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Gundam UC questions - can I skip Zeta for now, and ZZ entirely?

oneida

oneida

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I'm watching the Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy, and I'm wondering if I can watch 08th MS (which takes place during the one year war... I think?) and 0083 (which takes place before Zeta.... I think?), postponing Zeta & Char's Counterattack until later.

Would this watch order make sense? I've heard really good things about both these series and I think I'd like to watch them now rather than later.
 
Palette Swap

Palette Swap

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Oct 25, 2017
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These are all fairly separate, meaning you can watch all the UC side stories (08th MS Team, 0080, 0083) whenever you want.
ZZ is entirely skippable, but I'd watch Zeta before CCA. I'd say the original movies/series -> Zeta -> CCA is really the only arc you "need" to watch in order. Anything else you can watch (or skip) whenever you want.
 
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oneida

oneida

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Palette Swap said:
These are all fairly separate, meaning you can watch all the UC side stories (08th MS Team, 0080, 0083) whenever you want.
ZZ is entirely skippable, but I'd watch Zeta before CCA. I'd say the original movies/series -> Zeta -> CCA is really the only arc you "need" to watch in order. Anything else you can watch (or skip) whenever you want.
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Awesome, I think that's what I'll do then. Thanks!
 
MechaX

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Release order is fine, but you can watch chronologically as well (which would mean 08th, 0080, and then 0083), and then get into Zeta (series, not the movies). All three OVAs are pretty good.

Skipping ZZ... well, revisit that question once you've gotten into Zeta a bit.
 

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Production order is preferred, but going ahead and watching 0080, 0083, and 08th MS Team before Zeta is totally fine.

You can skip ZZ if the goal is just Char's Counterattack, but you can't really get around watching Zeta.
 
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oneida

oneida

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MochaKoffee said:
Production order is preferred, but going ahead and watching 0080, 0083, and 08th MS Team before Zeta is totally fine.

You can skip ZZ if the goal is just Char's Counterattack, but you can't really get around watching Zeta.
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I'm looking forward to Zeta, but I don't feel like digesting a 50 episode series just yet. I want to put it on the backburner for now :)
 
MechaX

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0080 is the shortest (6 eps), but I would say it's probably one of the better works in Gundam period. Focuses more on character drama, but still has some good action in it as well.

08th is my personal favorite out of the bunch, but it does make some odd story choices two thirds in. It's not show-ruining or anything.

0083 is a show where you need to turn your brain off for some story stuff and just enjoy the battles, as 0083 has some of the best battle scenes in the franchise.
 
Blader

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You don't need to watch Zeta to watch 08th or 0083; you're right that the former is a sidestory to the original series, and the latter is set between the original and Zeta, so skipping Zeta won't really affect anything. There is some minor set up for Zeta at the end of 0083 that you may or may not pick up on without watching it first, but it's not like it really spoils anything for Zeta either, so you're good.
 
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oneida

oneida

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MechaX said:
0080 is the shortest (6 eps), but I would say it's probably one of the better works in Gundam period. Focuses more on character drama, but still has some good action in it as well.

08th is my personal favorite out of the bunch, but it does make some odd story choices two thirds in. It's not show-ruining or anything.

0083 is a show where you need to turn your brain off for some story stuff and just enjoy the battles, as 0083 has some of the best battle scenes in the franchise.
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I can't seem to find 0080 on Blu-Ray. Has it not been released on BR yet?
 
Plutone

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No. Watch 0079 then Zeta. ZZ is admittedly hard to go through but makes CCA flow more smoothly in terms of why Char did what he did.

Then you can watch 08th MS Team, 0083, Unicorn.
 

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oneida said:
This wasn't on my radar for some reason... how does it compare to 08th and 0083?
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0080 is the best Gundam series.

It's quite different from the normal Gundam fare in that it focuses more on the civilian side of things, with the protagonist being just a school boy caught in the middle of the war machine at the very tail end of the OYW. If you want to see Gundam actually nail the anti-war themes it often dances around, watch 0080.



Hope you like hamburgers.
 
Etrian Oddity

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ZZ is trash, but you don't wanna skip out on Zeta. It's got some of the best mecha designs in the series (a lot of mobile suits latched onto Macross and Transformers' alternate form popularity). The soundtrack is fucking incredible, too.

Plus you have the unbeatable duo of Yazan & Hambrabi
 
Plutone

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MochaKoffee said:
0080 is the best Gundam series.

It's quite different from the normal Gundam fare in that it focuses more on the civilian side of things, with the protagonist being just a school boy caught in the middle of the war machine at the very tail end of the OYW. If you want to see Gundam actually nail the anti-war themes it often dances around, watch 0080.



Hope you like hamburgers.
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Sorry for singling you out but Gundam often gets ragged on for missing anti war themes when it actually isn't aiming for anti war specifically, but rather anti people who manipulate others for their own benefit. 0079, Zeta, ZZ and other well written shows say that sometimes you have to fight. When there are jerks who aim to use the gross machine of war to enrich themselves, it's fine to fight them.

On that note OP, I like 0080 and it is pretty well done, but it is far less ambitious and robust compared to other full length shows so just be aware of that.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

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MochaKoffee said:
0080 is the best Gundam series.

It's quite different from the normal Gundam fare in that it focuses more on the civilian side of things, with the protagonist being just a school boy caught in the middle of the war machine at the very tail end of the OYW. If you want to see Gundam actually nail the anti-war themes it often dances around, watch 0080.



Hope you like hamburgers.
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Anti-war doesn't have to be in your face "War is bad". It can be about showing the atrocities and negative affects of war on people, the environment and the world, which all of the UC Gundams very clearly do. None of them really glamorize war or the fighting, like I feel like some of the AU shows do, when they seem more concerned about making shit look cool
 
Parshias

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Most of the UC Gundam shows are pretty standalone, so you could have even watched 08th MS Team without seeing anything else because all MSG would have done is set up the One Year War for some context. The only connected UC shows are:

Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin (prequel revolving around Char) - > Mobile Suit Gundam -> Zeta -> Char's Counterattack

These shows will keep you updated on Amuro and Char. They don't show up in any of the other UC shows as far as I can remember. Captain Bright is in ZZ, but the rest of the shows have self-contained casts.
 
Scar

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Why dont people like zz? Is it because of all the deaths? Honestly, i dont remember much. I might not have even finished it...
 
Astral

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Is ZZ really that bad? I skipped it back when I watched all of UC because people kept saying so. People kept saying Victory was bad too but I liked Victory so....

Also, Haman is badass.
 
andymcc

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ZZ isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Tonally, it's everywhere but it has some of the best individual moments of all of the UC gundam shows. Just some REALLY FUCKING ANNOYING characters and small multi-part episode arcs.

Haman is the best and any show with more of her justifies being watched.
 
Ekid

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Dec 21, 2017
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Problem with ZZ is that it's basically a light-hearted comedy for the first 30 episodes. Coming after Zeta which is the most drama heavy Gundam's series it's certainly not what people expected.

It does go back on track for the last 15 episodes or so.
 
rou021

rou021

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As long as you've seen the original Gundam movie trilogy or the TV series, it should be pretty easy to follow any of the UC stuff. Here in the US, CCA was localized several years before Zeta and longer still before ZZ, yet I was still able to follow along. In fact, ZZ didn't get released here at all until recently, when RightStuf got the license to release all of the Gundam stuff on DVD and Blu-ray. I've still only seen a couple of episodes of ZZ myself and don't feel I've missed much. Not to mention the main UC series and movies were initially released in Japan long before many of the OVAs and were just as popular then.

That said, seeing everything in chronological order can add to the experience. It better fleshes out the plot and characters, fills in the chronology, and expands on the world building. I'm actually in the process of rebuying everything on Blu-ray and trying to do just that (well, I'm temporarily skipping a couple of the OVAs during the One Year War). I would also recommend watching the 08th MS Team and 0083 at some point anyway since they're really good. So if you're going to watch them, now's not a bad time.
 

Vault

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ZZ is a lighthearted goofy show and then 30 episodes in it goes typical Tomino batshit insane and it's really good.
 

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oneida said:
This wasn't on my radar for some reason... how does it compare to 08th and 0083?
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It's fantastic and holds up well on its own. I generally recommend release order, but 08th MS Team and 0080 work fine as long as you've seen Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (either the movies or series - I always recommend the latter, but I know not everyone is up for 43 episodes of old anime). Can't speak to 0083 as I admittedly haven't seen it, but I was under the impression that it watches a bit better if you've seen at least some of Zeta considering how it ties into it.
 
Rahxephon91

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Yes you can because well that's how they were released in the US back in the day. We got the 0080,0083, 08th Ms team, and even Char before Zeta and long before ZZ. I'd also so they are pretty much stand alone beyond some easily told lore. So no problem skipping them for now.

I also think Zeta is pretty bad, but hey whatever.
 
Seductivpancakes

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Thinking about skipping Zeta?

tumblr_osx1u313S01tc7ygao1_500.gif
 
Shola Akinnuso

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RangerBAD said:
No. Watch everything UC.
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This is the correct answer.
But if you must see one thing Gundam, please watch 0080: War in The Pocket. Probably one of my favorite anime anything ever. It's beautiful.

EDIT - I just went online to look at clips from 0080. This thread got me in the feels and made me nostalgic. Haven't seen 0080 in 20 years. I've NEVER seen it dubbed. Until now.

What. a. travesty.

Don't do that. Find subbed. I'm not an elitist for this kind of stuff, but in this case, trust me.
 
petran79

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If you want to watch Gundam Unicorn that concludes UC, watching ZZ would help. ZZ unfortunately does away with the mecha repairing aspect, which is a crucial part of Gundam. Most of the later series too.
 
Occam

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Zeta Gundam is the best UC Gundam. CCA doesn't really make sense after the events of Zeta, but you'll see.
 
RangerBAD

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petran79 said:
If you want to watch Gundam Unicorn that concludes UC, watching ZZ would help. ZZ unfortunately does away with the mecha repairing aspect, which is a crucial part of Gundam. Most of the later series too.
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Unicorn doesn't really conclude anything. Victory is nearly sixty years later. And G Reco is on a different calendar, but the same universe.

By the way, OP, we have a Gundam OT.
 
Belladonna

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I'm currently going through Gundams for the first time. Watching Zeta right now, it's really good, coming from original Gundam TV series jarringly good. I'm only about halfway through but I wouldn't recommend skipping, judging by the quality alone.
 

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You can skip Zeta for now if you want to watch those 3 mini-series first, yeah. In fact, it's probably worth doing it like that as Stardust Memory serves as a 'bridging' show between the original series and Zeta. Zeta is well worth giving a watch though.

Feel free to skip ZZ completely though. That shit is rank.
 
Gundam

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Scar said:
Why dont people like zz? Is it because of all the deaths? Honestly, i dont remember much. I might not have even finished it...
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A lot of people attribute it to tonal whiplash, it being more light-hearted than Zeta. I disagree. I think the first half of ZZ is unbearable because it's garbage filler that doesn't treat any of it's returning characters with respect, and the humor just doesn't work. Like legit, Only 35ish episodes of the 50 episode run are important and integral to watch. It has 4 of the worst episodes I have ever seen in any tv show, animated or otherwise. I think the visuals are bland, and half of the music is re-used from Zeta. It's like Zeta's sloppy seconds. Worth watching if you like watching train wrecks, and if you want to get the most out of CCA, but I won't lie: after 5 or so episodes, I put it down to go and watch literally every other Gundam UC show I could that took place before ZZ just because it was that painful. The second half is good, sometimes even great, but I still don't know if I attribute that to Stockholm syndrome, or mediocrity being relatively fucking amazing compared to the shitshow that is the first half. A lot of cool moments, but also a lot of moments that would be cool get fucked up or are anti-climactic.

Astral said:
Is ZZ really that bad? I skipped it back when I watched all of UC because people kept saying so. People kept saying Victory was bad too but I liked Victory so....

Also, Haman is badass.
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If you like Haman, watch ZZ.

Occam said:
Zeta Gundam is the best UC Gundam.
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I agree on the condition that it's a three-way tie for 1st place between 0079 and War in The Pocket.
Zeta has legit one of the greatest soundtracks produced for anything, ever.
 
Daysean

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Zeta is comedy gold tho
Those fucking eyecatches appearing at the perfect time, same with Victory Gundam
 

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ZZ is kinda relevant to Unicorn, though the series itself kinda "eh". It would have been nice if it had a 3-movie compilation like the original and Zeta did.

And Unicorn is best Gundam, whether UC or AC.
 
Wood Man

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I never watched ZZ but I know the story well enough since I played all the Dynasty Warrior games. I know it was considered the weaker Gundam UC series but I didn't know it was that bad and even hated.

Now that I'm almost done with Mobile Fighter G Gundam (which is amazing) I kinda want to go back and watch some older Gundam series.
 
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