• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Official Gundam Thread of Gunpla, Origins, and 35 Years of GUNDAMUUUU!

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kwixotik

Member
So I tried getting into Gundam a while back. Started with 08th MS Team and wasn't really into it, so I stopped after finishing that series. Just started watching Unicorn though and it's pretty damn cool. It's got me interested in maybe checking out some other series. Would you guys recommend I watch the entire original series or the MSG movie trilogy? Or another series entirely?
 

Beth Cyra

Member
So I tried getting into Gundam a while back. Started with 08th MS Team and wasn't really into it, so I stopped after finishing that series. Just started watching Unicorn though and it's pretty damn cool. It's got me interested in maybe checking out some other series. Would you guys recommend I watch the entire original series or the MSG movie trilogy? Or another series entirely?

Another show entirely.

0079 Is not a good starter show for people, and i strongly disagree going with the movie's over the show.

I recommend Gundam SEED. It's very similar to 0079 and has some good animation and fantastic music. If you like SEED but want better characters THEN go back and watch 0079.

G Gundam is good if you like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon and want them to have sex and produce Robot Babies.

I personally like Wing because of the Suit design and music, it has a pretty large following and alot of people really love the Gundam's and Heero/Duo/Zechs as characters. If you do end up liking Wing then watch OO.
 
Stop recomending seed. Its animation isnt good at all. It actually has some of the worst in the franchise. Not to mention how recycled the animation is because morosawa was always late on delivering scripts(or so I hear)
 

Beth Cyra

Member
Stop recomending seed. Its animation isnt good at all. It actually has some of the worst in the franchise. Not to mention how recycled the animation is because morosawa was always late on delivering scripts(or so I hear)

It has some great animation. It recycles alot, this much is true.

That said it still has some really amazing scenes like Freedom Launching. So I really disagree that the Animation isn't good.

And no, I won't stop recommending SEED. Love or hate it, it's a great entry show into Gundam as has been proven over and over again.
 

Bebpo

Banned
I'm down to 6eps left of AGE, as ugly and generic and bad as it is...it's surprisingly watchable. The Luna Base recapture fight over the past 3 eps was decent enough. Is it going to get worse or better from here?


I think one of biggest problem AGE has is how outside of the AGE machine, every other mech is recycled-but-shittier version of other gundams. Like how they just introduced AGE-FX (Qaun[T]) and Full Armor AGE-1 (Full Armor ZZ) and the most offensive is the Crossbone Gundam hit with the force of 10,000 ugly sticks. The series needs its own identity. From what I've watched of Build Fighters it's been similar in that it literally is just previous Gundams w/mods. Looking forward to G Req to hopefully get a new Gundam that feels unique.

Otoh, at first I was anti the Vegan units looking nothing like Gundam, but by the end at least they can say they're original looking.
 

Beth Cyra

Member
I don't know, originality doesn't mean anything if you look like total trash like the majority of Vegan stuff.

However I'm not a fan of anything in AGE outside of 2 Suit designs. I find the AGE designs far worse then Build Fighters if only because Build Fighters very much embraces the fact these are retreads and doesn't try to act like the shit is some how new when it's in fact recycled trash.
 

Kwixotik

Member
Stop recomending seed. Its animation isnt good at all. It actually has some of the worst in the franchise. Not to mention how recycled the animation is because morosawa was always late on delivering scripts(or so I hear)

What would you recommend, Megalosaro? I think you've given me good suggestions in the past, though I can't remember what exactly.
 
If you are going to watch Universal Century, it is unavoidable to watch the first series, either in movie or series form. It provides way too much context for the setting.

If you dont give a shit about universal century, pick any AU you want except Turn A.

G Gundam and Gundam Wing are both pretty popular, for different reasons.

X ended prematurely resulting in a rushed ending. I also dont think it capitalized in its set up as well as it could have. But its still decent. Its a post apocalypse gundam series. Pretty likeable characters

Seed is a retelling of the first series, but it does so in such a halfassed fashion that you might as well watch the first series.

00 first season is a pretty interesting take on post-9/11 gundam series. Second season kind of turns into a zeta gundam knockoff.

So I guess it depends on what you like about gundam. Tell me about what you like in stories with giant robots and ill point you in the best direction I can.
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Speaking of 00, I went back and actually finished the first season. It gets MUCH better once
The Trinity
shows up, and at that point the overall mobile suit design gets better too because
The Trinity
and the Flags get a bit more exposure. On top of that, some of the supporting characters get a bit of definition and stuff gets a bit less predictable. I liked the look of
the Thrones as far as them using makeshift solar arrays and the bulk/design of the suits reflecting compromises made to accommodate that.
I think I might actually follow through and watch the second season now.

The dub VA is pretty much insufferable though, and almost satirical at times.

Looking forward to G-Reco. I think I'm a UC elitist at heart :( Not that I dislike elements of other franchises but the continuity in UC makes me love it that much more.

- - -

Rebawoo Painting Update #2

ikX31MbDktli2.jpg
iva0soa4cTqxr.jpg

iblCjxJ4nbclWp.jpg
i7lQZNhoAPT9F.jpg

So it's been a while but I've learned a lot. Like not to cut things you feel shouldn't be there because they're probably there for a reason. Thankfully, the little pitchfork fin thingy atop the eye fits snug enough because of the paint making it fit nicer.

Some WIP pictures above as I began to paint the top of the chest piece and the mono-eye manually (didn't like the green sticker eye as it wouldn't fit with the colour scheme I feel #teamnosticker). To be honest, despite some visible brushstrokes and the rare place I can't put a paintbrush, I think it's coming along pretty damn nicely. Only thing is, it took me a month to pretty much do Steps 1-6 out of ~51 in the manual. I might not be done this until 2015 D; At least my wallet is safe from Gunpla purchases for a while, and probably until the next Build Fighters line rolls out :D It's a lot more work than I anticipated, and I don't think I want to paint anything else for a while, but the MG Delta Plus I have sitting around's primary gray colour just looks way too plasticky for me not to paint.
 
I'm just gonna throw my personal "So you want to start watching Gundam because you want to develop a gunpla habit like us poor saps" guide here.

----- Universal Century -----
The overall quality of UC is pretty good. It's got peaks (War In The Pocket, Zeta, Unicorn) and troughs (last half of 0083, IGLOO 2). UC is the big deal in the Gundam meta-series, and every AU is going to reference UC one way or another. So you will have to watch it eventually.

If you're going to dive into UC, go 0079 movies > War In The Pocket > Zeta > CCA > Unicorn. Everything else (0079 series, 08th, 0083, IGLOO, ZZ) you can watch whenever. Unicorn has plot elements from ZZ, but ZZ is a bit derpy in the beginning and that can be off-putting for some. That's why I don't recommend watching it until after Unicorn, but do whatever you want.

If you absolutely can't stand old animation, probably because you're 12, watch War In The Pocket > CCA > Unicorn. You will miss out on plot details once you get to CCA and Unicorn. You still need to watch War In The Pocket because it is the best written Gundam series of all, and that hasn't changed.

The Zeta New Translation movies aren't bad at all, but they end up not being canon and therefore incompatible with ZZ, CCA and Unicorn. Watch them after the Zeta series.

Late UC is kind of its own thing and you can watch it outside of everything else. F91 is good, with pacing issues. Victory is hilariously brutal and can go either way for a lot of people.

G-Saviour gets a lot of shit because the CG is terrible, but the overall movie... is okay. If you can put up with late 90s-early 2000s sci-fi TV like Andromeda or Earth: Final Conflict, you can probably stand G-Saviour. If you're still unsure, watch this.

----- Alternate Universes -----
You can watch these whenever because most of them are separate shows. The only legit terrible series are SEED Destiny and AGE. Everything else is passable (SEED Remaster), to fairly solid (Wing, Wing EW, 00S2, Trailblazer), to quite good (X), to great (G, Turn A, 00S1). You could probably watch the AGE compilation OVA and it might be okay because it contains the good parts of the show.

Turn A is a tricky one because it's kind of the end point for all UC and AU series. You probably should get through some of UC and a couple of older AUs before starting this.

----- Build Fighters -----
Build Fighters is amazing. But it might help to watch a couple of any Gundam series beforehand because of references. Gunpla Builders is the conceptual precursor to this, and it's fine.

----- SD Gundam -----
I dunno, maybe Brave Battle Warriors.

----- Doozy Bots -----
Would have been goddamn amazing. A wasted opportunity.
 

X05

Upside, inside out he's livin la vida loca, He'll push and pull you down, livin la vida loca
The next Gundam Show is Turn B Gundam, this time focusing on odd callbacks to all shows from SEED on.
Mirror E you mean?

Oh lord everyone, the opening song for MSG is amazingly corny.

Also hey those annoying ass Haro things are here.
Moeagare moeagare moeagare GANDAMU!

God-tier.

Not feeling the Gundam, and I'm finding Simon face totally hilarious.

The only person with a hard-on for Exia here is Duckroll, and he was turned off from the Exia after the RG kit.
Sexia > *

Nah we have a few more then that. I've seen Sexia out of more then Duckroll.
Yes, we are legion, or something.

holly balls i want this but its 269.99 :(

Untitled-131.jpg

20140624002911-53740.jpg
More like G(undam)Shock, amirite

... I'll see myself out

Stop recomending seed. Its animation isnt good at all. It actually has some of the worst in the franchise. Not to mention how recycled the animation is because morosawa was always late on delivering scripts(or so I hear)
Eh, SEED it's mediocre at its worst, so I see no problem in recommending it.
0079 is still a great entry point though, even if the animation quality is very meh by today standards.

I think I might actually follow through and watch the second season now.
Don't, you'll likely end up regretting it. Just pretend that it ended there.
 
I like G-Self. I think more people would like it if the V-fins went straight up and not forward.

I bought my daughter a Bearguy III kit in Japan that I'm going to build for her room. While I was going through stuff I found these guys, too.

7EXpnZw.jpg


Might as well build them. In the past I used an exacto knife to clip the parts. Any good clipper suggestions?
 

Beth Cyra

Member
Are people really not digging the G-Self? I love its face design, the big eyes and the horns/V-fin. I think it looks extremely cool.

I personally really dislike G-Self.

I'm not a big fan of the head, and the Exia arms aren't really my thing. The legs are interesting and I like the alternate Red shield.

The thing that kills it though is that ugly as sin backpack. I hate SEED designs with a passion, and a large part of that is because of the stupid backpacks and G-Self has taken uses a very similar design.
 
I can't say anything about the design this early.

For example I hated Destiny by association with Shinn but now it's one of my favorite designs. I'll have to see the G-Self in action or in Ex Vs to really know what I think about it.
 

Blader

Member
I'm down to 6eps left of AGE, as ugly and generic and bad as it is...it's surprisingly watchable. The Luna Base recapture fight over the past 3 eps was decent enough. Is it going to get worse or better from here?

The last few episodes, despite being Rome-levels of rushed, are some of the better stuff in Gen 3 imo....except for the final episode, and particularly its last 5-10 minutes, which might be the most bed-shitting Gundam finale ever.
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Don't, you'll likely end up regretting it. Just pretend that it ended there.
I took this advice for Destiny, but I don't hear the same for 00?

I like G-Self. I think more people would like it if the V-fins went straight up and not forward.
Agreed, makes it look bug-like.

What brand of paint are you ussing, and do you thin it? Also, masking tape can help a lot.
Using some FolkArt acrylics with a hand brush. I tried thinning with water and it seemed to apply much worse than just painting it on flat.
 

Bebpo

Banned
00 S2 isn't nearly as bad as Seed Destiny. At worst, some of the choices were just questionable.

Maybe. They're pretty comparably awful. I guess at least 00 S2 is entertaining, but the whole "completely shits on everything you liked about S1" factor is pretty strong. 00 Awakening of the Trailblazer is worse than Destiny though, that's for sure.

Plus Destiny has been redeemed through Banpresto's SRW series where they re-wrote Destiny's plot to be a good gundam show. To many fans, that's the canon Destiny at this point :p
 
Maybe. They're pretty comparably awful. I guess at least 00 S2 is entertaining, but the whole "completely shits on everything you liked about S1" factor is pretty strong. 00 Awakening of the Trailblazer is worse than Destiny though, that's for sure.

Plus Destiny has been redeemed through Banpresto's SRW series where they re-wrote Destiny's plot to be a good gundam show. To many fans, that's the canon Destiny at this point :p

First off, 00 S2 is a solid continuation of season 1 and was very well-scripted and plotted, and Awakening of the Trailblazer is the logical conclusion to what the series was leading up to from the very beginning.

Second, distantmantra said the same thing about Destiny's plot, but didn't explain what the changes were and WHY this rewritten plot somehow changed the story so much that it actually became a good show, so I apologize if I don't take your word for it, especially considering you're making such a blanket statement. :p
 
First off, 00 S2 is a solid continuation of season 1 and was very well-scripted and plotted, and Awakening of the Trailblazer is the logical conclusion to what the series was leading up to from the very beginning.

Agree, 00 was well done all over one of the better Gundam series in a long time imo. I had a few complaints sure like trying to find any reason why the Princess lady kept showing up, but it was far less than something like Seed, Zeta, or effing Wing thats for sure. The movie... would have been better off implied as it was through the tv show rather than shown because it felt like it was not thought out enough and personally kinda ruined an other wise enjoyable Gundam.
 

Acid08

Banned
My Wing rewatch continues to go swimmingly. I'm sure nostalgia is playing a part but I still just find the conflicts and events really engaging. Of the five pilots the only I feel has been given the short end of the shaft(so far, on 25) is Duo. The rest have had genuine moments of character growth except him. Shame too because his suit was always my favorite. But maybe that'll come later, I really don't remember too many of the plot details from when I was a kid.
 

NEO0MJ

Member
Using some FolkArt acrylics with a hand brush. I tried thinning with water and it seemed to apply much worse than just painting it on flat.

Did you prime the parts? It makes painting much easier. You should also use an actual thinner, not water. Also, you should try and see if any hobby shop sells tamiya supplies, they're one of the better brands. There's also another popular brand but its name eludes me at the moment.

10460640_523297527772520_8466826005398984746_o.jpg


Welp. That's gonna be me next month.

That box is even bigger than I imagined.
 

DominoKid

Member
I'm about 20 eps deep on a Wing rewatch. First time I've seen it since it was on Toonami and even then I never saw it from start to finish.

Are Heero and Chang popular in the Gundam fanbase? So far the only characters I really like are Zechs, Trowa, Duo and Noin. Lady Une's parts are interesting. That's about it.

It's a fun show so far though. It feels older than a mid-90s show.
 

Beth Cyra

Member
I'm about 20 eps deep on a Wing rewatch. First time I've seen it since it was on Toonami and even then I never saw it from start to finish.

Are Heero and Chang popular in the Gundam fanbase? So far the only characters I really like are Zechs, Trowa, Duo and Noin. Lady Une's parts are interesting. That's about it.

It's a fun show so far though. It feels older than a mid-90s show.

Heero is pretty popular, and easily the most popular character from Wing.

When Japan (Gundam ACE and the like) ever does popularity polls around Wing, Heero easily curb stomps all the other characters. In Na Heero has a craazy huge fanbase.

I'm not his biggest fan though, I loved him in Eps 1-3 simply because he was unique and so different then most Gundam leads.

In the end the only characters I like are Dorothy and Treize, but I REALLY LOVE Treize.
 
My biggest problem with Heero is that his story is intertwined with probably the most boring character in all of Gundam. Relena Peacecraft is a cancer.
 

Acid08

Banned
My biggest problem with Heero is that his story is intertwined with probably the most boring character in all of Gundam. Relena Peacecraft is a cancer.
I was continuing my rewatch yesterday and there's a large chunk of episodes where she isn't there at all. Then the episode came where eyebrow girl is introduced and I knew Relena was back unfortunately. It's amazing she could quit stalking Heero for so long tbh.
 

Beth Cyra

Member
I can agree with that.

Relena's character is a decent idea in some ways, but they put to much focus on her and it ends up bringing the show down.

Thankfully Relena has proven to work much better in Glory and Frozen where she still fullfills her role, but doesn't do so at the expense of the pacing of the overall plot.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom