As the first Gundam AU series I've seen, it was a strong first showing. While not perfect, something about this show kept me watching to the end and left me feeling happy that I'd experienced it and a bit sad it was over.

If you haven't read the show summary: G Gundam is a mecha show about what is effectively a global martial arts tournament using Gundams (big mechs) to decide which country will get to rule space for the next 4 years. Some other stuff happens in the background and needless to say the plot isn't just a tournament (though the tournament is very central)

Just to start off, this series can be very stupid at times. Crucially, none of the characters take the stupid stuff that happens seriously. If this show had been self-referential in a marvelly way, I think it would have been genuinely awful. Thankfully, it maintains this amazingly genuine tone throughout basically the whole show. At some points it clearly indulges in its more comedic elements, especially at a few points near the end, but by that point it felt earned.

I watched the dub. It's generally serviceable with some standout performances (Master Asia especially), though some characters can be a bit wooden sometimes (this can sometimes make some lines of dialogue more comedic than they were meant to be). Overall, if your a dub watcher this show will be fine for you. Otherwise, I assume the sub is probably also fine. Dub is overall a 7/10.

The world of G gundam is held together with the rule of cool and it's honestly amazing. A gundam fight held every 4 years to decide which country gets to rule space until the next fight is a system of global governance that is so stupid cool. All the countries and gundams in the show are blatant stereotypes - sometimes to an absurd degree (In the first episode Italian police use Pizza torture in an interrogation). Are some of the stereotypes not even remotely accurate to the country? Yes, absolutely. All of this kind of creates this amazing vibe of some sort of bizarro olympics. There's certainly also gundam influence in that Earth is an absolute disaster where most cities we see are partial ruins. The gundam fight tournament is distracting both us the viewers and the people of this world from the terrible state the world is in, it's very bread and circuses to appease the masses or hunger gamesy in that way. World 10/10.

The characters are the heart of the show. Being a martial arts "drama", most of the main characters are hot blooded fighters and their support staff. Of particular note is Master Asia - The undefeated of the east - A man whose presence single-handedly elevates the show. He's just so over the top and genuine in his over the topness. He also has a horse. The main 5 fighters and their crew are all entertaining, though some less than others and a few took a while to grow on me. Domon and Rain (MC and support staff/love interest) are able to shoulder the task of being the main pov, although their romance isn't always handled the best (Domon can be a bit of an asshole at some points). Characters 10/10

Plot and pacing are a bit hit and miss sometimes. The show is largely episodic in a fight of the week type style for a lot of its runtime, so sometimes it can feel a bit like you aren't going anywhere. The pacing does pick up a lot towards the end though. The plot is serviceable, and carried heavily by the characters. There are some good twists, although some of them are very predictable. It ends on a good note too. 8/10

Animation is solid for an older show. Using other gundam shows as a reference, It's not as good as Zeta but definitely a lot better than the OG. 7/10

Overall, I was very satisfied with my first exploration into Gundam's AU's. It's a lot different than what you'd expect from a gundam show although it is definitely a gundam show despite hiding that behind its more prominent martial arts theming at times.