Gundam Show Thread - MSG thru GQuuuuuuX

[Big s]

I’d be more interested if it was an actual full length movie, rather than upcoming episodes for the series. Like if it was the new Hathaway movie, I’d be there

[davidwhangchoi]

I heard some positive impressions for those who went to see the movie in theaters, only one negative impression so far but even he said it drew him in to wanting to watch the series and was commenting on the movie itself.

 

[lechuck]

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX will be streaming on Amazon Prime – starts globally 8 April!

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2025/03/mobile-suit-gundam-gquuuuuux-premieres.html

[Hikuro]

now is this the so called movie, or is this an actual series? Cause I've gotten massively confused. 

[Big s]

  On 3/8/2025 at 12:40 AM, Hikuro said:

now is this the so called movie, or is this an actual series? Cause I've gotten massively confused. 

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Series, the just put the first few episodes together as a movie.

[lechuck]

  On 3/8/2025 at 12:40 AM, Hikuro said:

now is this the so called movie, or is this an actual series? Cause I've gotten massively confused. 

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https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2025/03/mobile-suit-gundam-gquuuuuux-beginning_7.html

[Big s]

  On 3/8/2025 at 11:24 AM, lechuck said:

https://www.gundamkitscollection.com/2025/03/mobile-suit-gundam-gquuuuuux-beginning_7.html

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Honestly, I didn’t think Amazon was gonna be the one to get it. I thought maybe Crunchy Roll or whatever it is now, or Netflix or maybe Hulu.

[electric indigo]

Yamashita's Zaku – 🤔

 

[Big s]

Just watched the first episode on amazon.  While I’m still not a fan of the designs, I actually enjoyed the first one. It’s fun, and a lot going on visually. The character animation is pretty good, while some of the cg stuff in the backgrounds can be a little too cg, it’s not bad with the mobile suit movements. And when things do get a bit cheap, they pull off visual tricks to make it look as though there’s more going on. I watched it in English and the dub doesn’t seem bad either.

I think the only complaint I have is that the music sucks mostly. The theatrical stuff sounds alright, but the songs are garbage. It’s almost as bad as thunderbolt’s soundtrack, but not quite there yet.

Anyway, it was only the first episode, so there’s plenty of time for the show to turn to trash, but I’m remaining hopeful and I’ll probably rewatch this episode again later cause it was actually enjoyable 

[Seto Kaiba]

  On 3/9/2025 at 11:14 PM, electric indigo said:

Yamashita's Zaku – 🤔

 

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When I saw this just now, the most horrid thought entered my mind and I figure "Why should I suffer alone? Share the wealth."

This goofily-proportioned take on the Zaku should be the MS-06PM Zaku II PM... for "Pixar Mom".  It's built like the mom from The Incredibles.  

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

  On 4/9/2025 at 6:17 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

When I saw this just now, the most horrid thought entered my mind and I figure "Why should I suffer alone? Share the wealth."

This goofily-proportioned take on the Zaku should be the MS-06PM Zaku II PM... for "Pixar Mom".  It's built like the mom from The Incredibles.  

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I share your opinion.  Yamashita's works are cool, but his stylings don't mix with what I find appealing about Zakus.

[electric indigo]

Getter GQuuuuuuX

 

[pengbuzz]

  On 4/9/2025 at 6:17 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

When I saw this just now, the most horrid thought entered my mind and I figure "Why should I suffer alone? Share the wealth."

This goofily-proportioned take on the Zaku should be the MS-06PM Zaku II PM... for "Pixar Mom".  It's built like the mom from The Incredibles.  

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Elastigirl?

[davidwhangchoi]

So, who's in the red Gundam?

[Sanity is Optional]

  On 4/11/2025 at 2:32 AM, davidwhangchoi said:

So, who's in the red Gundam?

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Char clone in a mask? Just like the last few times?

[Big s]

  On 4/11/2025 at 2:32 AM, davidwhangchoi said:

So, who's in the red Gundam?

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Probably that other kid from the previews that had the little square robot 

[Graham]

I found the first episode enjoyable and will probably carry on watching.

But I don't see myself ever buying any of the toys or models from this show. I personally find the MS designs extremely unattractive.

[Big s]

  On 4/11/2025 at 8:30 AM, Graham said:

I found the first episode enjoyable and will probably carry on watching.

But I don't see myself ever buying any of the toys or models from this show. I personally find the MS designs extremely unattractive.

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That’s where I’m at. Not a fan of the designs, but enjoyed the first episode. Not planning on buying any kits, but will check out more episodes as they come out hoping it will stay fun.

[Bolt]

Watched it last night and was surprisingly entertained by the first episode. Watched these weird mecha designs animated is way better than looking at the static models. Especially the Zaku's. I'll continue to watch. 

[F-ZeroOne]

I'm still undecided on the mecha designs too, but am willing to give them a chance - I remember the Flat from "Turn-A Gundam" which makes a lot more sense once you actually see it in action - but enjoyed the first episode and would like to see where its going. Even if my brain kind of exploded in the first thirty seconds after a certain very famous... er... object appeared on screen...

[davidwhangchoi]

  On 4/11/2025 at 6:27 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

 Even if my brain kind of exploded in the first thirty seconds after a certain very famous... er... object appeared on screen...

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which object is that?

[grogall]

We just watched the new GQuuuuuuX series ourself! The art style isn't all that bad, the Mechs need a little to get used too... But not as bad as I thought!

Any Figures announced yet? or just Gunpla models?

[Big s]

  On 4/11/2025 at 8:27 PM, davidwhangchoi said:

which object is that?

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Probably the white base, sorry I guess it’s green base now in this version of events

[Tking22]

Yeah easy pass on models and Robot Spirits figures, but I love the overall premise, and episode 1 was great so I'm certainly looking forward to more. 

[F-ZeroOne]

  On 4/11/2025 at 9:10 PM, Big s said:

Probably the white base, sorry I guess it’s green base now in this version of events

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I was trying to avoid a spoiler but yes... quite how they got it out of Brights hands without him slapping the boarding force out of existence is going to have to be one of many questions they'll need to answer... 😄(I am aware that that there was more than one of the same class of ship... )

[davidwhangchoi]

  On 4/11/2025 at 9:10 PM, Big s said:

Probably the white base, sorry I guess it’s green base now in this version of events

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  On 4/12/2025 at 2:55 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

I was trying to avoid a spoiler but yes... quite how they got it out of Brights hands without him slapping the boarding force out of existence is going to have to be one of many questions they'll need to answer... 😄(I am aware that that there was more than one of the same class of ship... )

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where is amuro?

  On 4/11/2025 at 3:04 AM, Sanity is Optional said:

Char clone in a mask? Just like the last few times?

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Char is best.

[Big s]

  On 4/12/2025 at 6:36 PM, davidwhangchoi said:

where is amuro?

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Amuro never got the gundam from my understanding here, although they do all seem to use his father’s circuit board as a key for the mobile suits. My guess is that since the gundam was taken, then a hole was never blown into the colony, so it didn’t need evacuation. Episode 2 looks like it will probably show a bit of what happened 

[Seto Kaiba]

  On 4/11/2025 at 9:10 PM, Big s said:

Probably the white base, sorry I guess it’s green base now in this version of events

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The Sodon.

  Reveal hidden contents

Originally the Pegasus, this alternate history's version of the White Base (which was named Pegasus in Tomino's novel).

This whole for-want-of-a-nail alternate history scenario came about because Char led the assault on Side 7 personally and captured the Pegasus before it could flee.  It was rechristened Sodon when it was repaired and put into service as a Zeon navy warship.

 

  On 4/12/2025 at 6:36 PM, davidwhangchoi said:

where is amuro?

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Either deceased or basking in a life of irrelevancy, since he never got into the Gundam in this timeline.

[Big s]

  On 4/12/2025 at 11:01 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

Either deceased or basking in a life of irrelevancy, since he never got into the Gundam in this timeline.

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I got a weird feeling that he just took a simple job designing toys like haro since there seem to be a few people with little toy robots and our main character seems to have adopted a haro with a beanie.

[Seto Kaiba]

  On 4/12/2025 at 11:44 PM, Big s said:

I got a weird feeling that he just took a simple job designing toys like haro since there seem to be a few people with little toy robots and our main character seems to have adopted a haro with a beanie.

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TBH, that doesn't necessarily imply anything about Amuro's fate or future in this timeline.

A lot of Gundam fans tend to forget that the Haro in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series was not something Amuro created.  It was a commercially available kit robot sold by a company called SUN.  Frau Bow's Haro was a standard Haro kit that Amuro bought, built, modified into a "pet" robot, and gifted to Frau Bow to cheer her up after her dog died.  It wasn't until Amuro and White Base gained fame in the wake of the One Year War that SUN sought out Amuro and acquired the specs of his improvements to the Haro.

Since the One Year War played out differently, it's likely that consignment of 4,800 Haros that was mostly lost in the war in the main timeline wasn't... and the kit robot enjoyed a wider user base.

[Big s]

  On 4/13/2025 at 12:28 AM, Seto Kaiba said:

TBH, that doesn't necessarily imply anything about Amuro's fate or future in this timeline.

A lot of Gundam fans tend to forget that the Haro in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series was not something Amuro created.  It was a commercially available kit robot sold by a company called SUN.  Frau Bow's Haro was a standard Haro kit that Amuro bought, built, modified into a "pet" robot, and gifted to Frau Bow to cheer her up after her dog died.  It wasn't until Amuro and White Base gained fame in the wake of the One Year War that SUN sought out Amuro and acquired the specs of his improvements to the Haro.

Since the One Year War played out differently, it's likely that consignment of 4,800 Haros that was mostly lost in the war in the main timeline wasn't... and the kit robot enjoyed a wider user base.

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I think the new haro seems to be more pet like and could have been one that that company hire Amuro to upgrade. He loved to tinker and if he didn’t get a mobile suit and didn’t die, then toy manufacturing or programming could be his new career 

[F-ZeroOne]

A thought has occurred - if Char has disappeared, then what happened to Lalah? Its arguable that her meeting Amuro kicked off a lot of things that were important to the Universal Century timeline beyond just Zeon winning the "One Year War"...

[Seto Kaiba]

  On 4/13/2025 at 5:56 AM, Big s said:

I think the new haro seems to be more pet like and could have been one that that company hire Amuro to upgrade. He loved to tinker and if he didn’t get a mobile suit and didn’t die, then toy manufacturing or programming could be his new career 

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Unlikely, IMO.  Amuro was no genius or technological savant, he was just a reasonably computer-savvy teenage kid.  He built and modified Frau Bow's Haro when he was 13.  It's very doubtful that he did anything to that Haro that a competent engineer couldn't also come up with.  The Haro in the series may have been customized by someone else, or the manufacturer may have upgraded the kit as technology improved.

Even if we assume that Amuro was not among those who perished in Char's attack on Side 7 and was able to lead a normal life thereafter (which seems unlikely given that his father almost certainly still died and his mother was estranged and living on Earth, so he would be left living alone) he would still only be 21 years old at the time of GQX.  That would mean at most he would be just graduating from college, not someone already well-embedded in a corporation's design department.

 

  On 4/13/2025 at 5:16 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

A thought has occurred - if Char has disappeared, then what happened to Lalah? Its arguable that her meeting Amuro kicked off a lot of things that were important to the Universal Century timeline beyond just Zeon winning the "One Year War"...

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If she didn't perish under other circumstances during the One Year War, odds are she's a part of the Newtype unit in Kycilia Zabi's Mobile Assault Force.

[Big s]

  On 4/13/2025 at 5:16 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

A thought has occurred - if Char has disappeared, then what happened to Lalah? Its arguable that her meeting Amuro kicked off a lot of things that were important to the Universal Century timeline beyond just Zeon winning the "One Year War"...

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There’s some odd hints in the first episode that maybe everyone knows Char’s background and maybe he did get his revenge. Maybe he ran off with lalah after all that, but I guess things will probably be revealed as the show goes on

[Seto Kaiba]

Ugh... well... I've put it off long enough.  Time to actually give this hot mess called GQuuuuuuX a whirl.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Barely 30s in and I'm already hitting pause for the first time because the picture is so muddy and indistinct that I can barely tell what's going on.  There are two mobile suits fighting, but they're both dark-colored, heavily shaded, and their designs are so busy that it's hard to tell what's going on.  I'm watching this on a f***ing 4K Neo-QLED TV the size of a Fiat 500... there's no excuse for not being able to tell WTH is going on.

We get to watch two pieces of junkyard vomit slap each other around like sumo wrestlers for a minute before the Sodon rolls up and... honks its horn at them?  It's a f***ing space aircraft carrier, not a big rig.  Moreover, how do you not see something that big coming toward you?

Not even two minutes in, and there's already a Gundam attacking?

Eh... I do not care for this art style at all.  The Mobile Suits are sinfully ugly as expected from Ikuto Yamashita, but the character designs look like they're in the wrong genre entirely.  They look like they wandered in from Pretty Cure.  That's not even intended as a snide remark, they really do look like the main character designs from Futari wa Pretty Cure.  It actually kind of makes me afraid to watch the rest, since I know how Hideaki Anno likes to lewd young teen girls.

So main girl got made a mule for a black market "installer device" to enable a MS's combat computer?  And it's just Tem Ray's circuit?

The "Red gundam" has nothing better to do than graffiti the outside of colonies?  The local police failed to catch it, so Challlia Bull is going to send out the titular Gundam to try and catch it.  Getting our first look at it in animation and oh boy does it look like sh*t.  Someone, likely several someones, at Bandai Namco looked at this turd that Ikuto Yamashita served up and said "Yeah, that's good enough."  Blech.  It's so busy that it just looks like an indistinct jumble of random lines.  It has none of the clarity of line or form that most other Gundam designs have.  There might be a passable design under all that surface detail, but it's like the Michael Bay Transformers... they just stuck SO MUCH surface detail on it that it looks like a moving pile of scrap.

So main girl gets her backpack stolen... and chases the thief all the way to a random Torii gate on top of a building?  They narrate at each other about the latest attempt to include pointless no-stakes mobile suit battles in the setting - a bad idea carried over from The Witch from Mercury - and the whole thing is treated like a shoujo ai encounter at a shrine complete with sparkles.  Turns out the whole reason she's pursued this is because the other girl got her phone broken and wants to be reimbursed.

We see the titular Gundam stalking the Red Gundam through a backdrop of curiously square debris covered in surface detail seeminly for no reason other than to make its own excessive level of surface detail look less over-the-top.  The pilot insightfully wonders if the bright red Gundam he's chasing is the red Gundam.  I see winning the One Year War did nothing to help Zeon's education system.  He then proceeds to get absolutely thrashed in short order by the Red Gundam.

The girls deliver the installer to a group living on top of a rundown-looking building in a bad part of town.  We get to see the clan battle team's Zaku in a lovingly detailed pan shot, which just emphasizes how massively overdesigned it is, to the point that it doesn't even really look like a Zaku.  Then the Red Gundam and GQux bust throuhg the ground?  

The visual design of this fight is meant to evoke high speed and maneuverability, but because the designs themselves are so visually busy it just looks like a mess.  We get a closeup of the Red Gundam, and it just looks like someone hastily slapped a V-fin on an EVA unit.

The MPs start trashing the area trying to find the Red Gundam, and don't seem to care how much death and destruction they cause doing it because the inhabitants are refugees living there illegally.  They apparently can't actually fight back because the key is broken... apparently not, as it works just fine, just in time for them to get kicked into a pit and for the MPs to find the GQux and its pilot and try to arrest him.

So main girl throws herself out of the Zaku and steals the Gundam effortlessly without actually doing anything and activates the "Omega Psycommu" without trying?  Seems like it's a direct thought control system like the Newtype Destroyer.  She ends up tossed out the airlock and into another shoujo manga glitter storm. 

They keep using the word "Mav", contextually to refer to a partner... but considering how heavily shoujo ai this feels like it's trying to lean I'm going to incorrectly assume that it's LGBTQ slang.

The Red Gundam does a flyby of the Sodon as if to mock it, and Challia remarks it's not Char in there.

The art style in the previous for next episode is completely different and looks much more in line with Origin and the original... and looks infinitely better by comparison.

Ever since I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion for the first time, I've always felt Hideaki Anno is one of the worst and most overrated creators in anime.  GQuuuuuuX is doing little to change that view.  

This show has two main problems:

1. The story is basically just a route from Gihren's Greed.
2. The art style is a really REALLY poor fit to Gundam, both in terms of the excessively busy mechanical design ala Evangelion and the cutesy art style used for the characters.