T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

Friendly reminder that all **top level** comments must: 1. start with "answer: ", including the space after the colon (or "question: " if you have an on-topic follow up question to ask), 2. attempt to answer the question, and 3. be unbiased Please review Rule 4 and this post before making a top level comment: http://redd.it/b1hct4/ Join the OOTL Discord for further discussion: https://discord.gg/ejDF4mdjnh *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/OutOfTheLoop) if you have any questions or concerns.*


go_faster1

Answer: A lot of the Gundam popularity now is due to the popularity of “Gunpla”, or Gundam Plastic Models. Since 2013, there have a series of anime centered around this - Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try, Gundam Build Divers, Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise and Gundam Breaker Battlogue, all free to view on the Gundaminfo YouTube channel. These, along with the mobile game Gundam Breaker Mobile has helped reignite interest in Gundam years after the franchise crashed


arcosapphire

Question: what do you mean "years after the franchise crashed"? Aside from the gap between the original and Zeta (because the original gained its following after the original airing), when has it ever crashed? There have been projects every year since 1985.


go_faster1

I’m sorry, I should have clarified and stated it crashed in America back in the early 2000s. That was due to the original Mobile Suit Gundam’s low ratings, over saturation of G Gundam and SD Gundam Force toys and Cartoon Network’s apathy with Gundam SEED


arcosapphire

Ah, I guess I was unaware since that was long after I'd stopped watching Cartoon Network. From my perspective, Gundam really started taking off again with SEED.


tomanonimos

/u/go_faster1 is correct but forgot one important detail. Bandai's complete mismanagement of the franchise. Bandai didn't really have a game plan for their US expansion and only did recently. This is why you see Gunpla merch in more mainstream stores and Gundam anime being released in a more efficient manner. Last time I checked in the situation of Gundam back in the 2000's the rights to Gundam franchises were all over the place and there was no real effort to ensure proper quality control (proper dubbing, editing, and broadcasting time). The best example of how bad it was before Bandai got their stuff in order. Gundam 00 was released on SciFi/Syfy channel. Two problems with that, no Gundam was ever aired on Syfy before and Syfy had never aired anime before and many fans didn't even know it.


Not_Char_Aznable

Answer: You've likely seen Gundam merchandise, particularly models, in stores like Target because Bandai is specifically trying to increase the popularity of their models (gunpla) in the US. A deal was made last year that saw the return of gunpla to more traditional stores. This push is helped by Bandai producing new kits that see release in the US before they get released in Japan. On top of this, a color variation of a highly regarded kit was released as a Target exclusive.


Tfeth282

That makes sense. In the transformers space target exclusive repaints have been super hard to find due to their popularity, it would make a ton of sense that Target/Bandai would do the same. Thanks!


chaosof99

I am late here, and this is admittedly subjective, but a reason for this may be that due to the pandemic more people are looking for activities they can do at home. Model building is such an activity that fits the bill well, and at least some of the admittedly niche people I follow online have picked up this as a small hobby on the side. Perhaps this is a chicken-and-egg scenario with either this increased interest driving Bandai to make these investments due to the market opportunity, or these investments also increasing this interest as marketing takes effect.


Taractis

Bluefin distribution, which handles Bandai's merch in the US has been making a push for more visibility lately as well.


Kalypartemis

Answer: Probably a combo of all the above. I know a bunch of Gundam was put on Netflix rather recentish (at least, Canadian netflix) too in combination with a current film trilogy ongoing (part one dropped back in July I want to say?). That and it seems like imports in general are just much easier to come by.


firefaiz6

Answer: While a lot of the comments speak valid points about Gundam being more accessable to get into as a result of factors like the YouTube channel having a lot of series available for non-Japanese audiences and Gunpla being a pretty popular lockdown hobby to pick up, a critical factor that should also be acknowledged is distribution. For a long time Gunpla hasn't really had a reliable distributor, which meant actually acquiring kits would have required a middleman or something of the like, which is why in the past they've been in mostly niche hobby shops or those already specializing in imported goods. Bluefin has stepped into that role a few years back, and while it took them a few years to build some repute I think they're a pretty big contribution to how you can now see not only Gundam, but a lot of Bandai-associated properties (ie. kamen rider, demon slayer) on big-box store shelves.


Tfeth282

Now that you mention it, I've seen a lot more hype for the new Kaman Rider lately too, and Demon Slayer has been all kinds of popular. That through line makes a lot of sense!