#MechaMarch2022: The No Gundam Rule

This is something that I have left explained for such a long time. It feels like an obvious thing. Think of a mecha show and what comes to your mind? Do you think of a mecha series produced by Studio Gainax and/or Trigger? Or, did you think of Gundam? Be honest with me. If dug deep into mecha, you know more shows than that. The public generally doesn’t. That is all you need to know about why that rule was in place. Still, that is a very simple explanation right? Maybe a little too simple? Let’s explore that a little bit more. Especially since there is a lot more nuance than that for some reason. I mean, the rule was broken in 2020.

Why did I write a mecha post about Gundam X in 2020? Well, I don’t feel like it broke that rule despite the no Gundam rule being there? Why is that you ask. Well, how many people know what Gundam X is? What’s it about? What could it have been? It was a canceled series at 39 episodes in length instead of closer to fifty like Victory Gundam, G Gundam, and the infinitely popular Gundam Wing. Out of that chain in the 90’s, X is what got the cut and it never made it over to the United States because it was the end of that chain and it suffered the most stuff. Because of that, it is a very much unknown thing which needed to be shared a bit.

So what is the No Gundam Rule for real. The first thing is a way of sharing more of the mecha series for other people to at least look at. The idea was exploring more mecha series for other people to check out to other audiences there too. What can mecha be? What are the possibilities that are open with mecha anime. Showing series that use mecha in such unique directions adds a lot of color bits of flavor there. What about the earlier mecha series that not as many people watch or know enough about and their future adaptations? What if mecha and magical girls can be brought together? Something I just want more people to know about.

With that said, it’s also a challenge for me too. How easy would it be to make a mecha march with the biggest and largest mecha shows possible? Incredibly easy. Imagine one with Gundam series, Evangelion, TTGL, Code Geass, and so many other things only. How boring would that be? Well, it would capture an audience and be popular because people know what those things are. But what would the point of that be besides getting more audience views and clicks? Will I cover Code Geass eventually? Of course I will. But I don’t want to just do things like that. I want to throw in a lot of series that I haven’t watched before because I want to be entertained too.

So yeah, that is the larger explanation of such a simple concept. Well, at least what seems like a simple one. Yet, aren’t all simple things like that? Things that feel obvious at first, but have been motivated by something for a rule to happen or occur. What else do we need to say here? It is something that I stood by on this event for a very long time and it will continue to motivate me as I continue to discuss different Gundam series on my blog in different capacities. Banning a franchise that I love from one special event month doesn’t mean I hate it because this franchise is all a part of my life and identity. It’s incredible and complex.


Anyway, I think that is enough. I hope all of you continue to enjoy this month of content!