tbh
is gundam worth getting into? Call me autistic but after watching Rerez do a video about a gundam game, that Char guy is pretty cute from the anime. However gundam is fucking large and I'm intimidated where would a newbie start???
It really all depends on what you want to get into. If your plan is to watch the whole series, and want to get in Universal Century Gundam, feel free to start with the Original Mobile Suit Gundam/0079. As others said, the movies are good, but, if you have the time, watch the TV series, just remember that its quite old. After that its a matter of if you go production or chronological order. Chronological order will help you understand the story as it goes, so you know who and what everything is and how things link together. Going by Chronological order, 0080: War in a Pocket and 08th MS Team would be the next ones. Both are highly recommended. 0083: Stardust Memory is not as highly recommended, but it will prepare you for Zeta Gundam. Zeta Gundam is the pinnacle of the series for many fans, for good reason, but, I will echo the earlier sentiment that this time you
avoid the Zeta movie as it changes the ending to a non-canon one. After that ZZ Gundam would come next; its a polarizing due to the beginning trying to tone down the darkness the series was known for, only to ramp it back up in the latter half. Its somewhat skippable, but it does explain what happened to one of the main factions after Zeta, so it should be watched at least once. Char's Counterattack is next, and, of course, is a great film and a cornerstone of the franchise. After that would be Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash, but its been delayed, thus you would follow with Gundam Unicorn, which is alright. After that would be Gundam F91, which is considered one of the lesser Gundam works due to being a movie that was originally supposed to be a full series and it shows. Skippable. After that is the great Victory Gundam which everyone should watch just once. Avoid G-Savior like a plague.
As for the AU Gundam series, well, it really doesn't matter which one you start with, but here's some watch advice:
G Gundam is nothing like any other Gundam show, but its damn amazing and you should watch it.
Turn A Gundam is highly regarded and is the one AU that Gundam creator Tomino himself did, well after he finally won his years long battle with depression. Well worth a watch, if only for the shear fact that its meant to be a distant finale to the ENTIRE Gundam franchise. It also finally got an English sub-release in 2015.
After War Gundam X is a series that is also very good and well worth a watch, despite the fact that some Gundam fans dump on the series for being the only AU series to get cancelled for things completely outside its control.
Gundam Wing is the one that made Gundam famous in the west but is not nearly as good as people remember it being. Still worth watching at some point.
Gundam Seed is a conundrum. The first series is good, great even. Gundam Seed Destiny is straight trash though and should be avoided like the plague. The series has technically never been finished due to the main writer, the showrunner's wife, getting sick and later freaking DYING, which means that the series will probably never be finished.
00 Gundam starts strong in the first season, goes completely off the rails in the second when Magic Pixie Dust literally starts solving everything.
Iron Blooded Orphans is probably the darkest AU, and the first season is damn good. Haven't seen the second so I can't really comment on it, but I want to see it. Also, the first ending theme is dope.
