I have extensively posted about the international online poll NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting station, launched on occasion of the 40th anniversary of Gundam franchise.
Just last week (on 5.5.2018), the TV announced the much-awaited results. And here they are:
In a voting period between March 2 (Monday) and April 20 (Friday), a total of 1,740,280 votes were cast, both in Japan and internationally. I have added a screenshot (in Japanese, but of easy comprehension nonetheless) that shows the breakdown between voters. Male votes were the majority (78%) and the age group more represented was 20-29, with 30% of the votes. But the category between 40-49% got a surprisingly 27%, showing that the mecha phenomenon in Japan is not a kid-only business.
The winner?
As I have expected (see my post here) is the historical one, Mobil Suit Gundam 1979, and it couldn’t be different (I cast my vote on that, too). The votes’ breakdown shows that 57% in between 40-49 have voted for the historic Gundam, while Gundam Seeds, which ranked third of all times, obtained 45% of the votes of 20-29 years old.
All my preferences have been overall met, with only one exception -Gundam Wing, which only appears in position 23. This is not that surprising, considering that Gundam Wing has always been a darling of female watchers, who have not participated as much as their male counterparts.
Well done to all Gundam series! For the whole ranking, see the original Japanese page.