Why was Gundam so successful?
Mostly because it was different. While Gundam may have seemed to be “just another” giant robot show to the casual observer, the original television series exhibited subtle, yet ground-breaking differences that forged a brand new path for the genre. First, while most Japanese giant robot shows involve a titular mecha defending the earth from extraterrestrial invaders, Mobile Suit Gundam was the first series to feature a robot that was used strictly as a war machine. Furthermore, the enemies in this war weren’t aliens or monsters, but fellow human beings. Secondly, Gundam broke the shallow and tired giant robot formula, which usually goes like this: monster invades earth, robot fights monster, robot transforms, robot effortlessly destroys monster. Americans have seen it before with series like Voltron and Power Rangers, and it’s the exact reason why we stopped watching them as soon as we grew up. Instead, Gundam’s story revolved around a collection of space colonies that proclaims indepe
