Gundam has been viewed as the definitive mecha series because of its ubiquitousness. When people think of a Japanese giant robot, they think of Gundam (or mistake it for a Transformer). However, because the franchise has been around for nearly five decades, many casual fans find picking what Gundam anime to watch daunting. The series has featured multiple different timelines, new characters, and unique aesthetics.
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There are just too many shows to keep track of, but if you already are a mecha connoisseur then you must bring it to yourself to watch Gundam. While some Gundam shows are direct follow-ups to other entries in the series, most Gundam animes can be viewed as standalone experiences. Most Gundam shows are also available on streaming services, including Crunchyroll and Hulu. The franchise is worth doing a deep dive for, and anyone who considers themselves a mecha fanatic should make an effort to watch the series. The best Gundam anime are the ones that get fans engaged with the greater franchise more easily and will easily appeal to prior consumers of the mecha genre.
Mobile Suit Gundam

Oftentimes there’s no better way to start than at the beginning. The original Mobile Suit Gundam anime from 1979 looks its age, with outdated animation and outrageous late 70s fashion. But underneath the disco aesthetics is a sincere show about the inherent evilness of war and the military, calling out the ethics of letting a teen pilot a giant robot. The series ushered in a new age of mecha, the real robot genre. Gone were the optimistic viewpoints of the 60s and 70s futurism, Gundam was more concerned with making viewers think about the nature of war.
The original Gundam can be a lot to get through, especially for those unfamiliar with 70s animation. The original anime was actually a ratings failure in Japan but was revitalized with a trilogy of compilation films released in the early 80s. If 43 episodes of a ’70s anime seem too much, the film trilogy will probably be easier to swallow.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam’s main problem is that it directly follows the original series. It isn’t 100% required to watch the OG show before starting Zeta Gundam, but viewing Mobile Suit Gundam before Zeta is still recommended. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam heightens the nihilism and bleakness present in the original show, offering a more dire and cynical show. Zeta’s message and political stance feel more relevant than ever, dealing with issues like government overreach and cover-up.
The series ’80s campiness can turn people off and has a meandering middle portion where the plot doesn’t move forward. Some of the female characters’ characterizations can also be problematic, yet underneath all the issues is a powerful show with a message about war that feels universal. Zeta Gundam clarifies that there are no true winners in battle, only survivors, with an ending that will stick with you long after you watch it.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

The Gundam franchise’s anti-war theme has never been more poignant than in Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, a series that hammers home the futility of war. War in the Pocket is a small-scale series told from the perspective of a little boy. The boy befriends an enemy soldier, who arrives at his small space colony to discover the creation of a new Gundam.
Clocking in at only six episodes, War in the Pocket is short and to the point. The series doesn’t waste time, quickly developing the relationship between the two leads and establishing life in the space colony. The show adds a human element to the conflict established in the first Gundam series, highlighting the personal cost that war creates. War affects everyone, and the sad ending of War in the Pocket showcases how inevitable conflict will always be.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam

After creating four series, three compilation films, two theatrical sequels, and several spin-offs, Sunrise Studio was ready to move Gundam past its main timeline. The franchise then said goodbye to the Universal Century and made its first show with its own separate timeline, the Future Century. Gone were the serious discussions about the military and politics, Mobile Fighter G Gundam instead embraced a fully shonen setting and campy tone.
The premise of G Gundam is that all the countries in the world have agreed to hold a Gundam tournament, with the winning country ruling over the Earth for four years. The series never takes itself too seriously while at the same time giving the lead protagonist a strong pathos that’ll resonate with viewers. The show is also not completely superficial, highlighting the social divide between the people on Earth and the space colonies. The show’s absurdity may put some people off, but the series is so passionate in everything it’s trying to convey that it’s hard not to admire it.
Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz

The unfortunate thing about Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz is that you need to watch the main Mobile Suit Gundam Wing show. The original Gundam Wing series was an early Toonami hit, not only helping popularize Gundam in the West but anime in general. Sadly, the original series is a confusing mess, with character motivations and plotlines continuously shifting until the final climactic battle. Nonetheless, the mobile suits look great, and the action is memorable.
Endless Waltz is a sequel OVA to Gundam Wing and was later edited into a film. Endless Waltz tells a more simplified story, creating a nice throughline from beginning to end. The themes of the OVA are far more emotionally impactful than the series, offering viewers a stronger sense of what the series was trying to say. Endless Waltz’s action is some of the best in the entire franchise, delivering some of the most satisfying scenes in Gundam, including the iconic moment where the Wing Gundam Zero unleashes its wings for the first time.
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Turn A Gundam

Original Gundam creator and lead director Yoshiyuki Tomino returns to the franchise after several years of taking a step back. After writing and directing four shows and two movies about nihilism and the cynical nature of politics, Turn A Gundam was decidedly not that. Turn A Gundam is still about war and has Tomino’s usual flare, but it is less cynical, instead choosing to focus on the Gundam not just a tool for battle.
The characters are more inherently likable, lacking the damning character flaws that hindered Tomino’s other Gundam works. The show also features the most oddball mecha designs in the franchise, illustrated by American film concept artist Syd Mead. Even though the designs are more atypical and weird, especially the titular Gundam, the unusual mechas only add to Turn A’s charm.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 wants to cover too many topics and isn’t as smart as it thinks it is. However, the show is brave enough to touch on taboo subject matters like the conflict in the Middle East with stand-in fictional countries. It brings to light the many injustices in the world and offers viewers a cathartic what-if scenario. In Gundam 00, a secret cabal known as the Celestial Being uses Gundams to force all countries to end all war.
Gundam 00 takes a lot of big swings, conveying a future filled with strife and ignorance. The geopolitics it creates is one of the series’ highlights, exemplifying the political nightmare of ending war. The second season flips the script, with the rest of the world catching up to Gundam technology and Celestial Being now the underdogs. The main issue with the series is that it gets very preachy with its morals, judging characters for passive ignorance and acting high and mighty about it. The second season is also less coherent, stealing a plot twist directly lifted from the film Beerfest. Gundam 00, if anything, has some extremely beautifully drawn fight sequences that make it worth watching.
Gundam Build Fighters

The point of Gundam is to sell plastic model kits. The shows’ creators can continue pushing their ant-war agenda just as long as model kits are still bought. Gundam Build Fighters decides to fully embrace the toy aspect of the franchise and make it all about the model kits. Build Fighters takes place in a world where fans’ Gundam model kits (Gunpla) can fight in special machines that activate their kits to move and fight. A pair of boys want to take their model kits to a tournament to become the top Gunpla fighter.
The series has low stakes and never takes itself seriously. It’s also very upfront as being a commercial to sell more Gunpla. Nevertheless, the show has a genuine love of the hobby. Build Fighters showcases how fun building can be, embracing the community surrounding model collecting. It’s not the deepest show in the franchise, yet it has the most heart.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

No matter how chaotic some Gundam shows can be, there’s almost always an order to them. Usually, the protagonists are part of a larger space crew within a military hierarchy. Iron-Blooded Orphans delivers more of that chaotic energy missing from other Gundam series, featuring a young cast trying to make a name for themselves. The main protagonists are orphan boys who take over a security corporation. While full of ambition, the boys’ only advantage is their lone Gundam piloted by a prodigy.
The first season of Iron-Blooded Orphans has a clear and great throughline where the characters must reach Earth from Mars. With a natural endpoint, the season wonderfully tells a story about a group of underdogs beating the odds. The second season is less focused and more episodic, not having an obvious throughline until the last few episodes. Nonetheless, the final arc is impactful and filled with memorable moments. At least seeing the Gundam Barbatos tear through other mecha never gets boring.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

The biggest tragedy of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is that it only lasted 25 episodes. The Witch from Mercury had a lot of firsts, including having the first female protagonist in a mainline Gundam show and the first protagonist to be in a same-sex relationship. The show stars a young pilot from Mercury joining a military school in space as part of a scheme from her mother. She fights other Gundam pilots in on-campus duels to keep her engagement with the daughter of the president of the biggest corporation in space.
The show takes clear inspiration from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, giving fans a layered story about revenge, love, family, and corporate politics. The Witch from Mercury expertly mixes light-hearted scenes of school life and dramatic moments that help sell the story’s complexity. Prospera Mercury, the main antagonist, is one of the most engaging characters in Gundam, expressing complicated motivations and an excellent vocal performance. The show has proven to be one of the most popular in years, and fans are still upset it never got a second 25-episode season.