The Gundam franchise has nearly been around longer than some of us here at Honey’s Anime. “Why does this matter?” you ask? When a franchise has been around for as long as Gundam, it’s hard to just say it will be overthrown by a pop up new series. We have seen some incredible mecha anime like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Shinseiki Evangelion, and Eureka Seven but none of those have blown up like Gundam. Needless to say, even with some of those series having several spinoffs and movies associated with them, Gundam has the time and fan base making it a franchise that has its roots well established in the anime world.

Mobile Suit Gundam hasn’t just reigned supreme in the anime world but in the merchandise market too! Gunpla—or model kits—are some of the most famous pieces of Gundam merchandise that can be found nearly worldwide! There is even a Gundam cafe—located in Akihabara—just showing the huge world Gundam encompasses. If you can name a popular merchandise brand then we guarantee you can find a Gundam version of it somewhere out there.

One way the Gundam franchise could have been dethroned ages ago is if the series followed a simple theme. Thankfully, Gundam is far from simple. The lore of the Gundam universe spans out as vast as the space it explores. There has never been a shortage of Gundam stories—such as Gundam Seed and G Gundam—which explored various pilots in their numerous struggles. There was even a spinoff that focused on chibi Gundams—titled SD Gundam Gaiden or Super Deformed Gundam Gaiden—which gave kids a nice entryway into the franchise. No matter your flavor of mecha anime there is no doubt a Gundam series just waiting to be watched by you if you haven’t already.

Here’s the reality readers out there. Gundam might have had some weaker spinoffs and some underappreciated side stories but this franchise is—and will always be—bulletproof. As we mentioned before, there are so many Gundam-themed concepts out there in the world from models, toys, restaurants, movies, anime and the list goes on. The Gundam franchise could suffer several failed series back to back and even then we’d bet that it wouldn’t be dethroned by a single other mecha creation. Gundam will remain popular as long as the world loves giant robots and the idea of them fighting in the void of space.