I came into contact with Mecha anime way after the first Gundam movie came out, but I think it was some sort of newer Gundam or Evangelion thing. At the time I thought it was stupid and it turned me off Mecha forever. Yet, with unlimited time to "work from home", I now had the opportunity to watch the original Gundam animes on Netflix. And, for 1981, I think Gundam is brilliant!
Now, the animation is decent but dated, the acting and individual scenes are very Japanese and annoyingly communal. You get the classic woman who can't stop herself to care about children and some man, whether they like it or not, and who knows what's decent and good. You get the glorious nakamas who would do anything for each other except listen when they are told to run or save themselves or something like that. Apparently standing around and shouting someone's name when they are in danger is a genius military strategy. You get the senior people getting to decide how to bring someone down or humiliate them a bit in order for them to not get too cocky. So it might be difficult to get into the mood, especially if you are some American gen Z person who still hasn't acknowledged that the rest of the world exists. Ironically, if you are into fight movies, you might not like it either, because it shows how ugly and petty war is.
However, with all that said, the show has a complex political and historical universe to play on. The characters, good and bad, are complex and relatable. The little details of space combat and giant robot mechanics are pretty thought out, to the point that you start to believe that it makes some sense to have huge metallic humanoids fighting it out. What I liked most was that it showed war as it really is: groups within groups within groups of people, all scheming and positioning themselves towards some goal that only they know (or care) about, senseless death, backstabbing, uniformed politicians and generals and nobles that feel other people are their toys to play with. For people who witnessed a world war from the losing side, war is not fun.
So yeah, it is a show about giant robots fighting each other, but also a very adult antiwar show. I can't quite recommend it, because some people might not quite connect, but I think that if you get into it, you will love it.
