I haven’t watched any Gundam. What is the recommended watch order for the various Gundam titles on Netflix, or at least where do I start? I also have a sub to Funimation, which appears to have the original 1979 series. I tried looking up a watch order and got even more confused. Why is anime so hard?
Haha, yeah I think it can be impenetrable to people who are approaching this for the first time. If you’re limited to what you can stream legally on Netflix&Youtube I’d suggest
- Gundam Original Trilogy Movies (Gundam I/II/III) - Netflix
- Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon - Youtube Gundam.info Channel (link)
- Gundam Char’s Counterattack - Netflix
- Gundam Unicorn - Netflix
- Gundam Hathaway’s Flash - Netflix
The only major gap in the list above is that it completely skips Zeta Gundam but there’s no legal way to stream that at the moment. The movies are a compilation of the original TV series w/ updated animation and scenes so no need to go the Funimation route. If the dated animation is a huge turn off you can probably skip the OG trilogy and use 0083 as a decent enough entry point - it was the series I watched first when I first got into the series myself (well technically I watched the full OVA series and not the compilation I linked to).
Also, if you’re less interested in the main timeline and just want to get a sense of the ‘feel’ of the Gundam I’d suggest Iron-Blooded Orphans on Netflix. That series is a standalone but captures a lot of the themes pretty well.
Thanks, I really appreciate the guidance! I first started watching anime as a kid with Star Blazers and Battle of the Planets in the late 70s, so I have no problem with a vintage look. I have also rewatched the refreshed version of Star Blazers aka SB Yamato S1 on Funimation recently. I don’t mind watching the 1979 series from an aesthetic standpoint, but if those stories are already covered in the Original Trilogy compilation movies, then I will probably start there or maybe even Iron Blooded Orphans to get a taster.
The compilation movies are quite good and edits/additions of the movies make the series a bit more mature than the TV series. It’s also more ‘canon’ in the sense that future Gundam series never refer to any content that was TV-only. Enjoy!
Ordinarily I’d insist on watching the original series, the recap movies for anime often lose something in the pruning. But with a franchise as, ah, sprawling as Gundam, skipping some stuff is probably just as well.
Some recent watches:
Kill la Kill - what a ridiculous and amazing show. I’m not generally up for as much rampant nudity etc as is in this show, but it’s so tongue in cheek and so silly and so relevant to the themes of the show that I ended up okay with it. And it just keeps topping itself with the absurdity and escalation. And somehow actually ends up being pretty decent sci-fi in the bargain. It’s wild.
Bakemonogatari - I wanted something much more chill than Kill la Kill next. This is definitely that. Almost no action of any kind. Slow, mostly moody character studies with just incredibly gorgeous stylized presentation and, somehow, a different opening sequence including song for every single character arc. Kiiinda problematic with the lechery sometimes. I think i liked it overall but if it were just standard animation, I doubt I’d have stuck around. The presentation was absolutely the most striking part for me. May or may not go on to the other Monogatari stuff. (Of which there is a whole lot.)
Violet Evergarden - remembered I had this on my Netflix watchlist and zoomed through it over a week or so since it’s not that long. Also quite slow paced but holy shit the art on it is gorgeous and I found it really moving, also. Cried almost every episode. (It’s overall optimistic and warm-hearted, not a savage emotional wringer, to be clear. But the main character is an orphan who had some pretty horrific experiences as a soldier and there is a general sense of reckoning with that war and other life tragedies in several of the stories.)
Fate/Zero - started this up with my GF and am about five episodes in. I’m a Fate fan from Stay/night-the-VN but haven’t done any of the anime before. (Enough to see the original fate anime wasn’t very good, that’s about it). Intriguing stuff happening so far. Rider’s a lovable dork. Bluebeard…is not. It’s been ages since I played Stay/night and I didn’t finish the third arc (want to get back to it) so I only half remember the relevant stuff going into this but I think it mostly stands alone?
Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex - I started this decades ago and have listened to the OSTs a million times but I’m committed to actually going and watching the whole thing this time. Not streaming anywhere I have access to at present so I’m using the crappy Bandai DVDs I got ages ago. They don’t look amazing these days (even with upscaling) and are kinda awkward, but it’ll do. Inner Universe remains one of my top all time songs.
The Stand Alone Complex dubs can be watched through Adult Swim, but may require a cable/sat login.
Yeah, i don’t have cable, Adult Swim, or any desire to watch dubs. Trust me when I say I researched whether I could just stream it.
Agh, no legal way of watching Z hurts. You skip quite a lot of history.
Also, no Origin? It’s on Hulu and I think a good watch after the original series. Perhaps after the 8th MS Team, which is also on Hulu. Isn’t there a free month on Hulu or something?
My rec would be:
- Gundam Original Trilogy Movies (Gundam I/II/III) - Netflix
- 8th MS Team - complements the former and gives a different viewpoint into the same conflict. - Hulu
- Gundam The Origin- Hulu - Prequel that brings depth to Char, explains a lot of stuff and is a good setup for whenever Z is made available. I find it a little slow and flat emotionally, but it’s technically really good and the cool Count of Montecristo story story makes up for some of its failings.
- Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon - Youtube Gundam.info Channel ([link](YouTube?
And here I would probably skip to Unicorn. I have very conflicted feeling about Char’s Counterattack (too short for so much of a change since the end of ZZ), and it may get retconned soonish?
Man I really need to see Narrative and Hathaway’s Flash. I’ve been putting them off.
Ex-SWoo
5736
That’s primarily because they only animated about half of the material from the Novel - they skip the whole ‘how did Char get back into power’ storyline. Surprised that you think CCA would get reconned - haven’t heard anything suggesting that from any of the official sources and Hathaway’s Flash is a direct sequel of sorts.
Yeah that half the storyline is missing thing DOES explain many things… It felt really unfinished and strange when I first watched it. Like, wtf is going on? What happened after ZZ?
Being a Gundam fan but restricting oneself to anime is rough.
As for the retcon, that’s just my wishful thinking of them readapting Bertorchika’s children, or perhaps adapting the first part of the storyline. They seem to be plugging holes lately. There’s a big hole around that movie.
I love this one so very much. Also cried in so many episodes. ;)
Ex-SWoo
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Ah - yeah, that would be nice but probably more wishful thinking that anything else :D I guess if internet rumors are to be believed they are setting up for a re-adaptation of the F91/Crossbone Gundam storyline but I’m skeptical… (although funnily enough, the themes explored are probably more relevant now than 20 years ago)
I also had a problem with Unicorn tying to Char’s counterattack. They introduce so many new factions and concepts (Laplace’s box, the foundation) that it feels like it happens much later than it really does.
Does Hathawy’s Flash continue a lot of Unicorn’s stuff or is isolated as if it didn’t really matter? (that is, should I watch Narrative or can I jump to Hathaway’s?)
Crossbone is another thing I only know of through the model kits.
I watched Sonny Boy (1 episode) and To Your Eternity (4 episodes) this weekend. Solid recommendations. Thanks!
I didn’t know Sonny Boy only had one episode. I guess it just started? No idea what it could be about yet.
To Your Eternity changes a lot just during the course of the first episode. And then turns into a different show 2nd episode onward than I was expecting. I like it though.
Unicorn is basically standalone - I think it fleshens out the ideological aspect of the original Zeon leaders (Daikun, not Zabi) than anything else. You can basically turn it off when watching Hathaway’s Flash.
I bounced back and forth on it, but I think overall monogatari is one of my favorite series of all time.
It’s weird and experimental in a way that feels alienatingly self indulgent at first, but is also clearly very deliberately crafted. The relationships of the characters hit my high school nostalgia dead on, in a way that makes them feel very real. It plays with mythology in a modern setting in a sort of Gaiman-y way that is just my favorite thing, and it’s also ends up being a harem anime but also kind of an anti-harem anime. It’s reliance on knowledge of Japanese culture and language is definitely not for everyone, but I rather enjoy the experience of knowing that there are things in there that are just not really for me.
I ended up buying and reading some of the light novels, which are the only light novels I own. I was curious about how much the novels felt like the anime, or vice versa, and honestly, there isn’t much that I could see in the novels that’s missing from the series.
I also love pretty much all the theme songs. They’re a key part of the experience to the degree that the lyrics of each song basically tell the story of the episodes they are paired with, but in a way that’s oblique enough to not be obvious until after you’ve seen the episodes.
draxen
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I’ve been watching the Fate series. Starting with Fate Stay/Night (UFOTable) and followed by the Heaven’s Feel trilogy (also UFOTable). The animation is truly incredible, a real feast for the eyes but the story is utterly confusing. I feel like I understand about 70% of what is going on. Still… the battles are pretty awesome :)
I also stumbled across this video whilst I was looking for a watch order to follow. It gave me a good laugh…
EDIT: No spoilers in the video
I didn’t realize HBO Max had only 6 episodes of To Your Eternity when I started watching. I was surprised to see no further episodes after Episode 6 last night. Not a good stopping point in the story!
Do other streaming services have the dub as well? And past Episode 6?
EDIT: Checking the VRV app on my phone, it looks like Crunchyroll has two more episodes. So not much more than what I’ve already seen. Maybe I’ll wait for the season to end before diving back in.
Otagan
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Yeah, subs are on episode 14 but dubs are back on episode 8. Bear in mind that it’s going to have a 20 episode run so it’ll be a while before the whole thing is done.
