Is there a Gundam series that is "your" Gundam?

[Vent Noir]

I've been thinking about how Doctor Who fans tend to identify a certain incarnation of the Doctor as "their" Doctor (mine's Sylvester McCoy, BTW), and wondering if Gundam fans think in a similar way.

Personally, I feel like I'm still waiting for "my" Gundam show. I basically got into Gundam fandom with Wing (although I'd seen F91 and a couple of episodes of 0083 beforehand), and the series I enjoyed the most would probably be SEED, but I'd still be hesitant to call either of them "my series".

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

[Symbolhime]

00. It's exciting, but it's not stupid.

[Mu La Flaga]

For me I feel similarly on SEED or SEED Destiny, it's one I kind of indentify with at least a bit in some aspects of the more mature characters as opposed to the younger leads.

I mean, considering that and my other gundam exposures have been Wing, EW, 0083, 08th MS Team and that is it so far mostly.

[Antares]

I'll throw my hat in even at the risk of causing this thread to derail into favoritism which is prohibited here.

I think mine is SEED. Destiny is the ill-begotten, illegitimate son that I have acknowledge. I've been exposed to UC plenty, but nothing there affected is much as my first Gundam series. Suitable level of drama and occasionally good scripting worked, but so did watching it with someone you care about. Causes also most inside jokes with the people I know who've seen it too, not to mention Thundermuffin's "A Typical Day" -thread.

So fond memories of SEED. Plus, my Gundam as in favorite mech is probably the Infinite Justice along with its pilot, ironically enough from GSD.

[Kyuzo Aoi]

"My" series is Gundam Wing, because mainly this is the series that introduced me to the Gundam franchise. And that was in 1998 in Philippine television.

I appreciated the later and past Gundam shows, but it was Wing that was my yardstick for many Gundam series. I respect UC fans, and love UC shows, but I'm no big fan of UC. The first love is usually your best love, and that applies to many fans in Mechatalk, too.

[TakaTahuNuva]

Hmm, even though I like Zeta and MSG better, I would say 00 is "my" Gundam show. Technically the New Translation trilogy was the first Gundam anime I've seen from start to end, but it wasn't until a few months later when I watched 00 that I really understood what this franchise is all about.

[Dark Duel]

Hmm...if I had to say there was a series that is "my" Gundam series, in the sense of an incarnation that I most closely identify with...honestly it'd probably be the upcoming Gunpla Builders Beginning G, even though it's not out yet

All joking aside, I'd probably have to say either 08th MS Team or the first season of Gundam 00. Though I, like many others, got into the franchise with Wing, 08th was the first one that I really watched regularly when it aired, so I found myself identifying more with Shiro than I did any of the Wing boys(except possibly Quatre).
And 00 Season 1...well I liked that it balanced a lot of the usual elements of Gundams with the more civilian-centered elements of 0080. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't find myself relating to Saji.

[hitokirigarou]

G Gundam for me. It was the first Gundam TV series that I've fully seen and also the first Gundam anime that aired on Philippine TV. I've seen some episodes of Z and ZZ and watched Char's Counterattack, War in the Pocket and F91 before but it was G Gundam that pulled me completely into the Gundam franchise.

[Big B]

I was introduced to Wing, but never really got into it the way some have. SEED, despite the angsty crying that happens throughout, is the series that got me into Gundam.

[mobiusdiablo]

I would have to say 00 Gundam. Though it wasn't the series that I started watching Gundam with (I actually began with 08th MS Team when i was a kid), 00 is the one that I first saw when I was an adult, and could fully appreciate and understand everything that was going on in the show (yes, this does include Saji). Since then, I've started looking back on earlier shows and saw them for what they were, not what the "fans" said they were.

[Mu La Flaga]

The reason I should add on why I also put Destiny in my post is Shinn is a misunderstood character, despite his temper and all.
Which in part relates to me, at least the misunderstanding part sometimes(not the hot blooded part though)

[pd771]

Zeta Gundam would be mine. Probably because I was 17 when I first saw it and was angry at the world. Kamille was a moron but a moron I could relate with (even his stupid decisions). That and the fact I loved how nuanced the characters could be. Plus Zeta is a sexy suit.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

Can't believe I'm the first one to answer Mobile Suit Gundam. I often say MSG and Zeta are tied as my favorite series, and they are, but to me Gundam is... Gundam. In my mind when Gundam is referred to without being specific I see the good old RX-78 in my head, Amuro Ray busy slicing up some Zeon.

[krullnar]

I would have to say that mine is 00 just because well I love the mecha designs and i really like that the story is unique to gundam.

[Koshernova]

My first experience of Gundam was with Wing in 2000, watching it in fansubs (it wasn't shown on Cartoon Network in South America at that stage). I caught a few episodes and got interested in the mixture of future politics and real/super robot action.

A year later, I moved to Ireland and managed to start reading Kasuhisa Kondo's Gundam 0079, which sparked my curiosity for the original series. I'd say the 0079 movies are 'my' Gundam. I got them on VHS, the old Anime Village version (without the modern sound effects and changed music). They got me all excited, as I've grown up with anime and Gundam felt like something I should've seen as a kid alongside Robotech, but didn't as it was not available.

The second answer would have to be Zeta. Soon after, a now-lost online friend got me copies of the Zeta VCDs with Italian subtitles for the first 12 episodes, ending with 'The Winds of Jaburo'. Those few episodes were enough to totally draw me in, since a lot of the beginning of Zeta feels like '0079 bigger and better'. The battle over Jaburo, with the orbital paradropping of Mobile Suits, the battle starting in space, continuing on the ground along the Amazon river and jungle, and then underground into Jaburo, with a daring escape due to the time bomb... talk about a Crowning Moment of Awesome.

[HalfDemonInuyasha]

The reason I should add on why I also put Destiny in my post is Shinn is a misunderstood character, despite his temper and all.
Which in part relates to me, at least the misunderstanding part sometimes(not the hot blooded part though)

Well, more like "writers screwed with his character too much" (constantly making him a "hero" one minute, then a "villain" the next) or "writers couldn't make up their mind" (in terms of bringing Kira and co. back as the "main" cast)

Anyway, it would have to be one of the UC series' for me, but not sure which of them, lol.

[NastyNate]

I would have to say "My pilot" would be Quatre because I really relate to how he does not want to fight but knows that he has too. It is a very hard choice to choose which series is the most I relate to. But I guess I would have to say Gundam x. Because I relate so much to the shiness relationship between Garrod and Tifa. That show just draws me in wanting them to just come out and say they love each other. I found myself at the edge of my seat saying just say it. Much like my recent experience with Robotech: Macross saga with lisa and rich...anyways, it is real close to my gateway drug of Wing.

[Kenji]

For me, it's either the first season of 00 or Char's Counterattack. Those two, more than any of the others, rang "true" to me.

Oh, and my favorite Doctor is also the Seventh, though I think all eleven (so far) are fantastic. Oh, and Jenny. She's awesome.

[MrMarch]

If you're asking what I think you're asking, I have always personally identified most with Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket and hence it will likely remain what I first associate with when thinking of "Gundam". Some of the reason has to do with timing (being far outside the Gundam target demographic when I first watched any Gundam), some with my age at the time of viewing, a lot has to do with the story telling and part of it is the animation and character/mechanical designs. I think most of all the series simply offers a very well told story which genuinely evokes an honest emotional response. No other Gundam series does that for me. I can and do enjoy other Gundam (and most other anime) on the same level as disposable entertainment and other such eye-candy. But I revisit Gundam 0080 again and again and I'm still hooked by the characters, moved by the story and devastated by the tragedy. The show rather transcends it's origins as a mecha anime and has quite a lot of depth for what it is. I liken Gundam 0080 to something like The Incredibles; children's entertainment with enough depth and sophistication for an adult.

[Amadi Akintunde]

Mine would have to be Gundam Wing and 08th MS Team.

Gundam Wing because the Gundams were portrayed as how the name was intended: A Dam with Guns. Holding and driving back several crashing waves of enemies, showing little fault except when the plot called for it. Even though the grunts could have been written to be leagues more competitive, and the grunt suits to be designed a bit less blocky, Gundam Wing showed me the true, uninhibited power of a Gundam. Though the whole stock footage deal could have been subverted for more entertaining battles.

Gundam 08th MS Team gets a spot as well because of the militarism that was presented. This would also bunch in with 0083, though. Not to mention the battles were nicely done, and the animation top notch.