Mobile Suit Gundam/YMMV

• And the Fandom Rejoiced: The anime is finally getting released on DVD with a Japanese audio along with the English audio dub.
• Ass Pull: In the original animation, Amuro pulls out a heat-resistant film in the RX-78 Gundam to cover the whole mobile suit and save himself from burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. This was retconned in the remakes with a Heatproof Field which is a venting system that pumps out air to create a thermal shield in front of the Gundam.
• Author's Saving Throw: Most of the changes in the compilation movies (other than those made for time constraints) were basically done to fix problems caused by Executive Meddling or that Tomino didn't like in the original. Ironically, some of these (like the Gundam Hammer) were actually quite well liked by fans.
  • The G-Fighter, a complicated Super Robot-esque support fighter with several outlandish combinations with the Gundam was replaced with the much more Real Robot-y Core Booster, just a simple support and weapons booster for the Core Fighters.
  • The Gundam's more exotic weapons, like the Beam Javelin and Gundam Hammer are absent as the were mandated by the network to sell toys.
  • As seen under Ass Pull, the Gundam's heat-proof film was widely disliked, and replaced with a more realistic cooling system.
• Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Frau Bow giving the kids a bath in the episode "The Trap of M'Quve".
• Complete Monster: Gihren Zabi, the Universal Century's very own Adolf Hitler... a comparison he accepts with pride.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Char.
  • Even Gihren Zabi gets it himself in some circles of the fandom, especially the Japanese fan circles. That is despite him being behind the bulk of Zeon's war crimes in the One Year War and taking comparisons to Hitler as a compliment. There are even games allowing Zeon to win that envisions an Earth Sphere led by Gihren as a glorious future!
• Ensemble Darkhorse:
  • Char, full stop (in Japan, he is just as iconic as Darth Vader to the Americans).
  • Rambal Ral: the man has such dignity and likability about him that it inspires a strong Rooting for the Empire. His Gouf is similarly popular.
  • The mobile suit Acguy has large number of fans who consider its big head, stumpy limbs and plump frame to be Ugly Cute. Its derivatives, the even more bizarre looking Agg, Juagg and Agguguy, aren't horribly unpopular themselves considering they were never actually on the show.
• Evil Is Cool:
  • Zeon gets a lot of love from the fanbase. From its rhetoric to its frequent and impressive weapons. Even the Zakus, as disposable as they are, really has a cool warlike design that endures to this day.
  • Char Aznable. It would be hard for him to be a bigger dick. It would also be hard for him to be a bigger Badass.
  • Ramba Ral. A man with a charismatic presence, cool custom Gouf, and enough of sympathetic presence that you want him to win.
  • The Black Tri-Stars aren't in the story for very long but they were a memorable trio of badass Ace Pilots that debut the equally cool Doms.
  • Gihren Zabi. There's such charisma and depravity to him that he really stands out as the series's most evil character.
• Fashion Victim Villain M'quve. Nice, uh, frills...
• First Installment Wins: Pretty much. Of all the UC series, it's always this period that gets side stories, video games and such. Even though Zeta Gundam was more popular at the time of its airing, these days it's overshadowed by its progenitor. Some fans refer to this as "the Star Trek syndrome"; while the sequel series may be vastly superior, the original show inspired a fandom.
• Ho Yay: Fans get giddy at the Char and Garma subtext, especially during the shower scene and their arranged plans.
• Hype Backlash: After listening to UC fans promote Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, it can be somewhat disappointing for some fans of other Gundam AU to watch the show. Not because it's bad, but because it cannot live up to the hype it's fans create for it. The same can be said for individual characters such as Char Aznable and Amuro Ray.
• Love to Hate: Char is this to the parts of the fanbase who aren't giving him leather pants. Gihren Zabi arguably qualifies as well. There's no doubt he's a total bastard, but he's just so good at it.
• Magnificent Bastard: Char, he has many moments of Magnificent Bastardry throughout the series, but one of his best is when he leads Garma Zabi into a trap, politely calls him on the phone, explains his motives, tells him goodbye and leaves him to die. YMMV on wheather you lose sympathy for Char as some see it as his Kick the Dog or Moral Event Horizon moment.
• Memetic Mutation: Besides the whole red thing, there's the infamous line Once the Big Zam is mass produced.
  • Let's not forget a certain "Jumping onto White Base".
    • AAAAAAH!
  • ....No mention of the Bright Slap til now? Really?
  • "This is no Zaku boy, no Zaku!"
• Misaimed Fandom: Yes, the Federation has corrupt leaders. Yes, Zeon has many good, moral, people who serve it. Yes, the Titans are bad. That being said, it's a little scary how many fans will knee-jerk a SEIG ZEON for a regime that murdered, not millions, but BILLIONS of people and continue to wipe out metropolitan centers every few years... FOR FREEDOM.
  • This seems to have seeped in writers of many of the UC side stories where the majority of Zeon characters are presented as the heroic ones while any good characters in the Federation are typically a Token Good Teammate, which ignores that while there was a fairly even balance of sympathetic characters in the original series on both sides, the worst characters were all in Zeon.
• Moral Event Horizon: Many found that Char crossed it when he arranged Garma's death. As for Gihren Zabi, pick something that he does. Anything.
• Narm: The crew crying and blaming themselves for Ryu's death. Changed for the compilation movies, fortunately.
• Never Live It Down: Kai Shiden is labeled a Dirty Coward by most of the crew early in the series for his bitter complaints about the situation they're in, despite the fact that he repeatedly undertakes dangerous assignments when necessary.^[1] While the other characters eventually realize their mistake, the majority of the fandom seems to have ignored that and consider him a spineless jerk.
  • In other circles, however, he's an Ensemble Darkhorse with a level of popularity that surpasses even Char Aznable. It helps that, come Zeta, he's effectively the Gundam series equivalent of James Bond.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Kai Shiden, He get much better as story progress.
• Seinfeld Is Unfunny: Inevitable, given the number of homages the later shows in the franchise did, it means many plot points in the show don't stand out now as much as they did when they were first done. The show wasn't very successful when it initially aired, in fact leading it to end three episodes earlier than originally planned, meaning it didn't have the animation budget that later Gundam shows did, which can be clearly seen in how its animation is a lot less detailed and a lot slower paced. The dated animation and Early Installment Weirdness tone didn't appeal to many newcomers, even among several UC fans who prefer the later installments and OVA series.
• Squick: In the novel version, aside from the gross plot changes, Word of God states that Amuro's crush on Sayla culminated in him making a locket out of her pubic hair.
  • It should be noted that Amuro himself initially thought this was disgusting, but was pressured into it by Kai and Hayato. It's apparently a combat pilot superstition that if a pilot gets into a relationship with a woman he must take an "Amulet" with him on missions or risk bringing misfortune and death on the entire squad. Though there's also the implication that Kai is just making it up to screw with him.
    • Actually, that tradition does exist, like it's shown in another manga. No, whether it's made of pubic hair or not... that is, well, something else.
• Strangled by the Red String: Amuro and Lalah's relationship just comes out of nowhere, as does their instant attachment to one another. The series justifies it, what with their Newtype powers having caused them to identify with one another, but that doesn't help make the relationship any more real to the audience. The strangling Newtype would become a tradition in Zeta Gundam.
• Too Cool to Live: Ramba Ral.
• Ugly Cute: The Aquatic Zeon Mobile Suits are paunchy, squat and less humanoid than the standard models but they can be quite cute especially the Acguy and, to a lesser extent, the Z'Gok.
• Vindicated by History: It's tough to believe that this show was canceled early due to poor ratings. And it's now the progenitor of one of the most renowned franchises in anime history.
• Wangst:
  • Amuro's angst gets pretty extreme at times, with "Fly Gundam!" and "Amuro Deserts" making him come off especially unsympathetic. A lot of the more understandable reasons for his actions are often downplayed for a more general sense of angst that feels like a forced Conflict Ball more than anything. Fortunately, 2/3s through the series, he get's better.
  • Hayato's as bad, or worse. His entire personality is based around resenting Amuro for being better than he is, and whining like a bitch whenever Bright praises the latter's performance. Perhaps his wangstiest moment comes following the latter's desertion, when he's so mad that Amuro wasn't executed for it, that he deserts. You go, kid. That'll show them.
• What an Idiot!: Hayato deserting when Amuro wasn't executed for deserting. Logic clearly was not involved. Thankfully for both of them, they weren't part of the regular military at that point, and Ryu even reasons to Bright that they were on the spot draftees, so it would be too harsh to apply strict military rules to them.
• The Woobie: Miharu Ratokie.
  • Lalah Sune too.

1. ↑ And after the war, he's left the danger of a MS cockpit for the safe career of war journalist.