REVIEW ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX’ Episode 2 — “The White Gundam”

Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX Episode 1 has more action than exposition, but Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Episode 2, “The White Gundam,”  goes the other way, establishing the world much more than showing it. While the second episode is a full flashback, the Mobile Suit Gundam drives the pacing up. The episode is very overstimulating, with names, locations, and events mentioned across the Principality of Zeon during the One Year War.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Episode 2 follows Char Aznable (Yuuki Shin), an ace pilot of the Principality of Zeon forces, as he captures the Earth Federation’s latest mobile suit Gundam—a key component to their “Operation V” at Side 7. From that moment, the tide of war shifts dramatically, ultimately leading to the Principality of Zeon’s victory in the One Year War.

Char eventually takes on the Red Gundam as his personal mobile suit, and has an experimental Alpha Psycommu control device installed in it. He also recruits a then-Lieutenant Challia Bull (Shinji Kawada) to be his wingman. Through multiple flashes of battles, the Federation is able to push Zeon back into space. However, Zeon retains the upper hand by capturing the Federation’s strategically important Luna II asteroid base.

Just before the end of the war, the Red Gundam and Char disappear when his Alpha Psycommu malfunctions. The incident is called Zeknova, where Char and the Red Gundam are swallowed in a ball of light. After the incident, the Federation signs a truce with Zeon while Challia starts his search for Char, which eventually brings him to Side 6.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Episode 2 goes deep on lore.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Episode 2 is a heavy contextual and historical explanation for the world of this series. While it goes through a lot of key points of the One Year War in the year Universal Century 079, the information drop is a lot to take in for new viewers.

In addition to all the location name drops, Char talks about so many people in the Principality of Zeon. Char mentions another Principality of Zeon leader named Kycilia Zabi (Kaori Nazuka) and talks with a fellow Zaku pilot on the Side 7 reconnaissance mission named Denim (Mitsusuke Goto). Still, there’s no context for who they are and why Char vies for power against Kycilia.

This is a recap for people who follow the Mobile Suit Gundam universe thoroughly, but it can be an insurmountable amount of knowledge for newcomers to digest. Maybe this flashback sequence could’ve been broken into two parts.

However, in the grand scheme of the series, the context of the whole episode works. The second episode delves into what mobile suits and Zakus are, more on the Psycommu system, and why Challia is looking for the Red Gundam. The Psycommu is described as a new system for amplifying human cognitive abilities and enables wireless communication even in the presence of Minovsky particles. It’s still unclear what exactly Minovsky particles are.

“The White Gundam” is equal measure nostalgia and modern touches. 

Despite the heavy lore drop, hearing the old music stings and using the classic commercial breaks to break up the various flashback sequences is a nice nostalgic touch. It’s a throwback to when almost every anime showed some superb stills of Gundams as it cut in and out from commercial breaks.

Something about the old sci-fi space sound effects is so satisfying to hear, too, and the score takes viewers back to an epic time. When Char is battling some Zakus, the orchestra goes wild, combining a mix of musical families. The music contains timpanis, marching drums, trumpets, and violins—a detail many modern anime series overlook in production.

As this flashback episode is a nostalgic trip down Char’s storyline, it revisits his iconic battles. Since this is an alternate timeline of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime, the battles are reanimated highlights from the original series. The animation seamlessly blends the original footage and the new art style.

The blending of old and new animation works, from the fights to the wide shots of planets across the Principality of Zeon. If most of the episode uses all remastered footage of the original series, that’s awesome.  Even so, the action and b-roll of the settings look modernized.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Episode 2 ramps up the pacing for an exposition-heavy episode, explaining the outcome of the One Year War. With an action-packed season premiere, this episode fleshes out this Gundam timeline. Overall, it answers a lot of questions from Episode 1 while offering glimpses of action and quick cuts to keep the pacing up.

Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX Episode 2 is streaming on Prime Video.

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