When a franchise has been around for a long time, there are bound to be some stories and decisions that haven’t held up as times change. Gundam is no different. With the original Mobile Suit Gundam series debuting in 1978, the franchise has 40 years of plotlines under its belt.

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But there’s a reason the franchise has stuck around as long as it has, as some of the stories seem every bit as true and powerful today as they did when the series first debuted. Here are our picks for the five most timeless storylines from the Gundam franchise, and five that probably should be left in the past.

10 Timeless: War in the Pocket: Bernie’s Final Battle

War in the Pocket is a quiet story about the effects of war on the people not fighting in it, with the main character a kid named Al who befriends a Zeon mobile suit pilot named Bernie. Bernie discovers that, unless he destroys the Gundam that the Federation is hiding on Al’s colony, the entire colony will be destroyed with a nuclear weapon. So, despite the fact that he no longer wants to fight in the war, he dons a mobile suit to fight the Gundam. The ending is tragic and holds up as one of the most heartbreaking moments in Gundam, even 30 years later.

9 Aged Poorly: Mobile Suit Gundam: Lalah

Despite being a Newtype, and therefore one of the most powerful able pilots in the war, Lalah’s position as a character in Mobile Suit Gundam is a little suspect. She’s a love interest for both Char and Amuro and creates more friction between the two characters, making their rivalry more personal.

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Instead of her being treated as her own character with her own arc, she is a plot point to further the relationship between Char and Amuro. This feels like a cheap way to draw a connection between the two pilots, who already have an established rivalry, and also does Lalah a disservice, not giving her the space to grow as one of the New types as the others are allowed to.

8 Timeless: Turn A Gundam: Moonlight Butterfly

Turn A Gundam is a fun entry in the Gundam franchise in its entirety, as the series that was meant to bring all of the previous Gundam series into one continuity. But the climactic battle between Turn A Gundam and Turn X Gundam, which sees the two mobile suits engaged in a battle to save humanity, or to destroy it, is an especially powerful story.

The Gundams, each equipped with a weapon called the Moonlight Butterfly—which has the power to render technology unusable—are locked in a philosophical as well as physical fight. The themes explored, as well as the gorgeous animation, make this one of the best storylines in Gundam.

7 Aged Poorly: The 08th MS Team: Shiro Deserting from the Federation

The 08th MS Team is at its heart a story about star-crossed lovers. Aina is a mobile suit pilot for Zeon, while Shiro fights for the Federation.

While the story about people from different backgrounds putting aside their differences holds up and remains powerful, the actual idea of Shiro deciding the Federation’s war isn’t his is a little problematic, especially considering how far Zeon is willing to go to win and how many civilian deaths they’re responsible for. While Aina herself also leaves the Zeon army to be with Shiro, Shiro’s feeling that neither army is in the right feels like the wrong philosophy and doesn’t read well now.

6 Timeless: Gundam: The Origin: Char Aznable becoming Char Aznable

Gundam: The Origin tells the story of what happened before The One Year War in Mobile Suit Gundam, particularly the origins of Char and Sayla and their escape from Zeon. Both characters go by assumed names to protect them, as their father was a leader in Zeon who was likely assassinated. But Char is actually a second assumed fake name, having stolen it from a neighbor who is going to join the military, of whom he has an uncanny resemblance. The lengths Char goes to in order to position himself in a place where he can get his revenge against Zeon are horrifying and fascinating, securing him a place on our list.

5 Aged Poorly: Mobile Suit Gundam: Kai and Miharu

Mobile Suit Gundam is more than 40 years old, so it’s no surprise the gender politics aren’t great. As a second example on this list, we have Kai and Miharu, a girl he meets while on earth. Kai, finding Miharu attractive, convinces Miharu to come with him onto White Base, where she helps in an unexpected battle against Zeon.

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But during the battle, she falls to her death, and Kai, who has otherwise constantly been on the verge of abandoning the White Base in fear and leaving the war, becomes more focused and supportive of his friends. The use of a woman’s death, not the first or last time the series does so, to encourage character development in a man has not aged well at all.

4 Timeless: Stardust Memory: Stolen Gundam

Stardust Memory follows the Federation army in the immediate aftermath of the One Year War when they’re cleaning up the mess that always follows war. At the beginning of the series, two new Gundam suits, both equipped with the ability to carry and deploy nuclear weapons, are delivered to a Federation base on Earth, where one is promptly stolen by a lone Zeon group trying to restart the war.

This theft kickstarts the series and sets all of the important plot points in play, starting a rivalry between Kou and Gato, the two opposing Gundam pilots, and giving us bad guys with a Gundam for the first time.

3 Aged Poorly: Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Celestial Being

Celestial Being's mobile suit pilots pose with their mecha in Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 features a team of mobile suits whose task it is to keep the peace on Earth during a difficult time of war. The Celestial Beings are the main protagonists of the series, but the very idea of them is pretty problematic. Keeping the peace by being a physical threat doesn’t really keep the peace at all.

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It instead creates a problem where people are just living in fear. So, though our main characters and the team they live in are good guys, the very premise of the team they fight on doesn’t work at all and hasn’t held up.

2 Timeless: Iron-Blooded Orphans: The Orphans Revolt

Everyone lined up in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans.

Iron-Blooded Orphans is the fan-favorite Gundam series of the last decade. Possibly the most brutal in terms of storylines, the series follows a group of orphans who have been working for a security company. When they’re left to essentially serve as cannon fodder in a batter, they revolt against the company to earn their freedom and get their vengeance.

The story is one of those super-exciting plots where you want to cheer for the team, who are doing something to get the justice they deserve. While the show has its tragic moments and not everything goes to plan, the initial revolt is worth the ride.

1 Aged Poorly: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char is Sayla’s Brother

Gundam Char and Sayla

Mobile Suit Gundam premiered just a few years after the first Star Wars movie, and the film’s influence on the series, from character designs to weapons to spaceships, is obvious. But one of the biggest similarities is the reveal of a major villain being related to one of the heroes: Char Aznable is Sayla’s brother.

The episode in which this plot point is revealed actually appeared on television before The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters, so it’s not likely Gundam was trying to mimic the film. Still, the reveal that Darth Vader is Luke’s father was one of the greatest plot twists in cinematic history, so Char and Sayla feels overshadowed by it.

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