Gundam

About

Gundam is a popular anime series produced by Sunrise^[1]. Starting with the original anime Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, the series has grown a considerable following worldwide, and becoming one of the most famous and profitable franchises of all time.

History

The original Gundam series, titled Mobile Suit Gundam^[2], was first broadcast on April 7 1979, and finished serialization on January 26 1980. The series is set in a fictional universe in which a nation titled “The Principality of Zeon”^[3] declares independence from the Earth Federation^[4], and soon launches a war of independence. The main plot centers around a newly deployed Earth Federation warship, named the White Base, arriving at a research base to pick up new secret weapon for the Federation. However, they are followed by Zeon forces, who attack White Base, despite orders not to, killing many of the crew and civilians located on the White Base. A citizen named Amuro Ray^[5] finds the Federation’s weapon, named the RX-78 Gundam, and solves the problem. The show then follows the adventures of the boy, as well as the new crew aboard the White Base, and how it effects the war. Although the series was not popular at first, the series eventually received critical acclaim, and garnered a large fanbase, becoming one of the most famous anime of all time. The show’s popularity led it to start a large franchise, including around 31 different animated films and series^[6], a live action film^[7], a number of manga and novelizations^[8], and a number of different video games^[9].

Online Relevance

Gundam has a massive online following, such as on 4chan’s /a/ Anime & Manga^[10] and /m/ Mecha^[11] boards, as well as on Tumblr^[12] and Reddit^[13]. Gundam also has a number of groups on DeviantART^[14], as well as fan sites such as Gundam Seed Net^[15]. There are also multiple Gundam wikis, such as the Gundam wikia^[16], as well as a Gundam Fanon wiki^[17]. There is also a wide variety of fanart and cosplay, linked with the Gundam series.

Fanart & Cosplay

Notable Sub-Memes

We’re Jumping Onto White Base

We’re Jumping onto White Base, refers to a musical remix revolving around a line uttered during the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. After the original video was posted to Youtube on Febuary 11 2008, a number of other parodies were created, utilizing the song.

Cardboard Box Gundam

Cardboard Box Gundam is a meme based of a piece of cosplay originally worn by Gundam fan Paul M. Palgen during Anime Central 2003. Due to the humorous nature of the cosplay, the costume was subject to parody across the web.

Chinese Gundam

Chinese Gundam refers to a robot statue, built at an amusement park in Sichuan, China on December of 2010. Due to the resemblance to that of Gundam, the statue grew in popularity on the Japanese internet, spawning a online fandom and fanart.

Shining Finger Sword

Shining Finger Sword refers to a special move used within the anime Mobile Fighter G Gundam^[18]. Due to the cheesiness and humor of the original scene, the video is often subject to parody.

Zeta Punch

Zeta Punch, is a series of parodies revolving around scenes in the anime Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam^[19], in which the main character punches numerous other characters. The original video was posted to YouTube on March 29 2007, and consisted of these scenes, accompanied by the meme Falcon Punch.