At its core, Gundam is a grounded anti-war drama meant to showcase the horrid truths behind warfare. Civilians die tragically, characters lose people they care about left and right, all because the leaders of Zeon are obsessed with destroying Earth so they can be the premier superpower.

Gundam is a famous series that began in 1979 that follows a young boy named Amuro Ray. Thrust into a war beyond his comprehension, 15 year old Amuro is forced to fight to survive after his home is attacked by a nation of space colonists known as Zeon. Yes, you saw that right. The main character is only 15, and he’s not even the youngest protagonist in Gundam history.

One of the many tragedies showcased in Gundam is the conscription of child soldiers. Characters, like Amuro and the many other protagonists of Gundam, are roped into whatever conflict is the focus of their series at a young age. In Amuro’s case, he had no choice as his home was under attack, and the people defending it were incompetent and few in number.

Throughout the original series, Amuro resists against the fate he’s been dealt as a child soldier, but whenever he tries, he’s either abused or threatened with prison time for illegally using military technology. In Zeta, Amuro is a jaded and lost adult with PTSD. He’s haunted with visions of the people he’s killed, and friends he’s lost.

The worst part is the cycle continues in Zeta, with the next protagonist, a boy named Kamille joining the fight as well. Unlike Amuro, Kamille wants to fight because of his anger issues and strained relationship with his parents. However, when he shows disdain for his situation, he’s beaten into submission as well.

This pattern continues throughout pretty much every mainline Gundam series in the original universe. A consistent theme throughout is the exploitation of young people to fight battles that the older generations have started and are unable to finish. In other words, causing trouble and passing the blame onto their children. This is an excellent point to make, that is, until Victory.

Gundam Victory ran from 1993 to 1994, and it’s a mess from start to finish. It starts like any other, a young boy named Uso, gets roped into the main conflict of the series. Unlike the other shows, however, a child fighting seems to be encouraged. All the characters on the “good” side endorse a child fighting and show little remorse over the concept.

In fact, the one character who calls out the insanity of a child piloting a war machine, turns out to be a psychopath who betrays Uso in favor of the comically evil antagonists. Unlike the previous series, there’s a lack of vision to Victory. Considering Bandai’s meddling in Tomino’s vision for Gundam, it’s not surprising that Victory is mediocre. However, this is not a Victory review.

The problem with Victory’s portrayal of Uso, is there’s no consequences for his involvement in the conflict. In fact, his involvement is seen as a lucky coincidence that led to a better world. This is obviously a ridiculous sentiment. In no reasonable world should a child be a soldier, and yet Victory proudly flaunts this concept as good.

Even worse, is the disaster known as Gundam: AGE, an AU that aired in 2011. It was widely panned for its lackluster story, visuals, and characters. The most egregious choice it made was following in Victory’s footsteps with its portrayal of child soldiers. Once again, the protagonists are kids.

AGE takes an interesting approach by having a timeskip every 15 episodes, and following the previous protagonists’ descendants. After the first protagonist, we go to his son, and then his grandson, who like Uso, is only 13 years old.

Unlike Victory, however, AGE doesn’t have anyone question why a child is piloting a war machine aside from one character, another kid that’s also the first protagonist’s love interest, in the very beginning. In fact, it’s encouraged. The show even paints the love interest’s concerns as being related to her feelings toward the first main character, so it’s not even for the right reasons.

Like in Victory, Bandai had a lot of influence over Gundam: AGE. The lackluster quality makes this obvious, but so does the failure to actually criticize the involvement of kids in all out war. This is a dangerous line to tread, as child soldiers are a real issue that is more common than people want to believe.

When the media tackles real world issues, it must be careful of what stance it takes. If you don’t make a point to show the faults of or have characters consistently condemn certain issues and actions, then you will be criticized for showcasing the issues in a positive light. Even worse, you may actually influence people into thinking that these issues aren’t a problem.

Life isn’t a mecha drama. Kids aren’t roped into brutal warfare with super cool giant robots, they’re given guns that are nearly as big as them, if not bigger. They’re forced to march into battle no matter their age, and many don’t even know why. If you’re going to have children be the focus of your warfare media, then you can’t go half way, especially if your audience is kids.

Kids are impressionable, and when it comes to complicated and heavy topics, you have to spell things out. If they see kids piloting giant robots, they’re going to remark about how cool it is. It’s a shame seeing a piece of Gundam media miss the mark, especially since the fanbases for so many satirical and critical franchises easily miss the point themselves.

For the most part, Gundam gets things right and makes it clear why a child should not be a trained killer. Fortunately, Gundam: AGE and Victory are anomalies, and don’t represent Gundam as a whole.