Toksan's Guide to Watching (and reading) Gundam

Hi all!

Toksan here. I have a few friends who haven’t seen any Gundam, and have no idea how to watch it. Since it’s a really long series with lots of entries and timelines, I tried to find a guide to watching I could give them. I didn’t find any that I was happy with, so I decided to make my own!

I may say things that differ from your own opinion about shows, but please remember I’m a person, I guess? Thanks!

I haven’t seen the entirety of Gundam, just most of it. Hopefully, I will be able to update this once I’ve seen everything to completion.

I have also included the relevant manga and novels that are a part of the Gundam universe! I have not included gag or spin-off stories that are not canon or important to the core of Gundam. I found this information through gundam.fandom.com, so if you're curious, go check out their list of manga and novels.

Well, here goes. My exhaustive guide to watching (and reading) Gundam.

Things that you read will be marked in red.

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In terms of what you need a watchguide for, the only really complicated and long series is the Universal Century (UC) timeline. This guide does not include the actual list of UC entries, as that has been moved to its own watchlist, which you will find the link to below.

For the majority of this guide, I list the series that are outside of UC. Some timelines have multiple series and even a movie, but besides watching those in order within their respective timeline, you can watch these alternate timelines in any order and not have any issue understanding anything.

Manga and Novel entries - while not "watched" - are in red. I am not adding every manga to this list - there is a lot, many with very interesting premises. I am only adding the ones that I feel are important to "core" UC. Once again, I am getting the names and dates for these manga from the Gundam Wikia!

Where to Start

After a quick poll on Twitter, I compiled the following list of the best Gundam shows to start with, if you have never seen Gundam, and would like to enter it.

00 Gundam, for a fan favorite, and an all-around solid anime

Iron Blooded Orphans or Thunderbolt Gundam, for the gritty hardcore fights, and a modern look

Mobile Fighter G Gundam, for the fun Saturday morning cartoon vibes of a mid-90s anime

0080: War in the Pocket, for a healthy introduction to Universal Century

Gundam: The Origin, to start from the very beginning of the original timeline

Mobile Suite Gundam (Movies), for a quick way to enter from the ground floor

Wing Gundam, for a classic fan favorite

The Build series, starting with Build Fighters, for an easy transition from shonen to mecha

After War Gundam X, for a solid mech anime, and a backdoor introduction to the Universal Century

(Edited 1/9/2023) As of 2022, Witch from Mercury started airing, and is also a great place to start! At the time of writing this, the first part just finished airing, so I can't say many specifics besides it being very beginner friendly and a fresh take on the franchise tropes!

The Franchise

Below is the list of the whole animated and manga series!

Universal Century (UC)

There used to be a huge block of guide here, but I've moved the Universal Century to its own watchguide, which you can find here: https://toksanalpha.wixsite.com/toksansguide/post/uc-gundam-guide

While Universal Century is the longest timeline, there are many other, much different stories, listed below!

Mobile Fighter G-Gundam (FC)

Saturday morning cartoons, but Gundam!

It has a few manga, listed here:

MFGG: 7th Fight, a prequel to the anime

MFGG Side Story: Flying Dragon Legend, MFGG Side Story: Tower of Death, MFGG: Edge of Gunsmoke, and MFGG: Revenge of J Gundam all happen during the anime

MFGG The Next Generation, a sequel to the anime

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing/New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (AC)

The most well-known Gundam series, maybe. It is most people's first Gundam, because it aired on Adult Swim a while ago. It has a movie called Endless Waltz that acts as an end to the series.

The manga for this series is as follows: Wing Endless Waltz: Glory of the Losers, which refines the original series, and ties in a few side stories.

Other side stories include New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Sidestory: Tiel's Impulse, Battlefield of Pacifists, Blind Target, and Ground Zero. There's also the "G-UNIT" side story, which goes:

MSG Wing: Episode Zero -> New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Dual Story: G-Unit -> MSG Wing G-UNIT Operation Galiarest

There's also a few novels, including one called Frozen Teardrop, which takes place in the Mars Century, 20-30 years after the anime and movie are concluded.

After War Gundam X (AW)

What if the main pilot of a Gundam series didn't have superhuman mind powers?

This series has a few manga, including:

AWG X NEXT PROLOGUE, a sequel to the anime

New Mobile Century Gundam X: Under the Moonlight, a sequel that takes place seven years after the anime

AWG X: Newtype Warrior Jamil Neate, a prequel to the series

Turn A Gundam (CC)

This is my favorite series. It’s amazing. It has two compilation movies, but they are famously bad. Canonically the "final" Gundam series... besides Reconguista in G.

The series has a prequel manga, called Wind of the Moon.

Reconguista in G (or G-Reco) (UC)

I like this one, but some people are upset by its existence. It is a sequel to Turn A Gundam! Compilation movies are in the making. Tomino, the writer, said that G-Reco happened 500 years after Turn A.

Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny (CE)

Cool suits! Not so cool protagonist. There is also a movie called Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer.

There is a good number of manga in this series, listed below.

MSG SEED ASTRAY, which has a few storylines that are separated into different series at times. There is also an OVA that was made to promote the manga.

MSGS Astray R follows Lowe Guele and the Junk Guild. It is continued in Destiny Astray R.

MSGS Astray B follows Gai Murakumo and the Serpent Tail group, and is continued in Destiny Astray B.

MSGS X Astray follows Canard Pars and Prayer Reverie

MSG SEED Astray Princess of the Sky is a story that involves all of the new characters mentioned above, and MSGS VS Astray takes place during the events of MSGS Destiny

MSGS Destiny Astray happens concurrently with MSGS Destiny, and is followed up with MSGS C.E. Delta Astray, which ties in with the Stargazer manga and movie. There is also a side story, MSGS Astray MSV.

Gundam AGE (AG)

A series revolving around a special Gundam that can study its enemies and evolve like a living being! It follows multiple generations of pilots and characters.

There are manga for this series, and they go as follows:

AGE: First Evolution -> AGE: Second Evolution -> AGE: Final Evolution/AGE Climax Hero

...which cover the anime. There are two side stories, AGE: Treasure Star and AGE: Memories of Sid.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (AD)

A team of Gundam pilots fight for peace, literally. It has a movie called Awakening of the Trailblazer!

The series has a few manga, which go as follows:

MSG 00: In Those Days, which takes place between season 1 and 2

MSG 00P and 00F, which cover the activities of Celestial Being before the series began.

MSG 00I and 00I 2314, which occur at the same time as 00 Season 2.

Iron-Blooded Orphans (CW)

The most recent alternate timeline. Brutal melee, brutal story, cool suits, and found family!

There is just one manga for this series so far:

MSG IBO Gekko, which is a prequel to IBO that takes place 300 years after the Calamity War.

Build (BF)

There’s also the Build series, which I would wait as long as possible to watch, since it references all the other series. They’re in this order:

Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G

This series has two manga called Gunpla Builders A and Gunpla Builders Beginning D, and a novel Gunpla Builders Beginning J.

Build Fighters

Build Fighters: GM Counterattack

Build Fighters Try

Build Fighters Try: Island Wars

There are a few manga for this series, including:

GBF Amazing, ten years before the anime

GBF Amazing Ready, one year before the anime

GBF Amazing Try, which features the Hot Scramble, and probably runs near the Island Wars movie

GBF Plamo Diver: Kit and Build, which seems to be its own independent thing

Build Divers

Build Divers: ReRise

It should be noted that Build is separate from everything else. It takes place in the "real world" where Gundam is an anime series, and not a war that results in mass casualties and death.

You can watch a good number of the series listed in this post on YouTube for free, on the official Gundam.info Youtube channel!

Please note this guide does not cover the novels or SD Gundam. That's covered here!

https://toksanalpha.wixsite.com/toksansguide/post/sd-gundam-guide

Finally, there is a new live action movie in the making right now, being produced by Legendary and advised by Surnise! We don't know where it is in the timeline yet.

I hope this guide helps! Happy watching!