I feel the longer that a franchise has been around, the more difficult it can be for people to experience it. This isn’t necessarily because of the quality of the works within them, but because of the number of mediums and adaptations can be intimidating for newbies.
The biggest example, at least for me, has always been Mobile Suit Gundam. Beginning in 1979, it is a franchise that has created multiple different timelines (both interconnected and stand alone) that has spawned countless anime television series and films, dozens of manga adaptations and countless forms of merchandise. I had dabbled in the series before, but whenever I thought of diving headfirst I was hesitant because I didn’t want the experience ruined because I was missing context. I felt like if I couldn’t enjoy the series the way it was intended, I might as well not even try, causing my interest in the series to diminish.
Then I was introduced to a whole different side of the giant mecha phenomenon. I had always seen different Gundam model kits when I had passed by the hobby and collectibles section when I went to my local Barnes & Noble. After having just started collecting anime statues and figures, I found myself kind of curious about what made these little robot kits so different, so I decided to check out my first kit, the High Grade Earth Three Gundam and picked a cheap set of hobby nippers to help with my build.
I found the experience to be a fun, if simple, way of feeling more invested than simply buying a pre-built figure that would simply go on my shelf once I opened the box. I started buying a couple of kits afterward and started developing a backlog. I was hooked. I started buying whatever limited selection Barnes & Noble had before trying to find kits on Amazon and other sites as I became more invested, leading me to turn my bedroom into a personal workshop.
I couldn’t have a better time to pick up the hobby, as I was starting right around the time the pandemic had started. I had seemingly prepped for what would become my quarantine hobby. These small plastic robot builds allowed me to escape from the stresses like my essential retail job and the fear of bringing home Covid to my family. It gave me something I could dive head first into and just work on improving myself with learning to paint and weather kits.
This continuous workflow and reading of manuals also helped me build a connection to these machines, as I learned in universe specifications of each robot, their pilots, and the different media that they came from. It began to help restore my curiosity in the franchise.
The turning point, however, came from when I got my hands on one kit in particular. When I said I had dabbled in the series before, I meant that I feverishly watched one Gundam anime on a daily basis on the Toonami block. That series being Mobile Fighter G Gundam. While I could, and probably will, write an entire love letter to that show here in the future, all you really need to know is that this radical take on the franchise won me over in a big way as a kid.
With a newfound passion in these battling bots, I found myself on the hunt to find any and models I could find from that franchise to rekindle that burning nostalgia. While I was able to do just that, and also hunt every kit I could find from the G Gundam line, I realized that even that wasn’t going to be enough to pique my curiosity in this childhood cornerstone.
I soon found myself searching for and ultimately rewatching the entire series on Crunchyroll, reliving the excitement fueled ride I experienced while also having the ability to notice it's more mature themes that I had not noticed before. It even led to me discovering more of the multitude of series on the site, leading down a rabbit hole of possibilities and interest in the franchise as a whole.
Admittedly I’m still not as well versed in the Universal Century timeline, but I have started making my way through some really fun, dramatic, and downright incredible series that have helped shape what the franchise is today. In series like Iron Blooded Orphans and The 08th MS Team, I found myself seeing the themes of loss, the hardships of war, and the resilience to fight for those you care about that are at the core of Mobile Suit Gundam. All because I chose to pick up a hobby of building mini mecha to put on my shelves.
I feel like that has been the most fun part of the journey for me. I started a seemingly unrelated hobby that would help me deal with stress of life and even a full blown global pandemic, and it ended up being the perfect gateway to such an incredible franchise. It helped me join communities, learn interesting arts and craft techniques, and now I have years of content to look forward to experiencing.
If there is any takeaway you get from this, it’s that you never have to feel like you have to tackle any anime or manga franchise (or really any franchise) in any particular way. That may seem obvious, but we all know the feeling first hand of struggling getting into series because of their scale. You can join forums, follow cosplayers or look at fan art, or even buy merchandise because you think it looks cool. No matter how far those things are seemingly separated from the core works that are the foundations of those series, they can surprise you by being the best entry point.