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[ambientmystic]

I just had a quick rewatch of the 6 episode Gundam 0080 War In The Pocket OVA on a whim.

I'll have to re-evaluate its position on the all time best Gundam list. It's definitely a lot better now than how I remember it years ago. It's a Gundam show as steeped in reality as it can be; the characters were so fleshed out and well defined in their motivations that I felt for them by the end of it, and that's saying a lot considering the rather short length of the series. The OVA also provided a nice glimpse of what it was like to be a civvie living in a Side (colony) that was relatively untouched by the ravages of the 1 Year War up to that point. Schools were still being run, business went on as usual. Life goes on, even during a war.

Bernie's

Spoiler

absolutely unnecessary passing which was caused by Christina Mckenzie in a vastly superior M.S. (The Gundam Alex NT-1), in particular had me all choked up by the end of it all.

The main character Alfred is probably one of the best realized and realistic child characters on a Gundam show, possessing no special powers, only that of intense child-like curiosity, bravado, and we're along for the ride until the very grim end. It was fascinating watching him brush close to death on many occasions and he doesn't seem to realise magnitude of the trouble he's in. Not until reality sets in, and he gets hit with the double whammy of

Spoiler

Bernie's death and that Christina, his sweet and gentle next door neighbour was actually a Feddie test pilot responsible for it.

Christina and Bernie

Spoiler

could've absolutely been starcrossed lovers or at least close friends in another lifetime/alternate universe.

Their interactions, limited as they were, showed signs of what may have been, connected as they both are, through Alfred's unwitting machinations.

All in all, it was an absolute masterclass in production values (for its time), plot, characters (VAs included) and emotional resonance. A.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Yeah, I thought War in the Pocket was top tier of what I have seen to date. Not a "big" story in the scope of things, but a very well done one. And the limited scale probably only contributes to it.

Edit: As for intro to the series, I never really watched Toonami. I saw probably 2 or 3 episodes of Wing back when it was airing. Not sure how old I would have been on the time. I thought it was cool, but apparently not enough to make an effort to catch it daily. So, I was generally familiar with the series, but had never sat down and watched it. Amazon clearancing out Bandai stuff ended up with me getting 00 for super cheap, like $10 bucks for season 1 and only a bit more for season 2 and I really liked season 1 so I started grabbing the other stuff. Season 2 and movie didn't put me off of the rest of the metaseries, and UC is great so far.

edit 2: Anybody know the name of the track that plays when Zeta Gundam makes its first appearance in Ep 21? Trying to find it on youtube, but mostly ending up with just the OP songs and such.
Speaking of the opening- The American version was created for the localization right? Due to licensing issues? The second version is pretty bad ass with Mark II getting hit with missiles and then emerging from the smoke and debris with the music synced just so.

 

[Megalosaro]

Apparently the song is on the Japanese soundtracks, which have been around for years so I doubt it's originally from the US version. That said, I can't recall it playing on the show. So who knows what is up with it.

Mizu no Hoshi e Ai o Komete is my favorite theme song in the series though

 

[EvilKatarn]

Mizu no Hoshi e Ai o Komete is my favorite theme song in the series though

The intro sounds like some russian pop song I must have heard more than a decade ago. So it's kind of silly to me.

My favorite theme so far is Daybreak's Bell with Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite being a distant second.

Spoiler

I fucking love 00 man

 

[Jubern]

Love 00 too, but I prefer season 2's first OP quite a bit more! 00 had a really strong OP/ED songs selection IMO. Movie included.

 

[distantmantra]

Ash Like Snow is an awesome song and OP.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Love 00 too, but I prefer season 2's first OP quite a bit more! 00 had a really strong OP/ED songs selection IMO. Movie included.

The best group of openings in the franchise, easily. All four are absolutely rock-solid!

 

[sixteen-bit]

My favorite OP was TAG's. I never skipped it when watching the show lol.

 

[distantmantra]

I thought SEED's four OPs were all quality.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

The best group of openings in the franchise, easily. All four are absolutely rock-solid!

I don't recall liking OP 4, and I don't recall the movie because once versus 13 times. I love the music in Wing. I don't have an opinion on Zeta because I haven't sen it. Replacement music is fine. I like the song that plays on menus, but I'm not sure if that is used in an op or not.

But I fucking love First Gundams whole soundtrack. It's badass.

 

[distantmantra]

But I fucking love First Gundams whole soundtrack. It's badass.

I have this 4-disc set of the First Gundam movie trilogy. If you can find it, it's well worth the money.

 

[Megalosaro]

The intro sounds like some russian pop song I must have heard more than a decade ago. =]

Funny you say that, because it was written, at least instrumentally, but an American pop star. Neil Sadaka

 

[duckroll]

Ash Like Snow is an awesome song and OP.

Best thing about 00.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Best thing about 00.

There is a male vocal version out there that I might actually like better.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

I don't recall liking OP 4

No one seems to, and I'm confused why they don't. The song and matching animation are great.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

No one seems to, and I'm confused why they don't. The song and matching animation are great.

I don't recall liking the animation for OP 4.

Naked people grabbing butterflies, right?

 

[Etrian Oddity]

I don't recall liking the animation for OP 4.

Naked people grabbing butterflies, right?

Come on, that was only for the first three seconds. The rest was pretty good mecha animation. Besides, naked Feldt!

The opening goes legendary at 0:43, but that's just my humble (and minority-dwelling) opinion. I personally felt way more pumped up from that opening than Ash Like Snow....

 

[CorvoSol]

Gundam GAF's probably not that old on average lol. Most probably picked Gundam up for the 1st time with SEED in the early 2000s and followed the exploits of 'Jesus' Yamato and 'Mary Sue' Lacus. So it's quite understandable that they'd assume Origin copied SEED. You can see the fanbase divide very clearly on GundamGAF, between those who think U.C. is the end all, be all (my crusty old self included), and the others who prefer the post U.C. series.

I'm not saying Kira and Lacus aren't Jesus and Mary, but I'll be damned if they're not infinitely better than 99% of the characters that come after them in the Gundam Series. I'll take Kira and Lacus over Shinn and Stella, Setsuna Fucking Asshat Seiei and Not A Love Interest Princess Marina Ismail, and I'd take being stabbed in the kidneys over Flit Asuno and his pedophile genocide fantasies.

Spoiler

I confess I got into the series with Wing, but I've been watching a lot of UC lately.

G Gundam is still the best though.

Come on, that was only for the first three seconds. The rest was pretty good mecha animation. Besides, naked Feldt!

The opening goes legendary at 0:43, but that's just my humble (and minority-dwelling) opinion. I personally felt way more pumped up from that opening than Ash Like Snow....

Feldt is just a worthless Lacus Clyne. At least Lacus had command of a battleship and could sing. Feldt does what again? Stare at the back of Sumeragi's head and pine over Lockons?

Then again, doing ANYTHING in Gundam 00 is a huge accomplishment. My God, for as terrible and let me emphasize that AGE is terrible and the worst Gundam EVER, as terrible as AGE was, they still didn't waste as much time doing fuck all as 00 does.

 

[Megalosaro]

Fledt and Lacus aren't anything alike, except that they're both Pink Hairs.

 

[CorvoSol]

Fledt and Lacus aren't anything alike, except that they're both Pink Hairs.

Pink hair and the same english voice actress, same character design, too.

Feldt is Lacus if Lacus was a background character. Stick one of those combs in her hair and BOOM.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Come on, that was only for the first three seconds. The rest was pretty good mecha animation. Besides, naked Feldt!

The opening goes legendary at 0:43, but that's just my humble (and minority-dwelling) opinion. I personally felt way more pumped up from that opening than Ash Like Snow....

I'll give it another shot when I get home from work. It is the only one I skipped more often than not.

 

[CorvoSol]

I'll give it another shot when I get home from work. It is the only one I skipped more often than not.

Don't ever give 00 a chance. It rewards nothing.

 

[Megalosaro]

I dunno about that. There are interesting things about 00. I'm not really a fan of modern Gundam, but 00 tried to be a post-9/11 Gundam while most of the others stick close to rehashing the franchises Cold War roots. At the very least, it felt like an improved Wing. I found Setsuna stoicism to be amazingly hilarious (as was his pronounciation of Saji Crossroad). Lock-on was cool (though i thought his replacement was dumb). Tieria had some pretty cool development. The only main gundam pilot i found lacking was Allelujah. I also liked the political set up and the low tech mobile suits.

Yeah, there is a lot of herpaderp stuff. The ALAWs were lame compared to the Titans that they were rehashing. The fake Gundams were dumb as were their lame crew and the crew of the Ptolemaios were boring. Plus I generally don't like how "anime" it looked, but I would much rather watch 00 and its theme of "terrorism for the sake of social reform" then I would Seed and Destiny, with their half baked moral superiority and sameface Hirai designs.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Come on, that was only for the first three seconds. The rest was pretty good mecha animation. Besides, naked Feldt!

The opening goes legendary at 0:43, but that's just my humble (and minority-dwelling) opinion. I personally felt way more pumped up from that opening than Ash Like Snow....

Better than I remembered, still probably my least favorite of the 4.

Don't ever give 00 a chance. It rewards nothing.

Somebody didn't like Silver Surfer Gundam.

I dunno about that. There are interesting things about 00. I'm not really a fan of modern Gundam, but 00 tried to be a post-9/11 Gundam while most of the others stick close to rehashing the franchises Cold War roots. At the very least, it felt like an improved Wing. I found Setsuna stoicism to be amazingly hilarious (as was his pronounciation of Saji Crossroad). Lock-on was cool (though i thought his replacement was dumb). Tieria had some pretty cool development. The only main gundam pilot i found lacking was Allelujah. I also liked the political set up and the low tech mobile suits.

Yeah, there is a lot of herpaderp stuff. The ALAWs were lame compared to the Titans that they were rehashing. The fake Gundams were dumb as were their lame crew and the crew of the Ptolemaios were boring. Plus I generally don't like how "anime" it looked, but I would much rather watch 00 and its theme of "terrorism for the sake of social reform" then I would Seed and Destiny, with their half baked moral superiority and sameface Hirai designs.

Yeah, there were issues. It seemed like they told their story in 26 episodes but had to scramble for ideas to fill out another 26 plus a movie.

As for art style, it is certainly more traditional anime than UC stuff, but I always thought Seed was the worst in that regard. The size of those eyes!

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Gundam Origin v1 ch 2 - 6

I guess it got really good. Still not feeling the Gundam design as it just needs more, maybe some bits and definitely wings instead of more dull ammo. Ill never be unable to not notice the shield it just seems so unwieldy and out of place. Character reactions over the Zaku's is kind of laughable. Why so scared over such grunt units.

Spoiler

Worst yet did they honestly think the Red Zaku would take the gundam down? Capt Pole was so frightened even. Though I wonder how Char will respond, can he steal a Gundam from somewhere?

Bright is an excellent addition and his interaction with Amuro was one of the most memorable parts. Hopefully this journey can last long for much more time, and for Char, excellent personality. Kind of easy to get behind him and cheer for his success.

Gundam Seed HD BD 32

Poor Mu la Flaga having to not be remastered and having a really ugly running scene. Though at least they focused more time on touching up and giving Freedom Gundam and Teary Eyed Kira proper treatment. I must say Freedom Gundam is most likely one of the top three best designs in the franchise I encountered. Give it some bits or something and it definitely have a spot there for sure. Havent been this excited for a Gundam since Age 2/Age 3 FX, and 00 Raiser, Qant, and Deathsythe.

Spoiler

Didnt realize they were that close to Earth, glad he makes it just in time to Alaska though Badgriel...if she dies...

 

[Megalosaro]

Yeah, you're definitely spoiled by newer Gundams.

Back in the day, grunts were actually menacing. Random mooks could actually do damage to main characters back then. They were a viable threat at all times. Amuro constantly has chunks of his suit and is nearly killed several times. Not to mention it is because of Zakus that Loum was such a huge disaster for the Federation, and that they played a huge role in Zeon being able to take over 2/3rds of the Earth in such a short span. So yeah, despite being a "grunt", Zakus are serious business. And yeah, they honestly thought Char was going to mess up Amuro. He was considered one of Zeon's top pilots and a tactical genius. In the series Origin is based on, Gundam is the Federation's very first mobile suit. In Origin, the Guncannon and Guntank are retconned to be older suits, but apparently both are considered outdated garbage that was getting trounced by Zakus.

tl;dr in the UC timeline, Gundams aren't nearly as overpowered and godly as they're portrayed in AUs. They get fucked up by whatever the grunts are pilotting

Sorry you don't like the RX-78-2. I rather like it. It's not my favorite Gundam by any means. I prefer the Zeta and the Nu, personally. It's still years ahead of the over designed stuff that is pumped out now a days

 

[CorvoSol]

I dunno about that. There are interesting things about 00. I'm not really a fan of modern Gundam, but 00 tried to be a post-9/11 Gundam while most of the others stick close to rehashing the franchises Cold War roots. At the very least, it felt like an improved Wing. I found Setsuna stoicism to be amazingly hilarious (as was his pronounciation of Saji Crossroad). Lock-on was cool (though i thought his replacement was dumb). Tieria had some pretty cool development. The only main gundam pilot i found lacking was Allelujah. I also liked the political set up and the low tech mobile suits.

Yeah, there is a lot of herpaderp stuff. The ALAWs were lame compared to the Titans that they were rehashing. The fake Gundams were dumb as were their lame crew and the crew of the Ptolemaios were boring. Plus I generally don't like how "anime" it looked, but I would much rather watch 00 and its theme of "terrorism for the sake of social reform" then I would Seed and Destiny, with their half baked moral superiority and sameface Hirai designs.

Nothing at all about it's post 9-11 attempt can be categorized as good. It is the rankest, most idiotic level of political commentary I've ever seen come from something other than Gundam AGE. It tries to be edgy by showing off the nasty A-LAWS, but how does one take serious an enemy group lead by an androgynous imbecile named RIBBONS HALLMARK whose lieutenant is named REVIVE REVIVAL.

I would sooner watch Gundam SEED because it does a good job of showing how two sides of a war can be equally messed up. 00, on the other hand, does the world's WORST job of showing how vigilantes or terrorists or whatever operate.

And all of this is aside from the fact that the show has SIX BILLION FUCKING CHARACTERS THAT DON'T MATTER. You know your show has a problem when your cast is 10 times as large as half the other shows in the series, and none of them are important to the plot, but waste goddamn screentime anyway.

And the show does the STUPIDEST things with its characters. "HEY LET'S REPLACE LOCKON WITH LOCKON AND REMIND YOU HE ISN'T LOCKON BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE!" Or how about that Mr. Bushido, huh? He's supposed to be all about honor, but instead he's acts like a fucking TWO YEAR OLD, pitching a fit every time Setsuna doesn't pay attention to him, and when Setsuna DOES pay attention to him, he runs away in two goddamn minutes.

Or the fact that Aeolia Schenberg's plan is the most cockamamie piece of bullshit in the entire fucking franchise. Basically, if something happens and you like it, you say "OH YEAH, JUST ACCORDING TO KEIKAKU." At least Durandal's scheme MADE SENSE. At least Rau Le Creuset's scheme made sense. AND RAU WAS INSANE. Meanwhile, apparently, SOME GUY 300 YEARS IN THE PAST invented SUPER ROBOT SOLAR PARTICLES, and meticulously planned out how his terrorist fanatics would be heroes and then hated and then usurped from within by CYBORGS who would unite the world against his terrorists and then have their government overthrown by a coup d'etat and then not and then they would SOMEHOW BE READY FOR FUCKING ALIENS. MAYBE.

Gundam 00's plot was made up on an episode by episode basis. Even though the Gundam AGE is TECHNICALLY the most broken Gundam in the franchise, what with it's canon powers as the plot demands, 00 somehow still gives it a run for it's money, because any time the writers can't think of a way for Setsuna to get his horrible Sousuke Sagara ripping off ass out of a situation, they just MAKE UP SOMETHING AND ATTRIBUTE IT TO AEOLIA. The characters are horrible cardboard strawmen who all utter ridiculously pretentious phrases no human being would ever say, and there's so many of them that you EVEN THE WRITERS DON'T REMEMBER THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. Seriously, Sumeragi went to school with Monakin and Kati, but and had a conversation while sitting BETWEEN THEM and they DON'T KNOW EACH OTHER?

Gundam 00 is awful in the extreme. I'm glad I'd watched AGE first, because otherwise I might think this was the worst Gundam EVER MADE.

EDIT: Woops. This kinda got away from me.

 

[Ezalc]

Hey man, Lockon was cool and so was his gundam. Everything else is kind of awful though.

 

[ambientmystic]

Yeah, you're definitely spoiled by newer Gundams.

tl;dr in the UC timeline, Gundams aren't nearly as overpowered and godly as they're portrayed in AUs. They get fucked up by whatever the grunts are pilotting

Sorry you don't like the RX-78-2. I rather like it. It's not my favorite Gundam by any means. I prefer the Zeta and the Nu, personally. It's still years ahead of the over designed stuff that is pumped out now a days

I agree with your first statement, newer Gundams seem less grounded in reality lol (although who am I to judge on the feasibility of actually developing a Gundam like contraption in the real world). Although your second one is not exactly true (imo).

By the end of the 1st MSG (the last 13 or so episodes), the Gundam (which had an Amuro realizing the extent of his NT abilities) plus the MC upgrade (episode 40) could be considered godlike.

Most skirmishes with Amuro were often one hit kills. Amuro fucked up the Big Zam (which was considered invulnerable thanks to the I-Field) in one major hit/episode. Amuro also fucked up the various Mobile Armors and Mobile Suits by taking out their critical points and taking 'em out in one blow/episode. The longest drawn out battle for the record was against Char (naturally) and his endgame Zeong. My point here being that an episode which features a new enemy/mobile suit is often the same episode Amuro takes him/her out. Only Ramba Ral, Char and M'quve were lucky enough to last more than one episode brawling it out with the Gundam. Many of the other big names were taken down in a single episode. Imagine if they had mass produced the Gundam as-is. (GMs don't count.)

Even Challia Bull, the so called elite Newtype called in by Kycillia Zabi from the Jupiter Energy Fleet fell to the Gundam in ONE episode (episode 39). He wasn't even piloting a hunk of junk either. So much for the hype.

Heck, even Sayla Mass and her G-FIGHTER/BULL etc were super effective (by the end). She was beating up Zeon grunts suits effortlessly in her friggin' plane for crying out loud.

You could argue that the White Base had a disproportionate amount of Newtypes (Amuro, Sayla Mass, Mirai Yashima, the 3 kids etc) concentrated in one location/faction which lead to its exceptional operational success despite their rookie status, but again, my point is that the Gundam may have started off relatively at a humbler state, but that was more due to the major inexperience of its pilot than any other technical shortcomings which were only revealed once Amuro got faster than the mecha itself. I shudder to think what-if instead of Amuro, Char gundam-jacked the RX 78-2 instead during the 1st couple of episodes. The Federation would've been totally doomed lol.

EDIT:- By the end of the One Year War, the Gundam had accumulated the following kills:-

Countless Zaku IIs, Goufs, Doms and Goggs
Many Rick Doms (also known as the skirted ones, first introed in episode 31)
A few Acguys
A few Gelgoogs
A Z'gok
A Zock
A Bigro (M.A) (episode 31)
A Zakrello (a funny looking Mobile Armor) (episode 32)
A Braw Bo (M.A)
A Big Zam (M.A)
An Elmeth (M.A)
A Gyan
A Zeong (mutual destruction)

and probably many others I've definitely forgotten.

 

[CorvoSol]

Hey man, Lockon was cool and so was his gundam. Everything else is kind of awful though.

Which Lockon and which Lockon's Gundam? First Lockon and Gundam Dynamis, yes. 2nd Lockon and Cheruvim? No.

Gundam 00 should've been a show about Lockon, his Gundam Dynamis, his Haro, and his busty tactical forecaster sticking it to the man.

The man should also have actually been a man and not an ambiguous tomato like Ribbons Hallmark.

 

[Beth Cyra]

I agree with your first statement, newer Gundams seem less grounded in reality lol (although who am I to judge on the feasibility of actually developing a Gundam like contraption in the real world). Although your second one is not exactly true (imo).

By the end of the 1st MSG (the last 13 or so episodes), the Gundam (which had an Amuro realizing the extent of his NT abilities) plus the MC upgrade (episode 40) could be considered godlike.

Most skirmishes with Amuro were often one hit kills. Amuro fucked up the Big Zam (which was considered invulnerable thanks to the I-Field) in one major hit/episode. Amuro also fucked up the various Mobile Armors and Mobile Suits by taking out their critical points and taking 'em out in one blow/episode. The longest drawn out battle for the record was against Char (naturally) and his endgame Zeong. My point here being that an episode which features a new enemy/mobile suit is often the same episode Amuro takes him/her out. Only Ramba Ral, Char and M'quve were lucky enough to last more than one episode brawling it out with the Gundam. Many of the other big names were taken down in a single episode. Imagine if they had mass produced the Gundam as-is. (GMs don't count.)

Even Challia Bull, the so called elite Newtype called in by Kycillia Zabi from the Jupiter Energy Fleet fell to the Gundam in ONE episode (episode 39). He wasn't even piloting a hunk of junk either. So much for the hype.

Heck, even Sayla Mass and her G-FIGHTER were super effective (by the end). She was beating up Zeon grunts suits effortlessly in her friggin' plane for crying out loud.

You could argue that the White Base had a disproportionate amount of Newtypes (Amuro, Sayla Mass, Mirai Yashima, the 3 kids etc) concentrated in one location/faction which lead to its exceptional operational success despite their rookie status, but again, my point is that the Gundam may have started off relatively at a humbler state, but that was more due to the major inexperience of its pilot than any other technical shortcomings which were only revealed once Amuro got faster than the mecha itself.

Yeah, claims that Gundams in UC aren't as bad as AU only exists for part of 0079 and that is it, anyone making claims for UC being less godly in general are smoking some amazing stuff.

Even if we ignore Turn A, the fact that UC houses things like Zeta and it's Bio sensor, ZZ, Nu/Hi Nu, the Crossbone's and the crazyness that is V2 fully loaded and now all the Unicorn suits easily puts it above anything that isn't Space Cancer Cures or Moonlight Butterfly.

 

[Ezalc]

Which Lockon and which Lockon's Gundam? First Lockon and Gundam Dynamis, yes. 2nd Lockon and Cheruvim? No.

Gundam 00 should've been a show about Lockon, his Gundam Dynamis, his Haro, and his busty tactical forecaster sticking it to the man.

The man should also have actually been a man and not an ambiguous tomato like Ribbons Hallmark.

The bolded, and your idea is brilliant. Too bad it'll never happen.

 

[CorvoSol]

The bolded, and your idea is brilliant. Too bad it'll never happen.

A Gundam show about a grown man is asking too much.

 

[Ezalc]

A Gundam show about a grown man is asking too much.

Last one was what? G? Domon was already in his 20s right?

EDIT: I mean we had: Setsuna, Heero, the people from SEED, main dudes from AGE, Banagher. Those are all like what 16-17?

 

[ambientmystic]

A Gundam show about a grown man is asking too much.

Hmm... I could argue that CCA (Char's Counterattack) could fit the billing, Amuro was already in his late 20s/early 30s and Char in his late 30s by then. Both considered the main protagonists of that show. Can't say it's a long running series though.

What about 08th MS Team? Shiro Yamada's in his twenties, I believe. He had a kid in his team though.

 

[Ezalc]

Seabook was also like 18 or something in F91.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Yeah, claims that Gundams in UC aren't as bad as AU only exists for part of 0079 and that is it, anyone making claims for UC being less godly in general are smoking some amazing stuff.

Even if we ignore Turn A, the fact that UC houses things like Zeta and it's Bio sensor, ZZ, Nu/Hi Nu, the Crossbone's and the crazyness that is V2 fully loaded and now all the Unicorn suits easily puts it above anything that isn't Space Cancer Cures or Moonlight Butterfly.

Despite being awesome, Zeta doesn't seem all that great about 37 episodes in. Or maybe Kamille just isn't that good. Yeah, he wipes grunts, but he is always getting his ass kicked by the enemies aces and their constantly evolving suits.

Is Char that much older? I figured he was only a couple years on Amuro, so like mid to late 30s in CCA. Set sauna aged into an adult and the others were already.

 

[Megalosaro]

Yeah, claims that Gundams in UC aren't as bad as AU only exists for part of 0079 and that is it, anyone making claims for UC being less godly in general are smoking some amazing stuff.

Even if we ignore Turn A, the fact that UC houses things like Zeta and it's Bio sensor, ZZ, Nu/Hi Nu, the Crossbone's and the crazyness that is V2 fully loaded and now all the Unicorn suits easily puts it above anything that isn't Space Cancer Cures or Moonlight Butterfly.

It's not the Gundam that was Godly though. It was Amuro. Most of the series Zakus and Doms are getting cuts into it and slicing up pieces of the suit. The Gundam itself was spec for spec outmatched by both the Dom and the Gelgoog series of MSes. Put the Gundam in the hands of a less competent pilot and it would have been trashed way before it was. And even then, it took Amuro most of the series before he became hax in it. And even then, the only especially impressive thing Amuro ultimately does is take out a bunch of Doms in a few minutes. Compare that to AUs where you see the pilots fly out into the background and you see a wall of explosions.

or stuff like this:
http://youtu.be/XXsh6bMd4J4?t=1m39s

and yeah you have moments where the Zeta does some pretty outrageous stuff. But there are also times when it gets wrecked around when it sorties.

Nu, it's hard to say just how good it is since again, you have Amuro as pilot and he's already established as an amazing pilot by that point (look at how handedly he trashes Char's suit).

Unicorn I'll give you. It's pretty much a AU suit in a UC series. 6 episodes and not even a scratch. However, Unicorn also has some of the most impressive grunt action in the franchise, so that should be pointed out.

Also, I want to bring up the V. That thing gets trashed nearly every episode. Thank god League Militaire has a crapload of spare parts.

Edit:

Char is 19 in First Gundam, Amuro is 15. So that would make him 33 in CCA.

Gundam shows with men as the main protagonists:

CCA
0080 (If you count Bernie as the main character)
0083
F91
G
08th MS Team
Igloo
AGE gen 2

 

[Beth Cyra]

It's not the Gundam that was Godly though. It was Amuro. Most of the series Zakus and Doms are getting cuts into it and slicing up pieces of the suit. The Gundam itself was spec for spec outmatched by both the Dom and the Gelgoog series of MSes. Put the Gundam in the hands of a less competent pilot and it would have been trashed way before it was. And even then, it took Amuro most of the series before he became hax in it. And even then, the only especially impressive thing Amuro ultimately does is take out a bunch of Doms in a few minutes. Compare that to AUs where you see the pilots fly out into the background and you see a wall of explosions.

or stuff like this:
http://youtu.be/XXsh6bMd4J4?t=1m39s

and yeah you have moments where the Zeta does some pretty outrageous stuff. But there are also times when it gets wrecked around when it sorties.

Nu, it's hard to say just how good it is since again, you have Amuro as pilot and he's already established as an amazing pilot by that point (look at how handedly he trashes Char's suit).

Unicorn I'll give you. It's pretty much a AU suit in a UC series. 6 episodes and not even a scratch. However, Unicorn also has some of the most impressive grunt action in the franchise, so that should be pointed out.

Also, I want to bring up the V. That thing gets trashed nearly every episode. Thank god League Militaire has a crapload of spare parts.

Edit:

Char is 19 in First Gundam, Amuro is 15. So that would make him 33 in CCA.

Yes but Zeta is the only one clos, and that is largely because Kamille doesn't tap it's true power till later. Nu I don't see how it's debatable. Even when you divorce it from Amuro it still has Fin Funnels and Phycho Frame.

I will give you Victory 1, but it just makes it even crazier how V2 Assualt Buster is so godly. Also I didn't even bring up things like Ex-S Gundam.

 

[Ezalc]

Despite being awesome, Zeta doesn't seem all that great about 37 episodes in. Or maybe Kamille just isn't that good. Yeah, he wipes grunts, but he is always getting his ass kicked by the enemies aces and their constantly evolving suits.

Is Char that much older? I figured he was only a couple years on Amuro, so like mid to late 30s in CCA. Set sauna aged into an adult and the others were already.

Side characters being older don't count, it'd have to be the protagonist. I think of a 30+ episode series, the oldest starting protagonist would probably be Domon wouldn't it? He's 20 at the start of G. IIRC everybody else is usually like 15-17.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Side characters being older don't count, it'd have to be the protagonist. I think of a 30+ episode series, the oldest starting protagonist would probably be Domon wouldn't it? He's 20 at the start of G. IIRC everybody else is usually like 15-17.

I do think that Domon is the oldest for full series. Though Domon is still written like a teenager a great amount of the time, so calling him a Man while true, doesn't really do it for me when it comes to having a adult as a lead.

Isn't Setsuna something like 28 in Gundam OO Season 2? They are split up and budgeted for two series, so that should count even if it's not 30+.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Side characters being older don't count, it'd have to be the protagonist. I think of a 30+ episode series, the oldest starting protagonist would probably be Domon wouldn't it? He's 20 at the start of G. IIRC everybody else is usually like 15-17.

I guess there is always a fresh crop of 15 year old boys to hook on shows and model kits, and some of the old fans will stick around regardless.

I do think that Domon is the oldest for full series. Though Domon is still written like a teenager a great amount of the time, so calling him a Man while true, doesn't really do it for me when it comes to having a adult as a lead.

Isn't Setsuna something like 28 in Gundam OO Season 2? They are split up and budgeted for two series, so that should count even if it's not 30+.

I think he is like 11, then 16, then 20, then 23 from first scene through movie.

 

[Beth Cyra]

I guess there is always a fresh crop of 15 year old boys to hook on shows and model kits, and some of the old fans will stick around regardless.



I think he is like 11, then 16, then 20, then 23 from first scene through movie.

Ah I see. Thought he was older in Season 2 for some reason. Still 20 is equal that to Domon, so there have been two as far as series go.

 

[Ezalc]

I do think that Domon is the oldest for full series. Though Domon is still written like a teenager a great amount of the time, so calling him a Man while true, doesn't really do it for me when it comes to having a adult as a lead.

Isn't Setsuna something like 28 in Gundam OO Season 2? They are split up and budgeted for two series, so that should count even if it's not 30+.

According to Gundam wikia Setsuna starts off at 16 then in the second season he's 21, 23 in the movie and later becomes like a fossil.

 

[distantmantra]

Shiro was 23 in 08th Team, but it's not a full-length TV series.

 

[Tookay]

Shitting on 00.

Well said. I abandoned that crap at the end of the first season.

The last couple episodes were decent, but it took too long to get there. Never have I seen such a large cast of inexplicably unlikeable characters DOING NOTHING for 20 episodes at a time. I don't think I've ever seen a show so listless in all my time watching anime.

 

[CorvoSol]

Hmm... I could argue that CCA (Char's Counterattack) could fit the billing, Amuro was already in his late 20s/early 30s and Char in his late 30s by then. Both considered the main protagonists of that show. Can't say it's a long running series though.

What about 08th MS Team? Shiro Yamada's in his twenties, I believe. He had a kid in his team though.

Shiro was fine until the series became a wacky Romeo and Juliet with an unhealthy emphasis on the stupidest weapon ever invented.

 

[Deadly]

shitting on 00

Well said. I abandoned that crap at the end of the first season.

The last couple episodes were decent, but it took too long to get there. Never have I seen such a large cast of inexplicably unlikeable characters DOING NOTHING for 20 episodes at a time. I don't think I've ever seen a show so listless in all my time watching anime.

The first season of 00 wasn't too bad but the 2nd season was abysmal and the movie even worst.

 

[Blader]

Gundam Origin v1 ch 2 - 6

I guess it got really good. Still not feeling the Gundam design as it just needs more, maybe some bits and definitely wings instead of more dull ammo.

oh jesus, no.

 

[Hero]

UC Gundam pilots pull off some extremely impressive things but mostly it's due to a combination of being a Newtype + the suit gives them a slight advantage against most normal mobile suits.

There is nothing really that is the equivalent of the AU with shit like Kira/Freedom's AIM-bot hax where shows up and ends a fight in a matter of seconds after laser spamming or Setsuna/00's RAINBOW SPACE HIPPIE WAVE OF PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING although maybe Unicorn will end this way. Also the Gundams in Wing only got fucked up halfway through so the pilots could get upgraded suits.