YMMV / SD Gundam World Heroes

• Arc Fatigue: Many fans were annoyed when the last quarter of Episode 12 all the way to the first half of Episode 16 was spent retelling the events of Sangoku Soketsuden. Especially since the episodes in-between were all reused footage from most of the series, with a few minimal changes.
• Awesome Music: The second cour opening for the series, "Borderless" by This is Japan. The energy of the music combined with the animation is just pure awesome.
  • The second cour ending, "Koganezora," the debut song of HaKoniwalily, is a rocking song that also gives off the feeling of hope even in the face of adversity.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Epileptic Trees: Due to the fact that the differing areas this series takes place in are called "worlds" (Kingdom World, Neo World, Pirates World, etc.), there were presumptions that there would be dimension-hopping involved, especially since each world is based on different time periods and settings. Turns out worlds in this case refers to the countries on the planet that the SD Gundam World series takes place in, not literal worlds.
• Funny Moments:
  • In episode 1, Liu Bei points out how Zhao Yun deliberately changed his hairpiece from blue to yellow just to go to Neo World, much like some people get hair dye or cornrows just for summer vacation.
  • Sun Jian and Sun Quan's entire boat trip in Pirate World during the second episode. Full stop.
  • Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei disguise themselves as musicians when they attempt to break Wukong out of prison. Hilarity ensues.
  • Zhou Yun's attempts to fix the broken Neo World Haro in episode 10. Especially since Liu Bei pretends for a moment that he did a great job only to criticize him for rebuilding Haro as something completely unrecognizable from its original appearance.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: On the 21st of April in 2021, the SD Gundam World Heroes Model line would announce six new Gunpla, with one of them being Arsene Gundam X, a previously unnamed character based on Arsène Lupin. On the exact same day, Capcom announced that The Great Ace Attorney would be released overseas...and would change Sherlock Holmes' name to Herlock Sholmes, after the Captain Ersatz version of the character Maurice Leblanc made up to be a rival for Lupin.
• Ho Yay:
  • Sasuke Delta Gundam's character bio on the official website states that he acts alongside Nobunaga Gundam Epyon due to being attracted to his strength.
  • Sun Quan Gundam Astray has plenty of these moments with Edward Second V, but one particular moment in Episode 5 has Edward compliment and encourage Sun Quan for solving a puzzle...with Edward also winking at him. Sun Quan in turn looks in awe at Edward with Love Bubbles surrounding his face.
• I Knew It!:
  • Ever since it was first teased on the first trailer, most fans figured that the Medieval European Fantasy-themed Knight World would be based on the Arthurian Legend, and were proven correct when Episode 2 introduced to us Arthur Gundam Mk-III.
  • Fans also correctly guessed that the Gentleman Thief Gundam X was based on Arsène Lupin way before his name was confirmed to be Arsene Gundam X. The assumption that he was a resident of Neo World was also proven correct.
  • Pretty much everyone figured out that the green archer Gundam AGE-2 was based on Robin Hood long before his name was revealed to be Robinhood Gundam AGE-2.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Arsene Gundam X is a self-appointed treasure hunter with a passion for antiques and obtaining valuable artifacts. Agreeing to help the heroes infiltrate Captain City's museum and steal Neo World's Haro out of a desire to see a hidden treasure, Arsene displays the expertise that let him evade capture for so long as he deploys traps for the police and uses his knowledge and tools to avoid the museum's security system, hijacking one of the exhibits as a getaway vehicle. Finally caught at his hideout with his allies defeated, Arsene reveals all of his heists were done to return the artifacts to their original homes as he sends his collection to where each item belongs before peacefully accepting his arrest. Arsene's act of kindness restores Neo World's shattered Haro and proves him to be a man of righteous heart, pardoning him of his crimes and allowing him to assist in the final battle.
  • Sergeant Verde Buster Gundam is the commander of Neo World's Verde Buster Gundam Corps. Sergeant is shown to be effective in taking down big threats but willing to ease up for smaller crimes, trying to kill a berserk Wukong Impulse Gundam while only pretending to arrest Zhao Yun 00 Gundam for speeding as thanks for helping him before. Sergeant pursues Wukong and his friends to deal with the potential threat the child poses and arrests a nearby criminal gang during his hunt. Tracking down the heroes and Arsene Gundam X to Captain City's museum, Sergeant seals off the exits and avoids the active security system, still managing to track down his quarry to Arsene's hideout after they escape. Once Arsene is revealed to be a man of righteous heart, Sergeant apologizes to the heroes and says they can call him for help anytime, keeping his promise when he returns for the final battle.
• Misblamed: While overall reception was generally positive, there were also fans who assumed that the previous series Sangoku Soketsuden was cancelled for Heroes due to how accidentally close it was to the real-life COVID-19 Pandemic. The "New series production" announcement at the end of Sangoku Soketsuden's last episode showed that that wasn't the case.
• Moment of Awesome: In Episode 4 when facing Apsaras, Sun Jian Gundam Astray suggests firing a torpedo at it, but Edward Second V says that it wouldn't work and has another idea. Once Apsaras gets close enough to Benjamin V2 Gundam's ship, Edward turns it on its side and fires all cannons onto it, launching it into a Rapid Current! Sun Jian is utterly impressed by this.
  Sun Jian Gundam Astray: Edward, you don't look that way, but...
  Edward Second V: Ye thought I was just a kid, eh?
• Nightmare Fuel: In a flashback, we get to see how the Haro of Pirate World corrupted Anne Bonita into killing her crew once she achieved it, after showing her being chummy and happy with them just previously. We also get to see it flash an open-mouth grin and evil eyes before it corrupts her entirely. Leave it to SD Gundam World Heroes to make HARO of all things look terrifying.
• Shocking Moments: SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden offered a setting based off of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and so there were expectations that a potential continuation of it would be more or less the same if not somewhat related. The first trailer for Heroes alone introduced numerous new elements that did not follow the previously established theme at all, including a techno police force, pirates, a character based off of Oda Nobunaga, a Medieval European Fantasy-themed world with a pointy hat wizard, and to top it all off the main protagonist being based off of mythological figure Sun Wukong rather than anyone from the Three Kingdoms period. Needless to say, SD Gundam fans weren't prepared for any of the turns.
• Spiritual Successor:
  • Considering it involves a bunch of people from different nations and histories coming together to face off against an alien threat, SD Gundam World Heroes is probably the closest we'll ever get to an Anime based on the World Heroes series minus the Time Travel. Hell, hey even share the same title.
  • Having a major focus on masks and being about traveling the world to collect four other MacGuffins to stop an apocalyptic threat also makes it kind of like an Anime Adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Well, about as close as we're ever gonna get at any rate. The moon even plays an important role in the plot, albeit how it's portrayed here compared to Majora's Mask is widely different.
• Tear Jerker:
  • In Episode 4 when talking to Xiahou Dun Tallgeese III and Xiahou Yuan Tallgeese via a Video Call, Liu Bei Unicorn Gundam asks the Tallgeese brothers if they've found Cao Cao Wing Gundam yet. They say no, and rant a bit about how they don't care if he's on a journey of atonement, they just want him back. Cut to Cao Cao Wing Gundam wandering into the snowy and currently-warring nation of Musha World, before stopping at a Tea House for a drink...and promptly sneezing.
    Tea House Owner: Have you got a cold? It's snowing a lot today. It's quite cold.
    Cao Cao Wing Gundam: No, I think someone is talking about me.
    Tea House Owner: (chuckles) You seem like a popular person.
    Cao Cao Wing Gundam: No, I think they're saying bad things about me.
  • In Episode 5 once Sun Jian Gundam Astray defeats her ghost with Gokoshugazan, we're treated to a flashback of Anne Bonita back when she was alive and on her quest to become the Pirate King. And as it turned out, she loved her crew and considered them her friends, but once she got a hold of the Haro, it made her kill them all and then further corrupted her to hide both of them in Almalechal Palace in the Demon's Trench, making her haunt it as a ghost. We don't see her again after the flashback, so it's likely the flashback was her last memories before her spirit was finally put to rest...
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Despite (or probably because of) the obvious advantage it would give, neither Arsene Gundam X nor Seargent Verde Buster think to bring in the massive Psycho Gundam from the Neo World arc when they head to Regina World to participate in the final battle.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Although nobody's complaining about the Victory Gundam Pirates, there are fans who feel that Pirate World had a missed opportunity not to have a character based on THE Space Pirate mech Crossbone Gundam, since it was already taken by Gan Ning back in Sangoku Soketsuden. They could've at least set up an Adaptational Origin Connection that Gan Ning Crossbone Gundam originated from that world.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Since SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden was based off of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not many were expecting a potential sequel to it going more all over the place with its themes rather than continue the one previously established. Or for that matter, the main protagonist of said sequel to be based off of Sun Wukong of all people! While both Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms are Chinese legends, the latter is more based in history while the former is more based in mythology.
    • Similarly since both Wukong and Sanzang were both shown to be present, you'd think that there would be characters based on Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing as well. In a surprising twist, however, both of them were made into alternate personalities residing inside of Wukong, with both of them being based on the Silhouette Packs used by the Impulse Gundam!
  • Back when the Gunpla Models for Heroes were first announced, there were two mystery characters simply referred to as "New Item A" and "New Item B", with speculation as to which mechs they could be based off of. When their names were properly revealed, they threw fans for a loop as it turned out they're based off of mechs that were previously underutilized by the Gundam franchise as a whole, with only a few appearances to them.
    • New Item A is Edward Second V, the deputy of Benjamin V2 Gundam, who's based off of the Second V. While both of them are based off of the Mid-Season Upgrades of the Victory Gundam, the Second V only appeared in the novelization of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, taking the place of the Victory 2 Gundam.
    • New Item B is Sasuke Delta Gundam, who's based off of the MSN-001 Delta Gundam, which first appeared in the Gundam MS Graphica photo-novel. The Delta Gundam was only a prototype plan for a transformable mobile suit as part of the Zeta Project that ended up scrapped because of technological issues, though elements of it were later developed into the MSN-001A1 Delta Plus and, more famously, the MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki. Rather than those two, even though they're both more major, they based Sasuke off of a dejected concept that only had any real story importance in the previously mentioned photo-novel and two Manga! (Mobile Suit Gundam UC MSV Kusabi and Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn Testament)
    • Going even further with Sasuke Delta Gundam, he acts as a retainer for Nobunaga Gundam Epyon. However, he’s based off of Sarutobi Sasuke, a popular Japanese fable figure who may or may not have truly existed, rather than any of Nobunaga’s actual retainers like Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu.
  • Episode 7 introduced a rival for Sasuke Delta Gundam, who's based on his fellow Sanada Brave Ten member Kirigakure Saizō...as well as the MSN-001X Gundam Delta Kai, which is built off of a variant of the Delta Gundam, the MSN-001A1 Delta Plus, and only appeared in a couple of works like the Manga Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. 0094: Across The Sky.
  • At the end of Episode 10 during their museum break-in, Arsene Gundam X and the rest of the group encounter and in the next episode are shown to befriend the Psycho Gundam Mk-II. No, not a character based off of it, but the actual Full-Scale mech itself. And then the next episode ups the ante further by having it turn into the Psycolo Gundam.