Editorial by Chris

June 3, 2002

There's a new trend among anime fans that concerns me, and it's the attitude of "that series is old, so it sucks." The truth is that people are always more impressed with their visual senses than by anything else. It's evident when people watch special effects filled garbage like Independence Day or look at models in fashion magazines. It's especially true in anime, where many times stunning visuals are accompanied by poor stories. However, the problem here is the way that fans judge a series. It seems that the overall quality of a series is now judged by many fans solely on the quality of its animation. A prime example of this is Cartoon Network's airing of Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Mobile Suit Gundam, created in 1979, is the first series in the massively popular franchise, while The 08th MS Team is a spin-off OVA series created in 1996. The 17 year difference between these two series creates large differences in animation quality, especially considering that one is a TV series and the other is an OVA series. The problem here is that many viewers have rejected the original 43 episode series in favor of a 12 episode spin-off. Why? Because The 08th MS Team has superior animation. On message boards and chat rooms, fans say that the original series is bad because the animation is not good, and 08th Team is the one of the best series mainly because of its animation.

I find this oxymoronic, because you can't understand 08th Team without having seen the original Gundam. There's also the fact that 08th Team only exists because of the popularity of the original series. While the original series has many fans, the voices of 08th Team fans are the ones with the power. The 08th Team has now run on Cartoon Network at least six times, while the original was canceled without even one full run (mainly because of September 11). This indicates that fans prefer to watch the same episodes of 08th Team time after time instead of watching the original series even once. This disturbing trend shows how shallow fans can be when it comes to judging the quality of a series. Some fans of 08th Team don't even bother giving Gundam the benefit of the doubt and forgive its old animation. In terms of story quality, there is no way that 08th Team could possibly match Gundam. Gundam was a long TV series that told an epic war story, while 08th Team focuses on only one platoon. In addition, the character development on Gundam is more extensive, and characters such as Amuro Ray or Char Aznable are some of the most famous in anime. Also, one has to only look at Gundam in Japan to see that the original series is still the most popular one of all.

Where did this rejection of Gundam come from? There are so many new shows airing like Cowboy Bebop that fans are spoiled by new animation. This attitude is present in many other parts of society. Many computer games feature incredible graphics and sound, but are extremely lacking in gameplay. The standard Hollywood action movie may have great explosions or CGI, but the story is usually clichéd and poorly executed. Fans have simply carried this over to anime, and of course Gundam. The problem with rejecting Gundam is that fans are overlooking a true classic. Gundam is one the most revolutionary anime series ever, as it defined the realistic mecha genre and stole the spotlight from super robots. It paved the way for other classics like Macross and VOTOMS. Ignoring Gundam is the same as ignoring the original Star Trek series in favor of Voyager or Enterprise. Those series are clear examples of fluff and visuals being emphasized over quality storytelling. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's bad. The latest Star Wars movie may have incredible special effects, but it will never match any of the original movies from 25 years ago. The same goes with Gundam. If something still works, you don't throw it away because it's old. Especially when what's new isn't better.