An Enduring Classic for Anime and Science Fiction as a Whole.

Mobile Suit Gundam is a classic that really does live up to its hefty legacy. It initially can be perceived as an anti-war cinema, but as you continue watching, it really doesn’t have an agenda in that sense. Tomino has expressed that he fundamentally dislikes ideology from either end of the political spectrum. It’s simply put, a depiction of people at their most vulnerable and desperate. He sympathises that there’s too much bloodshed, but also shows when it’s important to stand up to fight. Of course, whenever you lean too much on that side, it becomes needless patriotic, but it doesn’t do that. It strikes a great balance.

I didn’t watch the movie trilogy, and after watching the show, I wouldn’t recommend it (the trilogy). Though 43 episodes of skirmishes do take place in a long period of time, it can seem exhausting to an extent, but it does illustrate the almost sameness of war. Making small steps to eventually reach that final goal. Furthermore, there’s a lot of great side characters that had development that impacts our main protagonists in many ways, and if not, that thematically is fitting.

The character work is probably better than I expected as a whole. I really like how it focused on pretty much everyone. From the Earth Federation soldiers and citizens to likewise the same for the Zeon. I do somewhat wish it dove deeper into the psychology of these characters, but what is presented is still pretty good and does attempt to tackle the subject with nuance. Amuro’s arc in particular was great; Amuro acts like a realistic teenager in his circumstances. Seeing how he changes is sad, but he also grows better as a person. The overall pacing I felt was pretty good, though maybe near the end I wished we had an extended ending by an additional episode to see the ramifications of that ending.

What is most puzzling is people who haven’t actually watched the show spreading the rumour that the animation is bad? Honestly, I feel like I might have watched a different show from these guys, as visually, it can be damn impressive. Osamu Dezaki influence is so readily apparent, which just makes this series have really gorgeous storyboarding. For how much action is depicted, there isn’t that much looped animation. It is seriously impressive they kept this up for 43 episodes to add further praise; it’s not like the character models are simple. There’s a lot of complexity to the character models, which makes the fluidity of the animation that much more impressive.

Mobile Suit Gundam is a series where its influence can be seen everywhere. In terms of animation, Hideaki Anno (though that’s mostly Ideon), sci-fi everywhere in animation, western cinema, most famously Guillermo del Toro's, and even the novelist Ada Palmer in her Terra Ignota series, who cites it as one of her major influences. There is still much more Gundum I’m hoping to watch, but I can say I had a great time watching it for the past month.