The place do I even begin with GQuuuuuuX?
I choose to overview reveals after they’ve completed, so my plan has at all times been to attend till the top of the TV sequence to offer my extra full ideas. Nevertheless, the way in which Cellular Swimsuit Gundam GQuuuuuuX fueled hypothesis each week with each reveal signifies that it’s arduous to separate it from the hype practice surrounding its broadcast. One query I’ve to ask myself is just, to what extent do I decide the present faraway from the second when that power was so essential to its launch?
Complicating all that is the truth that I can’t fake that each one the nudges and winks on the fandom weren’t up my alley. To that finish, this finally ends up being much less of a overview and extra the ramblings of a long-time Gundam fan who tries to not care too a lot concerning the nitty gritty of lore however nonetheless will get enthusiastic about it however, particularly when GQuuuuuuX is constructed closely round that world constructing.
The Starting (Actually)
My introduction to GQuuuuuuX was via the film from earlier within the yr. I went in understanding nothing past a number of promotional pictures and one curious spoiler that had me extra confused than something, and I figured Gundam GQuuuuuuX: The Starting was some new franchise entry. Then an all-too-familiar narration started accompanied by an iconic colony drop intentionally made to evoke a simplistic cel animation, and by the point Char Aznable stole the Gundam, it was clear that we weren’t working with an alternate universe a lot as an alternate timeline.
Popping out of the theater, my #1 thought was “The world’s largest Challia Bull fan should have waited many years to tug this off.” The Starting truly takes a one-off character from the unique TV sequence and turns him into one of many largest badasses round, a call that would solely come from some extremely hardcore followers on the helm. To then additionally make it a present that establishes an alternate historical past the place a Zeon victory in the course of the One-Yr-Struggle creates a complete host of various penalties within the lives of characters each new and previous, each well-known and obscure? That’s some form of fever dream solely an entire nerd might create, and I imply that in a great way.
With GQuuuuuuX, you might have a piece that clearly anticipated the entire spectrum of Gundam fandom as an viewers. Its what-if nature is catnip for old-school Gundam followers, the feminine protagonist and different setting parts resemble the wildly standard Witch from Mercury in some methods, and it could solely be pure to imagine not less than some new viewers inquisitive about this Gundam factor or who’re maybe drawn in by the characters and aesthetics. My very own love for the franchise runs practically the total gamut, and this bringing collectively of generations solely made issues higher in my eyes, particularly as a result of that conflict of eras can be mirrored within the characters themselves.
A Gathering of Generations
After I say the characters are of various generations, it’s not nearly some being older than others, or a reference to the truth that the character designs out of the blue tackle the traditional Yoshikazu Yashuko aesthetic when the story jumps from the yr UC 0085 again to 0079 and the One Yr Struggle. The youthful characters really feel reflective of our present instances within the yr 2025, and so they behave in a different way from not simply the older vets surrounding them but in addition the teenage characters of previous Gundam sequence. The principle heroine Amate “Machu” Yuzuriha appears for which means and self value via unlawful cell swimsuit matches (“Clan Battles”), begins an in depth but adversarial friendship with the opposite main heroine Nyaan (a refugee on the run from the regulation for unlawful entry), navigates a posh love triangle she needs desperately to consider her supernatural psychic connection to the boy Shuji is exclusive to her, and desperately hopes different characters she meets gained’t be trapped by her circumstances. I can’t totally describe why, however the way in which she takes to the unfamiliar world of cell fits and Newtypes, excelling in some areas and being annoyed by others, simply jogs my memory of modern-day youngsters and the challenges they face.
The alternate historical past helped propel lots of the hypothesis that accompanied GQuuuuuuX. Each week, increasingly more characters from Gundam historical past would make appearances and get folks abuzz. Some are pretty well-known facet characters, just like the Black Tri-Stars (preventing in Clan Battles), Basque Ohm (nonetheless formidable however with much less energy and affect), and Sayla Mass (who appears to have turn out to be the ace of the Federation within the absence of Amuro). However then you might have extraordinarily minor faces present up, like Cameron Bloom (Mirai Yashima’s fiancee) and Gates Capa (a Zeta Newtype), and even figures who’re authentic to GQuuuuuuX however have threads connecting to different figures, like ace pilot (and standard mother character) Shiiko Sugai and Cyber Newtype Deux Murasame. Moreover, undergirding all that is the persistent presence of the distinct chorus of “La…la…” heard every time Newtype characters expertise a psychedelic imaginative and prescient. This sound is all too acquainted to previous Gundam followers, and the very risk that this can be a sequence related to Lalah Sune, the tragic Newtype lady who loses her life attempting to guard each Amuro and Char from one another, is uniquely interesting. GQuuuuuuX is brimming with fanservice, and it’s the sort the place the followers they’re servicing are sometimes these Gundam otaku operating your entire ship.
Overflow
So right here now we have an anime packed so tightly with storylines and character threads that it may be tough to see how all this will all match into 12 episodes. The reply is that it form of doesn’t, and that there are probably many untold or unfinished tales that would spring out of GQuuuuuuX. Additionally, the shifting emphasis between new and previous characters might make it tough to determine who the viewers ought to focus on probably the most. Amate, Shuji, and Nyaan are clearly the principle trio, however their story will get partly subsumed ultimately by the concentrate on the “Rose of Sharon” and the older characters. The result’s that Amate and the others really feel as a lot observers of a larger world as they do people with their very own company.
I do really feel that the rising emphasis on previous Gundam lore is much less stunning to me as a result of I first watched the film, because it entrance hundreds all of the flashbacks to the One Yr Struggle. I believe that beginning with the TV sequence might need made this extra jarring. Nonetheless, the hypothesis was enjoyable and allowed imaginations to run wild. And I don’t thoughts that the anime ended in a different way from everybody’s expectations, together with my very own.
Conclusion
I struggled loads penning this overview (should you may even name it that), however I’ve come to consider this as a very good factor. GQuuuuuuX is a messy work: a 5000-piece jigsaw puzzle the place the producer made a number of items too huge, a number of too small, and threw in a handful from one other field completely. It doesn’t fairly match collectively to create a picture-perfect picture, however that incongruity is gorgeous in its personal method. In the event that they ever resolve to make extra, that’s superb, however I’d be fairly joyful if they simply left it alone and allowed us followers to maintain speculating.
Keep tuned for a future follow-up to this overview, the place I get into all of the spoilers and nerd out over all my GQuuuuuuX theories.
