GQuuuuuuX is director Kazuya Tsurumaki’s (FLCL, Diebuster) pet project: from interviews it seems like all the impetus for this collaboration between Studio Khara and Sunrise can be attributed to him.
However, this episode? The lovingly rendered shot-for-shot recreation of the the first episode of the original 0079 Gundam (minus some alt timeline shenanigans), complete with remixed versions of the original bgm and sound effects? This is all Anno, and probably the closest we’ll get to a Shin Gundam.
Anno’s major contribution to this project has been on the scripts, with him fleshing out this alternate timeline while Youji Enokido (Revolutionary Girl Utena) wrote the “modern” segments of the story. To say that the staff list for this is kinda cracked would be an understatement.
The theatrical release had the movie start with the footage from this episode, along with another 15 mins or so of extra footage that paced things better. It’s a bit disappointing that we couldn’t get an extra long episode to get the entire prologue, although I get the feeling that we’ll see the events that were cut for time here later on in the show as a flashback. (Also, going from this Gundam Origins artstyle to the rest of the show’s hyper-stylized Pokemon-esque designs did induce some whiplash)
(Challia Bull was a “villain of the week” who was easily dispatched in the original show, in episode 39 to be exact- now in 2025 he’s experienced twink rebirth via Yaoi fanshippers. What a time to be a Gundam fan, this is the best kind of “fanservice”- Gundam would have died stillborn if not for Yaoi fanshippers keeping interest in the show alive until Sunrise sorted out their merchandising funded model. Thank you Anno for giving the people what they want)
Edit: Also we finally got the opening, and it has a bunch of callback’s to Zeta Gundam lmao
What an extremely fun way to do this kind of thing. I do still think drawing so heavily from the original UC stuff is not the best idea, but this went so far with it that I couldn’t help but grin the whole way through.
This episode was literally a 0079 episode but with better animations/art. Everything else was the same as the original.
Everything else was the same as the original.
Well, not quite everything
Char just
walking the RX-78-2 up to the White Base and lighting the beam saber in the bridge
was maybe the craziest alt-history PoD I’ve ever seen
There’s a scene from the movie that I’m really sad got cut (they kinda gloss over it in the show) because it was such an amazing summary of Char’s entire deal
spoiler
He volunteers to go on a suicide mission to stop the Feddie asteroid drop, then when no one is looking he tries to sabotage it just for the chance of killing Kycilia. Be Gay, Do Warcrimes
I’ve got to see that dang movie once it hits piracy
I’m still working my way through the UC stuff.
Oh yeah, this like, definitely comes after all that. Although thinking about it you should be pretty ok if you’ve seen everything up to Char’s Counterattack. The premise for this show is “What if Zeon won the One Year War.”
IM FUCKING THERE!
Gundam X is also a “what if Zeonic won the OYW” and is super cool.
Like Critical Otaku said, the first three shows and CCA are pretty much the core of UC - all the other stuff isn’t quite as important as them.
Lmao is that really the name of the show? Japanese naming conventions crack me up
Japanese title is: 機動戦士 (Kidou Senshi) Gundam GQuuuuuuX
pronounced “G-Quacks”
I think next episode will give the reason for the silly name lol
Rad
I’ve tried to watch so many Gundam series. I want to like Gundam so bad but I don’t. I gave up.
But maybe… With this… Just one more try…
It sounds cool!
Have you tried Turn A? It’s probably the best of em
No, I’ve tried the OG, Wing, 8th MS team, Gundam the origin, seed, iron blooded orphans, unicorn, and probably one of the movies.
Why is turn A good? The main MS looks a lil funny
For one, it’s one of the last few cell animated mecha shows and is gorgeous to look at.
It’s also just one of the better written shows - there’s a lot of stuff about colonialism, weapons of mass destruction, gender roles, and for the super fans there’s a lot about “what it means to make a Gundam show” (but it stands alone pretty well - you don’t have to watch a bunch of stuff before it if you don’t want to).
It’s also the show where Yoshiyuki Tomino returned to Gundam after totally burning out during the production of Victory Gundam. His writing and creative direction can have some idiosyncrasies, but he’s really at the top of his game in Turn A.
The main MS looks a lil funny
The mustache is definitely a bit funny, but Syd Mead actually did the mechanical design for that Gundam!
How on earth do you not like 8th. MS Team? That final battle lives in my head rent-free.
That final battle is great. There’s a few really good action sequences in it. I love how grounded it is compared to the other Gundam series.
But, at the end of the day, I don’t like it for the reason I don’t like most anime. It’s full of tropes and (in my opinion) played out character archetypes.
It just doesn’t offer me anything narratively interesting, whether it be characters, themes, or messaging. It’s just ace pilot doing ace pilot things (but in a cool, grounded vietnam-war coded aesthetic).
Ah, yeah I can see that. Especially when Gundam was the first in a lot of areas, it’s become the “Simpsons did it/Seinfeld isn’t funny,” of anime. A lot of older content is unwatchable if you’re coming in late. Gundam Wing is especially dull if you don’t have the Toonami nostalgia goggles on.
This episode had me constantly wishing for a translated Gihren’s Greed game lol
Edit:
(Challia Bull was a “villain of the week” who was easily dispatched in the original show, in episode 39 to be exact- now in 2025 he’s experienced twink rebirth via Yaoi fanshippers. What a time to be a Gundam fan, this is the best kind of “fanservice”- Gundam would have died stillborn if not for Yaoi fanshippers keeping interest in the show alive until Sunrise sorted out their merchandising funded model. Thank you Anno for giving the people what they want)
We need a new Bandai shareholder promo photo with Challia Bull, the first Newtype
Challia Bull going to be the first male character they make a figure-rise standard out of, at this rate.
That shareholder promo is wild lmao
That shareholder promo is wild lmao
I know, it has infected my brain ever since Cromalin posted it ages ago. I want to imagine some salaryman has it framed on a desk next to pictures of his family lol
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Wow what an amazing episode! (Genuine)
spoiler
what the FUCK why is char getting in the gundam . I guess amuro gets to be a kid instead of getting in the gundam. I was mad about char taking his place for about 15 minutes until he magically disappeared to which I said “huh. Okay then.”
Then again I really dont like char in particular after his development, and in char’s comet they say “he likes younger women” in combination to spoon feeding his patriarchal fascistic values to kamille, so rly to me he’s just a groomer villain actually despite having a few coolguy moments.
So now char doesnt get a chance to do all of this & all of the implications will be interesting.
