What Anime are you Currently Watching?/Anime Recommendations

[Tanooki]

That Gundam, I had no idea Origin was on video. I've got the entire set of hardbacks I scored off ebay in a lot awhile back. The writing and drawing quality of the manga was hands down some of the best and it was just so compelling it was hard to put it down even after going through hundreds of pages at a time. Seems the visual side of it with the anime is no slouch either with such praise.

[Gunstar Green]

That Gundam, I had no idea Origin was on video. I've got the entire set of hardbacks I scored off ebay in a lot awhile back. The writing and drawing quality of the manga was hands down some of the best and it was just so compelling it was hard to put it down even after going through hundreds of pages at a time. Seems the visual side of it with the anime is no slouch either with such praise.

The anime only covers the prequel chapters of the manga and focuses on Char. There were rumors that it would continue as a full remake of 0079 but episode VI which released not very long ago and concludes where the original anime starts is confirmed to be the last.

It's just as good as the manga source material though you could argue it's a bit heavy on the Char worship, I didn't find it a big problem since that was the point. This OVA is basically "Char Begins." Regardless, the dense political intrigue is head and shoulders above any other installment in the franchise and the events leading up to the One Year War are fleshed out wonderfully.

The animation is great, it's one of the few mecha shows that uses CGI for the the mechanical aspects and actually makes it look natural.

[Xeogred]

It set off a chain reaction... I think I watched the Gundam 0079 movies back in ~2008 which really sparked my passion for old school anime in general. So it's kind of like coming full circle on my own personal 10 year anniversary on this. I've since then seen 0079 TV once but hit up the movie trilogy again after The Origin and it was incredible. This time around I could see how the third movie is apparently 70% new animation, it looks amazing and is the best portion of the trilogy by a long shot. Outside of adjusting to some voice actor changes, the transition from The Origin back to the original was pretty dang smooth and awesome.

I think I'll hit up 0080 again from here and then 0083. I know 0083 isn't the best but it's been so long I can't remember anything and I think the first time I saw it was years prior to seeing the rest of UC Gundam haha, so I didn't have much context. Now I know it supposedly sets up the Titans a bit and maybe Haman has a cameo.

I think I'll finally check out the Zeta movies from there, even though I hear they're pretty bad. But I've already seen the series twice, so a condensed version at this point is fine for me. I have to say, while I love the vibes of Zeta, the action, the mobile suit designs, the music... all that jazz, in retrospect I think 0079 is really starting to stand over it for me. The Zeon/Zabi being so fleshed out in comparison to any other antagonist faction gives it a huge edge. I'd have a hard time calling out bad 0079 characters, but Zeta is chalk full of them (every single Cyber Newtype chick?)...

Kind of thinking of rewatching ZZ if I keep going from there haha... I didn't hate it at all unlike most apparently, though the first dozen or so episodes are pretty weak. But from that point on I remember it being fun, even though ultimately it doesn't really deal with anything major in the UC verse.

But yeah... everyone needs to watch The Origin now!!!

[Gunstar Green]

0083's story goes to hell but it's still visually stunning at least. It's Top Gun with giant robots, what's not to love?

The Zeta movies are... a thing. They're a fine way to revisit the series for someone who's seen it before but they don't work at all for anyone who hasn't already seen Zeta to understand its plot, unlike the 0079 trilogy. Everything is happening so fast with characters popping in and out of existence all over the place. There was just no possible way to convert that series into 3 movies. What's worse is some pointless things are kept in while some REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS are left out (CHAR'S SPEECH, WHY TOMINO?!). Sometimes things happen without any explanation and even if there is one it's usually given so quickly in a single sentence that you'll probably miss it.

It's worth watching as a fan to see Zeta with more modern animation, though they really should have just reanimated the whole thing because the jumping between old and new footage is ridiculously jarring. The first film is particularly bad though it gets better as the later two use more and more new animation. There are a few positive changes like shortening Four's arc to what it should have been in the first place and pretty much completely leaving out Rosamia's.

And yes, the ladies of Zeta made me wonder what the hell Tomino had against women at that point of his life. Not just the Cyber Newtypes either (Reccoa, what the fuck).

I actually really liked ZZ, though not at first. The first few arcs are preeeetty bad ("My cockpit is stuck open again" and MOON MOON), but I really enjoyed how the characters developed over the course of the series. The Tigerbaum arc while silly, sort of gives you a look back at the goofy early arcs and shows how the characters have grown since then. It really picks up once they get to Earth and remains a fun ride until the end. Judau is also one of my favorite UC protagonists.

Yeah it's probably the least essential show of early UC and it's very different, but it's not a bad different. It's also got some freaking amazing mobile suit design, aside form the ZZ itself which I'm not a big fan of (though it is a radical piece of 1980's aesthetics). Flake will show up and beat me over the head with a pipe for that remark but give me the Zeta any day.

[Xeogred]

Yeah the ZZ unit is so bulky haha. Always nice to see more fans. I think people just jump on the bandwagon hate right away honestly. I recall disliking Beecha and Monda (however you spell it), but as you said, Judua is really cool and ZZ has tons of great females again compared to Zeta. I didn't even mind Puru. I recall the colony drop arc on Earth being even potentially better than anything in Zeta. Zeta definitely has some pacing issues when I rewatched it but I kind of recall ZZ being more varied or something. This would also be my first time seeing ZZ in BD form with the EG rips and it looks glorious. So yeah I'm definitely kind of excited about it.

It's better than Dragonar to me, which was like an unofficial Gundam (apparently Sunrise even wanted it to become the next big thing haha). And really, ZZ compared to literally like half the rest of the Gundam franchise, it's pretty dang good and I'd take it over Wing, SEED, Victory, Iron Blooded Orphans, etc...

I'm kind of thinking about giving Gundam 00 another rewatch someday, I also watched that one in 2008 or so and then watched the second season as it aired. I recall liking the first season a fair bit and then things went to hell with season 2. I remember wishing the Ideon could have came in at the end and slayed everyone haha. But for some reason I keep thinking about the series again off and on. At the very least I think it had a crazy huge budget with amazing action and some good mobile suit designs. Maybe it is better than what I give it credit for or maybe not...

[Gunstar Green]

The Dublin arc in ZZ is definitely the high point. It played out more dramatically than anything in Zeta. Rakan is one of the most stone cold bastards in all of Gundam, killing anyone who tried to flee the city. That was an unexpectedly dark turn for the show. Beecha and Mondo are the worst. They develop by the end but it's hard to forgive how annoying they are early on or to forgive Bright for not kicking them off the ship the first time they betrayed him. Elle and Roux are easily two of my favorite female characters in Gundam (Roux taking out her stalker with the Zeta Gundam's beam rifle, woo boy what a way to get rejected). People complain about Haman's infatuation with Judau but it makes sense to me, he's an incredibly powerful newtype who "feels" like Char to her. It created an interesting dynamic that could have used more fleshing out though the result was still a semi-tragic ending. The only female character that's a bit of a problem is Chara and I'd like to say she gets better later but she really doesn't.

Dragonar is really visually appealing but yeah the series didn't do much for me. I need to give it another shot because I didn't finish it.

I feel similarly about 00. The first season was great. It was like a much better take on Gundam Wing's "terrorist Gundam" concept. But they must have gotten cold feet or something because Season 2 just turns into a very badly handled generic Gundam plot. I also thought Exia was way cooler looking than any version of the 00. The sequel movie was a big ball of nonsense too.

I wonder how many times over the years we've hijacked this thread to gush about Gundam.

[Xeogred]

Haman is one of my favorites but I really wish she was used more all around. When I rewatched Zeta a few years ago it was kind of crazy to realize she's only in like 10 episodes. And yeah then in ZZ her role is a bit odd and I'm not a fan of her ending, pretty piss poor execution. Her or Kamille or even Judua too in CCA would have been really interesting. Maybe someday we'll get a Zeta Origins that explores her relationship with Char actually, haha.

I think some new subs are being worked on for Dragonar. I plan to rewatch it when that completes, I think it'll level up the experience a bit. There's nothing really wrong with the series and the budget is incredible for sure, but yeah. The middle arc drags a lot too but the finale is pretty awesome. Though I tend to get annoyed this got to go further and had a bigger budget than Layzner, which had so much potential compared to some of the other Sunrise shows.

Speaking of Wing, I finally finished it earlier this year after a SEVEN year break in between, lmao. MAL kept track of my history on that I guess. But wow, it just totally sucks and I think most of its fans are going off pure nostalgia. I didn't like it as a kid and still hate it. Good music is the only positive I can give it.

[Gunstar Green]

Maybe someday we'll get a Zeta Origins that explores her relationship with Char actually, haha.

Maybe, the manga already exists. Look into "Char's Deleted Affair." Definitely worth reading for a Haman fan.

[Xeogred]

Well, holy hotdogs 0080 and 0083 both rocked. I watched 0080 all last weekend, guess I didn't mention that. I liked it more than I remembered even and laughed when the "hamburger" line hit again, since that was a bit of a meme for awhile back in the day. And today I just watched all of 0083 off and on throughout the day... and loved it. Yeah, Kou and Nina aren't super special, that Keith dude sucks, etc, but I seriously didn't have many issues with it this time around. And my god... the blacks, shading, and lightning is probably among the best I have ever seen, by far.

Took some screencaps, this is only a few of them but some cool standouts I thought:
https://imgur.com/a/0mQAtwu

Yep, this train is going to keep rolling and I'll hit up the Zeta movies next, then ZZ. I am super stoked about ZZ, because just like these 0080 and 0083 rewatches, it's going to be such a treat seeing ZZ in BD quality.

I might consider 8th MS Team again maybe later on. That one I rewatched most recently a few years ago but don't recall it doing much for me then. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, it still seems to be one of the favorites among it, 0080, and 0083 from what I see... but who knows.

[Nemoide]

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is hands-down my favorite Gundam series and the only one I'd recommend to any anime fan without reservations.

I'm mostly familiar with the UC stuff and feel like I ought to rewatch everything - especially now that Gundam Unicorn can be had cheaply on Blu-Ray and that I have the ZZ Blu-Rays but haven't actually watched them (I saw the series on Daisuki back when that website was a thing).
And I shared your reaction to 08th MS Team and I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt lukewarm about it! I know it's a lot of people's favorite Gundam, beloved by both hardcore and casual Gundam fans. But it just didn't do it for me. I didn't care that much about the characters or their romance and that seemed to be the main element. On the other hand, I've heard fans say they love it because of the LACK of romance, so maybe my perception was all skewed when I was watching it. I'll give it another chance when I go through my epic Gundam rewatch, whenever that ends up happening.