I’m 8 episodes away from finishing MSG79, it’s taken me far too long (probably a few years of intermittent watching).
What would you recommend I check out next?
I know 08th MS team is highly recommended. I loved Witch from Mercury, admittedly I watched most of it on my honeymoon traveling Japan, so I might be biased. Also open to non-Gundam Mecha suggestions, I started The 86 and enjoyed the premise.
All of these other Gundam answers are great. But…
Alright, since you wrote this, I am taking that as permission to advocate for one of my favorite shows from last year that was largely slept on in the West, Brave Bang Bravern!.
It is a comedic take on the mecha/super robot genre and parodies it in many ways (the super robot even builds gunpla of himself at one point). However, despite all the comedy, it is still incredibly tragic and heartfelt. Most of humanity is dead by the end of episode 1 for instance.
I think that Bravern is like other great parodies of our time (Galaxy Quest, Spinal Tap, etc.) in that it is sometimes through parody that you find the best in a genre.