Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX director Kazuya Tsurumaki recently addressed criticisms that his new series that takes place in an alternate timeline of the Universal Century lacks respect for the original Mobile Suit Gundam series.This Substack is reader-supported.
Speaking as a fan going back for about a decade now and have watched just about every series, read countless manga, have a huge collection of gunpla/toys/memorabilia and even a few light novels, I wouldn't say it's disrespectful as much as it is just more lazy corpo slop trying to desperately gain an audience that isn't interested in Gundam or Gundam model kits. (of course I am comparing this to Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, Star Wars and Star Trek that have shows that clearly dislike the source material and the fanbase)
It's weird that they decide to try once again to gain a teenage girl audience they fervently want (50% of the population that can buy gunpla is $$$$ to Bandai's mind) by hiring a bunch of old boomer talent like Tsurumaki, Anno and Enokido known for subversive series for youth decades ago and not much of recent. This whole show comes off as a "How do you do fellow high school girls?" as they all poorly pose in poorly fitting sailor school outfits. The show is flat out embarrassing, boring, key jangly and lazy, playing the same lame trick that The Witch From Mercury tried two years ago. It's four episodes in, there's no character development or motivations from any of the cast, hell, the main character is just suddenly a savant without ever touching a suit in her life. There's absolutely no stakes or motivating plot devices to push the narrative forward. The new character designs completely clash with the original designs of Gundam characters that are already appearing in the show with their more suitable signature Yasuhiko designs. The new mech design is atrocious and doesn't fit with any of the actual tech in the Universal Century timeline, which makes this less of a homage and more of a ham-fisting of khara's taste into the world. In the very least, Gundam Thunderbolt, that was also an alt-history in the UC timeline, had designs that were more in-line with the design philosophy in this world than what is shown here.
I could go on, but to keep it short, this is probably the single worst entry in the Gundam franchise ever. Not even Seed, Seed Destiny or G-Witch were nearly as painful as this one when it comes to the quality of writing, tension and design. Unless they somehow turn it around with some incredible writing, this whole series is just a total snoozefest of dull interactions between cutesy characters to get social media gremlins to post about how they will ship them and make doujins about them. I should probably just do a whole video essay about this because as a mega fan of Gundam, this is just a total joke of a series.
I came into the series incredibly skeptical. To appreciate Gundam Gquuuuuux and not be confused by what's going on, any potential viewer would have to be well versed in the "One Year War" from either the compilation films which I recommend over the original series or Gundam: The Origin Series which I haven't completely watched.
I was initially turned off by the mechanical designs since they initially looked like if an Eva unit and a Gundam had a baby, but they animate incredibly well and the mobile suit combat has the "flavor" of combat from MSG (mobile suit gundam).
I am enjoying Gundam Gquuuuux so far, but it's almost like the anime equivalent of the MCU phase strategy requiring so much background info to fully appreciate or at least not be confused. No one's going to care about the Zabi family or why Char hesitated when going toe-to-toe with Sayla Mass.
It's a shorter series at a 12 episode total, kind of excited to see where this "What if?" goes. I'm kind of sensing "Evangelion" vibes though which is unsurprising as studio Khara is comprised of former Gainax staff.
I dunno, let's ask two female members within the last two properties, this one and Requiem of Vengeance.
Iria Solari: encounters new Gundam that, by lore, breaks the canon as soon as it introduces a character who died months before the events of RoV, attempts to steal Fed Tech, and in the process, realizes the pilot of the Gundam is a child around the age of her son. A Son who has been at least implied to be without a father, and currently without his proper mother who is off at war. A tragedy she wishes to rectify. Understandable.
How does she screw it up? I won't say talking the kid down in his Gundam is wrong or she shouldn't feel after watching him get cheapshot-backstabbed by a Gouf that by all rights was a CUSTOM MODEL, but what I do think is wrong is not taking the chance to back out of the War when it was over, instead staying on Earth to CONTINUE THE WAR in smaller conflicts involving CHILD SOLDIERS LIKE HER OWN SON!!!
Shiiko Sugoi: Loses her support pilot to Char Aznable and the Red Gundam during the One Year War. Revenge is a powerful motivator, and it'd make sense she'd hold a massive grudge. I've read, however, that the events of GQuuuux take place 5 years after the end of the One Year War. Since the conclusion of the war, it is said she's left the service, gotten married, and had a child. If that's true, her child would be no older than 4, as it takes 9 months to conceive. However, she herself says he's "all grown up". Now that she allegedly has some free time, she's come to Side 6 to get revenge on THE MACHINE, NOT THE MAN!!! SHE THROWS HER ENTIRE LIFE, FAMILY, EVERYTHING AWAY BECAUSE SHE WANTS REVENGE FOR A PERSON WE AREN'T EVEN SHOWN!!!
This series, as well as Requiem of Vengeance, does not only not respect the Gundam Franchise, it has a low view of Women in Military Service, not to mention an abyssmal lack of respect for the very concept of Family by extension. If a Woman sees the horrors of war, the general intention is to ensure your own offspring never see those kinds of horrors, and to make up for the years you were not there. It is not to keep going to war to slaughter children like your son in a pathetic effort to "put an end to the conflict", a Conflict you are not in a position to stop. It is also not of worth to throw away the one thing that would drive a person to keep living, even after the horrors of war, regardless of how damaged you are psychologically from those horrors. Shiiko Sugoi got what she deserved when she was backstabbed. And I am actually of the belief that Iria Shiiko's child is also deceased along with his father, because there is no other reason she should stay on earth fighting in lesser conflicts, which results in only further conflict, as well as likely hundreds of SLAUGHTERED CHILD SOLDIERS!!!
Speaking as a fan going back for about a decade now and have watched just about every series, read countless manga, have a huge collection of gunpla/toys/memorabilia and even a few light novels, I wouldn't say it's disrespectful as much as it is just more lazy corpo slop trying to desperately gain an audience that isn't interested in Gundam or Gundam model kits. (of course I am comparing this to Marvel, DC, Dr. Who, Star Wars and Star Trek that have shows that clearly dislike the source material and the fanbase)
It's weird that they decide to try once again to gain a teenage girl audience they fervently want (50% of the population that can buy gunpla is $$$$ to Bandai's mind) by hiring a bunch of old boomer talent like Tsurumaki, Anno and Enokido known for subversive series for youth decades ago and not much of recent. This whole show comes off as a "How do you do fellow high school girls?" as they all poorly pose in poorly fitting sailor school outfits. The show is flat out embarrassing, boring, key jangly and lazy, playing the same lame trick that The Witch From Mercury tried two years ago. It's four episodes in, there's no character development or motivations from any of the cast, hell, the main character is just suddenly a savant without ever touching a suit in her life. There's absolutely no stakes or motivating plot devices to push the narrative forward. The new character designs completely clash with the original designs of Gundam characters that are already appearing in the show with their more suitable signature Yasuhiko designs. The new mech design is atrocious and doesn't fit with any of the actual tech in the Universal Century timeline, which makes this less of a homage and more of a ham-fisting of khara's taste into the world. In the very least, Gundam Thunderbolt, that was also an alt-history in the UC timeline, had designs that were more in-line with the design philosophy in this world than what is shown here.
I could go on, but to keep it short, this is probably the single worst entry in the Gundam franchise ever. Not even Seed, Seed Destiny or G-Witch were nearly as painful as this one when it comes to the quality of writing, tension and design. Unless they somehow turn it around with some incredible writing, this whole series is just a total snoozefest of dull interactions between cutesy characters to get social media gremlins to post about how they will ship them and make doujins about them. I should probably just do a whole video essay about this because as a mega fan of Gundam, this is just a total joke of a series.
I came into the series incredibly skeptical. To appreciate Gundam Gquuuuuux and not be confused by what's going on, any potential viewer would have to be well versed in the "One Year War" from either the compilation films which I recommend over the original series or Gundam: The Origin Series which I haven't completely watched.
I was initially turned off by the mechanical designs since they initially looked like if an Eva unit and a Gundam had a baby, but they animate incredibly well and the mobile suit combat has the "flavor" of combat from MSG (mobile suit gundam).
I am enjoying Gundam Gquuuuux so far, but it's almost like the anime equivalent of the MCU phase strategy requiring so much background info to fully appreciate or at least not be confused. No one's going to care about the Zabi family or why Char hesitated when going toe-to-toe with Sayla Mass.
It's a shorter series at a 12 episode total, kind of excited to see where this "What if?" goes. I'm kind of sensing "Evangelion" vibes though which is unsurprising as studio Khara is comprised of former Gainax staff.
I dunno, let's ask two female members within the last two properties, this one and Requiem of Vengeance.
Iria Solari: encounters new Gundam that, by lore, breaks the canon as soon as it introduces a character who died months before the events of RoV, attempts to steal Fed Tech, and in the process, realizes the pilot of the Gundam is a child around the age of her son. A Son who has been at least implied to be without a father, and currently without his proper mother who is off at war. A tragedy she wishes to rectify. Understandable.
How does she screw it up? I won't say talking the kid down in his Gundam is wrong or she shouldn't feel after watching him get cheapshot-backstabbed by a Gouf that by all rights was a CUSTOM MODEL, but what I do think is wrong is not taking the chance to back out of the War when it was over, instead staying on Earth to CONTINUE THE WAR in smaller conflicts involving CHILD SOLDIERS LIKE HER OWN SON!!!
Shiiko Sugoi: Loses her support pilot to Char Aznable and the Red Gundam during the One Year War. Revenge is a powerful motivator, and it'd make sense she'd hold a massive grudge. I've read, however, that the events of GQuuuux take place 5 years after the end of the One Year War. Since the conclusion of the war, it is said she's left the service, gotten married, and had a child. If that's true, her child would be no older than 4, as it takes 9 months to conceive. However, she herself says he's "all grown up". Now that she allegedly has some free time, she's come to Side 6 to get revenge on THE MACHINE, NOT THE MAN!!! SHE THROWS HER ENTIRE LIFE, FAMILY, EVERYTHING AWAY BECAUSE SHE WANTS REVENGE FOR A PERSON WE AREN'T EVEN SHOWN!!!
This series, as well as Requiem of Vengeance, does not only not respect the Gundam Franchise, it has a low view of Women in Military Service, not to mention an abyssmal lack of respect for the very concept of Family by extension. If a Woman sees the horrors of war, the general intention is to ensure your own offspring never see those kinds of horrors, and to make up for the years you were not there. It is not to keep going to war to slaughter children like your son in a pathetic effort to "put an end to the conflict", a Conflict you are not in a position to stop. It is also not of worth to throw away the one thing that would drive a person to keep living, even after the horrors of war, regardless of how damaged you are psychologically from those horrors. Shiiko Sugoi got what she deserved when she was backstabbed. And I am actually of the belief that Iria Shiiko's child is also deceased along with his father, because there is no other reason she should stay on earth fighting in lesser conflicts, which results in only further conflict, as well as likely hundreds of SLAUGHTERED CHILD SOLDIERS!!!