The original series Mobile Suit Gundam or Gundam 0079 was a great start to the amazing franchise. It portrayed teenagers going into war and confronted by the horrors of war. It also introduced two amazing characters Char and Amuro and their intense rivalry. The entire series also reflects on many social issues and themes as well such as warring of political ideological differences so prevalent in human history.
Zeta really showed Tomino's dark side and it is regarded by me and many fans of the franchise to be the greatest series ever. It is extremely dark and depressing, despite all of that it is great because of the characterization of many characters and how they interact with each other. It really makes you realize through out the series that there is a war going on and these people are living in it.
When Gundam Wing came out the series was dead to me. Wing, by far, was not the worst Gundam, but they really tried to make it too teenager friendly and sacrificed many things I said earlier of what makes Gundam great. Anything after Wing feels really bland and copy pasted.
However Gundam Wing is credited to bringing the franchise from Japan to North America. For many of you Wing might be your first Gundam ever and I can understand that. However, I strongly advise you to watch the old Universal Century Gundams -The 3 movies of Gundam 0079, Zeta Gundam the series, Char's Counterattack.
A new series picked up the old Universal Century time line: Gundam Unicorn.
When I saw the first episode, I knew the old Gundam is back. Gone with the treenage girls appeal of Wing and SEED with plenty of badly written teenage angst and bad character developement. Unicorn brings back the high level of character development that was so prevalent in the original Gundams and each character is developed just right in the short 3 episodes released so far.
This is a more "mature" Gundam and is true to the original creator (Yoshiyuki Tomino’s) vision of the horrors of war and the ideological/political and philosophical differences that is prevalent throughout human history. It makes for a far more realistic and believable story. For a great example of this watch the Original Gundam Movies I, II, and III (Gundam 0079 I mentioned earlier).
If Gundam Wing was your first Gundam, watch the three shows I mentioned earlier in the bolded text, and watch the 3 episodes of Unicorn that has been released so far and you will see what you have been missing out.
To state again my recommended watch order:
Gundam 0079 -> Zeta Gundam -> Char's Counterattack -> Gundam Unicorn
Edit: I forgot the mention in the Universal Century time line there are more series than the list I provided above, the first 3 are considered the core of the Universal Century. Those are the most sees, if you like those three you can try tracking down the other shows.
Edit #2: It is a plus to know about the plot of Gundam ZZ or at least know Glemy and Puru to understand Marida's part in Unicorn episode 3. It is not really a must but it's just nice to know. ZZ wasn't that great of a series but I didn't find it that bad, it's the direct sequel to Zeta.
Edit #3: The entire Zeta Gundam series is available on Youtube in dubbed voice overs what are you waiting for??
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