Well for Actual chrono order check out the listing here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundam but as far as which one you should get first… I’d say get whichever you like the look of the best. They are all good imho and you can watch any series without what came before or after.
So have a ball.
A lot of Gundam you can watch out of order. My personal favorite is 0083.
Gundam 00 is one of the best of the recent Gundams.
MS Igloo is another one of the better recent series.
08th MS Squadron is one of the best in the series even if it’s more about tanks than mobile suits.
Char’s Counterattack is a good movie, but may leaves you kind of confused if you don’t know the back story between Char and Amuro.
A lot of people swear by 0080: War in the pocket. I thought it was just ok.
Gundam Wing is watchable if you can survive past the first quarter to half of the series.
F91 was just ok.
Gundam Seed should be avoided. However, Gundam Seed Stargazer is a stand alone OAV and I liked it.
G-Saviour (2000 film) was an English made live action movie that should be avoided like a horrible plague.
Technically the order is the original series which is compiled into 3 movies (I fell asleep watching them), Zeta Gundam (more movies), Gundam ZZ (double Zeta), Char’s Counterattack, 0080: War in the Pocket (you can watch this after the original 3 movies), Gundam F91, Victory Gundam, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, 08th MS Team, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, MS Igloo, then After War Gundam X. I mixed chronological and production order a bit there.
Then, there are Gundam series outside the main Gundam Universe that can be watched in any order:
Gundam Wing, Turn A Gundam (great music by Yoko Kanno), Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Super Deformed Gundam, and Gundam SEED.
I think I listed all of the anime, but there’s manga too. d:
Edit: Dang it, Sean. Why’d you have to go and negate all of my work? lol.
Stay away from Macross 7. It’s the only Macross that is GARBAGE! it does star Max, … but it sucsks donkey balls
Oh come on, you can’t just say that. You have to say why.
Twelve years after the premiere of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, 1994’s Macross 7 marked the return of the franchise to TV. Created and featuring mechanical designs by Shoji Kawamori, the series was directed by Tetsuro Amino (SD Gundam Gaiden) with character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto. The Macross Plus OVA jumped to a new generation 30 years after the end of the original series’ Space War I, and Macross 7 jumped a further 5 years. Space War I is a distant memory, and U.N. Spacy has sent out colonization fleets to spread humanity throughout the galaxy. One of these fleets is the Macross 7, commanded by original series ace pilot Maximilian Jenius. Although the Macross 7 fleet has been in space for seven years, their peaceful journey ends when they are attacked by a mysterious alien force known as the Varauta. Whereas many Macross series have focused on soldiers, Macross 7’s hero is Basara Nekki, leader of the rock band Fire Bomber.
This is a musical! Not anime with songs… but a frakkin musical! It doesn’t have Veritech Pilots as the main characters, it’s band happens to fly them, but that’s not what they do. It’s not that bad if the characters aren’t UN SPACY militery, nor is the idea of using music as a weapon if you know some of the backstory of the Macross franchise and why it was such a potent part in collective schematics. Even Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny had music as an element of illustrating the conflictions and turbulence caused by the conflictive sides within the war. However, Macross 7 takes this to another level quite literally.
What’s worse is that the main character, Nekki Basara, is such a rampaging jerk that he makes the American Lynn Minmay positively sympathetic. If they’d focused on the cute Mylene, this series wouldn’t be so bad, but having known more than a few self-absorbed, angsty musician types in music classes throughout high school and college, Basara leaves me sour. He has to be the worst character in any Macross series, bar none.
The art and animation are really low-caliber, and the plot is utterly laughable (though not as bad as the OAV sequel to this thing!). The firefights - well, again, there’s Basara with his guitar, taking the “Power of Music” to even more ludicrous depths than possibly imaginable. PLUS they have the weapon guitar thing like Bluegrass from the silver hawks! (I’m not surprised that Protodeviln usually flee in terror before Basara has a chance to finish. I would too.)
But Macross 7 is absolutely unworthy to be a sequel, or to even have the name of Macross. It’s surprising to know that this was on television at the same time that Macross Plus was out on video, and it’s worth note that the supposed “side story” Mpluss is infinitely superior to this piece of trash.
and worse of all…here’s the gang!
Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry
Loosely (okay, very loosely) based on the novels of Francis Hodgson Burnett. It’s really tough to say anything about this anime without major spoilage. The mecha (called Strains) are quite possibly the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. This 13-episode series is a bit dark at times and has a few disturbing elements.
Oh yeah, I’ll vote for Sōkō no Strain too. Forgot about that one.
I should also add Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (TV not the movies), but that’s more military than mech. And, it’s dialog heavy! heh.
Some people may wonder why I didn’t mention Fafner. I only thought it was ok. But, Fafner is probably better than some of the other series at the bottom of my list.
roosterpfunk69, take a deep breath. ^^ Admittedly, I only like 3-4 songs out of all of the Macross 7 song catalog. Macross Plus was way better plot and music wise (Yoko Kanno!).
Fafner, GITS, Gundam are all great shows.
Strain looks good, Watching it right now in fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbvLbqv437k
I should be in this thread more.
Watch the UC gundam shows in order.
All the other Alt universe gundams you can watch in whatever order.
By the way Sean, What’s your fave?
It’s a shame that this word alone ruined your whole argument. Someone who sounds like a “puristic fan” shouldn’t use Robotech terms.
I have to say Gundam Wing is one of my all time favorite Mecha series. What is better, is that the first time I watched the series from start to finish in a row I was taking an intro class to philosophy. Each night I’d watch another four or five episodes, and every day I would get an introduction to some philosopher (and then I’d start labelling the characters as Nietzchian or whatever)
Robotech was pretty good, but the Robotech Masters and later I never was able to make it through.
I know I’m coming to this late, but I wanted to add a couple of my favs.
Another vote for RahXephon. It seriously is my favorite series. Even with the monster of the week format for the first half of the show, it still manages to carry the undertones of its main theme all the way through the series. Plot-wise, I agree it’s Eva without Shinji, but theme-wise RahXephon is quite a bit different. I don’t want to spoil anything.
Also, Armored Troopers VOTOMS. It makes Gundam look like a happy little fantasy story. Chirico is a hard-boiled mech pilot, and the side characters really are interesting.
I know it gets dumped on, but I’d also suggest Code Geass. I really like that series. A lot.
Burst Angel is fun, and involves outfits with double stick tape. I’d also suggest Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It really is a awe-inspiring series. Let’s see, the first 13 episodes of Blue Gender are great. Then there’s Godannar, Gunparade March, Macross, Macross Frontier (although that hasn’t been released in the U.S.) Oh and Full Metal Panic.
I just watched Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn 1 (UC and Unicorn seem interchangeable). It was great! Watch ASAP!
Yummy eye candy.
Caveat: It helps if you’ve seen Char’s Counterattack and possibly 0083 first. Char’s Counterattack definitely helps though.
It even has a character named Full Frontal. How can you not watch?
Can I count super robots?
If i can my favorites are:
Shin getter robo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI9VZvk48Vw
Daitarn 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENdX2-tXKUU&feature=related
Mazinger Z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux3l3TAZVUI
Kotsushin Jeeg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQVhbyplNGo
Combattler V
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f75RbmNeqn4
Command & conquer 3 has the mecha tengu! 
I rewatched the first Evangelion movie followed by the second tonight.
OMG. I still think the series was over-hyped and overrated, but the movie (and all the changes so far) makes it worthy of the hype. It’s so much better!!
Macross Frontier
Macross Zero
Macross 7
Macross Plus
and if you like zombies,
High School of the Dead
Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars series.
It’s not mecha, but it’s a great sci fi/space series.
Macross! I’ve always had a thing for floating aircraft carriers in space that could transform into a robot. BSG notwithstanding 
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