I can't believe I had to surf back 6 pages to find this answer. You people need to sleep a bit.
Bleh, it's saturday-sunday. Sleeping in those days is for sissies.
Lets see.
In 1979 that popularity was very much debatable. Had it not been for Bandai, Gundam likely wouldn't be around today.
That's how endorsements work though; you go with what's popular. I think it's a fair bit of a stretch to consider the existence of a science academy based off of Gundam derivative off of said show's popularity though. The plane, of course, won't get an argument from me -- that's just plain old-fashioned marketing. 
Yes, the popularity was indeed debatable in 1979, but in 1979 it was INFLUENTIAL, not popular. See where I'm coming from now? By the time it had it's own plane, and science academy and whatever, it was popular, but had stopped bein' influential... at least as influential as it was in 1979, because I don't know when the heck the plane or the academy or the ice cream with guns in the back came out.
Also, I guess I had to make this clear from the get go, but by influence, I'm talking influence inthe anime world/culture/industry, not the outside world... altough in the case of Gundam, it has had influence in the real world, it would, at least for me in the context of this discussion, not matter at all, science academy or not.
Gundam has changed on many occasions. Look at, god forbid, G Saviour (don't EVER look at it, I forbid you, for your own good and health), G Gundam, A wakening of the Trailblazer, SD Generations, etc, etc. But, again, it depends on what you mean by change and altered. Everyone has their interests and I'm certain some would agree with you. As I said though...had it ended 20 years ago so much would have been left unexplored, unexplained, nor expanded upon.
Still, I do see your point.
How do you figure? Elaborate, please.
It's not at all difficult to differ from Gundam; look at Patlabor, The Big O, Vandread, etc. The difference doesn't lie in how you utilize the mecha, the key difference lies in the story being told -- that's where Gundam's magic is.
You've fallen into the exact same void a lot of people do. The story isn't about the mobile suits -- therein lies your problem of sorts. It seems (feel free to correct me) you consider the suits to be the major draw, er, scratch that (it IS one of the major draw ins) *starts over* It seems you consider the strength of the series to be reliant solely upon the mobile suits, and while they're definitely critical to the story...they aren't the story. Watch Gundam Wing, watch ZZ Gundam, watch G Saviour (again, DON'T..just using it as an example) they only thing they have in common are animated characters and mobile suits.
The stories being told and the way they're told are unique to each.
OF COURSE I CONSIDER THE STRENGHT OF THE SERIES TO BE THE MOBILE SUITS!!! Without them it wouldn't be Gundam!
look, lets do an excercise, you Gundam master. Take all of the Gundam troughout the years, all the series, movies, science academy, etc, and then REMOVE the Battle Suits. Yes, there are stories, there are people, there is angst and suffering and failed politics and space and science whatnot, BUT IT ISN'T GUNDAM!!!
I think that, by deffending Gundam stating that the Gundams aren't important to Gundam is... well... fail. A Gundam series can have an awesome love story, but without the damned robots it might as well be called Clannad instead of Gundam Clannad. See my point?
The thing here is, for MANY of us, having the damned robots there after 40 years has become increibly tiresome, so while the next-Gundam-to-come might have an awesome story to tell, I WON'T watch it because the story will get interrupted by robots fighting in the space. And if the story is about robots fighting in the space, then I don't care. That is why I state that Gundam's formula is old and wasted. Come on, it's been 40 years of blocking stories with robots fighting in the space.
Now we must battle.
In lieu of your strong statements (quite the passionate you are about this, too) the same can be said for, well, anything really. Games, movies, cartoons, clothes, food, etc. See my point?
Take DBZ for example -- do you know how unsatisfying it would have been if DBZ wasn't all about out of this world (quite literally) battles, excessively long dialogues, and screaming? It wouldn't be DBZ at all.
Yes, exactly. Thanks for giving me the reason. You hit right in the head. Everything has its very own elements that give it their identity, but they can be very negative to many people.
You can certainly say the same thing about videogames. For example, I'm a Zelda fanboy. And when I look at it, the plot is quite stupid: green boy goes, saves princess, saves earth/dimensions/dreams/whatever, end, profit. Then again it has it's very own charm and carisma and lore and culture (like Gundam) that attracts us fans like flies to honey. And while it manages to attract new players, I've found that a lot of people have lost interest in it because, well, it's the same.
Oh, of course it changes, like you have said with Gundam. In one game you turn into a wolf, or use 4 Links at the same time, you shrink yourself and on and on. Of course there's gotta be change, but in the end, it's the very same formula, and it can get old very fast for a few people... while still capture the fans because, well, that's what they like. Like you with Gundam and me with Zelda. And for the record, while I still think that Zelda rox teh sox, and I know it was influential, I do think now that it isn't influential any more, it's famous and profitable, and it rests in the laurels that it has created over 20 years, much like Gundam.
I do believe I'm beginning to see what you're talking about now. And I'd have to say you're onto something to some extent. The problem with that is, unlike Gundam, when NGE premiered it was fresh, it had no set standards to live up to within it's own right, nothing to branch off of, nothing to be based upon. If you were to drastically change the working formula for Gundam you'd risk losing the audience that at the end of the day matters to you most. That's not to say it shouldn't change, however, as I've said before...each story being told is unique to the series it represents. Look at AGE for example.
Before that look at 00. You think the "dialogues to come" wasn't planned from the get-go?
That is PRECISELY the point. When EVA premiered it was innovative and a breaktrough, and it stayed that way BECAUSE IT ONLY LASTED 26 EPISODES, TWO MOVIES, AND NOW TWO OTHER MOVIES. Yeah, that's a lot, but when you compare it to 40-year-old Gundam or, say, Dragon Ball, Macross or other stuff that's been extremely long over the years (note, not long like Naruto or Bleach which is one filler-filled series that keeps on going and going), Evangelion is short, it has an end (and what an end) and that's it. If it had to reinvent itself over and over and over again over the years (for the record, I really hope they stop with these movies), it would happen the EXACT same that has happened with Gundam: with the years, only the fans would come back and back and back, while many people would utter "ugh, enough" and walk away from it.
The bit about you refusing to believe of it's influence sounds a bit ignorant (no offense, of course). Also, if I may, let's look upon another Japanese megastar: Godzilla. You wanna know why Toho retired the character (I can't remember when he's coming back, I think 2014 or 2015)? Because of something you continually mention: a refresh. I'm not going to sit here and lead a blind eye, yes, in a nutshell (if you don't analyze every bit of the story) every series is the same...regardless of it's gore, length, or the message being conveyed. Toho wanted to give Godzilla a fresh start, to intentionally (I believe) allow fans to miss the practically omnipotent monster; to rebuild interest. So when it comes back...it comes back with a bang. Will the same happen to Gundam? I'd say it's inevitable. Whether or not it lasts as long as Godzilla's temporary retirement is an entirely different matter.
A wise man once said: "A good story needs no innovation, only an audience willing to accept and grasp that story."
The ignorance bit is well stated: I have NEVER seen a Gundam series. Well, I tried to watch Wing but it bored me to death, really, and the characters were SO annoying that i wanted to spit at the TV. I always hoped Relena would be crushed by the rhino in the ending and she wouldn't appear any more. I couldn't stand 10 episodes and dropped it. That was my first incursion to the world of Gundam, and as such, I WON'T WATCH ANY MORE GUNDAM EVER.
That is another disadvantage of it enduring so long. A newcomer comes and finds Wing on TV. It sucks balls so he won't watch any more of it. He may be missing out on a lot of good Gundam stuff, but how would he know? With so much Gundam in the scene, this can happen to a lot of people. Instead, newcomer (like you 2 weeks ago) comes and watches the 26 episodes of Evangelion, then EoE, then Rebuild. And that's it. You liked? fine. You didin't? fine. But you don't have to look at MORE AND MORE AND MORE of it to try to find something good. It's good or it isn't. With Gunda it isn't like that. You state it yourself all the time. "Look at 00, dont look at G" or whatever. One sucks and one rules, I assume. How can that be within one universe? I'm sorry, that's a big problem from whatever angle you want to watch it.
That is why I say that Gundam has lived too long for it's own good, and that if it ended a long time ago it would have been better. By now, like I said, the only people that care if a Gundam story is good or not are the Gundam fans. Everyone else is "ah, look, another Gundam" *goes watch Madoka*.
even the figmas look good!
lol. I have 5 episodes left and UBW to watch.
