Episode 368: Gundam (Universal Century)

You missed one, that I only know of do to this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNrmsx3S6w4 Because WHAT EVEN IS THIS!

Tentomon4

A+ guest lineup, though as someone who's never seen any Gundam this was one of the hardest to follow episodes I've ever heard. If I find some beginner's guide elsewhere and dig into some of this, then returning to this episode later will probably work much better for me. That is one massive ocean to dive into.

takeshikitano3

This isn't really about Gundam, but in this episode Jeremy mentioned that he'd learned some interesting things about the effect of Japan's postwar experience on pop culture. If that's a topic that interests any of you, I highly recommend the book "Embracing Defeat" by John Dower, a professor of history at MIT. The book offers a fascinating treatment of the way the U.S. occupation shaped modern Japanese government and culture.

Happily I have discovered that a large amount of Gundam is available on Netflix in Japan. Time to give it a go!

Diamond Feit

Great episode indeed. Austin's always a very good guest on podcasts and has a fountain of knowledge, despite holding some views about certain anime and other media that are almost the opposite of my own (mainly dunking on things that I consider good or fun). It didn't detract from the episode, but I'd be lying if I didn't remark on it.

JUGO

Great episode! Thank you Jeremy, Kat and Austin for keeping me awake while driving to work.

Some of them are on Funimation, Unicorn is on Netflix (at least in Canada)

This was super fun! Thanks for the great podcast - I love gundam and the discussion was just fantastic!

This was quite the dive through Gundam, thanks to Jeremy, Kat and Austin for this really informative podcast! I really need to check out Gundam one of these days; in its heyday in the US I didn’t get Cartoon Network so I missed out on the domestic broadcasts through Toonami but some of my friends had the network and I knew of it. For a minute I was into building the model kits, and definitely played a lot of Gundam Battle Assault 2 back then, which for a licensed fighting game wasn’t terrible, in the early aughts that game was one reason many of my friends kept their PS1 consoles around.

Andrew Grieve

I was actually pretty worried about listening to this episode as it was labeled UC. I kind of expected some light ribbing of the AU series. I feel like I'm a rather odd Gundam fan in that I honestly prefer the AU series over UC. Don't get me wrong, I like First Gundam(though The Origin manga to me is the best way to experience that story), but things like Zeta and Unicorn leave me cold. Showing my age here, but I lived during the pre-Zeta US release days as well where the cool anime fans would let us youngins know how great Zeta Gundam was. When I finally got the expensive Bandai Entertainment DVD boxset, well I was a little disappointed. I found Zeta to be a poorly paced mess. A show lacking momentum. "Hey the whole Titan conflict is reaching a climax, lets instead deal with this crazy new type who is your sister!" or " Four is back....again". So I feel a bit vindicated to hear Jermey's problems with Zeta. A lot of the other UC stuff just features characters and plotlines that I in the end have a problem connecting to. Like UC has to continue Tomino's knack for featuring humans that don't act like people. Though I will say I feel like Thunderbolt with its older characters, "edgy" art direction, and just well good direction, in general, is one of the few UC installments that feels like the realistic robot show people claim all of UC feels like. I like the AU series for much of the same reason I like a lot of Japanese series. Godzilla, Final Fantasy, Tales, Dragon Quest, and so on are all series that have no problem making installments that play with their series general vibe. Presenting the troupes and familiar archetypes in new ways. The fun to me is seeing what these creators will do with Gundam this time. That's why I often recommend watching an AU series over the UC. Beyond the fact that a more modern aesthetic could be pleasing, they also lack the baggage of the UC. Like most people my age I found my way into Gundam through Wing as well, but also through the games. My area didn't have Cartoon Network. VHS from Suncoast was my gateway, but also Blockbuster carrying the PS2 games like Journey to Jaburo. While a cliff notes version of Gundam, it was no doubt a solid starting point to see what the story was. Well with all that said, I just want to add that I greatly enjoyed the podcast.

Jordan Coleman

Oh my god Kat and Austin are the most hilariously energetic and knowledgeable guests. A+

crystalhearts

What's the best way to watch some of these series besides pirating or blurays? Are these on Crunchyroll?

"Gendou could NEVER." ~ Austin Walker, 2021

SatelliteOfLove

Now I want an Austin, Kat, Parish spin-off podcast!

IIRC the actual first American released Gundam game was actually the first (and only) Gundam game done by an American studio. It was called "Gundam 0079: The War for Earth" released in 1997 for Playstation/PC and is done in the style of a Western point and click adventure game mixed with an FMV game, complete with some actually pretty good mid-90's CGI but TERRIBLE real life Western actors trying to portray the characters from the first Gundam including an American Char (called Shar here) who looks like a B-Tier Cosplayer. Plus the entire thing is only 30 minutes long cut-scenes included. Also being the first American Gundam game ever it has a ton of bad translation and lore mistakes, including how it's not the Earth Federation as the protagonists it's UN Spacey (yes of Macross fame). Check it out on YouTube it's hilariously awful.

SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask

now THIS is a line up

SatelliteOfLove

Well, I guess I’d better go watch Gundam for the first time now.

Kormakur Gardarsson

My love of Gundam started with Gundam Wing. I have a hard time going back to GW nowadays (its flaws are more apparent to me at 34 than they were at 14), but I still love revisiting the original Mobile Suit Gundam and its spin offs. The thing I love most about the original series? How unafraid it was to be slow, quiet, and, at times, simple. I watched Gundam 00 recently and I was just overwhelmed by how much stuff is happening at basically every moment. I've felt the same about other more modern Gundam shows. Regardless, it's the rare Gundam series that doesn't entertain me, and I'm always happy to watch all those ridiculous giant robots smash into each other.

Stew Shearer

AUSTIN “PROFESSOR KILLER” WALKER?!?!?! YES!!!!!

David Hendren

You guys really got the right guests with this one. I've always wanted to know about Gundam and now I'm an expert.

Normallyretro

This is the episode I needed that I didn’t know I wanted! SD Gundam G Generation Genesis was my introduction and entry point into the world of Gundam, so am glad Jeremy let Kat at least mention it and hope he’ll (begrudgingly) allow it some more time at some point. Perhaps within the context of a Super Robot Wars episode, which after this I would now really love to hear!

Phil Cobley

GUNDAMIT! * Just finished the episode, I can say I have learned much more about the scope of what is Gundam. *I personally enjoyed the guests and the fact that as a whole, brought Information to the episode, always refreshing when not rehashing common knowledge. *Question, were their any toys/gunpla made directly from the games (not the original source material manga/anime).