Gundam

Origins

In 1979, Japanese animator Yoshiyuki Tomino and his coworkers at Nippon Sunrise created the anime Mobile Suit Gundam, the first entry in what would become famous worldwide multimedia franchise. The original series initially underperformed, being canceled after 43 of a planned 52 episodes, but was saved by the popularity of the merchandise, primarily plastic models of the iconic giant robots ("Mobile Suits") the characters battled in. The term "Gundam" was invented by Tomino as a portmentaue of the English words "gun" and "dam," meant to imply a a warrior holding back a wave of evil (like a dam) with a gun.

Top ten Gundam Anime series and movies according to 2018 NHK audience poll.

1. Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
2. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
3. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (2002)
4. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007)
5. Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988)
6. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015)
7. Mobile Suit Gundam UC (2010)
8. Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)
9. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (1995)
10. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991)

Modern state of the franchise

The latest animated entry in the franchise is the three-part movie adaption of the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash novels. You can watch the first one on Netflix.