Hey, don't dis Gurren Lagann. I loved Gurren Lagann. GL was way more subtle that anything Gundam has been lately.

I am all for super robots in my gundam and gundam in my super robots.

in all honesty, I didn't like GL, if only because i don't like shows that start out over the top, instead of building up to it.

Honestly I prefer Gundams like Build Burning and Sengoku Astray because they are unashamably Super Robots.

Speaking of build fighters...I got my magazine add ons for the Vbrae and Wing Zero Hono:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7622/...565419e9_b.jpg

Bought extras for customs, I gave the duplicate magazines to a friend.

Except for the red across the face, the giant red mouthplate, and the big green inverted A on the forehead.

Because nothing says subtle like sunglasses on a robot and fighting on top of galaxies.

Even from a writing standpoint GL was a brick to the head. The characters were less characters and more catchphrases for fans to repeat, and every single theme or undertone was blatantly explained with zero room for interpretation. The story was downright absurd and had no real plot until the very end where it seriously seems like they made it all up on the spot.

Basic is not subtle. Not even close. The simple fact that you can't make that distinction proves my point. People don't get subtlety anymore.

"Subtlety" is not the absense of substance, nor is being dramatic necesarily unsubtle. Subtlety is when something cohesive is established through minimal, almost missable details that aren't immediately visible and reward deeper thinking/scrutiny. More for less. Lengthy monologues or designs blatantly showing off their intent with overblown flare and excess is not subtle.

EDIT: Double post

Ok then what is subtle wiseguy?

I repeat: "Subtlety" is not the absense of substance, nor is being dramatic necesarily unsubtle. Subtlety is when something cohesive is established through minimal, almost missable details that aren't immediately visible and reward deeper thinking/scrutiny. More for less. Lengthy monologues or designs blatantly showing off their intent with overblown flare and excess is not subtle.

By that definition no Gundam has ever been subtle.

Not even close. But then again, as I said before, nobody can operate outside of extremes anymore. The fact that you claim "well nothing specifically matches that to a T so there exists no examples ever!" just puts you in the same boat as them.

Ez-8 and Turn A are both nice, reserved and subtle designs. Nothing really overtly flashing. But very compact, little bits of flare, but nothing gratuitous. Especially on Ez-8.

Wing Proto Zero is a good example of design subtlety despite being a dramatic Gundam. The design has lots of colour, big wings, big weapons, but it's subtlety lies in it's aversion to outright push those features to extremes. The wings aren't gigantic feathery wings like the EW version. They aren't even typical wings, the way they fold up etc. (but still resemble folded and unfolded wings, very cleverly) The gun is big, but not humoungous. More like two long rifles stuck together. Sheild is reasonably sized. It's details are large and well spaced so it's not a lot of tiny details clumped together, nor are they so sparse as to make it boring.

Build Burning is another great example design when it's not on fire. Colourful, just the right amount of detail, yet no gigantic wing pack or weapon. Then you have Gundams like Shining/God who aren't even trying to be subtle, and yet manage to be more thoughtfully designed and reserved than some later Gundams despite aiming for over-the-top flare.