Most people have heard of Gundam at least once. It’s a powerhouse that rivals franchises like Star Wars and Halo in terms of popularity. After all, you can’t say it hasn’t had an effect when size accurate statues exist in not just Japan, but China as well. Gundam is a long running series with a legacy that seems intimidating, but it’s surprisingly easy to get into.

Created by screenwriter and novelist Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979, the first Gundam series, “Mobile Suit Gundam”, is a tragic war drama set far in the future known as the Universal Century (or U.C.) A devastating war between the people of earth and the people of an assortment of space colonies has ravaged the human population. 

Gundam wastes no time explaining how horrifying war is with one of its opening lines claiming that half of the entire population of humanity was annihilated in just the first month. At first this seems outrageous considering the population was nearly nine billion people before the war, but the show will soon back up its claims.

The original series has a young 15 year old boy named Amuro Ray as its protagonist – which begs the question, why a child? One of the core themes of the original Gundam series is that the adults in power have become corrupt and complacent. This message is especially important as the younger characters are the ones who suffer the consequences of the war the most.

This core theme continues throughout most of the U.C, but it eventually falls apart in the spin offs set in other universes. The first Gundam is a dramatic and surprisingly grounded mecha anime that shows the journey of a teenager being roped into a war, and the effects it has on him as a person. The AUs (alternate universe) however, which are the main focus of this article, deviate from this point and make their own profound messages.

If you’re looking to get into Gundam, these AUs are the best place to start. Not only are they more visually appealing than the 1979 series (which is obviously quite dated), they’re more in tune with the modern world. After all, 1979 was very different from 2024.

The best AUs to start with are “Gundam SEED”, “Iron-Blooded Orphans” (IBO), “Witch From Mercury” (WFM), and “00”. These AUs all take place in their own timelines and each take a stab at the Gundam concept in different ways.

For example, “00” is a subversion of the standard approach with the Gundam not necessarily being a weapon of war being used as a symbol for peace, but a tool that can be a savior or destroyer depending on who uses it. Meanwhile, “Iron-Blooded Orphans” focuses on the exploitation of children in a different way, and shows how said exploitation creates emotionally stunted people.

These four series are the best to get into because they are not only fairly recent (“Witch From Mercury” began in 2022), but they have different concepts that all fully understand the original concept they’re adapting. Gundam has always been about how war makes victims of us all, no matter what side we fight for.

“SEED” and “00” emphasize this by having us see the personal lives of characters on both sides of the main conflicts they are centered around, even going so far as to focus on unsuspecting citizens and how the war affects them. Meanwhile WFM and IBO, go straight into the interweaving politics that cause wars, and have a diverse cast with different backgrounds.

If that’s not interesting enough, Gundam has no shortage of high stakes action and entertaining characters, like the twisted yet strangely noble Char Aznable from the original trilogy, the optimistic yet self-conscious Suletta Mercury from WFM, and the deadpan but determined Mikazuki from IBO.

SEED, IBO, and 00 have intense shounen battle anime styled combat with drama behind the scenes, while WFM focuses more on political thriller and tense drama between characters that often leads to the action.

Of course, it would be foolish to not at least recommend giving the original series and its follow ups a try. Though it’s dated, the franchise would be nothing without “Mobile Suit Gundam”. Besides, absolutely stellar pieces of Gundam media like “War in the Pocket”, “Unicorn”, and “Thunderbolt” are so great because of the context from the original series.

Now a lot of Gundam media was mentioned in this article and it may be confusing where to start. Though many of them take place in AUs, a lot of things are shared, like faction names and sometimes even locations. Full disclosure, though this is no coincidence, they’re not connected to the originals unless fully stated. If you’re unsure, here’s an article to clear things up.

Gundam is an incredible franchise with so much to offer. Even if you’re uninterested in watching the shows, the model kits are impeccable and worth getting into regardless of your enjoyment of the media it comes from. After all, there’s nothing cooler than giant robots.