  To sum it up: this isn’t the false Evangelion some make it out to be.  Evangelion is a legendary show, to be certain.  Rahxephon is still a GREAT show that plays more like a love letter to Evangelion than a poor rip off (we’ll get to that with Darling in the Franxx this summer).  A trippy scifi story with unique mecha battles, a smart ass protagonist and a surprisingly well plotted romance elevate Rahxephon beyond the competition and into the realm of underrated gem.  The follow up Compilation/Alternate Retelling Film, Pluralitas Concentio, is pretty good in it’s own right as well, focusing more on the central love story while still keeping the best parts of Rahxephon’s epic scale story intact.

 

#3-Macross Plus (April 27, 2015)

When it comes to some of the greatest Anime sequels of all time, Macross Plus should be somewhere on every list. Unlike the decent but ultimately unmemorable Macross II: Lovers Again, Macross Plus feels like a celebratory title for Gundam’s Mecha Cousin.  The animation is second to none, the reason why OVAs are so revered.  The soundtrack is some of Yoko Kanno’s finest-both pulse pumping and haunting.  The action is so spectacular you’ll know instantly why they call this the “Top Gun of Anime.”  Best of all, it's a title where you don’t even have to have seen the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross to understand the world or the story or just how generally awesome Macross Plus is.  No wonder if gave it one of the Anime Corners first 10/10 awards.

 

#2-Psycho Pass (April 2, 2018)

As much as I love Anime, it’s not for everyone and it’s incredibly difficult trying to pitch a title to your average TV or Movie watcher.  Psycho Pass, the first season, I should be clear, is a show that I think can cater to a much larger audience.  Yes, it is gory as all get out.  However, there’s a very complex world to be explored by a finely assembled cast of characters.  Most importantly, the mysteries feel like they belong in a US Police Procedural like Criminal Minds or Law and Order SVU, just with more of a scifi twist.  Psycho Pass’ First Season is an Anime for everyone, complete with one of the best finales in any Anime ever…just do yourself a favor and skip Psycho Pass 2 afterwards, go straight to The Movie and then Psycho Pass 3.

 

#1-Mobile Suit Gundam (April 1, 2019)

For those who might wonder why I didn’t start this blog off with a Gundam title, despite the blogs name, well…it’s because I wanted to make it about all Anime, not just Gundam.  Still, it is my favorite Anime franchise and it was always gonna get its due.  I purposefully waited on doing the OG Gundam series until April 2019 so I could time it with the 40^th Anniversary of the Gundam franchise and I still think I put more thought into that than Sunrise (which did next to nothing to celebrate that milestone).  Mobile Suit Gundam changed the game decades before Evangelion with its establishment of the Real Robot subgenre of Anime.  The Gundam, Char Aznable and the Universal Century have become synonymous with all things Giant Robots and Mecha Anime and the show still holds up as a whole very well more than 40 years later.  And, if youre crunched for time, the Compilation Trilogy that really propelled Gundam back into the spotlight after the TV shows cancellation is solid viewing experience that might even surpass the TV show in some respect.  Anyone who has ever been a fan of Gundam since Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED or Gundam 00 owe it to check out this title.  Without it…well this blog wouldn’t be here.