Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. Now, normally I wouldn't recommend a Gundam series as something that would appeal to just about anyone, but 0080 is a very special case. It manages to do in just 6 20-minute episodes what nearly every other Gundam series fails to do in 50: tell a story showing the horrors of war through the eyes of the people involved, on both sides. It's a very human tale, and probably depicts the most realistic characters of any series in the franchise. The focus isn't on the mecha; though they are they (and they are VERY cool), the characters themselves take the front stage. It's also a lot more subtle than you'd expect Gundam to be: no epic poses while firing rainbow-colored lasers in every possible direction, rivals screaming long-winded ideologies at each other, verbally assaulting the viewer with the shows themes. No, 0080 shows you its message, rather than tells, and actually manages to probably be the only piece of mecha animation that criticizes war without at the same time glorifying it. And it's very tragic. The ending is downright tear-jerking. And the dub is good, too!
Seriously. If any of you like a good war drama, watch 0080. The only way I could possibly imagine anybody not liking it is if they thought the ham-handed storytelling of Gundam SEED Destiny was good. Clearly, this is a show for a different audience.
