General

@Irony: Yeah GBF is nice because you get to see people battle well in suits that were largely irrelevant in Gundam series, or see suits cobbled together into some crazy monstrosity. The part that most appeals to me is the overall tone though. It's a blatant cash-grab show but there's so much fun in it. It all takes place in this weird and funny world where 90% of the population is obsessed with Gundam anime and plastic model kits to that point that it's weird to NOT be. Models pose in magazines holding Gunpla, awards are given for artistic achievement in Gunpla, and ofc the battling thing is the biggest of all. It's also just a really nicely done action/sports show.

Stardust Memory - well animated OVA series but there's almost nothing redeeming in the story or characters. It also has very little impact on the overall storyline.
SEED - well it had good music and suits, nothing else was particularly up to the quality of better Gundam. it's not as bad as AGE though lol.
Zeta movies - the Zeta TV series is pretty good, and some people list it as their favorite. the movies however...adapt the story badly and don't cut well between old and new animation. the ending of the compilation movies also retcons ZZ Gundam, which is actually a really fun series.

SEED is also a show that takes place in an alternate timeline, so everything that happens has no relation to the UC shows, Turn A, G Gundam, 00, or G Reco.

@Deciduous: Yea they aren't essential, but I feel like understanding old gundam models and references add a lot to the enjoyment
In that sense, isn't GBF gundam fanservice?

But yeah thanks for the order, ill save it somewhere and try one day thanks!
on another note i have actually seen Seed and 00 (only a bit) but i dont really remember much of what happened

are stardust memory, seed and zeta that irrelevant ?

[quote=Irony]Pre much, it's hard for me to pick up Gundam at this point because there are so many series to watch to understand all the references Build Fighters (s1 and 2) give you apparently. My friend who's really into Gundam keeps telling me about how good the new series are, but he seems to like Try more[/quote]

I wouldn't say every reference in GBF is essential to understand, but the stuff from "Early UC" will at least give you background on a lot of the suits and some cameos (notably, Ral is a character totally lifted from 0079).
Starting Gundam is intimidating but I'll just leave a quick breakdown of it here for you. Gundam 0079 compilation movies (3 movies) -> Gundam Zeta (50 eps) -> 0080: War In The Pocket (literally art. 6 eps) -> ZZ Gundam (47 eps) -> Char's Counterattack (movie) -> G Gundam (49 eps) -> Gundam Wing (49 eps) -> Endless Waltz (3 eps) -> Turn A Gundam (unequivocally the best Gundam. 50 eps) -> Gundam 00 S1 (50 eps) -> G Reco

That's a progression I'd use to hit the major notes of Gundam. Avoids bad stuff like Stardust Memory, SEED, AGE, and the Zeta movies. You still get all the good UC story and great non-UC series.

Pre much, it's hard for me to pick up Gundam at this point because there are so many series to watch to understand all the references Build Fighters (s1 and 2) give you apparently. My friend who's really into Gundam keeps telling me about how good the new series are, but he seems to like Try more

Yer looks good

Happy viewing

[quote=osmund]Gundams great, is the new one made by the same people ?[/quote]

Different people have worked on Gundam over the years (though Sunrise produces most of the animation), but this current season is being [b]written and directed by Gundam's original creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino[/b]. It's been fifteen years since he's done a Gundam tv series so this one has been quite hyped up and so far is the best recent Gundam since Turn A and 00 S1. It's also got very nice character designs by Kenichi Yoshida (Eureka Seven).

Gundams great, is the new one made by the same people ?

[quote=Irony]Thank you for the spoiler warning

Not a fan of gundam though, and if I was i'd probably watch Try this season before this[/quote]

I am not sure whether I'd consider GBF/Try more or less beginner-friendly Gundam. Rather than mecha, you can basically consider it a sports show, which is a definite plus for some/most people. As a Gundam fan though, it feels like so much of what is good about GBF relates to the tie-ins and callbacks to actual Gundam series. In general, it feels like GBF would be only slightly interesting without those bits of supplemental knowledge. Also because Try is a very different kind of show, the battles have so far been very flat and lacking the dynamism that is in G-Reco. Good nonetheless, but definitely not as fun to watch.

Anyway, G-Reco had a really rough start and only started redeeming itself at episode 3. If possible I'd hope to bring ppl who dropped it back or convince others to try it up to episode 4 or, gosh, current episode 6 to see the really strong points it has going. Even if people who don't like Gundam at least watch this crazy fight (where the heavily foreshadowed death happens lol) that's about good enough for me.

Thank you for the spoiler warning

Not a fan of gundam though, and if I was i'd probably watch Try this season before this