You cannot talk about anime and its impact without mentioning Gundam. One of the most well known and beloved franchises in anime history, the problem for many fans of the show is that they came on board a little late. Whether seeing it at a friends or hearing a buzz about it, all nerds got around to it, but not always right away. So you probably have some questions about Gundam and Gundam’s colorful history.

Thankfully, the kind folks at i09 put together this epic history of Gundam and it gives you all the info you need to understand how and why this series became such a phenomenon.

In 1979, giant robots had a specific connotation in Japanese entertainment. The likes ofMazinger Z and the then-recent début of the first ever Super Sentai show, Battle Fever J with their own giant mech, gave the “Super Robot” genre a very specific connotation. Such mecha were fanciful, confined to children’s shows and comic books fighting aliens and monsters, and as the name of the genre implied, were seen as evolutions of super powers rather than realistically designed robots to be used in military environments.

Thus, our obsession with giant mechs was born and continues to this day.

[Image via Gundam.Wikia, Story via i09]

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