Ask John: Why has Gundam but Not Other Sci-Fi Titles Become a Franchise?

Question:
Why is it that there is always a new Gundam anime, the next being 00 (double O)? I know Gundam is quite popular, but so were Eva and Nadesico. I know Eva is coming out with four movies which are just a re-telling of the TV series and the Prince os Darkness movie ended Nadesico well, but both series have a lot of potential for a continuity or an alternate universe. So why isn’t there any?

Answer:
I’m not certain that anyone knows exactly why the Gundam franchise has been so prolific while other sci-fi anime series have had limited life spans or fewer installments. A close comparison may be the abundance of the Star Trek franchise while other, similar American sci-fi programs including Space 1999, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, Firefly, Andromeda, Lexx, and Farscape have not been as successful. What makes Star Trek a significantly more viable wellspring than other similar titles? What makes the Gundam franchise a more viable wellspring for reinvention and adaptation than other robot anime series like Evangelion, Nadesico, Dancouga, Dragonar, SPT Layzner, Vifam, Macross, or countless others? I think that there are actually a number of factors that each contribute to the ability of the Gundam name to support an endless variety of iterations. The seniority of the title probably contributes. The target audience for Gundam anime is instrumental to the franchise’s success. And finally, the amorphous nature of the Gundam mythology allow for greater reinvention and adaptation than other sci-fi robot anime allow.

Extending the analogy of Gundam being Japan’s equivalent to America’s Star Trek, seniority probably has something to do with the series vitality. Star Trek predates sci-fi dramas like Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 and Farscape. Star Trek’s history gives it name recognition and longevity that transcends generations. Likewise, Mobile Suit Gundam precedes similar robot anime including Dancouga, Dragonar, Macross, Layzner, and Vifam. Gundam introduced the concept of realistic giant robots – giant robots as mere military vehicles and weapons rather than giant metal characters with distinct personalities. However, when looking at America, the Star Wars franchise debuted nearly a decade after Star Trek, yet Star Wars has been able to rival the popularity and growth of the Star Trek franchise. So age alone is not enough to establish and sustain success. Success and popularity are created by attracting an audience, so audience demographics must have some impact on a franchise’s stability.

Like Star Trek, Gundam began as a series targeted primarily at a small, niche audience. Perhaps not so coincidentally, both Gundam and Star Trek were canceled due to poor ratings, then revived due to hardcore fan support. In America, Star Trek and Star Wars have achieved massive mainstream success because they are titles designed for mainstream audiences. Both Star Trek and Gundam may have their share of technobabble and jargon, but both squarely aim for mainstream audiences. Anime titles like Nadesico and Evangelion may be very respected and popular within the fan community, but they’re not titles that specifically try to be accessible or appealing to viewers outside of the hardcore fan community. Unlike many robot anime targeted specifically at hardcore anime fans, Gundam is a mainstream franchise specifically intended to attract both otaku and viewers that don’t otherwise watch anime regularly. Nadesico is clearly a title that inexperienced anime viewers would find baffling. Evangelion and Macross are robot anime that have managed to earn some sustained interest outside of the hardcore anime community, but they’re both fundamentally still programs for otaku.

Finally, the Gundam franchise has one distinctive characteristic that other similar sci-fi robot anime don’t have. It’s the same characteristic that separates Star Trek from other similar sci-fi franchises. Gundam is literally a concept more than it is a story. Star Trek has iconic characters like James T. Kirk and Spock, just as Gundam has its original characters Amuro and Char, but in both examples, the concept is sustainable and adaptable beyond its core characters. Star Wars has an expansive universe, just as Macross does, but average viewers inextricably associate Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader with Star Wars, and Hikaru Ichijo and Lynn Minmei with Macross. Typical robot anime like Evangelion and Nadesico are stories about their primary characters and their relations with each other and their mecha. Evangelion and Nadesico can be reinterpreted without their original main characters, but the Gundam series has been specifically created to encourage that sort of expansion. The second Gundam series switched the primary character from Amuro Rei to Camille Vidan. The third television series again switched to a new protagonist, Jude Ashita. The Gundam franchise supports spin-offs and reinterpretations including the SD Gundam anime and “Street Fighter” style G-Gundam because the series has always been about the concept of humans interacting with each other and giant robots – never specifically concentrated on establishing just one cast of characters.

None of these three characteristics alone, the franchise’s age, its intended audience appeal, or its mutability, are enough to singularly explain Gundam’s longevity and diffusion. But I don’t think that there’s any other anime series that has all three of these characteristics working conjointly. The unique combination of characteristics that distinguish the Gundam franchise allow Gundam to be more flexible, sustainable, and constantly popular through multiple generations of viewers and multiple different iterations than any other sci-fi robot anime.