I got into Gundam from TFW2005. Customizers over there would often use joints and hands from gunpla in their kitbashes, and a quick Amazon search showed that the source material looked awesome. I contemplated getting a HG Heavyarms, but decided not to. A few years later I took the plunge and bought a 00 Raiser, and I've been a fan ever since.

still hate this 00 obsession, i would recommend any gundam series before recommend 00 and Seed

Everyone should go watch Turn A, it is amazing

Turn A is amazing, but I'd only recommend it for an established fan. It's not a series a beginner or new comer will easily enjoy.

But you're the only person I've ever seen who so vehemently hates 00 John :lol I like the show a lot, but I also love the SEED universe which admittedly has more critics despite being one of Bandai's best selling franchises, hence it's continued popularity. I would say 00 is a great entry point for new fans. As is G Gundam, or Wing. It's tougher to get newbies started on the classics like the original & Zeta.

If also recommend G Gundam or Gundam Wing for beginners. Probably 00 for those who are getting more comfortable with the shows.

I just cannot grasp how people can like Seed or 00. I get so angry when watching them, like good lord

they are like Aldnoah Zero, piss me the hell off :lol

I personally say 00 is the best starting point. But if Bandai will give me the ZZ Gundam compilation movies I've been wanting, I will forever say that watching the movies based on the first 3 UC series, then CCA then Unicorn will be the best way to get into Gundam.

I had watched G as a kid and loved it ever since, still cant finish Wing worth a crap, but 00 is what got me back into Gundam. I just loved all the characters from it.

I don't like it either. Although, many of the things that I dislike about it are possibly elements of Gundam anime in general, which probably explains why I like Build Fighters, the most un-Gundam-y Gundam anime, so much. 00 seemed to take itself way to seriously, and it feels like nothing about the show would change if you completely removed the mobile suits from it. It'd still be a story about an anti-war organization trying to stop a war-torn world from fighting. That's why I loved Pacific Rim so much, it just said "Screw logic, here's a giant mech hitting a kaiju with a barge, and now it's jumping through a portal into another dimension. But wait, now it's grappling with a bird kaiju, and it has sword whips, too." It just had such an over-the-top feel to it that so perfectly fit what I expected to see. Build Fighters isn't quite at that extreme, but it had plenty of long, memorable, and downright awesome fight scenes dispersed among segments of an entertaining story. Now, before you say "But 2ndSndWve, 00 gets way better later on!", I've already endured the first 13 episodes of 00. So far, I've only liked a couple of epsiodes. That's 2 out of 13, not a very good score. My rule for tv shows it shouldn't take more than 12 episodes to get to the tone, quality, and pacing that it will have for the rest of the series. If I don't like it after 12 episodes, I won't waste any more of my time watching. I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this rant, but I just feel that another opinion is needed here.

TL;DR version: watch Build Fighters.

I'm not gonna say your opinion is wrong but, have you only seen build fighters? Because BF is a spin-off and is not in line with the other series. Unless you're watching G gundam or the beginning of ZZ, that super seriousness you're complaining about is in every other Gundam series.

I've seen enough of 00 to tell it's not my thing. Like I said, many of the things I don't like about 00 probably go for Gundam in general. It's not just the seriousness, it's also the lengthy narration/exposition that's used throughout. Far to much time is spent on one character basically just expositioning in the general direction of another character or to a wall. A good story should be shown, not told, and 00 tells far to much.