I just recently finished this series on DVD and I have to admit, it has aged well against more modern anime series and it certainly has influenced other series.
If you are like me and watched Gundam Wing first, you will be quite surprised (and hopefully impressed) at how different this anime series is. Gundam Wing essentially was a parable on the early years of the War on Terror during the Bush Administration meets a Mecha version of V for Vendetta. Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 makes me think of World War II, and not just because of the clear Nazi references with Gihiren Zabi. Both series are different, but equally entertaining and dark.
At first, I found the majority of the characters more than a little unlikeable. Amuro, for the first half of the series (until the Ramba Ral story-arc wraps up, at least) is incredibly whiny. However, after the Odessa Operation arc, the story tightens up and characters become much more likeable, even Amuro.
The design of the mobile suits is (obviously) less advanced than Wing or SEED or Iron-Blooded Orphans. Also, the mobile suits are far less utilized for the first half of the series by both the Federation and Zeon in comparison to them being the primary used weapon in Gundam Wing.
Finally, the series ends much more abruptly than Gundam Wing. Without revealing too much, there is some solid resolution of story-arcs, but if you have followed the history of Gundam, you will know that the series isn't over at all since there are two other shows, about six OVA Mini-Series, and one Feature Length movie to resolve the whole Newtype Origin storyline of the Universal Century.
PROS:
CONS:
If you are like me and watched Gundam Wing first, you will be quite surprised (and hopefully impressed) at how different this anime series is. Gundam Wing essentially was a parable on the early years of the War on Terror during the Bush Administration meets a Mecha version of V for Vendetta. Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 makes me think of World War II, and not just because of the clear Nazi references with Gihiren Zabi. Both series are different, but equally entertaining and dark.
At first, I found the majority of the characters more than a little unlikeable. Amuro, for the first half of the series (until the Ramba Ral story-arc wraps up, at least) is incredibly whiny. However, after the Odessa Operation arc, the story tightens up and characters become much more likeable, even Amuro.
The design of the mobile suits is (obviously) less advanced than Wing or SEED or Iron-Blooded Orphans. Also, the mobile suits are far less utilized for the first half of the series by both the Federation and Zeon in comparison to them being the primary used weapon in Gundam Wing.
Finally, the series ends much more abruptly than Gundam Wing. Without revealing too much, there is some solid resolution of story-arcs, but if you have followed the history of Gundam, you will know that the series isn't over at all since there are two other shows, about six OVA Mini-Series, and one Feature Length movie to resolve the whole Newtype Origin storyline of the Universal Century.
PROS:
- Good Character development on both sides
- Interesting story-arcs
- Nice Animation, especially given the pre-digital times.
- Left itself open for a sequel, which was made in the form of Zeta Gundam, which I have yet to see but will be on my list of anime to watch. Fingers Crossed for another great Gundam Experience there, even with the reported horrible ending!
CONS:
- Weird music soundtrack
- The theme songs are cheesy compared to most Anime theme songs. It's certainly not 'Just Communication' from Gundam Wing or 'Crossing Field' from Sword Art Online.
- Amuro, at the beginning of the series, is such a whiny unlikeable brat.
- The incredibly abrupt ending in the final episode.
- I also noticed that the female characters at first are relegated to minor roles and usually require the men to bail them out of trouble. That would definitely not work in this day and age.