Quite possibly the greatest and most influential Japanese science fiction ever made, Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) has spawned numerous TV and movie sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, as well as a multitude of written media, comics, and video games. Sometimes referred to as Japan's "Star Wars," Mobile Suit Gundam elevated mecha shows from semi-superhero "Super Robots" into the realm of hard Sci-Fi. Set in a realistic future earth-sphere, painted on the backdrop of a war for independence, is a wonderful character drama with plenty of action as well. Mobile Suit Gundam redefined animation in Japan, and it's influence is visible in modern "anime" works; it elevated animation beyond juvenile entertainment into mature stories, and Japan is still one of the only countries that views the animation medium as being capable of such.

After almost ten years of giant toys ruling anime, 1979 was the Year of the Gundam. Although 25 years old by now, and cheaply produced at the time, this anime is still very enjoyable and deep. Many are the reasons of its success... some here below:

• No aliens coming to rule the Earth. This is a war for independence. Men against men. Same blood color;

• No good guys vs bad guys. Here everyone fights to survive, it doesn't matter if they agree with war reasons or not. It's everyman fight.

• No giant samurai robot vs. monsters from outer space. Robots in "Gundam" are conventional mass produced weapons as good as tanks or choppers, for both sides. They need energy, fuel, ammo, maintenance, logistic, recover, repair, spare parts. Al these goods are often unavailable in the middle of the battlefield;

• No heroes. Just ordinary people, youths throwed in the middle of a war they didn't want and still can't understand. And, in some of them, Fear will ignite boys' growth to become men;

• no fairy tales. In Gundam people, lots of main characters, dies. Often in ungloryous ways. Often in second rank battles. But they always die for what they think is right. Sacrifice to protect a friend, not to win a battle;

Even being closer to war movie than to Sci-Fi, Gundam is still known as one of the most important and revolutionary examples of Science Fiction. I often ask myself why a good expansive Hollywood adaptation of first Gundam series hasn't still be made...

I had the fortune to ignore New Mobile Report Gundam Wing when it came out for the first time in America. The next year the original Mobile Suit Gundam aired on television for the first time and I was attracted by its complexity and depth. All the characters are likable Federation And Zeon.

Completely detailed so to be considered a universe of its own, MSG, apart from the misadventures of the young White Base crew and the obsession of Char Aznable to follow the White Base (carrier ship), is more in the war genre than science fiction. History repeats itself like in World War II when the Germans ceaselessly looked for the perfect machine to defeat Allied Forces, the Zeon ceaselessly look for the perfect mobile suit to combat the Gundam. The determination of winning the war at any cost makes the Zeons meet their own demise at the end of the One Year War. Amuro Ray pilots the Gundam. He and many other crewmates never had any combat experience before being attacked at their own space colony. As they experience the horrors of war, they have to learn to stay alive when Zeon persecutes White Base through space, the earth and back to space again.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack are the only series and movies directly related to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The rest of the Gundam series are alternate versions, or alternate universes.

Mobile Suit Gundam gave new depth to anime from the end of the 1970's well into the present.

In fall of 1979, Kidô Senshi Gandamu (Translated as Mobile Suit Gundam) premiered on japanese television to low ratings and general disinterest among japanese youth. The main problem is that most of the kids who watched Giant Robot animé were used to the thin plots and superheroic meka of the older shows, most of which were little more than thirty minute long toy commercials. They didn't know what to make of the complex plot and deep characters. So the show was canceled, and ended nine episodes early.

However, some months later, something unusual happened. While Gundam toys were gathering dust on the shelves, highly detailed scale model kits based on the show's Mobile Suits were selling incredibly well. And while the japanese networks were offering 'more of the same' in first run broadcast, this little known and seemingly unpopular series was gathering a huge fan following in syndication...

Now, 20 years later, we in the US finally are going to get to see what started it all. I can't believe that such shows as Macross (Robotech: The Macross Saga) and Armor Trooper Votoms, which are the direct line decendants of Gundam in storytelling and portrayal of realistic mecha, would be brought to these shores years ago, while the show that started it all would be left to languish until now.

The way was paved by 1995's visually beautiful, but ultimately empty Gundam Wing. While this was a wise business choice for Bandai, knowing that the spectacular visuals would capture the attention of the 'all important' kids's market, we dedicated fans can't help but wish that the original had been the first one released. Wing, while visually spectacular, is little more than a muddled and overly preachy and pretentious pastiche of the Universal Century saga (Gundam,Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, and Gundam: Char's Counterattack) with out the cohesion of plot that the original shows contain (Although with ZZ, cohesion of plot can be argued.)

Yes, I know that the animation doesn't stand up to Gundam Wing. However, what do you expect? The show was made over 20 years ago. If you want eye candy, go watch Wing. If you want a truly outstanding story and characters, join me to watch the original Gundam, the most influential and important animé of all time, or, if you don't have Cartoon Network, at least watch the compilation movies (Sub only though, as poor Neil Nadelman was for some reason forced to use Star Trek doubletalk in the script for the dub.)

Macross, Evangellion, and Patlabor. All of these series pale in comparison to the original mecha piloted by a young man with a competitive spirit.

Young protagonist Amuro Ray is pulled out of his everyday monotonous life and is thrown headfirst into adventure and war just by pushing a button or two. Amuro must pilot the Gundam to save his friends. Rivals are made, obstacles are presented, and battles are fought, and Amuro through it all becomes a man and a great pilot, but that's only half of this war story. The other half is about the man in red, Char Aznable, the mysterious masked man who is an ace pilot for the fascist Zeon army, who always pilots red mechs, his signature color, hence his nickname "the Red Comet". No one knows where he came from or what his true objectives are, and this is what draws you in to him. His rivalry with Amuro takes center stage in much of the series, and it keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you got it figured out the battle situation changes.

If you are thinking this show is the campy "good guy always prevails over bad guy" cliché, you're in for a rude awakening. The plot and character's features are a staple for future Gundam series, such as Gundam Wing and more recently Gundam Seed. The formula is the same, the main character is a young man thrown into war and finds a bitter enemy in an enigmatic blond masked man. The formula is interpreted differently in both these shows, but Amuro and Char set the standard for an enjoyable plot that can be imitated in many different ways. Always imitated but never duplicated.

Old men tell me War and Peace is something everyone should read, and I tell them Mobile Suit Gundam is something everyone should see. Sure it has giant robots killing each other but behind the machines there are elements of war that are all around the world today. The pitfalls and the possibilities, the consequences of battle and the reason to fight. I rank Mobile Suit Gundam up there with Platoon and Full Metal Jacket since it shows how violent and horrid war can really be.

The definitive anime for 20+ years, Mobile Suit Gundam. Who will survive?

I was quite surprised after watching this cartoon. This is not a usual 20 minutes long toy commercial. In fact, the gundam itself doesn't appear too much in every episode. The plot is more focused on the characters. It's not repetitive, there are no reused animations for battle scenes or any scenes and the place actions are constantly changing from space to Earth, from air to water, and of course, orbital stations. Hell, it even has a side-story! In other words, this anime is way before its time.

It's a story about war and how cruel and pointless one can get. People are dying all the time. Every now and then we get to know some new characters and at the exactly same point we start to like them they get killed. This anime is not for kids. It's for all ages. Its influence on some other cartoons is huge (Transformers, Macross, Neon Genesis Evangellion,...). You should definitely check this one out.

I am not what people might call a "long time fan". My first Gundam show was "Gundam Seed" for crying out loud. I have heard the outcry of many fans as to the unoriginality of Gundam Seed, hence i decided to "go back to the source" and check out the original 1979 Gundam series: The legend that started it all. My chance came when it was shown on local TV for a while(too bad it never completed its run and was replaced by the 3rd rerun of Gundam seed again) "Oh the horror!". My thoughts exactly as i sat through the painfully campy opening theme song. As i shook my head in disgust over the horrendously childish lyrics that sounded like some rejected theme song from Tetsuwan Atom(Astro Boy to you guys in the west), i prepared myself for the worse disappointment in my life.

And i was so proved wrong.

Gundam's story was anything BUT childish or campy. I presented a very real and very engaging war story about a gifted youngster and his friends thrown into the heat of combat by circumstance.

The story goes that "The Principality of Zeon" wages war with the Earth Federation over authority in the outlying space colonies. The war soon spreads to the colony "side 7" where our main character, Amuro Ray, resides. Following an unprovoked attack on the colony, Amuro and his friends stumble across the prototype Federation mobile suit called "Gundam". A series of events lead up to our unlikely heroes landing on board and becoming drafted as the crew of "White Base", a powerful Federation space carrier commanded by the then ensign Bright Noa. This motley gang soon learn to work together and in due time, they and Gundam come to play a pivotal role in the war.

I was at first impressed by how The drama and inter character relationships and interactions play out as good as some live action TV shows and they manage to engage you on an emotional level that many anime fail to. You get a sense that the characters really grow and evolve as the story moves along, never falling too far into the usual stock character stereotypes. Aside from some well developed characters, I like how the story manages to weave in some underlying philosophies and thought provoking points of view on war. It lends an edge to the show that makes it a whole lot "smarter" than your average shonen adventure or super robot series.

I actually found myself more interested in the ZEON side of the conflict. There was a subplot of political backstabbing and "power-play" among the ruling party of ZEON. Very intriguing. What was more intriguing was the mysterious Char Aznable. Aside from being a highly skilled mobile suit pilot and "rival" to Amuro Ray, bits and pieces of his past and ulterior motives are revealed little by little in such a way that makes you want to know more about him. He is easily my favorite character among all the characters from various gundam series.

True to the hype, the numerous battles in Gundam are done so much more realistically than the more recent Gundam Seed and Gundam 00. Also, there is a greater emphasis on teamwork between Amuro in the Gundam, the weapons and support team on White Base and the other pilots in the other mobile suits. The inexperience of the crew and the vulnerability of the Gundam make each battle a true nail-biter with a greater sense of true peril than battles in the recent Gundam series.

Admittedly, this is not an easy series to get into, mainly due to its age. Already mediocre compared to other anime series that came out in the late 70s and 80s, the animation style is painfully dated compared to today's fare. But I urge all you people who are hungry for some well thought out war drama to look past the superficial aspects and embrace the essence of what Gundam is.

Look past the dated animation, skip the opening theme song if you must, and you will find out why MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM is such a well respected and influential anime classic.

PS: Why is Gundam Seed's picture there? This is supposed to be the original Gundam, not Gundam Seed.

Absolutely unbelievable. I cannot begin to even fathom the epic nature of this show, sure you can harp on animation,voice acting and the overall campy nature of the show...But in the end this is a tale of Human nature.

The author and creator has developed a passion for telling the tale of humans nature of war and conflict. Whether or not is personal conflict,love and the progression of age they have every single aspect of humans true nature built into the fibers of this show.

Amuro is a protagonist who losses everything including himself and does not just chose to fight for his freedom but is chosen to do so by the web of fate.

Char the antagonist is a being in himself who represents the same feelings as all of us,he desires pleasure for the ones he loves and the development of humanity over the feelings of himself.

The White base and Amuro are constantly put in a position in which they will fail and all hope will be lost although Amuro and his weapon the Gundam are designed to be the last light of humanity and represents the hope and power of the human spirit...I'm biased when I say Gundam is the greatest Anime ever created. One piece has its content, Eva its desire to make you contemplate life,Death note its sheer awesome nature,Inuyasha and its love story.

Gundam is the connection of Humans and its struggle with themselves and the technology that evolves and creates and hinders are ability to love and destroy one another.

You cannot, Cannot watch Gundam and leave. You have to watch Zeta then ZZ...Then Wing, Seed,Destiny,Unicorn, 00 and then all the minor shows then all the mangas and short stories in between. You cry when the characters you love all die and you cringe when the villains show dominance over the populace.

Gundam is Gundam...its not just light shows and love stores it represents every single viewer and makes them think of what it is to be human and what the future may hold...Although I think I might pass on a future where we all pilot mobile suits as the life expectancy is rather short...In the end I'm in love with every single Gundam. They are the perfect representation of humanity and its desires. A MUST WATCH X1000

Many people pass up the Mobile Suit Gundam TV for the Movie trilogy and you would be making a big mistake to pass up the TV series. Why? Because it was the first Gundam series ever. This was originally supposed to be a 52 episode TV series but had to get cut down to 39. Then Tomino, the director and creator, asked for 4 more episodes and he got them to make the count 43 and created the greatest ending to gundam. Though, and I'm not going to spoil anything but the final battle is much more epic in the movie trilogy than the TV series only because the show was getting canceled and things had to be rushed but whatever was rushed in the TV series was fixed or slowed down in the movies. Theanimation, though from 1979 and 1980 looks really good. I've seen anime from the mid-late 80's and in every gundam series animation, character and mecha designs are all high quality and have the power to stand up to newer anime, but if you were born into watching your anime bright and digital, circa. 1997, then you may be put off by it's animation style however that's your problem for missing something so great because of the animation. I highly, highly, recommend that you see the TV series first but only until episode 38 then watch the movie trilogy because it will be well worth it.

AMURO RAY-A socially awkward teenaged boy that's good with machines. His father designed the Gundam, which Amuro pilots for the Federation once he becomes a member of The White Base. Turns out to be a new kind of human known as a Newtype.

CHAR AZNABLE-The masked and enigmatic piloting ace for the Principality/Duchy of Zeon. Known as The Red Comet, his mobile suits are always custom made with a red color. Also a Newtype, he will become Amuro's rival.

BRIGHT NOA-The highest ranking survivor of the remaining crew of the White Base after it is attacked. A strict person, he simply cares about the people serving under him. He shows a natural aptitude for command.

SODO DEGWIN ZABI-Patriarch of the Zabi family who rules over the Zeon forces.

FRAU BOW-Amuro's neighbor and wannabe girlfriend. She takes over as communications officer for the White Base in the later series.

KAI SHIDEN-A cynical pilot for the White Base. Often viewed as a coward.

HAYATO KOBAYASHI-Amuro's wannabe rival, a short and spunky kid. Pilot for the White Base.

MIRAI YASHIMA-Amateur pilot, she serves in this capacity for the White Base.

SAYLA MASS-First communications officer, then pilot searching for her long lost brother believed to be an ace pilot.

RYU JOSE-A large and gregarious man who serves as piloting instructor for the younger pilots onboard White Base.

LALAH SUNE-A Newtype who is used by the Zeon forces for warfare. She begins a relationship with both Char, her commanding officer, and Amuro, whom she meets by chance.

(This is my first anime review bare with me)

I always secretly admired Mobile Suit Gundam. A lot more than other children did who where just into Optimus Prime and Transformers. (Armada wasn't cool with the 2000's kids) Gundam's first introduction in the US was a rough one and started at the worst time. When DBZ was around ranking up the scores everyone saw G- Wing and weren't interested in it. I wasn't interested in it. But the robots always got me into it besides the frequent melodrama and stupid characters. But however Mobile Suit Gundam though different is much more genuine even though it has aged so badly. But it has a charm. Which I'm going to get into.

-PLOT/STORY- The main plot about Mobile Suit Gundam is about a young boy who has lives in space colony but must evacuate. One day there was anti Earth colony who wanted independence from the Earth federation called Zeon. So they send 3 mobile suits to attack side 7. Once the colony is attacked Amuro Ray has no choice other than to fly the Gundam and destroy the mobile suits and go on a journey to stop Zeon from destroying Earth colonies. The dreaded Zeon's are helped by no other than the Charming Char Aznable. This is not a fun kiddy monster of the week super robo anime. This is serious. It's a drama that will leave sadness and disappointment in your heart. You will feel loss but triumph. There are episodes where characters must survive and look for salt for food. 49 episodes and have tense moments.

-CHARACTERS- Gundam has many characters. Amuro Ray is an every man character. He is not like all the other shounen anime protagonists. He is just a kid that wants to contribute to his school work and society. He starts out as careless but when he is thrusted into battle he becomes caring. But he doesn't want to fight. He wants peace. And peace now. Sooner or later he

Bright Noa is the captain of the team. Who is stern but kind. Doesn't take **** from Amuro or anyone and will slap him if he doesn't listen.

The rest of White Base group are sensitive but smart.

The antagonists of Gundam are space Nazis. They want true superiority of Spacenoids (humans who live in space AKA NewTypes) and independence.

The big antagonist is the charming Char Aznable doesn't like the Zabi's though so he sets to kill all of them. Char is the most interesting character in the series. He has a better reason to be here than anyone.

He instructs Lalah Sune. She is a young Indian girl with a heart of gold.

There is little comic relief other than cute little robot Haaro, Kikka, Katz, Letz, and the snide Kai Shidan.

The main characters won't be too memorable. I mean, this is a mecha anime selling toys. But a lot better than most of what American's market. But still you will care about them.

-ART AND ANIMATION- Like I said MSG 0079 has not aged well. Will not impress many people especially new anime kids who are spoiled by sakuga moments and shiney digitized graphics with intense shading and highlighting. It especially won't impress your mom. However I couldn't help but be impressed. There is a degree of realism in every frame. All this is helped by the cinematography that isn't too straining compared to most Anime of today which has an overdose of camera pans, shakey cam with motion blur, and cringeworthy zooms. Rather cropped in frames of mechanical and tall proportioned characters. The realistic mech designs of the shogun Gundam RX-79, and the Zeon Zakus are just wonderful . Detailed mechanical designs to plains, tanks, and other robots. The cloths are nice. Life like suits There are tons of special effects like flashes that make traumatic moments feel real to them.

The blocky 70's backdrops reminiscent of Star Wars, the clean backdrops that look like the cover of a 60's science fiction novel by Brad Raybury or some generic hard scifi novel with lavish covers, makes it feel very real.

Gundam 0079 may have jerky animation (as most TV anime is), dated Miyazaki quality character designs, hilarious tons of animation errors, lack of shading, but it has stains a sort of realism. It's very retro and rough but charming. Kind of like watching an old Hannah Barbera (Johnny Quest) animation. But more cinematic. It's a mixed bag. So if you can appriciate it compared to I don't know Mazinger Z (not saying that's bad).

This is no kid show. It's violent and has scenes of blood and violence.

-SOUND AND MUSIC- I really enjoyed the dub of Gundam. Brad Swaile did a good job with Amuro. All the cast sound very good. It has a very old school quality to it despite it being made in Canada and sometimes talking like Canadians. For example Fraw Baw (Kristie Marsden) when she say's "sorry" it sounds more like "Sourey". It's cheesy. But I like this dub better than the original. Sorry guys, but I prefer better sound effects than the synthesized noises. I like that metal actually sounds like Metal. The Music is 70's funky disco military goodness. It's very good. I can't help dance to military Funk. But it's all so good. I think it's unique

Overall 8/10

MSG is not for everyone and takes a long time to get into. It is for people who love Star Trek and Metal Gear Solid Saga. Overall, a Mecha classic for all ages to enjoy. If you don't like it. Watch the OVA's or some of the other Gundams (anything before the 2000's really)

Yoshiyuki Tomino's 1979 "Mobile Suit Gundam" started the Real Robot craze in Japan where in anime there was more focus on plot and character development and the robots them self's were treated as weapons of war and not as the Saturday morning cartoon superheroes they were portrayed as back in the early to mid 70s.

Set in a fictional universe in the Universal Century year 0079, the Principality of Zeon has declared independence from the Earth Federation, and subsequently launched a war of independence. The conflict has directly affected every continent on earth, also nearly every space colony and lunar settlement. Zeon, though smaller, has the tactical upper hand through their use of a new type of humanoid weapons called mobile suits. After half of all humanity perishes in the conflict, the war settled into a bitter stalemate lasting over 8 months. Enter teenage Amuro Ray from Side 7 who along with his close friends are thrust into the harsh realities of war and pay the consequences.

For its time the animation was good but nowadays looks clunky and dated. Some of the episodes follow the monster of the week pattern. But beneath this is a great multi layered story of war, loss of innocence, coming of age and of course the blurred line between good and evil.

The voice acting is one of the highlights of the TV show. Mobile suit Gundam launched the careers of famous Japanese voice actors Toru Furuya and Shuichi Ikeda for their portrayals as Amuro Ray and his rival in zeon Char Aznable respectively. The English dub is good as well with Brad Swaile as Amuro and Michael Kopsa as Char.

"Mobile Suit Gundam" is not a show to be missed by mecha fans or hardcore fans of anime in general. The animation might be dated but the story and characters are what drive the show. Don't miss it.

Until this story came out, animated story was considered one for kids. This story talked about a war for the very first time. There were no good guy or bad guy who would confront each other. There were two different justices for both sides and not only just simple purpose as "justice", but also there were intrigues, doubts, treacheries, and personal grudges in both sides. Since this story talked about a war, it also covered for civilian casualities which lead to an uncountable number of orphans, refugees, minors who were forced to fight, and painful separations of such minors and their families.

After this, story like simple confrontation of good and evil is considered one for really small kids.