The following will contain spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.
Director / Kazuya Tsurumaki
Screenplay / Yoji Enokido & Hideaki Anno
Production / Studio Khara & Sunrise
Release Date / April 2025
Since this is going to be the second time I’m writing about Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, I won’t give it the same introduction as the one for the Beginning film. Having seen the series in its entirety, GQuuuuuuX now comes across as a creative project and more importantly, a love letter to the original Universal Century setting. As the episodes dropped every week, more and more became curious of the legacy characters that they also started watching the older series, and I’m sure this is part of the plan all along. But beyond the nostalgia, GQuuuuuuX also presented a premise not seen in any previous Gundam production, and this is something only the brilliant minds from both Studio Khara and Sunrise can produce. I personally think GQuuuuuuX is a great series, but it’s not without its flaws, and we all can agree on a particular one. But before diving deeper, here are my unsolicited thoughts on Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, a crossing of dreams… or rather, universes.
For those needing a refresher, GQuuuuuuX exists in an alternate Universal Century timeline where the Principality of Zeon won the One Year War. This is all thanks to Char Aznable stealing the prototype RX-78-02 Gundam from the Earth Federation and charged to victory for the Principality. Unfortunately, he, along with the Gundam, went missing at the end of the conflict. Five years after and we find ourselves in the Izuma Colony at Side 6 where free-spirited teen Amate Yuzuriha has a fateful encounter that ultimately puts here in the cockpit of the Gundam QuuuuuuX, or GQuuuuuuX, intended for searching Char Aznable and his Red Gundam, the latter of which also reappears within the vicinity.
When the series was first announced, the premise revolved around Clan Battles, high-paying unsanctioned mobile suit battles, which is also how our trio of Amate (a.k.a. Machu), Nyaan, and Shuji Ito came together. We were also introduced to the Pomeranians, along with several other participants of the Clan Battles, including legacy characters and how the flipped outcome of the One Year War changed their fates. That said, several new faces were also introduced and thanks to the unique character designs by Take, some gained significant fan following, despite only appearing in a single episode. This is an interesting premise, especially when taken with the Universal Century climate as backdrop. Unfortunately, this is where the main issue many has with the series starts taking hold: the breakneck pacing and low episode count.
Episode four introduced fan favorite Shiiko Sugai, episode five is when things started to shift from the Clan Battle premise to more of the political tensions within the Principality of Zeon. We got more returning characters and mobile suits from Z Gundam, using the Clan Battles as jumping point to introduce the brewing civil war between Kycilia and Gihren Zabi. It’s also around this time where more of the lore is revealed, like Newtypes, the Zeknova, and Rose of Sharon; and they ultimately come ahead in the last third where the Zeon civil war is juxtaposed with all the Newtype brouhaha and in typical Studio Khara fashion, things become crazy.
If you look at Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX from an overarching story perspective, we can identify three main narratives: the Clan Battles, the Zeon internal power struggle, and the Zeknova / Newtype phenomena. Each narrative only has around four episodes at the most to really marinate, which isn’t enough for such complex stories. Case in point being Bask Om and his Cyber Newtype agents. Regardless of whether they are legacy characters or not, a significant threat like them, not to mention the Psycho-freaking Gundam, would’ve taken several episodes to resolve. GQuuuuuuX tackled them in one, two at the very most. Same goes when Machu crash lands on Earth and has the encounter with this timeline’s version of Lalah Sune. Most of these major story beats were told in a single episode since that’s the only time they can afford to do so.
The short runtime also has impact on fleshing out the main characters and their motivations. While the trio of Machu, Nyaan, and Shuji are the primary leads, the focus often shifts to Challia Bull and Char Aznable. I can even say that Challia and Char were more developed than our main trio, especially Challia who was just a one-note in the original. We are left to surmise the way they act in relation to their interactions with everyone around them. This is especially true for Machu and Nyaan, two people with totally different circumstances, yet pulled into the same conflict because of a common thread: Shuji. Oh, and we only got to know Shuji in literally the last episode. In the end, I was able to understand where they are coming from and made sense of their decisions, but I won’t be surprised if some didn’t. Annqi and the Pomeranians had a lot of storytelling potential but instead we only got a couple of conversations to get their perspective, notably Annqi. Then there’s Kycilia, who we got to know more thanks to her interactions with Nyaan but ultimately had the same fate as her main timeline counterpart. I almost forgot Xavier Olivette who’s probably there to provide cloud Challia’s true intentions and ultimately becomes his foil during the final battle.
I also want to take the time to note a couple of characters that really stuck with the audience despite vastly different on-screen appearances. Shiiko Sugai turned out to be a fan favorite despite being a one-off character, not sure if it’s because of her design or how she was portrayed (it’s probably the design). Then of course we have Comoli Harcourt who is the definitive bridge bunny of the Sodon, especially whenever she provides commentary while leaning towards the window in a particular manner.
There’s no denying the high production values as expected from a join Studio Khara and Sunrise production. If you’ve seen the Rebuild of Evangelion films, you should be familiar with how their team handles CG mecha, especially with the complex designs Ikuto Yamashita and the team provided. Speaking of designs, they were understandably polarizing at first given how different they are to conventional mobile suit designs, even the more unorthodox ones from IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS or The Witch from Mercury. Thankfully, the very fluid animation combined with the unique combat choreography really helped sell the designs. Also notable is the creative sound design and use of songs for the soundtrack. The combination of the old sound effects from the original and the more modern ones specific to U.C. 0085 help create this familiar yet unique worldview. The same is true with the way insert songs were used, with the mix of vocal talent from NOMELON NOLEMON and Hoshimachi Suisei, combined with easily recognizable classics like TM Network’s “Beyond the Time” for key moments.
Overall, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is the breath of fresher air among the breath of fresh air we’ve been getting in recent years. Sure, it capitalizes the One Year War and Universal Century nostalgia, but it flips those concepts over their heads to produce a story that leans more towards science fiction than political. And that is not a bad thing for a Gundam series this is an area not often touched. While this is a dream collaboration between Sunrise and Studio Khara, the latter was basically given reign on how to approach this alternate Universal Century story and went bonkers. It isn’t perfect and has flaws, but I really enjoyed watching each episode as they dropped every week. That said, the series would’ve really benefited from having more than 12 episodes, but we’ll work with what we’re given. As we inch closer to the Gundam’s 50th anniversary, I hope to see more of these collaborative productions, with each studio giving their unique spin on Gundam. Not sure if that’s their plan, but if GQuuuuuuX is of any indication, I think the audience is ready for more.
All episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX are available internationally via streaming on Prime Video.
