Review: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX’ Is Filled With 40 Years of History

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is over 40 years in the making, paying homage to its roots in epic fashion. Sunrise and Studio Khara had a huge undertaking animating this newest 2025 series, with the former being the original studio of the 1979 series. How does a studio create an anime to honor Gundam fans who’ve been here from the beginning, while welcoming new fans in 2025? 

In UC 0085, five years after the Principality of Zeon won the One Year War, Amate “Machu” Yuzuriha (Tomoyo Kurosawa), a high school student living in the Side 6 space colony Izuma, crosses paths with Nyaan (Yui Ishikawa), a war refugee. Her encounter with Nyaan leads her to get involved in an incident when both the Principality of Zeon and the Space Police are pursuing the missing Red Gundam after it suddenly re-emerges.

To catch the Red Gundam, Zeon sends out Xavier Olivette (Seiichiro Yamashita) in the gMS-Ω GQuuuuuuX, a prototype Gundam meant for Newtype pilots. However, while trying to capture the Red Gundam, Xavier crashes into the space colony and is ejected from the GQuuuuuuX. Amate jumps into the cockpit of the GQuuuuuuX, steals it, and subsequently defeats the Police Force, allowing the Red Gundam to escape.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX brings us back to Gundam’s roots.

The GQuuuuuuX is taken by the Pomeranians, an underground team of mechanics participating in Clan Battles, a series of illegal and high-stakes mobile suit dueling matches. After meeting the Red Gundam‘s pilot, Shuji, Amate chooses to join him in Clan Battles with the Pomeranians, fighting alongside him in the GQuuuuuuX.

One of the most important things to note about Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is that this series is set in an alternate version of the Universal Century (UC) timeline, also known as the original timeline. This whole series diverges from the main canon where Char Aznable (Yuuki Shin) seizes the RX-78-02 White Gundam alongside the Pegasus class ship White Base during his assault on Side 7.

Char becomes the pilot of the Gundam instead of Amuro Ray (the protagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam), renaming it the gMS-α Red Gundam. This allows Zeon to win the One Year War, which Earth Federation wins in the original UC timeline—but at the expense of Char disappearing through a phenomenon called Zeknova.  

Familiar faces arise, but it takes time to fully grasp who they are.

As someone who has only seen an episode or two of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is the first Gundam series I’ve fully invested myself in. As a kid, I only cared for constant action and stimulation. The various Gundam worlds feature great Gundam fights in each series, but the world’s politics also take up a significant portion of each series. When I was younger, I didn’t care for all the political drama and talking. Even now, I mainly care about the differently-stylized mobile suits going toe-to-toe in space.

This carries over into one of the initial difficulties in understanding the Gundam world: its lexicon and terminology. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX dumps numerous terms onto its viewers, which can be intimidating for newcomers. However, this series does a great job of explaining these recycled terms at some point throughout the season. There were still terms I had to look up in almost every episode. Still, characters, typically the Zeon characters, eventually provide proper definitions to recurring terms, making the show more accessible for novice Gundam audiences.

The other slight barrier for new viewers, such as myself, beginning their Gundam journey with Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is that everyone except Machi, Nyaan, Shuji, Xavier, the Pomeranians, and Comoli Harcourt (Akane Fujita) is an established character before the series starts. The referential characters can easily be taken at face value, with people choosing their favorites based on what they’re given in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. Despite this, there’s still a knowledge gap requiring lots of legwork for newcomers to the series to try to catch up, especially when characters do eventually die in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.

New viewers will have a learning curve jumping into these series, but there is some payoff.

Commander Challia Bull (Shinji Kawada) is one of the most compelling characters because his allegiances were hidden until the very end of the season. His character arc, intentions, and motivations to help build a world for Newtypes are clear, even if he has to eliminate fellow Zeon people to do so, such as Lady Kycilia Zabi (Kaori Nazuka), Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi (Banjô Ginga), or Char. If Challia is more evil in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, I would never have guessed that.

Kawada’s voice acting for Challia is perfect, too. Challia is typically the exposition guy in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, and Kawada has the perfect voice for it. The voice actors for the Zabi family are also perfectly suited for their roles, fitting the aristocratic personalities of these characters. 

Getting all of the harsh critiques out of the way, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is visually one of the most spectacularly animated mecha anime series I’ve ever seen. Every time characters are in the kira-kira world, the flecks of colors against the shimmering turquoise background are immaculate and eye-grabbing.

The audio design for the kira-kira world is another stimulating detail, where it sounds as if the characters within the incorporeal world are in a watery environment. Major kudos to audio designer Naoto Yamaya from Sound Box and the sound director Haru Yamada from Sound Team Don Juan. 

Dazzling fights and gorgeous animation remind us why we watch Gundam.

The metaphors behind the kira-kira world, which can only be seen by Newtypes, are also a meaningful and symbolic touch. This is a prime example of how Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX doesn’t have to tell viewers that the kira-kira world is only for Newtypes, but allows the viewers to fill in the gaps after presenting the terms. 

Last but not least, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX’s music contains a wide blend between its original retrowave/synthwave sounds and future electronica/synth-pop vibes. On a deeper level, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX’s composers, Yoshimasa Terui and Masayuki Hasuo, paid homage to the 80s by mixing various generations of synthwave themes throughout the season. The culmination of every synthwave throwback matches the high-stakes fights in Clan Battle and the fights near the end of the season.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is an amazingly animated time capsule for the franchise, which doesn’t fully alienate new audiences. From the animation style, audio design, and music, almost everything in this season is a throwback to the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series. As much as Machu, Nyaan, and Shuji drive the main story, the franchise characters were even more captivating, striking a fair balance between returning Gundam viewers and new watchers. New viewers should be prepared to get a taste of some of the rich 40-year Gundam origin story, with a bunch of terms, characters, and factions thrown at them.

All episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX are now streaming on Prime Video.