With the popularity of movies like Pacific Rim, it’s clear that people love a good giant robot fight. But these movies wouldn’t exist today if not for the massive influence of Mobile Suit Gundam. The series, and the original 1979 show in particular, revolutionized how the mecha genre of anime is viewed. In particular, it helped establish the “real robot” sub-genre in contrast to the “super robot” that had dominated previously.

“Super robot” shows tended to have gigantic, nearly indestructible robots, often consisting of several smaller robots (Voltron is a good example of this) and tended to follow a monster-of-the-week format. In contrast, Gundam had over-arching storylines and introduced the idea of giant robots as regular military weapons controlled by a single pilot that require maintenance and are shown to break down.

The story of the original Mobile Suit Gundam takes place in a fictional universe in the “Universal Century” timeline and focuses on the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. For many years, humans had been living in various colonies in the space around Earth. Zeon’s former leader, Zeon Zum Deikun, believed that the people who lived on Earth had a duty to protect it as sacred ground, and that the people who lived in space colonies should be considered independent. But when he died, the Principality of Zeon became a dictatorship bent on war with Earth.

Amuro Ray, a young boy living in a colony, gets caught up with the war when his colony is attacked by Zeon. He ends up attempting to defend his colony by taking control of the RX-78-2 Gundam suit. Eventually he fights on the side of the Earth Federation, against the Zeon forces and particularly against Char Aznable; his rivalry with Char would go on to span multiple seasons of the television series and a feature film.

While the anime has since been a major influence on the mecha genre, it wouldn’t have survived past its first season if not for the popularity of “Gunpla” model kits. These plastic model kits surfaced in 1980 and helped to popularize the series even though the show had been canceled. Today, even in the United States, competitions are held where builders showcase their best work.

The cultural impact of Gundam is immense, with Japan dedicating entire museums to the franchise as well as its military using “Gundam” as a code name for various projects. Many items, from video games to automobiles, have been given a “Char Custom” treatment, referencing the pilot’s tendency to paint his mobile suits red. A full-scale Gundam statue was erected in Odaiba, Japan during the 30th anniversary celebration in 2009. The idea of building a fully-functional Gundam suit has been discussed publically (and perhaps not that seriously) by Japanese officials before, though with the approximate cost coming in at about $725 million, it’s unlikely to happen any time soon.