#stuff happened and I wasnt able to chew on this ask until a day later G O M E N

[haropla]

If I may grovel for my life for a second. I would like to clarify that what I meant about 0079 was that (imo) the show is better approached as its own finite story, than the first chapter of an unsinkable multimedia franchise, unlike how people talk about stuff like a new hope or w/e.

whether or not this saves my hid I would also like to say I hope you had, or are going to have a nice day! :)

ahhhhhh nyaruhodo. I’m kind of on the fence with this bc obviously 0079 is fantastic on its own, but I love how you can clearly see not just tomino wrestling with the behemoth he created by wanting to chart unexplored territory in anime when you go from 0079 into zeta, and then the world and themes expand and become more textured when you go from zeta -> ZZ -> cca. (even into unicorn and narrative if we’re being generous and including stuff that wasn’t written by tomino and also wants to explore gundam’s legacy both in and out of universe.) that’s something you can’t quite get out of just one ~50 episode/4 cour anime. (and gundam AGE tried! and it was bad!!)

on the other hand, good god the times when both audience members and other creators tackle gundam and they really don’t get it and completely miss the point of what made 0079 not just great but keeps it relevant even four decades later is just so So infuriating.

gundam 0079 from 1979 says there’s good and bad people on both sides of the war and that being a powerful soldier won’t solve everything, while gundam SEED from 2002 says Only people allied with the protagonist are good people, everyone else is cartoonishly evil and we can solve racism (but keep eugenics since that’s what makes our protagonist special) with just one spaceship and two good mobile suits with backpacks. three spaceships in the sequel.

gundam 0079 says child soldiers necessary in this specific circumstance bc it’s for survival and it’s ultimately bad because every episode ends not with Cool Robot moment, but with some tragic note that reminds us War Is Bad. gundam IBO from 2015 says child soldiers that aren’t the protagonist and friends are bad, and our protagonist who is a sociopath and that makes him the Best child soldier in the setting is the coolest, even. and then in the second season turns around and says “you’re dumb for Ever thinking child soldiers are cool, GOTTEM.” because outright contradicting your messaging and insulting your audience that actually liked your show makes for Deep Writing (tm) .

and g-witch wasn’t perfect but still a Pretty Good gundam entry, but the fact that they’re following up g-witch with a SEED movie only now when the outline has been complete for a decade means sunrise/bandai namco is banking on g-witch’s acting as a cushion in case that movie flops super hard and there’s a nonzero chance they rushed g-witch’s conclusion because they wanted to pivot all that attention and resources to SEED and AAAGHHHHH I hate gundam being an unsinkable media franchise and wish it died gracefully with Turn A Gundam back in 1999 sometimes!!!

all that being said, your hide is safe, this ask was a good one, and I hope! your day! is also going well too!!