In my previous article, I introduced you to the Gundam universe, and how unspeakably awesome it is. I took you on a magical mystery tour of how the franchise got started, and what’s behind it, and also gave you a brief overview of it’s core continuity and background – the so-called ‘Universal Century’.

As Gundam grew, so too did the aspirations of it’s directors. Tastes were changing around it, and newer ideas were coming to pass, and in the late 1990’s, the franchise took a bold step.

Generations of Gundam

Gundam had grown bigger and bigger, and had a core base of loyal fans. But, as always, there was the need for more. The franchise hadn’t stagnated – but instead, it needed something new, and something different.

At this time, the Super Robot genre, as discussed earlier, was going through a renaissance. The reasons behind that are many fold (and will be discussed in a later article from me, woohoo!), and the popularity of such shows was on the increase. And so, Sunrise and Bandai took a bold step. In 1994, the show expanded out of the Universal Century, and in a radical departure from the Real Robot genre it had established, and the core continuity of the Universal Century, with it’s now over 100 years of continuity, along came a new universe, and a new series – ‘Mobile Fighter G-Gundam’.

A real departure from the ideas and concepts Gundam had established so far, G-Gundam went back to the Super Robot roots, and took a departure from the serious, though-provoking world of the UC, and into a crazy, brightly coloured world, where wars were decided on a barren, blasted Earth by the use of staged ‘Gundam Fights’, between all countries.

The plot was relatively simplistic, and the characters far larger than life – like the machines they piloted, they represented their countries…

Yes. It turns into a fish. No, I'm not joking.

…Yeah.

Or as the ‘Mermaid Gundam’ shows – a crude and mildly offensive stereotype of them, at least. The series was full of martial-arts posturing and homages, and while not popular on it’s first run, received praise and a dedicated fanbase in later incarnations for it’s over-the-top action sequences and outlandish appeal.

Following this first successful experiment with an alternate setting, further series were released in different timelines. This time though, the idea taken was much more serious. The next series would become a runaway success, and is still well known to this day – Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Pretty boys, pretty robots.

Gundam Wing told the story of another alternate world, but this one was a strange future, where an enigmatic ‘Organization of the Zodiac’ – Oz – rules the Earth, and the Space Colonies in an uneasy peace, enforcing the rules with it’s powerful mobile weapons.

Into the midst of this, four teenage pilots (who are all very handsome boys), are sent in their outrageously powerful Gundam Mobile Suits to wreak havoc and eventually destroy Oz, to allow the people to govern themselves again.

Gundam Wing was the first Gundam series to be dubbed fully and professionally into English, and was designed as a more action-oriented show with less political manoeuvring and focus than earlier shows – but not ignoring it completely, of course.

Partly, this was a savvy move on Bandai – the well-known parent company of Sunrise Studios – to ease Gundam into a more western market.

Focusing on four teenage pilots, with extremely powerful mobile suits, each following a different motif and with a distinctive design and flair, the four pilots each came from a different background. Unlike the military characters of other shows, they were ‘freedom fighters’ against Oz. The designs of the characters, especially the Gundam Pilots themselves, and many other elements of the show, were also notably designed to attract a female audience as well as a male one – something that apparently succeeded, if the number of fan websites for the individual pilots are anything to go by.

Despite being an alternate universe show, Wing still filled in all the key ideas for a Gundam series – the masked villain, troubled heroes, and exciting mecha battles, as well as a morally complex story.

The hugely powerful mobile suits, with their distinctive themes and designs were also very popular with fans, and the model of multiple ‘heroic’ Gundams would be repeated in later series, to the point of becoming a staple element.

Wing received a warm response in the US, debuting on Cartoon Network, and was the first show for the channel to be aired in an ‘edited’ daytime version, and a late-night ‘unedited’ version, that left the dialogue (such as using the word ‘kill’ instead of the clumsy and unintentionally hilarious-sounding word ‘destroy’) intact.

The reception to this idea was so great, that it later influenced the creation of the now-famous ‘Adult Swim’ block, which bought more anime to Cartoon Network.

Wing was followed by more alternate universe shows, such as Gundam X, which was less successful – so much so, that it was cancelled halfway through it’s run.

Many reasons have been cited for the death of the series, but it is believed that too many Gundam suits, a nonsensical plot about newtypes, and a generally fonsuing and repetitive story, coupled with a poor choice of slot by the channels that showed it, lead to the series’ downfall.

It wasn't that bad!

Gundam took a years break from TV schedules after this, finally deciding the time was right for a rest – but then it exploded back into life in spectacular style.

The Alternate Universes and the Universal Century had a meeting of sorts with the return of the original creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, to his creation. For the 20^th Anniversary of Gundam, Tomino wanted to do something special and spectacular, so he had decided to direct the new TV show.

Tomino had also recovered from the deep depression that had plagued him during the creation of Victory Gundam¸ the last Gundam Series he had directed, that had lead to it’s ultimately dark and hopeless tone – and as such, the new series, dubbed Turn-A Gundam, is ultimately a much more hopefully and optimistic show.

Turn-A’s story takes place in what is at first glance a parallel universe – but later is discovered to be a potential future of the Universal Century, where all previous incarnations of the series take place at various points in history.

Distinctively animated, and full of romantic imagery, Turn-A stands tall

The show tells a complex and moving story, replete with beautifully designed characters and gorgeous backgrounds, rich music by Japanese music supreme Yoko Kanno, and futuristic, radical mecha designs by famous futurist Syd Mead.

The series markedly divided fans, most notably over the design of the Turn-A Gundam itself. But overall, it was marked up as a success, and certainly a worthy tribute to the series as a 20^th Anniversary. The Turn-A itself has also established a following and notoriety – both as one of, if not the most, powerful mecha in the Gundam meta-continuity, and as a recognisable feature, as it has turned up in many subsequent video games, and was chosen as the 100^th Master Grade Gundam model (more about those later).

Turn-A’s success revitalised the franchise, though there was a gap in the schedule for a year or so – a gap that lead to the later alternate universe show, Gundam SEED.

SEED was a runaway success in both it’s homeland and the US. Retelling and re-imagining the original Gundam, it gave a new cast of characters, a new

Gundam Seed introduced Gundam to a new generation

universe, and a plethora of new mobile suits. Becoming a big success, it was dubbed into English, and again shown on Cartoon Network, giving the franchise the boost it needed in the USA to become a big name.

So successful was Gundam SEED, that it became the first Gundam Alternate Universe saga to get it’s own sequels, as well as spinoffs – Gundam SEED Destiny, Stargazer and Astray. Rumours persist of a movie forthcoming as well, expanding the continuity of the ‘C.E.’ universe even further.

The Alternate universes continued too, with the release of Gundam 00, which was set in the wildest and most unusually named alternate setting of all – the AD calendar!

Yep – 00 apparently takes place in the 22^nd century of our world, and frequently references past events, named countries, and more. Edgier than some series before it, the characters are like dark shadows of the ‘G-boys’

More pretty pilots, and more pretty mecha

from Gundam Wing, and their mobile suits similarly are like alternate versions of those units. The story is similar also – but different enough that it doesn’t feel like a re-telling. 00 has now finished it’s run – but again, the fanbase is strong, and audiences in the West are being given the chance to enjoy this series now too.

The UC continued strong alongside these alternate universes, however. OAVs, manga, animated ‘shorts’ and other material supplemented the ‘Alternate’ sagas, and supported it’s older fanbase, some of whom still remained loyal to the ‘original’ setting, and shunned the ‘new’ generations – much like there are Star Trek fans who shun the Next Generation and it’s ilk for the Original Series, and so on and so forth.

With the release of Gundam Wing, and other dubbed follow-ups, Gundams’ popularity grew in the West as well as Japan, as (through the medium of the internet), fans got hold of the series they wanted, and this eventually lead to official releases in later years too, for many of the other series, including UC continuity titles. However – things were confused for a long time, as Bandai didn’t release the original Gundam 0079 in it’s movie format until years after several of it’s sequels had been available! For fans in the UK, things were worse – we didn’t get Gundam series – universal century, especially – until only a few short years ago!

But things were changing. With the popularity of first Wing, and then SEED, fans clamoured to throw their money at Bandai, who gave in, and Gundams’ other supporting pillar planted itself in the fertile earth of the West – Merchandising.

Gundam takes over the world

Mecha shows are driven by the inclusion of the robots. And while it can be effectively argued that they are science fiction shows, the uncomfortable truth is that they also exist because it’s very easy to make lots of plastic models and toys of robots, which then sell to children and collectors alike.

As I mentioned earlier, Gundams original debut was heavily influenced by the toymakers during its initial airing. Action figures were produced to begin with, but it was something unexpected that really kicked off the merchandise craze.

In the early 1980s, following the release of the Gundam Movies in cinemas, Bandai produced the first early series of model kits.

Crude, and lacking in detail, they were also inexpensive by today’s standard. However, they were revolutionary at the time, and begun a craze for the kits.

Many of this first wave sold out in record time. Bandai knew they were onto a winner, and so the phenomenon was born. More and more kits were created and produced, covering all sorts of mobile suits and their variations, and growing in complexity and detail. In the 1990’s the model line really took off, with the inclusion of parts that allowed the kits to be moved and made posable. The Gundam Plastic – or ‘GunPla’ model craze boomed, and became a phenomenon in it’s own right.

What you can do with the models is impressive

Bandai did something else different too – they introduced different ‘grades’ for their kits, based on complexity and size of the models, giving modellers a range of different options to suit both their budget and their skills, and each line also included different mecha and vehicles from the other, allowing builders to hunt down their favourite suit and build it.

Newer and newer parts were introduced, along with clever modelling and building techniques that allowed for hyper-detailed kits – eventually culiminating in the release of the massive 1:60 scale ‘Perfect Grade’ kits.

Standing a good two feet tall, and with thousands of pieces each, and details such as opening inspection hatches, and fully detailed internal workings, light up eyes, and all manner of other widgets, the Perfect Grade series are for the serious modeller – yet they are still clip together kits!

Bandai have made only a few Gundam kits...

‘Gunpla’ is such a phenomenon in it’s own right, that it has been recognised outside Gundam shows – both the anime series ‘Sergeant Frog (aka Sgt. Kerororo)’ and ‘Genshiken’ feature Gunpla, or gunplay builders quite heavily.

It is no wonder then, that Gundam action figures and models dominate over ninety Percent of all character based models in Japan, and there are Gunpla modelling contests held in Japan, and even internationally!

As well as models though, there are products for everything, from video games, to snack foods, key chains, posters, calendars, CDs of music from the shows, and even more unusual things – theme park rides, commemorative stamps, and more.

The influence of Gundam is so much so, that in Japan a 1:1 scale statue of the original Gundam Mobile suit was erected this year to commemorate the 35^th anniversary of the series’ debut, and Gundam has been recognised as a ‘culturally important artefact’ by the Japanese government.

Japan prepares for Godzilla attacks

So, all in all Gundam is much, much more than any other giant robot animated series. It is a cultural trend-setter, originating a whole genre of imitators, parodies, and respectful homages to it’s themes and ideas. It has spawned thirteen TV series, six original movies, ten OAV series, one amusement park ride, a less than successful live-action movie, and more than fifty different manga spinoffs, which could warrant an article themselves.

Again to compare it to Star Trek, it’s a franchise that shows no sign of stopping, despite being mature in age. There are still new stories, new fans, and new ideas to come. The animated products are finally making their way across the globe and expanding out of Japan and off of the back-market dealings of internet sharing-sites and Bit Torrent into legitimate releases – Gundam isn’t going to go away, and the big granddaddy of mecha is still ready to inspire and father many more armour-plated children, and many more legions of fans.