How to watch Gundam in order
Over 40 years of anime in one fell swoop.
When it comes to the OGs of anime, no franchise fits the bill better than Gundam.
Making a name for itself with the likes of City Hunter, Dragon Ball and Astro Boy, Gundam is an anime franchise that has branched off into so many different directions, it’s enough to make your head spin.
First appearing on screens in 1979, the military franchise was initially created by Yoshiyuki Tomino.
Alongside film and TV adaptations, Gundam has also been serialised into manga, novels and as many collectable figurines as you can get your hands on.
The trouble is, Gundam can often come across as a confusing franchise. With so many different adaptations with different names and faces, figuring out where to start isn’t an easy task.
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There are over 50 animated versions of the franchise, so to keep things as straightforward as possible, we’re sticking to the main groups that they all fall under.
Forget Transformers — here’s how to watch the complete Gundam franchise in order.
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How to watch Gundam in release order
With so much going on and so many different elements to take in, viewers might simply want to watch Gundam going by the order it was released.
The order for watching the Gundam franchise by release date looks something like this:
- Mobile Suit Gundam (1979 – 1980)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985 – 1986)
- Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986 – 1987)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991)
- Victory Gundam (1993)
- Mobile Suit V Gundam (1993 – 1994)
- Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994 – 1995)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995 – 1996)
- After War Gundam X (1996)
- Turn A Gundam (1999)
- Gundam SEED (2002 – 2003)
- Gundam SEED Destiny (2004 – 2005)
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007 – 2009)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010)
- Gundam Reconguista in G (2014 – 2015)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015 – 2018)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015 – 2017)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015 – 2017)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)
How to watch Gundam in chronological order
For the original Gundam series, the franchise takes place across the Universal Century timeline, which then grew to include the added spin-offs and OVAs that we’re including in this list.
It follows the tensions between the Earth Federation’s Amuro Ray and Char Aznable that later leads to all-out war. Essentially, this is the timeline that’s core to the Gundam franchise.
Watching Gundam according to the chronology of the Universal Century timeline follows this order:
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015-2018)
- Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy (1981-1982)
- Advent Of The Red Comet (2019)
- The 08th MS Team (1996 – 1999)
- MS IGLOO (2004 – 2008)
- 0080: War In The Pocket (1989)
- Thunderbolt (2016)
- 0083: Stardust Memory (1991)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation (2005-2006)
- Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis (2017)
- Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018)
- Gundam Hathaway (2021)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: F91 (1991)
- Victory Gundam (1993)
The since-released 2022 show Gundam: The Witch from Mercury acts as a standalone, as isn’t included in any existing Gundam timeline.
How to watch non-Universal Century timeline Gundam
Unsurprisingly, plenty of Gundam anime exists outside of the UC timeline, extending to other narratives that include the After Colony/Mars Century timeline, the Cosmic Era, Anno Domini and the Advanced Generation.
Adding these to your watchlist would look like this:
After Colony/Mars:
- New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995 – 1996)
- Operation Meteor (1996) [Compilation OVA]
- New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1997)
Cosmic Era
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002 – 2003)
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray (2003)
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004 – 2005)
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: STARGAZER (2006)
Anno Domini
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007 – 2009)
- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie - Awakening of the Trailblazer (2010)
Advanced Generation
- Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2012)
- Mobile Suit Gundam AGE: Memory of Eden (2013)
What is a Gundam?
In short, a Gundam is an advanced high-performance mobile suit, which you’ll see featured across every version of the franchise.
Compared to the standard production mobile suits, Gundam suits are thought to be more powerful, and each features the best in equipment and technology that is available at the time of airing.
At the same time, the meaning of Gundam can vary depending on the timeline that’s being featured. In earlier years Gundam was used as an acronym, but more recent anime shows have decided not to include this.
How to watch Gundam in the UK
The Gundam Universal Century timeline can be found across Netflix, Crunchyroll, Funimation and Disney Plus. Further Gundam anime is available to buy on Amazon.
You can catch Gundam on Crunchyroll. Sign up to Crunchyroll from $7.99 per month with a 14-day free trial.
Check out more of our anime coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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