I'm watching that new Netflix special MSG: Hathaway because I threw it on after work one night and immediately fell in love.
What should I watch next? I know people like Iron Blooded Orphans, is that a good option? Or should I go way back?
I would love to understand some of the lore/context of the MSG universe
Are you aware of the UC/AC timeline split? Basically there's UC (Universal Century) Gundam and AC (Alternate) Gundam. All this means is that series set in the UC timeline follow on from one linear, canonical plot starting in the year 0079 and going onwards. Hathaway falls in the UC camp. Iron Blooded Orphans, along with Wing, 00, X, and Seed (to name a few) all fall under the AC timeline and thus have no relation to each other or the UC timeline. If you want more big robots with little to do with one another pick any of the AC shows you like the look of. If you want to understand what happened before Hathaway, then that's a different bag.
Was not aware of this, thank you. Hathaway definitely did make me curious about the UC timeline. Are there any movies or series in it that stand out?
Oh absolutely, the series spans all the way from the late 70s to present day in terms of production years, and it really depends on whether you want to see the story from the very beginning or jump from place to place.
The very fist series is Mobile Suit Gundam. It's 50 episodes of janky 70s animation designed to sell action figures. It does have an amazing story, but it's also chock-full of filler and outright silly content. Helpfully, the series was compressed into three compilation films that clean up the animation a little, remove the filler, and generally make the story a little cleaner. It still looks visibly aged, so bear this in mind. The other mainline series, Zeta and Double Zeta, are similarly 50 episodes each but they're much better animated, if only a little.
If you want to watch some shorter, but much better animated series you can watch the first three compilation films, and then skip straight to War in the Pocket, 0083 Stardust Memories, and 08th MS Team. Char's Counterattack is a fantastic film, but it follows on from Zeta and Double Zeta, so you may be a bit out of the loop as to the story. The latest OVA series, Gundam Unicorn, is gorgeous and can potentially be entered with little knowledge, but it does address several important characters and their lineages so once again may leave you out the loop a little. If you're willing to be spoiled/read a wiki in conjunction, then that should sort you out quite neatly.
Wow thanks a lot, that's really helpful. I doubt I would finish if I tried to watch the entire series, but those movies sound very worth the watch. I kind of like anime movie series more than TV series anyways, as a format.
I'm excited for Unicorn, it sounds great. I'm quite alright with reading some wikis as needed, but I think I'll see how I like Zeta first, just in case.
Another starting off point that u/Straight_Depth missed would be Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.
Sounds like a viable starting point lol