How to Start Gundam - A Beginners Guide to Every Gundam Series!

This is a video I've wanted to make for a while since a few people have asked me what Gundam series I'd recommend for beginners!

For Summary: Skip to 41:24

TIME STAMPS
00:00 - Introduction
02:13 - Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch From Mercury
05:03 - Mobile Fighter G Gundam
07:55 - New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
10:41 - Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
13:17 - Mobile Suit Gundam 00
14:41 - Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
16:10 - Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans
17:34 - Gundam Build Series
21:18 - After War Gundam X
22:32 - Turn A Gundam
23:20 - Universal Centuary - Mobile Suit Gundam
24:48 - Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
26:08 - Mobile Suit Double Zeta Gundam
26:34 - Char's Counter Attack
27:00 - Gundam Unicorn
27:44 - Gundam Narrative
28:02 - Hathaway
28:23 - Gundam F91
29:07 - Victory Gundam
30:21 - G Saviour
30:51 - Gundam Reconguista in G
31:45 - 0080: War in the Pocket
32:45 - 0083: Stardust Memory
33:23 - 8th MS Team
34:19 - MS IGLOO
34:49 - Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
35:39 - Gundam Thunderbolt
36:46 - Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis
37:15 - Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island
37:42 - Extras + Gundam Manga
40:40 - Gunpla Model Kits
41:24 - Summary

(Sorry no Music Pop Ups this time, I was scared i'd break the video XD)
Tracklist:
1.Lunacid - Book Betrayal
2.Persona 3 Portable - Way of Life
3.G Gundam - Shining Finger
4.Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice - Reminiscing Wounded Foxes
5.Persona 2 Innocent Sin - Mayas Theme
6.Silent Hill 3 - End of Small Sanctuary
7.Professor Layton - A Moment of Rest
8.Guilty Gear X2 - Holy Orders (Be Just or Be Dead)
9.Deadly Premonition - Life is Beautiful
10.Armored Core 3 - In My Heart
11.Mother 3 - Love Theme
12.Mobile Suit Gundam - Amuro's Journey
13.Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam - New World
14.Victory Gundam - Usso Evin
15.Silent Hill 2 - Restless Dreams
16.Phoenix WrightAce Attorney - Trial
17.Gundam Thunderbolt - Io Flemming Theme
18.Fear & Hunger 2 Termina - Lost Haven / Shillings
19.Yakuza 5 - Olivier

[Rex_Cosmos]

You healed the 20 years of suffering and resentment I felt toward Gundam as a franchise. All I’ve seen was Wing and I just didn’t understand it. Now I know I’m not a moron (at least not because of this).

[itsdantaylor]

I think the important thing is, if a gundam series interests you, it's ok to immerse yourself in that series alone before branching out into others to see if they strike your fancy. I wasn't big on Gundam Wing when it first released, and didn't get THAT into G gundam, it was actually 0083 that i ended up liking and it caused me to go back and watch the original Mobile Suit gundam series. I then tapped out on Seed and came back again with IBO.

[corinhemphill]

As a diehard Victory Gundam fan I completely agree. That show is for sick individuals.
I really enjoyed this video, it's nice to see someone point out how the AUs make Gundam very accessible.
Oddly enough, I have friends who watched Unicorn and Hathaway standalone and enjoyed. I can't imagine caring about either of those stories without knowing what came before.
Once again, I really enjoyed this video.

[chrisphelps]

For any fans of Shakespeare, you should know that Witch From Mercury is something of a loose adaptation of his play, The Tempest.

[Double_D__]

I agreed with your assessment of 00 being a good starting point, but I think another selling point of starting with 00 is that it effectively takes place in our own world, in the Anno Domini timeline, and has direct references to real world history as part of both its world building and commentary.

[bryfunkenstein]

Gundam X is basically what if the UC timeline went horribly wrong

[matteste]

Get a +1 from me for using Persona 2 music in the video.

And I agree on the 3 stars for 00 given it was the series that introduced me to Gundam.

[projectmessiah]

I never really got the hype on how "Confusing" the timeline/watch order is, UC has a pretty straight foward order and a lot of the other ones are self contained

[jacobbrock]

WFM was definitely a great start point for me. It left me wanting to see what else the franchise I’ve only vaguely heard of had to offer so I jumped into the original series and now I’m deep in the UC trenches.

[ArchieGamez]

I watched and finished IBO and wow its so freaking peak. Im currently starting 00

[seanbigay]

Might I suggest starting out with "Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise?" As part of the Build Fighters/Build Divers sub-franchise it's much more light-hearted than most things Gundam, which makes Episode 12's plot twist that much more of a gut punch, which in turn makes the series as a whole that much more interesting.

[CJ-]

2 disagreements:
1. I’d argue that Thunderbolt should either be 0 stars or, at most, 1 star given how relatively contained the story is. I had a friend who started the UC with Thunderbolt when she got into the franchise after waiting WfM. Given how Io’s not your typical Gundam pilot, the XO’s constant attempts to undermine the captain, and the Feds using cadet pilots, she ended up thinking that Zeon was supposed the morally gray good guys who had to do questionable things to survive.

And before anyone argues “Well, the Federation ISN’T all that great”, in the OG series Zeon was described as literal space Nazis by their own leaders.

2. 0083 should probably be at least 2 stars. I say this because 0083 was my first experience with the UC. Yes, there are some major flaws with the series like the romance with Nina and annoying, one-note characters like Moncha (and Keith to a lesser extent), but I’d argue the story itself can perfectly understood and enjoyed without any prior knowledge of the UC. There’s basically no mention of Newtype shenanigans which can turn some people off if they dive into that aspect too quickly, and the One Year War is presented in such a way that you can figure out who the major players were, but also the lasting impact that the war had on both sides without feeling like you’re missing some crucial piece of the puzzle to fully appreciate the story you’re currently watching. In fact, it made me curious about it enough that I actually wanted to go back and watch the OG series so I could learn more about this all-consuming conflict. Best way to describe it to newer fans would be like hearing about the Calamity War in IBO.

[ultave]

I listened to people hype up Turn A as the last Gundam show you watch, but that left me kinda underwhelmed by the show, which I otherwise love. The phrase "everything ends with Turn A" is thrown around quite a bit by people who have never seen it, but it's only a thematic end to the first 20 years of Gundam, and ultimately standalone. I'd put it next to Build and X as something best enjoyed by fans, but still digestible for new viewers.

To clarify with the manga stuff: The Origin anime is an adaptation of the manga, not the other way around, making it non-canon to the rest of UC Gundam. CDA has a sequel similar to The Origin titled Zeta Define, which retells Zeta Gundam.

00 over SEED is crazy to me but that's largely because I am an insane SEED Destiny defender and an A wakening of the Trailblazer hater. Otherwise great video that will hopefully bring more people on board with the series!

[drongodyle]

Just wanna say, though turn A technically connects to other series, it doesn't hold any direct bearing on its story. Turn A explores how it's world ended up the way it is, but doesn't really elaborate on what came prior

It's basically just Easter eggs, like some "ancient" mobile suits that get excavated being grunt suits from prior series.

Personally I think it's not only a perfectly fine jumping on point, but probably one of the best stand-alone experiences the franchise has to offer. It's written by the same guy as G-Witch and it really shows in how it blends cute slice-of-life elements into its more serious war-drama arcs.

[johntomson]

Damn I started with the Origin, thought it was a great start for its animation and character setup. But now I’m on MS Gundam and the animation is a stark contrast

[vacuumcarexpo]

G Gundam is to the Gundam world what a California roll is to the sushi world. If you watch G Gundam first, you might probably misunderstand what Gundam truly is.

[TheLVJ]

The Origin anime is a direct adaptation of select chapters from the manga of the same name. As such they are a stand-alone reimagining of Mobile Suit Gundam and not in the same continuity.

There are far too many incongruences and irreconcilable continuity issues.

[SuperAaron]

I want to go back to the 00 universe so bad

[zeonicgamer]

At least the timeline is easier to follow then nauverse/fate series.. regardless the Universal century gets complicated especially when you add Manga and games into the mix.

Gundam is a hard thing to jump into if you weren’t young and started off in toonami where you just see giant robots fighting as a kid, and then you get the games making you forget its politics, war and drama. To me I always watched the stuff outside of uc before I jumped into the uc and I started with The Original series of course I liked watching it in the movie format but they did skip a few things in the movies that I liked.

[argy]

gundam, fate and bakemonogatari 3 shows that have nothing in common exept a confusing watch order