Mobile Suit Gundam

One of the most genre defining animes ever, I still think it holds up well today. While the animation can be clunky and dated at times, the protagonist is far from a mary sue (contrary to future Gundam protags) and there is a fair deal of nuance to its depiction of war and its gray morality. However, it often feels like it drags on and its themes can sometimes be overbearing and redundant. Still, it has plenty of strong moments and Char is one of the coolest characters in any anime.

darker and slower than you might expect

Characters stealing essential military arms and only getting a slap on the wrist, characters knowingly shacking up with a spy and intentionally giving them info that leads to the base getting attacked and people potentially dying, advocating for children to stay on a dangerous warship where they may die at any moment just because they will be "more happy"!? There are many dumb immersion ruining moments, but they are generally self contained and tend to happen during character arcs. Fun otherwise