The Gundam franchise spans multiple subseries and spin-offs, a handful of which are often held up as being the best of the best. These have stood the test of time best, and are often referenced and brought up by fans as examples. Even if personal opinion varies, one cannot dispute the influence and quality these shows added to the reputation of the franchise.

The various anime range from the dramatic, the blatantly toyetic, and the obscure. The most fondly regarded, however, tend to put a spin on themes set by the original series: the cruelty of war, the conflict between social classes, and the question of how humanity will adapt to outer space. These shows have carried on the legacy of Tomino's classic through their respective decades, showing how timeless Gundam is.

15 Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans

Grungy Aesthetic Pushes "War is Hell" to the Limit

One of the most recent entries to the franchise pulls no punches with its dark setting. With mobile suits that traded hands or were regularly salvaged, a group of protagonists who were both child soldiers and mercenaries, a ruthlessly pragmatic lead pilot character, and a detailed setting that included things like pirates and organized crime, Orphans provided a "serious" setting international fans had clamored for, for years.

The unique story perspective of a PMC seeking its fortune amid political turmoil is also deliciously complex, providing both action and intrigue. The only point of contention is the tragic ending the anime settled on for its second season, which has infamously left fans split on how to receive it. Some consider it a fitting and daring conclusion that adheres to the theme about the futility of war, while others feel it is mean-spirited and resorts to character assassination to achieve the ending the staff desired.

14 Gundam SEED

Early 2000s Classic Still Beloved for its Drama

If Orphans is loved internationally for its grimness, SEED is a Japanese favorite for its dramatism. This series can be considered a vision of the original 1979 anime, updated for 2000s sensibilities. Combat is amplified and exaggerated, with mobile suits spewing lasers and explosions in every direction, while the conflicting sides are given a twist when its central characters, Kira and Athrun, are forced to fight despite being former friends.

The strong core cast is also memorable enough to be some of the franchise's most popular characters even years on.

Despite the certain goofiness inherent to SEED, it also has a fairly critical examination of the nature of prejudice and hatred. The strong core cast is also memorable enough to be some of the franchise's most popular characters even years on. Gundam SEED Freedom, despite languishing in development hell, along with a multitude of further spin-offs, shows how influential and beloved SEED is by its lonesome, even with its cheesy moments that only add to its charm.

13 Gundam 00

Ambitious Series Still Respected Despite Stumbles

While not the strangest iteration, 00 ("Double O") bucked trends for the time. The machinery in the setting was a far cry from Gundam standards, especially when SEED was caught up directly homaging classic mobile suits. The plot also tackles unusual topics, like the validity of "peace through superior firepower", by turning the typically heroic Gundam pilots into veritable terrorists, albeit well-intentioned ones, out to become the only armed power in the world.

Sadly, the second season walked back on the story by recontextualizing the situation into a more standard "resistance vs evil overlord" plot. It also led to some characters and plot threads being awkwardly abandoned amid the retrofitting. Nonetheless, the machines and characters of 00 have garnered their own fans in the years since, proving that while the story couldn't sustain its aspirations, it still left an indelible mark on Gundam's fans.

12 Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Ran from 1994-1995

Set outside the Universal Century timeline, Mobile Fighter G Gundam adopts more of a tournament arc approach to this standalone series as part of the greater franchise. Instead, the series' Future Century timeline shows the ruling population and elites of society retreating from Earth to their colonies, only to return and form the United Colonies Federation and stop war from enveloping the Earth's population. Instead, they resolved to establish a quadrennial "Gundam Fight" where each colony chooses a representative, and the tournament winner has their nation govern all others for four years.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam wasn't an instant runaway success on Japanese airwaves. Its enduring popularity in the fandom exemplifies the Gundam anime's flexible potential for its narratives. The series is now regarded as a gem which, while still paling compared to the ultimate classics, deserves a respected place in the franchise's history for breaking the mold.

11 Gundam Wing

Early Hit Also Serves as Blueprint for Future Gundam Series

While G Gundam may be Sunrise's first alternate timeline, Gundam Wing has them perfect the formula and understand how to write Gundam for a new generation. While Universal Century's trademarks are still seen, such as a Char Aznable analog with similar sibling drama, the shift in focus from broad war to a team of photogenic teenage heartthrobs out to topple an authoritarian government revitalized the franchise.

Many shows have been influenced by Gundam Wing's outstanding success, with archetypes like the brooding pilot and the powerless but defiant princess getting their start with Heero Yuy and Relena Peacecraft. Still, that is not to say Wing has no value outside being a historical document: the premise of the five pilots working undercover and unaware of even the others provides several intertwining narratives that keep audiences on their toes as to how the plot will progress.

10 Gundam Build Fighters

Ran from 2013-2014

As an example of Mobile Suit Gundam's self-aware metafictional franchising, Gundam Build Fighters creates a fictionalized world based on the explosive popularity of Gunpla, or plastic Gundam models. The series has a somewhat more over-the-top silly feel compared to the more serious, mecha/military sci-fi experiences of other Gundam anime. However, its battles are thus highly memorable and help solidify Build Fighters' unusual spot in fans' hearts. Thanks to "Plavsky Particles," protagonist Sei Iori brings his custom GAT-X105B Build Strike Gundam to the Gunpla Battle tournament so he may live up to his father's legacy.

For any Gundam hobbyist, this series is an amusing fantasy. Thanks to the Plavsky particles, Gunpla models come to life to create a small-scale simulation of fighter battles. Gundam Build Fighters thus appeals to a potential array of curious casual newcomers, and diehard fans seeking more of a bombastic and absurd premise, creating an especially worthwhile anime in the process.

9 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Ran from 2022 to 2023

Breaking out of one of the longest Gundam hiatuses since its inception as a brand, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury stands out despite more studios rising to match the quality of Sunrise's work. The series blends Mobile Suits, known here as GUND-ARMS, featuring a relatively light tone that quickly goes menacingly dark with its implications by the end of its first season. The series features accessible school life settings, a dramatic storyline where the political subterfuge gradually unfolds behind the scenes, creating a memorable, somewhat slow-burn experience for Gundam fans.

In addition to being well-produced and featuring excellent Mobile Suit action, The Witch from Mercury also blends in a surprising yuri storyline featuring its female protagonist, Suletta Mercury, marking some interesting firsts for the series. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a strange beast, blending lighthearted moments with just the right shock factor to keep viewers on their toes before they get too comfortable.

8 Gundam Unicorn

Late UC Story Is Among the Most Lavishly Animated

Unicorn is one attempt to tie up the Universal Century after the movie Char's Counterattack. While the plot may be hit or miss, what isn't in question is how wonderfully rendered the machinery is, making it one of the best series just to look at the fantastic battle sequences, if nothing else. All of Universal Century's mobile suits are given a high-budget coat of paint, allowing both advanced machines and toyetic, formerly concept art vehicles to be brought to life.

The plot, though well-crafted, is the most likely sticking point that could turn off viewers.

While it inhabits Gundam's wartorn setting, the structure of the story better resembles an adventure yarn, with a plucky young hero who guards and is guarded by a powerful (robotic) ally while embarking on a quest that takes him around Earth and Space. Even that, however, cannot hide Unicorn's strength, which commits some of the franchise's most recognizable mecha designs to screen.

7 Turn A Gundam

Oddball Entry Remains Adored by Fans

Yoshiyuki Tomino's output for the franchise later on led to some of the strangest iterations, including the aforementioned Turn A, ostensibly set so far in the future that humanity has regressed to a pseudo early-19th century aesthetic, but suddenly finds itself at war between Earth's people and the invading Moonrace. The vision of picturesque farmlands presided by mobile suits is only equaled by the strangeness of the Turn A itself, whose features look like a particularly bad recollection of a Gundam.

Nonetheless, Turn A today is regarded fondly precisely for how it shook up the formula. That it was also created by Tomino, Gundam's creator, is nothing less than a stamp of approval for what can be considered "Gundam", even if the hero's ride chooses to have a sweeping mustache instead of the iconic V-shaped fin. Likewise, the optimistic tone the show chooses to end on was a change of pace during a time fans welcomed while the franchise was pushing dark stories past the point of incredulity.

6 Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Ran from March 1989 to August 1989

While a shorter OVA series in the overall Gundam metaseries, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is especially highly regarded not just in the franchise but among anime's greatest shows. The franchise has frequently shown its social commentary over its iterations and across the decades, with its pacifist commentary on the dangers of idealizing or glamorizing war. Its protagonist, Bernard "Bernie" Wiseman, learns this lesson painfully and viscerally, standing as an example of the fodder mowed down after these enormous conflicts in the series.

The series sometimes hits a gut punch for viewers, with even its characters not learning the anti-war message that has pervaded much of the Gundam franchise before and since then.

In this sense, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket encapsulates the best of Gundam's themes while remaining reasonably concise. The series sometimes hits a gut punch for viewers, with even its characters not learning the anti-war message that has pervaded much of the Gundam franchise before and since then.