Any other aspiring Gundam pilots out there?
I was first introduced to the franchise with Gundam Wing, but quickly gravitated to the original Universal Century timeline. I think my top favorite entries in the franchise are the original movie trilogy (which is a re-edit of the original TV series), Char's Counterattack, and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz. I also own the box set of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the 08th MS Team. I've also seen G-Gundam.
I'll say straight up front that I don't particularly care for the non-Universal Century series. The original Gundam series was created to be the anti-super robot show, where the main robot, while powerful, was not indestructible and could be defeated. But among the Alternate Universe series, that philosophy is largely ignored. G-Gundam and Gundam Wing are the worst offenders of this that I've seen, G-Gundam in particular as the first half of that show is the textbook definition of super robot, where the good guy gets beat on until he unleashes his super-powerful, unbeatable weapon/move and wins the fight. Granted, the last half of that show moves away from that formula to a great degree and turns into a great Gundam-meets-kung fu thrill ride. And the Gundams in Gundam Wing are literally made out of a nearly indestructible metal! To be fair though, I loved the mech designs and characters (mostly). What really burns me with that series though is that the bad guys change almost once every ten episodes! It turns the narrative into a bit of a mess and as a writer, I don't enjoy watching/reading something and feeling like I could have written it better. That's a real pet peeve of mine.
That said, the Endless Waltz movie was a nearly flawless way to conclude the Wing storyline. The new Gundam designs, the animation quality, and the music were all fantastic.