Gundam GQuuuuuuX BeginningIs a Fascinating Re-Imagination of an Anime Classic

Mobile Suit Gundamhas spent 45 years being in almost constant conversation with itself . From the successor serial that build on the story of the 1979 anime , tomyriad alternate universesthat extrapolate on its serial publication and themes , the venerable mecha enfranchisement has always , in some ways , existed in a commonwealth of strain to evolve and experience up to the bluff ideas that made its original self so compelling in the first space . But for all those continuance and conversation , it ’s take four and a one-half decades for the franchise to deliver one of its simplest , yet most enchanting twists on that original musical theme : and in that thought , Gundam GQuuuuuuXoffers itself up to a huge amount of challenging potential .

Warning : This review contains coddler for the overall premise ofGundam GQuuuuuuX. If you’vekept up with newsof the show followingBeginning’sdebut in Japan last month , none of this is new , but if you have n’t , well …

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – get-go – , a collaboration betweenNeon generation Evangelionstudio Khara andGundamcreator Bandai Filmworksarriving in external theatersthis calendar week after its debut in Japan last month , is two very different prospects smash up into a single 80 - left - minute runtime . The latter half of the film is a condense digest of the first few episode of the forthcoming TV series , abide by the stories of three vernal teens — Amate “ Machu ” Yuzuriha ( Tomoyo Kurosawa ) , Nyaan ( Yui Ishikawa ) , and Shuji Ito ( Shimba Tsuchiya)—as they endure their sprightliness on a far - flung blank space colony five age after the conclusion of a devastating interstellar war , their paths crossing over the return of one of the fabled giant mecha from that battle , the first Gundam - type mobile suit , and the decree powers do-or-die to find it .

Mobile Suit Gundam Gquuuuuux Review

© GKids/Bandai Namco Filmworks

But the first one-half of it is the most disgraceful scene : a prequel that detail the events of that interstellar war , revealing that it is none other than an alternate rendering the ill-famed “ One Year War ” from the original 1979Gundamanime . One where the incompatible forces of the secessionist quad colony Zeon , jumper cable by Char Aznable ( Yuuki Shin , take on the mantle ofGundam‘s most famed characterfrom original part actor Shuichi Ikeda ) , successfully slip the paradigm Gundam from the Earth Federation and ultimately succeed the conflict , vary account asGundamfans have known it for 45 years .

Gundamfans of all stripe are more than familiar with alternative creation — the franchise has survive for so long not just by continuing the write up of its prize timeline , the “ Universal Century , ” but by creating original serial publication set in theirown discrete universes . But this scenario picture an alternate history of the Universal Century is one that has normally been consigned to non - canonical side fib and spinoffs , rather than being the underpinning for a brand newfangled mainline entryway , andGQuuuuuuXis clearly eager to mine the potential of it , and all fannish the questions it bring up , from the get go .

It makesBeginningand its bifurcated structure an interesting movie to watch , albeit one that might initially seem passably overbearing for a complete neophyte to the franchise . While the movie is unabashed in laying out its connection to , and visual sensation of , an alternate interlingual rendition of the 1979 anime — and does just enough to introduce unfamiliar audiences to that world before its 2d half pick up with the serial ’ elementary form of characters six years later — the first half ofBeginningis equally unabashed in being pure fan service of process for fans of the originalGundam .

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© GKids/Bandai Namco Filmworks

The film has two discrete art manner ( and does a surprisingly good chore of making that finger less jarring than it sounds ) , with the first half emulating the modern - retro vision of the 1979 gum anime envisioned by originalGundamcharacter designer Yoshikazu “ Yas ” Yasuhiko seen in serial publication likeGundam : The Originand the 2022 movieCucuruz Doan ’s Island . To anyone even remotely familiar with the firstGundam , it ’s a joyous experience : Beginninguses the original show ’s brilliant soundtrack , it recreates accurate shots and logical argument of dialogue from its orifice episodes to a golf tee , twisting and reframing them in fascinating style to suit its alternate rendition of events where Char is all of a sudden the protagonist of this familiar narration . There ’s of course a thematic analogue to be had here with directorGQuuuuuuXdirector Kazuya Tsurumaki ’s oeuvre on theRebuild of Evangelionfilm serial , which itself take another icon of mecha gum anime and both lovingly recreated moments of it before spinning off in its own unique vision of that original narration . But , at least in this gap half ofBeginning , GQuuuuuuXis interested in the quick contrast of having it both ways at once , invariably calling to iconic minute from the original show while incessantly prod at them and twisting them to cast them in raw light .

If this was allGQuuuuuuXwas , it would be a loving , intriguing testimonial to one of the most influential gum anime of all prison term , one suit an anniversary festivity . But as the retelling of the One Year War give way to the literal meat of the show itself in the second one-half ofBeginning — place five year after the conclusion of the state of war in 0085 — the film ( and the serial itself ) try out it is more than willing to move beyond the fan service of its recreation of the originalGundam , and marinade itself in the world it has make out evolving that recreation . While some characters carry over from the first half ( mainly Challia Bull , act by Shinji Kawada , aminor but significant characterfrom the 1979 anime who becomes a major player inGQuuuuuuX ) , the second one-half establishes a premiss that has more analog with a serieslikeZeta Gundam , guess what life take care like in a post - war populace for the generation that come of age after its ratiocination .

Beyond the unparalleled nontextual matter style it ’s given here — stylized through the vision of famousPokémoncharacter intriguer Take , givingGQuuuuuuX‘s setting a boldly colorful , poppy sci - fi esthetic — the back half of the film , and the gap instalment of the series it ’s pull from , exhibit a great slew of promise . Machu , Nyaan , and Shuji all find grounded and in earnest real as youthful people trying to navigate a world that has disenfranchise them each in multitudinous ways , tackling typicalGundamthemes like the oppression of a constabulary state , systemic inequality , and astropolitical watershed , all the while thrusting them into the front line of conflict . But the ways they interact with the classicGundamworldbuilding elements beyond those theme — especially theidea of the “ Newtype,”an evolutionary path for blank space - dwell humankind that see them break enhanced psionic sentience and communicative acquirement — localise them in an unbelievably intriguing parallel to the fanservice ofBeginning‘s first half .

Gundam Gquuuuuux Char

© GKids/Bandai Namco Filmworks

All of that ( as well as , of course , some sumptuous mecha action in both halves of the narrative ) , synthesizesGundam GQuuuuuuX , both in this film and whatever ’s to do in the tv set anime , into something uniquely fascinating and positively vibrating with potential . Marrying a loving vision of the originalGundamwith a bold raw reading for it , Beginningrepresents a pan - generational celebration ofGundamas a whole — one that ’s sure set to have diehard buff ’ head spin at all the questions and ramifications it raises , while equally introducing fledgling to a young cast of compelling persona that likewise has to sail those ramifications themselves alongside the hearing .

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – Beginning – is set to hit US theaters in a circumscribed electrical capacity February 28 , with early screenings embark on today . The goggle box anime will begin broadcasting in Japan April 8 .

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