How to Get Into Gundam (March 2025 Version)

Gundam is a vast franchise that can seem insurmountable at a first glance, so how do you begin approaching it?

The answer I would normally give for getting into any series is “watch by its production order,” but I feel that’s not necessarily the best for Gundam considering how varied and huge it is, and there's still a lot of shows I haven't seen. This is not a recommendation on quality or show style. Instead, I want to more directly explain how these shows relate. 

Newtype August 2023: Ippei Gyoubu Interview on G-Witch’s Costume Designs

This is an interview of Ippei Gyoubu (Twitter) from Newtype's August 2023 issue, which was released close to the conclusion of the Witch from Mercury. The magazine did a feature of "composition" going into some of the main creative aspects of the show. 

While Gyoubu was most prominent as a mechanical designer for the show, mostly with the Jeturk House mobile suits, this interview goes into the costume and some other tech design he did. There's some interesting tidbits in how the team wanted to reflect the characters' personalities, as well as some choice comments regarding Guel.

Like last time, the English translation is by Windii (Twitter, Ko-fi). Thanks for her help with this, and consider commissioning her for JPN-ENG translations.

The Importance of Big Cool Sci-Fi Stuff

I finished watching Turn A Gundam recently, and it’s already cemented itself as one of my favorite Gundam shows and anime in general. But one detail I appreciate is that, even with its Americana setting, it still works in some interesting, immense technological set pieces that give a great sense of scale to the show in the portions where it heads to outer space. To put it bluntly, I appreciate it when science fiction has what I like to call “Big Cool Sci-Fi Stuff,” both for the novelty but also realizing the unique potential the medium has to create a unique sense of wonder. 

Animedia February 2023: Mogmog Interview on G-Witch’s Character Designs

The February 2023 issue for Animedia features some illustrations and coverage for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. One of the pages features comments and an interview with Mogumo (Twitter, Pixiv), the original character designer for the show. 

The English translation is by Windii (Twitter, Ko-fi). Thanks for her help with this, and consider commissioning her for JPN-ENG translations.

Also, I've been gathering the character "Expression Test" sheets shared by the main G-Witch Twitter account and the post-episode sketches done by Mogumo on Twitter in a folder here.

G-Witch Episode 6 Thoughts

 Thoughts and impressions on G-Witch, Episode 6.

Following up the stakes set up from last time, this episode throws a whole lot of plot swerves amidst the build up to Elan’s duel against Suletta.

G-Witch Episode 5 Thoughts

Thoughts and impressions on G-Witch, Episode 5.

This time, the focus switches to Elan as we finally learn what his deal is, as well as more scheming from Prospera and fun moments with the main cast.

G-Witch Episode 4 Thoughts

Thoughts and impressions on G-Witch, Episode 4.

This more low-key episode gave us a look more at ordinary school life and some worldbuilding, as well as introducing a new group of friends to Suletta as we learn more about the cast. There’s a lot of different strands to talk about, so each topic will be a bit shorter.

G-Witch Episode 3 Thoughts

Thoughts and impressions on G-Witch, Episode 3.

This episode brought a conclusion to the opening mini-arc while also setting up more threads to continue forwards. After Suletta’s wild first day of school, does she stick the landing?

G-Witch Episode Two Thoughts

 Thoughts and impressions of G-Witch, Episode Two.

This second episode was more mellow than the last one, but it had a lot riding from how the last one ended. How do things shake up in this dialogue-heavy follow up?

G-Witch Episode One Thoughts

Thoughts and impressions of G-Witch's debut episode.

I’m aware this and the next entry are very late, but I thought it’d be fun to do contemporaneous posts as G-Witch airs. Rather than a full A to B review, these will be structured around five or so main points of interest in each episode. I’ll also do a longer retrospective after the first cour finishes.

In any case, this was quite a debut episode with a lot to talk about, and I’m pretty excited overall.

My Hopes for G-Witch

Thoughts and hopes for the upcoming Gundam show

A new Gundam show is on the horizon, and so far, I'm pretty optimistic with what's been shown. I took a deep dive into mecha a few years ago starting with the Gundam compilation movie trilogy, and as of now I've watched the shows in production order up through my current watch of Turn A. As a leader of the genre, especially now, I'm interested in how G-Witch will turn out as both a Gundam show and a mecha anime overall. This is all speculation, but these are a few hopes I have for the show.

I meant to get this up before the teaser dropped, but I still have enough to say. I watched the preview unsubbed, so some of these details may be a bit off.