There have been a lot of Gundam announcements of late, but it seems like no matter what the internet lights up with as many negative nancys as can be mustered. Perhaps the classic case of people not actually knowing what they want? If they want to do something new, if they want to broaden the audience, if they want to remake the classic, or if they want to add to the continuity, it seems nothing will satisfy the established fanbase.

It was a perfect storm of announcements recently. On June 13 Bandai announced that the newest Gundam series would be Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Almost immediately after the announcement there was an overwhelmingly negative outcry from the Gundam fan community. The show was instantly panned for being immature and nothing more than a toy and game tie in for children. It was clearly too far from the franchise’s legacy. Then on the 22nd they announced that they were also adapting the Gundam: The Origin manga as well. This lead to an equal but opposite outcry from the fan base that they were just rehashing the original series and that Gundam had nothing new left in it. I noticed quite a few outsiders on Twitter questioning what did the Gundam fanbase want as it seemed that absolutely nothing made them happy. As someone who considers himself part of the Gundam fandom it is still puzzling to me. It almost seems that no one hates Gundam more than Gundam fans. What do you have to do to make them happy? Is there anything you can give them that does not cause a hissy fit?

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