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Endmaker @ani.social

Please suggest some Gundam-like shows to watch

Hi all, I came back to anime after a long hiatus thanks to Witch from Mercury.

Since then, I've watched a bunch of anime - including many masterpieces - but nothing could scratch that itch like a Gundam series could.

So now I'm look for more Gundam shows to watch.

It doesn't have to be Gundam exactly (or even anime!). As long as it shares the main features, I would consider it to be Gundam.

From what I observed, the following themes are essential to Gundam series:

War - To be specific, it shows how war is bad, and that nobody truly wins in a war.

Child soldiers - Usually forced to fight, or manipulated into fighting (by people who would usually get revealed to be the real villains later).

Politics - What started the war, or kept the war going. The politicians tend to be the ones manipulating others.

Tragedy - In war, people are obviously going to die. Personally I would prefer if the main cast gets a happy ending though.

Discrimination - It can be discrimination over race, class, etc.

"Mecha" - I am using the term mecha loosely here, because it doesn't really have to be a robot that's piloted. It can simply be some kind of enhancement or weapon of war, or something symbolic; usually a game-changer in the war.

Other themes that I have noticed are common but not really essential include:

romance subplot - Looks like in war, love gives people hope, as well as the drive to keep on living.

dystopian setting - It could be the lasting effect of previous wars, or the consequences of politics.

Finally, these are not really themes, but I've noticed these trends:

  • the protagonist tends to not fit in with their society
  • there's usually an ensemble cast; would likely be the protagonist's found family
  • the protagonist's team tend to switch sides in the later stage of the show to fight against the true villains; usually resulting in a three-way conflict
  • the mechas would progressively get upgraded over the course of the show
  • usage of WMD (e.g. a giant laser beam)
  • there's someone - usually a villain - whose face is hidden, usually with a mask; tend to have a grandiose plan (i.e. Char clone)
  • there's a princess character who may have some level of influence or authority over the others, or is otherwise special in some way; tend to serve as the love interest of the protagonist; hair color usually stands out from the rest of the cast

To avoid overlaps, here are the Gundam-like series that I have watched / plan to watch.

Watched:

Planning to watch (based on hearsay about their similarity to Gundam):

These are the Gundam series that I have watched:

And these are the ones I'm planning to watch at the moment:

Thanks in advance for the recommendations.

42 comments

  • Two thumbs up for Gurren Lagan and Code Geass. Seconding the suggestions for Rahxephon and Escaflowne. Surprised nobody has mentioned Evangelion (unless I'm blind, in which case disregard). Full Metal Panic is another favorite of mine. I haven't watched Gasaraki in forever but I remember it keeping me on the edge of my seat.

    Without knowing what other Gundam you've seen aside from WfM, I'm going to make my default recommendation: start at the beginning and watch in production order. The core Universal Century arc of 1st Gundam, Zeta, Double Zeta, and Char's Counterattack laid the foundation for everything that came after. From there, you can continue on with UC if that caught your attention with a bunch of excellent OVAs and a full series that's far future enough that it's only barely connected. (Crossbone animation when Sunrise???) Again, I recommend keeping production order.

    Or you can jump into any alternate universe that catches your eye. G is a big tonal change but stands well on its own. Wing was my entry point, and I do have the feels for it, but objectively I don't think it's holds up very well. X has some dedicated fans but I've always found it kind of middling. Turn A is absolutely beautiful. Seed is extensive and polarizing. OO was pretty good. IBO is like a gut punch but worth it. And then there's the Build universe, which has some awesome entries and some that weren't so good.

    tl;dr Want more Gundam? Watch more Gundam. 😁

  • I am far from a connoisseur in the genre. The only mecha I have really watched is Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, Evangelion, and more recently, Bravern. Some thoughts...

    • Gundam Wing is an absolute classic for me since I was in my formative years back when it was airing. It is a good mix of politics, drama, war, and some romance. It also has a compelling enough ensemble cast that you aren't bored when the story spends some time away from certain characters. I have no idea where this show fits into the great Gundam-verse, but I think it was easy enough to follow on its own, at least it was for me as a teenager (so maybe I just didn't care? idk).
    • Escaflowne is a different feel. It feels more like a shoujo series in that the main character is female and is embroiled in a love triangle with two guys (the gentleman and the bad boy more or less). It also incorporates fantasy elements into the story, being an early example of an isekai, before it was even called that. The story gets a bit weird at the end, but it is full of good character drama and checks off a lot of your list; war, romance, politics.
    • Bravern is a parody of the genre and a comedy. It is honestly probably one of the most fun series I have watched in the past year. It will swing between the grim realities of war (death, destruction, torture...) in one scene and then be cracking jokes in the next. It is hard to truly describe with words what watching Bravern is like. It is an interesting blend of the two types of mecha out there: the real mecha where these things are machines and tools used by humans, and the super robot variety in which there is one superpowered robot that is sentient and helps to save humanity.

  • Probably unexpected suggestions, but these anime totally fit your criteria:

    • Guilty Crown
    • Kill La Kill

    Guilty Crown is hitting a lot of the themes you've spoken of, but perhaps not in the ways you'd expect. It's not particularly a "mecha" anime but as you say, there's a macguffin that serves as a similar driving force of much of the spectacle and combat sequences.

    Kill La Kill comes from the same studio as Gurren Lagann so it's no surprise that it kinda strikes a lot of the same chords, but here the mechas are replaced with.... getting naked? no wait come back i swear-

    And, I'd be lacking if I didn't recommend this even though it's not anime:

    • RWBY

    RWBY is an excellent show - give the animation time, it gets better very fast. Season 1 flies by with short episodes so you don't really have to deal with the lower animation quality for very long. The writing is splendind, the music is outstanding, and it strikes every note you've mentioned. I feel deep, deep feelings for the cast of characters, and I have no doubt you will too.

  • No mecha, but for War is Bad and child soldiers I feel like you can't do better than Vinland Saga. Its a story about war, the trauma it causes, and recovering from that trauma. Its a historical war manga by someone who abhors violence and its stunningly beautiful

42 comments