It is year 0079 of the Universal Century. Mankind has moved to space, living in colony clusters known as "Sides." One of these Sides declares itself the "Principality of Zeon" and declares war on the Earth Federation, the governmental body currently ruling Earth. Using powerful humanoid robots known as "mobile suits," Zeon quickly gains the upper hand.

Nine months into the conflict, the Earth Federation has developed its own powerful mobile suit called the Gundam. When Zeon launches an attack on the colony holding the Gundam, a 15-year-old civilian named Amuro Ray suddenly finds himself thrown into a conflict that will take him all across Earth and space, pitting him against the enemy's ace pilot, Char Aznable.

Kidou Senshi Gundam was not popular when it first aired, and came close to being cancelled. The series was originally set to run for 52 episodes but was cut down to 39 by the show's sponsors, but the staff was able to negotiate an extension to end the series with 43 episodes. When Bandai bought the copyrights to build plastic models for the show's mecha things changed and the show became popular.

It revolutionized the genre by portraying mecha as piloted military weaponry with real-world scientific basis instead of superheroes' giant robots. Often referred to as the 'real robot' genre, it became the norm for mecha anime in the following years after its release.

The series was the first winner of the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize, in 1979 and the first half of 1980.