Anime

I just got into Gundam a few months ago. there is a trilogy of movies on Netflix (US) that recap the orginal series I watched those first. Then started Zeta Gundam which is a direct sequel. I’m really enjoying the franchise so far. There are tons of spin offs as well. This new franchise does not take place in the “main” timeline but I do think the orginal three movies/series will increase enjoyment.

I grew up on Gundam Wing. It's quite the ride now that I'm older and see a lot of the politics at play. And in much the same vein I loved Gundam 00.

But Iron-Blooded Orphans might be the best/most accessible series in the franchise.

Witch from Mercury hits hard at the end of the first season which is a good thing and a staple of the franchise.

Unicorn is bright and shiny. I watched it twice and that's all I can remember.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is probably the most succinct and existential series with 6 episodes and a build up to reveal how fucking horrible war is.

I dunno, you kind of just gotta jump in and get dirty. The themes vary from series to series but the main timeline, called Universal Century (UC.) is almost always focused on the human aspect.

Gundam is about space battles and politics and giant robots... Until it is about the stress and rigors of war. Not sleeping because you see the people you've killed. Overcoming the horror of losing friends, mentors, and loved ones to the fighting.

But again there are a bunch of series, each one is basically it's own self contained narrative that requires little in the way of prior knowledge. If you see something that interests you just jump in and watch it. I'm currently gearing up to watch the second Gundam Thunderbolt movie. The first one was pretty damn intense and I needed a three week cool down period.

On a more general anime note, I highly recommend the Apothecary Diaries.

There are a lot of Gundam shows that take place independently from the others and thus make good starting points. My favorites are Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. As Endmaker said, the original Mobile Suit Gundam (sometimes called Mobile Suit Gundam 0079) is also a good place to start if you don't mind watching something that's kinda old and kinda long.

It's important to note that Mobile Fighter G Gundam is very different from the others and almost feels like a saturday morning cartoon sometimes. The other shows I listed have a far more serious tone to them, including the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

Have you ever wanted Too Much Information about watch order recommendations for Gundam?

https://ani.social/comment/8014698

tl;dr I recommend production order for Universal Century stuff. For alternate universe stuff it mostly doesn't matter, though they do build on tropes etc from earlier shows.

It's a big franchise. Don't let that be intimidating. You don't have to watch it all lol.

should I just pick a series and watch or what?

That was my approach - just pick one of the alternate universes.

Otherwise, you can always start with the original series Mobile Suit Gundam

Personally, I found 100+ episodes to be rather daunting; I'm not done watching the whole thing.