Product Info

Studio

GKIDS

Director

Kazuya Tsurumaki

Genre

Action, Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi

Rated

NA

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Feb 28, 2025

Film Length

1hr 21min

Purchase From

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is a special film released prior to the series’s debut in April. It’s roughly three episodes long and introduces the latest Gundam series to fans of the franchise.

An Alternate Reality

©SOTSU・SUNRISE

Gundam GQuuuuuuX feels like a two-parter. The first thirty minutes revolve around the Red Comet, Char Aznable. He’s a popular character originally from the first Gundam series back in 1979. Those who are familiar with the series will notice things are different. For example, characters such as Amuro Ray are not in this story. Instead, Char captures the Federation’s prototype mobile suit, RX-78-2 White Gundam, as well as the Federation’s newly constructed warship, the Pegasus. Originally, Amuro is the one who boards that mobile suit and helps the Earth Federation. Additionally, Zeon triumphs over the Earth Federation in this alternate world. Before the conclusion of the war, Char disappears without a trace, supposedly killed during a mission involving the Earth Federation’s last effort against Zeon.

There’s a lot to take in during this section of the film as details from dialogue and characters are mostly picked up from the original 1979 series. If you are at least somewhat familiar with the story, you should be able to piece the puzzle together. However, newcomers will struggle with the situation in the first half of the movie. An alternate history of the classic series makes for an intriguing story. Fans will be curious to know how different things will be.

Fast-forwarding years after the events of the war and Char’s disappearance, the audience is introduced to a female student named Amate Yuzuriha, nicknamed Machu. After an incident involving a delivery girl named Nyaan accidently breaking her phone, she’s introduced to a small team underground who participate in illegal mobile suit battles as a way to earn money. When a mobile suit fight breaks out unexpectedly, Machu uses the opportunity to take over a powerful mobile suit that heightens her abilities. She then proceeds to take out the enemy robots quickly. Later, the film introduces a mysterious young male character named Shuji who also happens to pilot a Gundam. The two join a tag-team battle underground to earn cash. After this battle, the movie ends. It truly gives fans a taste of what’s to come, with interesting characters and a backstory yet to be told.

While the first half pushed a lot of plot points in a short time, the second half of the film had such a shift in pace that it felt like a different movie. After the fast-paced battles with Char, the pace slowed down; things could have picked up quicker. Don’t expect the official series to change this when it airs.

Smooth Moves

©SOTSU・SUNRISE

The animation in Gundam GQuuuuuuX  looks and feels smooth, especially the details in the first half of Char’s story.  The second half of Mashu’s story carries the same animation style; it also utilizes more colors to emphasize scenes such as the climax mobile suit battle with Mashu piloting. The mobile suit animations are fluid with CGI-enhanced effects blending with traditional animation. Add some special color effects and you have something special going. This is also the first-ever collaboration between studio khara, the studio behind the Evangelion series, and SUNRISE, the team that’s worked on most of the Gundam series. The film is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, who worked on another famous anime series, FLCL, along with a screenplay co-written by Yoji Enokidi, known for working on Revolutionary Girl Utena. Filmmaker Hikeaki Anno, known for working on the Evangelion series, is also involved in making these stunning visuals.

The soundtrack itself also packs a punch with its high-paced symphonic tracks and upbeat scores. It adds more emphasis to the battle scenes, and drives anticipation for the upcoming battle and what’s in store for these new mobile suit pilots. It’ll be interesting how the soundtrack and the opening and closing animation will fare throughout the series.

The Final Match

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is basically a big teaser for the new series. It may have some pacing issues, but it has an intriguing alternate history premise, gorgeous animation, and a great soundtrack. Get ready, Gundam fans: we’ve got incoming!

An early screening provided for this film. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- hits theaters on February 28th. Viewers can visit the official website for tickets and showtimes. Additional information can be found on the official Gundam website. The series begins airing on Amazon Prime Video both in subbed and dubbed versions beginning April 8th.