Who'd win in a fight between Gundam and Macross?

H

harkins

Adventurer
The reason I've posed that question is because I'm considering buying the Mobile Suit Gundam Movies box set which is out tomorrow. But the thing is, I bought the Robotech: Macross Saga collection last week and it's the first anime I've bought that I regret. It's lucky that I'm fairly inarticulate, otherwise I would write a tome about how bad it is.

So if I buy the Gundam movies, will I be heading for more disappointment?

Also, while on the subject, are the movies a good way of starting with Gundam? There's just so many series and movies etc.

And seeing as I asked, if they did fight who would win?
 
Strictly I would hesitate judge Macross based on the "Robotech" saga simply because just like One Piece it was the subject of a "re-imagining" courtesy of some random Americans. If you really want to check out the cream of the Macross franchise, I would recommend Macross Plus; it features music by Yoko Kanno and the animation is top notch too. A classic 6 part OVA series that is going fairly cheap these days.

The original Gundam movies are great if you enjoy epic space opera material like Star Wars. The animation is fairly clunky and the first movie takes a bit of patience but once you're into the saga it should suck you into the universe; the characters - especially Char - are extremely interesting. By the end of the third movie I was a total fan boy.
 
McIcy said:
They'd both get there butts kicked by the Carebears..... you know its true that Carebear Stare is brutal
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Nope sorry, but the Paddington Bear Stare is mightier than even the Carebare Stare! So there! :p

But even he fears the Flumps.
 
Fine then I shall on the almighty warrior himself, the kicker of asses, the crusher of villians, the unstoppable war machine that is Papa Smurf with his legendary war cry "It's Smurfing Time, Bitches"
 
ardish said:
if you dont like robotech i think your struggle with the gundam movies
(what didnt you like in robotech).
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What didn’t I like? Having mostly watched anime produced in the last ten years I found the animation itself a bit rough. That’s more an observation than a criticism as I appreciate it is very old and was a lengthy TV series. But it didn’t feel remotely Japanese to me. If I didn’t know better I would swear it was an American production. But as Paul has said above, it kind of is.

Then the DVD’s only came with an English dub which has grated on me for the 10 or so episodes I’ve sat through.

And my biggest beef is that the whole story is incredibly weak and riddled with holes. There were numerous issues with the story that just didn’t make any sense or were completely implausible or simply just irritating.

It was certainly an error to have bought it. I guess I just didn’t do my research and had the wrong idea of what it was all about. I think I was expecting an early kind of Sci-Fi/Mecha/War anime (maybe the forerunner of things like Eva) but I got something like Neighbours in space.

But not to worry. Think I might leave the eighties stuff alone for now. After all I’m already watching 5 other series at the moment and I’ve got Witch Hunter Robin on order and the lovely NGE platinum box set to watch at chrimbo. Oh and Generator Gawl too.

But if Gundam is anything like Robotech I’d back the Clangers to take them both down in a fight.
 
The Gundam movies are technically even older, so if animation quality is your problem, they may not be worth it. The situation improved as the Movie series went on, and 70% of the last movie was specifically created for the movie. That's in keeping with the way that the last movie is certainly the best, in fact, it's one of my favourite animated movies. The other two aren't amything like that though, the first is nice enough but a little slow and the second is dull, quite offensive and confusingly presented.

The efforts for both the Gundam and Macross sagas are rather rubbish in the UK at the moment. In fact, taking everything and asking what is best, Macross Plus is a clear winner, though the Gundam franchise is far more established (Macross Plus and the mutilated Robotech Macross are your lot with Macross). I personally would not recommend the movies as a rites of passage to later Gundam at this moment, for the simple reason that "later" Gundam in the UK at the moment is one of two things:

1) A collection of poor to average films: i) A super compressed OVA to Movie that makes no sense (Gundam 0083) ii) One of the worst Animated movies in history (F91. Try and find a review above 3/10 :p) iii) An abrubt end to the saga, that falls a little short but can be quite fun (Char's Counterattack)
2) The Wing and Seed continuities that basically retell the same story again and don't have anything to do with the original series.

If the UK had Zeta Gundam, I'd be recommending the Gundam movies straight off, no questions asked (And if Beez are reading this, I will brutally murder you all if we JUST get the compilation movies again). Otherwise, even with such decent properties as Victory Gundam, 0080, 0083 (OVA) and 08TH MS Team, I'd be recommending something more modern first and then suggesting you return to the original series if you're really interested.

As it is, if you want to get into Gundam, I'd say Gundam Seed is your best bet, even if I wouldn't rate the series very highly in the overall scheme of things. It has all the hallmarks of the original and is a far more modern production. I cannot find any reason to recommend Wing and Seed Destiny as first, second or even last series to check out. The former is moronic, the later is entirely confused about its direction, trips over itself and just dies.
 
If what you were expecting was all-out mechafest war, then certainly you'd be disappointed. While it's got some of the coolest machines ever designed, Macross/Robotech was always more about the characters than the mechs. Also don't forget that Robotech is very much an Americanised version of Macross - concessions had to be made, most of the dialogue changed, random edits and so on. If you want the real deal, import Macross, or find Macross Plus for cheap. Or try to find Do You Remember Love somewhere.

As for the Gundam movies... you might enjoy them more, because it's all the original stuff. Obviously the animation is of a similar standard to Macross, but they've got a tighter story and the DVDs are sub only. Might be worth a rental first.

As for which would win, I remember having a similar discussion in another thread ages ago... personally, I think the Gundams are harder and more powerful, but the Valkyries are that much cooler :)
 
If you're looking for newer stuff, then you can give Gundam Seed a go. I heard its good but I haven't tried it myself. You might be able to download an episode or two to see if its to you're liking?

(Edited for spelling mistake)
 
While the view points expressed so far are valid, especially the words of Kupo Artist and Mr Haggis, I'd like to add the following. I can't call myself a mecha fanboy and ignore this thread :)

Put aside the creaking animation, watching Gundam movies is a little like watching Lord of the Rings. It's enjoyable, with plenty of depth to explore, but bum-numbing. Watch the actual series is liking watching the original series of Star Trek, there's flashes of genius, but there's a slightly cheesy air to it. I gave up on seed, I found it too similar to original.

In the uk, your best bet for Mecha animes, are Macross Plus, Orgus 02, Blue Gender, Dai Guard and the mindgames-r-us series Evangelion. If Humour's your thing try Nadesico, but don't watch it dubbed.

If you are importing, try Macross, and Votoms (old, but action packed). I can't recomend 08th MS team enough both as introduction to Gundam AND as good anime in of itself.
 
Kido Senshi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam) is tottaly diffrent to Robotech, and Macross for that matter. I bought that box set having never seen the original series and i loved it, so much so that i bought the 08th team collection and ive ordered 'Char's Counterattack'. Buy it, you wont regret it.
 
HiroYui said:
Kido Senshi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam) is tottaly diffrent to Robotech, and Macross for that matter. I bought that box set having never seen the original series and i loved it, so much so that i bought the 08th team collection and ive ordered 'Char's Counterattack'. Buy it, you wont regret it.
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Char is pretty long, if you have got it brew up some coffee you will need it

As for the thread, Gundams will crush all :)
 
You might want to take a look at Macross Plus as it'll most likely win you back on the franchise. (steered clear of Robotech myself so no idea how bad it is)

Macross Plus is class. 8)
 
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