GUNDAM: THE ORIGIN

I'm not a huge anime/manga person, but I've checked out the odd series in both formats here and there, most frequently back when I was in college and there was an anime boom on Cartoon Network. But of the series I looked at back then, only a very few stuck with me to the point that I would consider myself a fan. One of those properties is MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM.

I first encountered Gundam, as I imagine is the case for many Americans of a certain age, via Cartoon Network's broadcast of GUNDAM WING on their Toonami programming block back in 2000 or so. I had heard of Gundam previously, but never seen it. GUNDAM WING introduced me to the franchise, and while I enjoyed the show quite a bit on its own merits -- I still dust it off to watch every few years -- it was soon overshadowed in my estimation by the original 1979 series, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM.