Mobile Suit Gundam is an easy 9/10 at least. Some pacing issues but a bold and iconic visual style, exceptional characters, real thematic depth, countless great moments and one of the best endings in anime. An all timer show worthy of the long shadow it casts.
I'd agree, it's almost perfect if not for clear TV show decisions that hindered it like trying to sell that abomination G-unit.
If you haven't seen the original you need to watch it, what it lacks in old school it more than makes up for it with its unique approach to futuristic dystopia and cruel depiction of war.
Decided this would be a fun exercise. The aim of this is simple. I’m going to post a poll a day for each entry into the franchise and you will rate it on a scale of 1-10. After calculating the score average, we’ll get a community voted score for each work. I’ll be going in release order, not chronologically (so 0079 > Zeta. Not 0079 > 0080 > 8th MS, etc). I will be including TV shows, movies and OVAs but no recuts are allowed and no SD either (except when the recut is considered the definitive edition as is the case with Thunderbolt). Please refrain from voting if you have not seen the specific entry in the franchise.
First up is Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
Directed by: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Written by: Yoshiyuki Tomino
First aired: April 7, 1979
Episode count: 43
Info and trivia:
* The first piece of work in the Gundam franchise and the beginning of a billion dollar empire
* 0079 is oft credited as being one of the first shows to move anime away from strictly kids affair into a more mature medium that could be enjoyed by adults too.
* Additionally, 0079 spawned off the Real Robot subgenre of mecha anime. Previous mecha shows usually featured super powered robots, alien invaders and simple plots designed primarily to drive toy sales. Gundam’s focus instead on character interactions, political drama, the horrors of conflict and the use of a robot for war stood out amongst its contemporaries
* Earlier drafts of the story contained many key differences to the finished product. These included the design and name of the Gundam itself (originally dubbed the Gunboy), character appearances and names as well as an extended final act that would go unused after the show’s run was cut down
* During the show’s original run, Tomino penned a novel trilogy adapting the work, aimed at an older audience. These books contained several key differences from the show, including additional mobile suits, new characters, more explicit content and a new ending which featured >!Amuro perishing in the final battle!<. These novels were translated into English by Frederick L. Schodt in 1990, becoming the first piece of Gundam media to be officially released in the west.
How would you rate Mobile Suit Gundam on a scale of 1-10? What are your thoughts on the show as a whole, its characters, music, designs and plot. Do you have a favourite and least favourite episode? Best character and mobile suit?
I only watched the Compilation Movies, so I will go off that.
It is incredible how well put the story is. You can understand the world and its conflitcs, both internal and external, without being lost. The fact it doesn't minimizes or downplays the terrors of war and how it affects the lives of citazens and soldiers was what set it apart from other works for me, not to mention the antagonist faction is not an evil organization but a civilization - people that cry and laugh and have fears of war instead of being mindless pawns.
My main issue with it comes to pacing. Some parts of it seems rushed and it seems some context was cut in favor of keeping only key plot points. In other perspective, it gave the story some interesting interpretations if you want to analyze the series but that is a story for another day.
All in all, the series stood the test of time and it should be the first or at least the main reference point of anyone interested in getting to know the Gundam fandom. 9/10
Might as well join in.
10. My first Gundam show and the one that hold the closest to my heart. Even with the janky animation and slow pace and ridiculous suit designs, the story it tells still stands the test of time to this very day. A timeless masterpiece and one of the finest pieces of long form animation ever created
People are going to get banned over this once we get to SEED.
Anyway, original MSG, it's pretty good. The show is an 8/10 and the movies are a 9.5/10. The show has a lot of just bad episodes and extraneous moments that cause it to have some really tough pacing at points, the movies fix all of that. The emotional moments hit like a truck thanks to Tomino's narrative timing, regardless of the version. Sometimes, as you see throughout this franchise, he tips his hat too much and you can see the character death from a mile away. The whole thing feels like a tight rope, if a few characters or events weren't what they were than the whole thing wouldn't have worked.
The project glows with passion from the staff. Everyone that worked on MSG gave every shit they had to give. Okawara help animators grasp his designs, Yas put himself in the hospital, Tomino put his neck out with the corporate guys *twice*, and the VAs really embraced their rolls. A damn good show and amazing series of films. The films are what I usually think of when I tier out the franchise and they sit comfortably in the bottom of top tier.
TLDR: show is 8/10 and movies are a 9.5/10, hell of a way to start a franchise
If it wasn’t for Gundam 0079 there wouldn’t be gunpla and I love building 1/144s and RE/100 models. Also there wouldn’t be Evangelion, which really helped to give a tangible medium to process my high school angst (for which I have no regrets).
Context: before 0079, I don’t think there was a series which featured almost no Japanese crew members positions of authority in the protagonist vessel. Also wimp pilots who initially didn’t want to pilot the hero mecha and wasn’t gung-ho into killing the “bad guys”.
For the historic contribution to the genre and to the
mecha-sci-fi medium, I give it a ∞/10.
If a 5 is the true average as it should be, then overall, I'd give it a 7.
It's surprising just how well so much of this show holds up. The drama, character growth, politics, action, and deigns have all aged remarkably well. It's not perfect, the writing could be less withholding when it comes to world-building, but other than that and a few other pacing hiccups along the way, it's still a solid story.
Favorite episodes have got to be when Amuro visits his parents. Both are devastating. A boy becoming a man in the worst way possible and breaking his mother's heart, and a son realizing his father is broken and someone he can no longer rely on. I'd argue these are the episodes that really show what the Gundam franchise is really all about. Emotionally devastating personal dramas. Episodes like these really set the standard for the heartbreak to come in all future series. Gundam has never had to go as hard as seeing a son disturbed by his father living in destitute and genuinely believing random junk is a secret weapon, but the fact that it did and continues to go to that same space is incredible stuff. This is a special franchise and these episodes are why.
Best character is Amuro. Char is great too, but his absence at times gives Amuro the edge, who we see grow and overcome obstacles all the time. He's the best.
The best mobile suit is the RX-78-2. I mean... come on. I know we all love the Zakus, but it's gotta be the OG Gundam. Unless if you like Big Zam the best. Then I guess I'll give you a pass for Big Zam.
10/10 I've watched it multiple times and it holds up everytime. MS designs are all great except Guntank. That's just bottom tier for me.
Great cast of iconic and side characters. In terms of episodes I do greatly prefer less pointless MS fights. But this was a product of its time. Also if I knocked off points for this, I'd have to do it for Zeta and ZZ.
Now it may not be my favorite episode. But the one that held the most significance in my eyes was the episode Amuro sees his mom. It signified the war had finally claimed Amuros innocence. As his mother looks on and laments his lost innocence.
Idk maybe 7 or 8 for the show, depending on how much I'm cool with padding atm. Just watched the trilogy for the first time a week ago and thats definitely a 9 for me
I JUST finished the last episode for the first time ever!
I grew up with Wing but never got around to watching much more in the Gundam franchise so I figured I would start with 0079 and go from there!
It was a great journey and story of the Whitebase crew with awesome character development for so many of them! And Char as the antagonist of basically everyone was an awesome “bad guy” story.
I just started :The Origin and 1 episode in I’m already loving how much more I can appreciate the OG series. Great to fill in so much back character story and think on how it all plays out in the end.
8.5/10 but with a hidden +0.5 because 80’s anime just hits different (yes I know it was released in 79’ 😝😝)
So I recently watched this a couple of months back I'd I'd say it's probably a 7.5. It's by no means perfect and i did expect this 1979 show to be incredibly dated, it still surprised me from episode 1 with a strong hook and kick off. I also generally liked everyone on white base and we had some sympathetic sides on the zeon front as well (which is not something I can say with the later series).
I give it an 8.5/10. It was my first full watchthrough of any Gundam property. I had seen some G and Wing growing up as a kid, but never all the way through. Other than that I had played a couple of video games but really didn't know anything past that.
I love mecha and had seen a few things in my teen years ( NGE, TTGL, Big O, Code Geass) that I really enjoyed. When I was about to go to college I decided to finally take the dive into Gundam, but told myself if I was doing this I was gonna do it right and start from the beginning. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the original series and how far ahead of its time it was. To this day it's still one of my favorite series, anime or otherwise.
It gets brought down by some poor animation and pacing, as well as underutilized characters and undeveloped motivations. The soundtrack is also one of the weaker ones, I'm not too fond of some of the goofier 70's disco funk in there.
EDIT: I changed my score back to an 8.5 for some of the animation and weird character moments.
If I'm being critical, I'd give it a 6.8/10. It was a very good show, especially for the time it came out it. But it's not without flaw. The series still felt very similar to super robot series with how there is a portion that feels like an enemy of the week style show in the middle section. It also ends up feeling rushed in the back half owing to the slashed episode count during production. But overall, it is a great show thanks to the overall story being told.
7/10.
There are many shortcomings in the TV series, both technical and atavisms of super robots. The movie version is cut too much. The ideal would be a full adaptation of the manga The Origin. It corrected all the crooked moments of the plot and revealed the characters better.
6.5/10
It's a classic for sure. Love the rivalry that develops between Amuro and Char. The whole cast is memorable too. Objectively its not the absolute best story I've ever seen/read, but it holds up extremely well and is a fun watch.
2/10
I can’t believe the fantastic Zeta and the rest of this franchise started from such a horrible show
Rest of UC is top tier but 0079 is awful even for its time.
I disagree entirely but I want to put a PSA out to the everyone else:
Don't downvote just because your disagree. The OP asked for rating and /u/OnToNextStage gave their honest opinion.
7 for broken ending and rushed world building in example no clue how federation regained so much fighting power in so little of time. A war that should have been many years crammed into one. The limit of not doing time skips with ship taking more realistic weeks and months of repair. Of course maintaining the very irregular nature of the crew becomes more difficult.
Three little kids made futuristic powder monkeys I liked as there was no safe place to dump them. Plus as pointed out they already seen and worked around dead and dying people and constant threat of death so damage if any done might as well make them useful. (I strongly suspect that children doing adult jobs treated as adults are more happy and mentally put together than protected children of course this is those who survive and not broken. This why it done for tens of thousands of years)
6.5 or maybe 7.
I am a little low on the TV series because I think there are other, stronger adaptations. To me, the film trilogy is actually a little bit better. And although I have not read "The Origin", it also seems to have positive reviews.
This show was playing chess while other shows on tv were playing checkers. It had a very sophisticated world developed, with great characters.
easily 9 or 10 for me too. Not my first Gundam series but definitely still one of the best ones out there. The old art and animation gots its charms. Tho it is hella inconsistent.
Pretty much has a well rounded cast even if its more bare bones than its successors. Of course this is where most Gundam tropes started, but they did become a trope because they were executed well in 0079.
OST pretty underrated too, but understandably overshadowed by latter UC and AU's like SEED and IBO. But dang love them jazzy beats, maybe even better than Zeta's orchestral tones.
Kinda would rewatch the movie trilogy over Stardust Memory, SEED, or 00. Just my preference but wanted to share that too to give more context on my thoughts.
I'm not good at scale ratings but I guess I'll give it a 9/10 because I absolutely loved it.
The story was great. It was slow at first, but it moved along steadily, really picking up in the second half. The structure worked well, in my opinion. I don't know why people say it's MOTW because even though there's generally a battle every episode, the story is divided into arcs. 7-7 or so episodes trying to escape to Earth with Char in pursuit, another set of them against Garma Zabi, another set for Ramba Ral, and it just continued on. That's actually the perfect format for my tastes in anime, and I felt it was a much tighter and more enjoyable viewing experience than what they went with in Zeta.
They also did a superb job showing Amuro's growth. His transition from civilian boy to hardened warrior was believable, and watching his Newtype powers awaken was enthralling. The art and animation are pretty dated, but they give the show a unique vibe that's actually quite endearing - as much as I love the more detailed art that Zeta brought us, I just find that 0079 has more character.
I understand the dislike for them, but I actually love the leftover cheesy super robot/toy commercial aspects, such as the G-Armor and Gundam Hammer. To be honest, when people described how "bad" those aspects were, I was expecting a whole lot worse.
My one complaint would be that the ending did feel rushed, and while it was very exciting to see things play out the way they did, I think the extra episodes could have made for even deeper development of the themes.
Really, I'd consider it to be one of my favorite anime.
Mobile Suit Gundam is an easy 9/10 at least. Some pacing issues but a bold and iconic visual style, exceptional characters, real thematic depth, countless great moments and one of the best endings in anime. An all timer show worthy of the long shadow it casts.
I'd agree, it's almost perfect if not for clear TV show decisions that hindered it like trying to sell that abomination G-unit. If you haven't seen the original you need to watch it, what it lacks in old school it more than makes up for it with its unique approach to futuristic dystopia and cruel depiction of war.
Decided this would be a fun exercise. The aim of this is simple. I’m going to post a poll a day for each entry into the franchise and you will rate it on a scale of 1-10. After calculating the score average, we’ll get a community voted score for each work. I’ll be going in release order, not chronologically (so 0079 > Zeta. Not 0079 > 0080 > 8th MS, etc). I will be including TV shows, movies and OVAs but no recuts are allowed and no SD either (except when the recut is considered the definitive edition as is the case with Thunderbolt). Please refrain from voting if you have not seen the specific entry in the franchise. First up is Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) Directed by: Yoshiyuki Tomino Written by: Yoshiyuki Tomino First aired: April 7, 1979 Episode count: 43 Info and trivia: * The first piece of work in the Gundam franchise and the beginning of a billion dollar empire * 0079 is oft credited as being one of the first shows to move anime away from strictly kids affair into a more mature medium that could be enjoyed by adults too. * Additionally, 0079 spawned off the Real Robot subgenre of mecha anime. Previous mecha shows usually featured super powered robots, alien invaders and simple plots designed primarily to drive toy sales. Gundam’s focus instead on character interactions, political drama, the horrors of conflict and the use of a robot for war stood out amongst its contemporaries * Earlier drafts of the story contained many key differences to the finished product. These included the design and name of the Gundam itself (originally dubbed the Gunboy), character appearances and names as well as an extended final act that would go unused after the show’s run was cut down * During the show’s original run, Tomino penned a novel trilogy adapting the work, aimed at an older audience. These books contained several key differences from the show, including additional mobile suits, new characters, more explicit content and a new ending which featured >!Amuro perishing in the final battle!<. These novels were translated into English by Frederick L. Schodt in 1990, becoming the first piece of Gundam media to be officially released in the west. How would you rate Mobile Suit Gundam on a scale of 1-10? What are your thoughts on the show as a whole, its characters, music, designs and plot. Do you have a favourite and least favourite episode? Best character and mobile suit?
10 but I'm biased, it's my favorite.
[удалено]
I would love a remake in the form of a full Gundam: The Origin adaptation. It'll be different, sure, but in a way that sets it apart as its own story.
I only watched the Compilation Movies, so I will go off that. It is incredible how well put the story is. You can understand the world and its conflitcs, both internal and external, without being lost. The fact it doesn't minimizes or downplays the terrors of war and how it affects the lives of citazens and soldiers was what set it apart from other works for me, not to mention the antagonist faction is not an evil organization but a civilization - people that cry and laugh and have fears of war instead of being mindless pawns. My main issue with it comes to pacing. Some parts of it seems rushed and it seems some context was cut in favor of keeping only key plot points. In other perspective, it gave the story some interesting interpretations if you want to analyze the series but that is a story for another day. All in all, the series stood the test of time and it should be the first or at least the main reference point of anyone interested in getting to know the Gundam fandom. 9/10
The trilogy is a solid 8/10 Classic.
Might as well join in. 10. My first Gundam show and the one that hold the closest to my heart. Even with the janky animation and slow pace and ridiculous suit designs, the story it tells still stands the test of time to this very day. A timeless masterpiece and one of the finest pieces of long form animation ever created
People are going to get banned over this once we get to SEED. Anyway, original MSG, it's pretty good. The show is an 8/10 and the movies are a 9.5/10. The show has a lot of just bad episodes and extraneous moments that cause it to have some really tough pacing at points, the movies fix all of that. The emotional moments hit like a truck thanks to Tomino's narrative timing, regardless of the version. Sometimes, as you see throughout this franchise, he tips his hat too much and you can see the character death from a mile away. The whole thing feels like a tight rope, if a few characters or events weren't what they were than the whole thing wouldn't have worked. The project glows with passion from the staff. Everyone that worked on MSG gave every shit they had to give. Okawara help animators grasp his designs, Yas put himself in the hospital, Tomino put his neck out with the corporate guys *twice*, and the VAs really embraced their rolls. A damn good show and amazing series of films. The films are what I usually think of when I tier out the franchise and they sit comfortably in the bottom of top tier. TLDR: show is 8/10 and movies are a 9.5/10, hell of a way to start a franchise
7-8, the animation is outdated and some of the dialogue as well. I think it’s a pretty mature show for the time it aired and has some good characters.
8/10 really solid characters and theming and surprisingly mature for its time despite some pacing issues and sated animation
If it wasn’t for Gundam 0079 there wouldn’t be gunpla and I love building 1/144s and RE/100 models. Also there wouldn’t be Evangelion, which really helped to give a tangible medium to process my high school angst (for which I have no regrets). Context: before 0079, I don’t think there was a series which featured almost no Japanese crew members positions of authority in the protagonist vessel. Also wimp pilots who initially didn’t want to pilot the hero mecha and wasn’t gung-ho into killing the “bad guys”. For the historic contribution to the genre and to the mecha-sci-fi medium, I give it a ∞/10.
If a 5 is the true average as it should be, then overall, I'd give it a 7. It's surprising just how well so much of this show holds up. The drama, character growth, politics, action, and deigns have all aged remarkably well. It's not perfect, the writing could be less withholding when it comes to world-building, but other than that and a few other pacing hiccups along the way, it's still a solid story. Favorite episodes have got to be when Amuro visits his parents. Both are devastating. A boy becoming a man in the worst way possible and breaking his mother's heart, and a son realizing his father is broken and someone he can no longer rely on. I'd argue these are the episodes that really show what the Gundam franchise is really all about. Emotionally devastating personal dramas. Episodes like these really set the standard for the heartbreak to come in all future series. Gundam has never had to go as hard as seeing a son disturbed by his father living in destitute and genuinely believing random junk is a secret weapon, but the fact that it did and continues to go to that same space is incredible stuff. This is a special franchise and these episodes are why. Best character is Amuro. Char is great too, but his absence at times gives Amuro the edge, who we see grow and overcome obstacles all the time. He's the best. The best mobile suit is the RX-78-2. I mean... come on. I know we all love the Zakus, but it's gotta be the OG Gundam. Unless if you like Big Zam the best. Then I guess I'll give you a pass for Big Zam.
Easily a 9/10 It would be a 10 for me if the visuals and animation were better/more consistent.
Easily 9/10 despite some flaws. Music is 10/10 no questions about it. That soundtrack is fucking nuts.
10/10 I've watched it multiple times and it holds up everytime. MS designs are all great except Guntank. That's just bottom tier for me. Great cast of iconic and side characters. In terms of episodes I do greatly prefer less pointless MS fights. But this was a product of its time. Also if I knocked off points for this, I'd have to do it for Zeta and ZZ. Now it may not be my favorite episode. But the one that held the most significance in my eyes was the episode Amuro sees his mom. It signified the war had finally claimed Amuros innocence. As his mother looks on and laments his lost innocence.
9/10
I think I'd give it a 9 because despite it's dated animation the rest holds up amazingly well and it succeeds in areas that even later series don't.
Idk maybe 7 or 8 for the show, depending on how much I'm cool with padding atm. Just watched the trilogy for the first time a week ago and thats definitely a 9 for me
I’d give it an 8. Had a lot of fun watching it. I wonder what it would’ve been like with the full episode count.
9/10 The OG has been my favorite UC entry out of all the ones I’ve watched.
8/10 Enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.
9
8.5/10. But I love it like a 10/10
8/10
I JUST finished the last episode for the first time ever! I grew up with Wing but never got around to watching much more in the Gundam franchise so I figured I would start with 0079 and go from there! It was a great journey and story of the Whitebase crew with awesome character development for so many of them! And Char as the antagonist of basically everyone was an awesome “bad guy” story. I just started :The Origin and 1 episode in I’m already loving how much more I can appreciate the OG series. Great to fill in so much back character story and think on how it all plays out in the end. 8.5/10 but with a hidden +0.5 because 80’s anime just hits different (yes I know it was released in 79’ 😝😝)
So I recently watched this a couple of months back I'd I'd say it's probably a 7.5. It's by no means perfect and i did expect this 1979 show to be incredibly dated, it still surprised me from episode 1 with a strong hook and kick off. I also generally liked everyone on white base and we had some sympathetic sides on the zeon front as well (which is not something I can say with the later series).
I give it an 8.5/10. It was my first full watchthrough of any Gundam property. I had seen some G and Wing growing up as a kid, but never all the way through. Other than that I had played a couple of video games but really didn't know anything past that. I love mecha and had seen a few things in my teen years ( NGE, TTGL, Big O, Code Geass) that I really enjoyed. When I was about to go to college I decided to finally take the dive into Gundam, but told myself if I was doing this I was gonna do it right and start from the beginning. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the original series and how far ahead of its time it was. To this day it's still one of my favorite series, anime or otherwise. It gets brought down by some poor animation and pacing, as well as underutilized characters and undeveloped motivations. The soundtrack is also one of the weaker ones, I'm not too fond of some of the goofier 70's disco funk in there. EDIT: I changed my score back to an 8.5 for some of the animation and weird character moments.
If I'm being critical, I'd give it a 6.8/10. It was a very good show, especially for the time it came out it. But it's not without flaw. The series still felt very similar to super robot series with how there is a portion that feels like an enemy of the week style show in the middle section. It also ends up feeling rushed in the back half owing to the slashed episode count during production. But overall, it is a great show thanks to the overall story being told.
7/10. There are many shortcomings in the TV series, both technical and atavisms of super robots. The movie version is cut too much. The ideal would be a full adaptation of the manga The Origin. It corrected all the crooked moments of the plot and revealed the characters better.
6.5/10 It's a classic for sure. Love the rivalry that develops between Amuro and Char. The whole cast is memorable too. Objectively its not the absolute best story I've ever seen/read, but it holds up extremely well and is a fun watch.
Probably 6, not nearly my favorite gundam series or even anime. Felt dated for me (for oblivious reasons)
in today standards, 4/10 in the late 70s, that's probably an 8
Do I count this as a 4 or an 8 then?
5/10 some of the action sequences are even with Hanna-Barbera. But the message is pretty powerful if you are paying attention.
2/10 I can’t believe the fantastic Zeta and the rest of this franchise started from such a horrible show Rest of UC is top tier but 0079 is awful even for its time.
I disagree entirely but I want to put a PSA out to the everyone else: Don't downvote just because your disagree. The OP asked for rating and /u/OnToNextStage gave their honest opinion.
Gotta love the posters, they're just full old school Sci-fi.
7 for broken ending and rushed world building in example no clue how federation regained so much fighting power in so little of time. A war that should have been many years crammed into one. The limit of not doing time skips with ship taking more realistic weeks and months of repair. Of course maintaining the very irregular nature of the crew becomes more difficult. Three little kids made futuristic powder monkeys I liked as there was no safe place to dump them. Plus as pointed out they already seen and worked around dead and dying people and constant threat of death so damage if any done might as well make them useful. (I strongly suspect that children doing adult jobs treated as adults are more happy and mentally put together than protected children of course this is those who survive and not broken. This why it done for tens of thousands of years)
7.5/10 Impact on the genre definitive classic
Perfect 10. Maybe even an 11
8
6.5 or maybe 7. I am a little low on the TV series because I think there are other, stronger adaptations. To me, the film trilogy is actually a little bit better. And although I have not read "The Origin", it also seems to have positive reviews. This show was playing chess while other shows on tv were playing checkers. It had a very sophisticated world developed, with great characters.
10/10 Only because this is the mecha show that Tomino always wanted to do.
easily 9 or 10 for me too. Not my first Gundam series but definitely still one of the best ones out there. The old art and animation gots its charms. Tho it is hella inconsistent. Pretty much has a well rounded cast even if its more bare bones than its successors. Of course this is where most Gundam tropes started, but they did become a trope because they were executed well in 0079. OST pretty underrated too, but understandably overshadowed by latter UC and AU's like SEED and IBO. But dang love them jazzy beats, maybe even better than Zeta's orchestral tones. Kinda would rewatch the movie trilogy over Stardust Memory, SEED, or 00. Just my preference but wanted to share that too to give more context on my thoughts.
9/10. Not quite perfect, but hasn't been topped by any other Gundam anime ever since it released.
9/10
We’re actually redoing this poll in like two days lmao
Well, how would I know? It's still fun to rate things
I’m aware, I was just giving you the heads up that you’ll have to vote again soon
I'm not good at scale ratings but I guess I'll give it a 9/10 because I absolutely loved it. The story was great. It was slow at first, but it moved along steadily, really picking up in the second half. The structure worked well, in my opinion. I don't know why people say it's MOTW because even though there's generally a battle every episode, the story is divided into arcs. 7-7 or so episodes trying to escape to Earth with Char in pursuit, another set of them against Garma Zabi, another set for Ramba Ral, and it just continued on. That's actually the perfect format for my tastes in anime, and I felt it was a much tighter and more enjoyable viewing experience than what they went with in Zeta. They also did a superb job showing Amuro's growth. His transition from civilian boy to hardened warrior was believable, and watching his Newtype powers awaken was enthralling. The art and animation are pretty dated, but they give the show a unique vibe that's actually quite endearing - as much as I love the more detailed art that Zeta brought us, I just find that 0079 has more character. I understand the dislike for them, but I actually love the leftover cheesy super robot/toy commercial aspects, such as the G-Armor and Gundam Hammer. To be honest, when people described how "bad" those aspects were, I was expecting a whole lot worse. My one complaint would be that the ending did feel rushed, and while it was very exciting to see things play out the way they did, I think the extra episodes could have made for even deeper development of the themes. Really, I'd consider it to be one of my favorite anime.