THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Reading all this makes me think that the
Gundam franchise is in a really strange place right now, caught between tradition and reinvention.
At the time of it's release,
G Gundam represented a breath of fresh air in more ways than one. It was the first series that broke away from the main overall Universal Century story arc that ran from 1979-1994. On top of that, the show is in a completely different genre than previous
Gundams. As opposed to being a war/drama
G Gundam is a martial arts/superhero series where all the major characters pilot robots. I'm surprised they even called it
Gundam but I imagine they wanted, and needed, to broaden the brands appeal. Up until this point
Gundam was getting buried in it's own lore, burdened by it's universe. Sunrise clearly needed to make works that would and could appeal to anyone, not just UC nerds. In that light,
G Gundam represents a kind of a freedom, both creatively and for audiences unfamiliar with the rest of the UC.
Now here's where my opinion gets a little controversial. While
G Gundam was the first show to strive out on it's own in search of new ground I'd also argue that it was the last one to do so. Sunrise stopped striving to make something new and different. They'd gone too far. Future so called 'Alternate Universe' shows basically returned to the same tired Colony/Earth war stories that
Gundam shows had been telling for decades. Many of these shows were just recycled material from these older shows but painted it up as something fresh for a new generation of fans. Even
Turn A is basically the same old show, except that the writing openly questions the ideas held in by those shows.
After mining old ideas so many times it's hardly surprising that Sunrise have finally dropped the pretense and returned to the UC in the hopes of reaching into the wallets of older fans. In this, as with many of their business ventures, they have been wildly successful. I, personally, don't care about the UC and all of it's tiresome lore (newtypes more like zzzztypes) but I understand that it holds a certain sway. Still, I feel that by retreating to these tried and true ideas Sunrise are avoiding making something that's actually fresh and interesting. Nothing they've made in years has been as radical as
G Gundam. Perhaps the good ideas have simply gone to other shows e.g.
Code Geass.
But what about
GBF?
Gundam Build Fighters is a glorified commercial filled with nostalgia and great action. It's better than just about every other show in the last few years because it knew exactly what the audience wanted from it and it delivered on that. it wasn't filled with dumb politics, moralising and stupid war stuff that no-one cares about It was striped down and simple and
good. The characters were likeable and it was actually
fun. Can you remember the last
Gundam that was fun?
It represents a step in right direction but as Sunrise have already moved to 'sequalise' I don't know if they learned their lesson,
GBF didn't just succeed because it pandered to old school fans, it succeeded because it was a genuinely well made and effective show. Whether Sunrise realise this or not is another question. Can Sunrise keep it up? I hope so because if they don't I will safely ignore their output.
