Gundam (Japanese: ガンダム, Hepburn: Gandamu), also known as the Gundam series (ガンダムシリーズ, Gandamu Shirīzu), is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise/media mix created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise and, as of March 2020, indirectly fully owned by Bandai Namco Holdings through subsidiaries Sotsu and Sunrise. The franchise features giant robots (mecha) with the name “Gundam” (after the original titular mecha). The franchise began on April 7, 1979 with Mobile Suit Gundam, a TV series that defined the “real robot” mecha anime genre by featuring giant robots called mobile suits in a militaristic setting. The popularity of the series and its merchandise spawned a franchise that includes television series, OVAs, films, manga, novels and video games, as well as a whole industry of model robots known as Gunpla (plastic Gundam model).
