Gundam Show Thread - MSG thru GQuuuuuuX

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Aside from a thoroughly understandable "Gihren can f*** right off", we don't know what Kycilia's actual motivations or desired endgame are yet.

She may actually want to undermine Zeon's power.

If that's the case, she's doing a brilliant job. 

2 hours ago, Big s said:

Probably more like, shot herself in the foot then while holstering the gun, shot her other foot. I’m sure someone else will shoot her in the head…..again 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

6 hours ago, Big s said:

Probably more like, shot herself in the foot then while holstering the gun, shot her other foot. I’m sure someone else will shoot her in the head…..again 

Not sure why y'all seem so certain that Kycilia kneecapping the Principality of Zeon's armed forces isn't 100% her plan.

There's no way she did not know exactly what she was doing in destroying Gihren's personal fleet and A Baoa Qu.  What her endgame is isn't clear, but it's a very safe bet that her use of the Yomagn'tho to destroy A Baoa Qu is Just As Planned.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Not sure why y'all seem so certain that Kycilia kneecapping the Principality of Zeon's armed forces isn't 100% her plan.

There's no way she did not know exactly what she was doing in destroying Gihren's personal fleet and A Baoa Qu.  What her endgame is isn't clear, but it's a very safe bet that her use of the Yomagn'tho to destroy A Baoa Qu is Just As Planned.

I think her plan is probably pretty basic and just thinks the threat of using the yo mama beam as deterrent or the possibility of trying to open up another dimension, but I’m pretty sure it’s just as a deterrent. She probably thinks earth will stay out of things after she Yo Mama’d A Baoa Qu

[PointBlankSniper]

I think Kycilia's scheme is irrelevant until our MC trio finishes their tour on the other side and sends a paradigm shift back to change everything on this side near the end of my assumed second cour. The scheme is probably just an excuse for someone to build our kiddies a portal and give them a reason to fight over it until they both get sucked in.

[pengbuzz]

16 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Not sure why y'all seem so certain that Kycilia kneecapping the Principality of Zeon's armed forces isn't 100% her plan.

There's no way she did not know exactly what she was doing in destroying Gihren's personal fleet and A Baoa Qu.  What her endgame is isn't clear, but it's a very safe bet that her use of the Yomagn'tho to destroy A Baoa Qu is Just As Planned.

Because it reeks of Hanlon's Razor, that's why.

[Hikaru Ichijo SL]

Wow, this show takes a turn for the strange.  I might get my wish after all. When I posted last week about the universe being destroyed might come true.   

 

Nothing can surprise me about this show anymore.  

 

Spoiler

So Shuji is an Original universe character and Lalah. Only way to save Lalah is to destroy the universe. Here comes the real RX-78.   

 

[Seto Kaiba]

So, GQuuuuuuX is 12 and done... can't say I'll miss it.

Spoiler

So... Kycilia's master plan is revealed, and it's basically the same one Char Aznable had in Char's Counterattack but with extra steps because the Principality of Zeon was still around.

Destroying A Baoa Qu and kneecapping Zeon was 100% intentional, because her next step was to kneecap the Earth Federation too so that neither side would be able to stop the emergence of Newtypes as the future of humanity.  Literally her next move was to aim Yomagn'tho at Earth in a bid to wipe out the Oldtypes who were holding humanity back.

Machu foils that plan by attacking Nyan, using the Omega psycommu overdrive (how very Jojo over her) to detach the Rose of Sharon from the Yomagn'tho.  Machu and Nyan go chasing after Shuji's force ghost and run into Kycilia confronting Char (who was the blonde man we saw before).  Char rescues Machu from Kycilia, Nyan rescues Kycilia from Char, and then Lalah wakes up and causes a zeknova to give Char a Magical Girl transformation into his familiar OYW Zeon uniform and also give him the Red Gundam back.  

 

Char and Komori deliver some useful exposition about the true nature of zeknovas...

Spoiler

Zeknovas are mass energy in the form of Minovsky particles crossing from one dimension to the other.  The reason they happen in the GQuuuuuuX universe and not in the prime one is because of Prime!Lalah and the Rose of Sharon.  When she warped time and space so hard she ended up on the other side instead of dying, the same Alpha-type psycommu now existed in two places at once in the GQuuuuuuX universe: one in the Red Gundam and one in the Rose of Sharon.  As a result, Prime!Lalah was able to use the unstable resonance between the prime Alpha psycommu and QuX Alpha psycommu to warp space and time to protect the people she cares about... Char and Shuji.

 

Then we learn Char's real motivation...

Spoiler

Char's not technically here to kill the Zabis... that's kind of a happy bonus for him.

What he's on about is he wants to destroy the Rose of Sharon, or at least send it back where it came from.  His goal is to correct the distortion in the universe caused by the paradoxical existence of Prime!Lalah Sune and the Prime!Elmeth.  He seems to be aware, and indeed somewhat ashamed, that Lalah is warping reality itself in a desperate bid to protect him.

He gets no farther than squaring up with the Elmeth inside the Yomagn'tho's core when...

 

... we finally learn the truth about the inscruitable Shuji Ito.

Spoiler

As it turns out, Shuji Ito really isn't from around here.

He's from The Other Side.  The real Universal Century timeline.  He's been under Prime!Lalah's influence from the start, via the Red Gundam's Alpha psycommu, and he seems to be meant to be a ringer that Prime!Lalah brought in to keep anyone from interfering with her plans to cheat destiny in the GQuuuuuuX timeline.

The now freed Prime!Lalah wakes up inside the Rose of Sharon and triggers the most powerful zeknova yet, though this time the energy's flowing in reverse to the usual kind of zeknova seen previously. 

Powered up by the Yomagn'tho, Lalah's influence is enough to not only summon Shuji Ito back into the GQuuuuuuX universe to fight for her like a particularly bored Pokemon, it also summons him a OG RX-78 Gundam (the original design, not the EVA-fied GQuuuuuuX one) and changes the episode's BGM to the original version of "Beyond the Time" from the Char's Counterattack soundtrack!

 

Nobody really cares what's going on elsewhere, but...

Spoiler

Challia Bull has made a mockery of Kycilia's Newtype Corps, wiping out most of them except for Xavier, with whom he is now having a zeknova-fueled duel with.

 

I have to say, I am 100% ready for the throwdown that is about to ensue...

[Big s]

I enjoyed the episode as weird as it was and definitely enjoyed that certain song at the end. Let’s see if the final episode sticks the landing or just flops like a fish 

[Seto Kaiba]

In all honestly, while I am fully expecting an ending to GQuuuuuuX that lands with all the grace and subtlety of a seagull that got into someone's bottle of Everclear, I will proclaim the whole thing a smashing success if...

Spoiler

... Prime!Lalah admits to having control of the BGM.

Or, as a consolation prize...

Spoiler

... the GQuuuuuuX universe ends up retgone the way Char seems to intend.

 

[pengbuzz]

6 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

In all honestly, while I am fully expecting an ending to GQuuuuuuX that lands with all the grace and subtlety of a seagull that got into someone's bottle of Everclear, I will proclaim the whole thing a smashing success if...

  Hide contents

... Prime!Lalah admits to having control of the BGM.

Or, as a consolation prize...

  Hide contents

... the GQuuuuuuX universe ends up retgone the way Char seems to intend.

 

Or:

Spoiler

They end up getting into a huge brawl that then breaks down the dimensional wall and spills over into the Prime Universe.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

Just now, pengbuzz said:

Or:

  Hide contents

They end up getting into a huge brawl that then breaks down the dimensional wall and spills over into the Prime Universe.

 

This is also acceptable.

Bonus points will be awarded if it comes with a campy musical number.

[VF8000G]

Maybe I'm getting old but I feel so cynical about this show.  It's like an even lazier version of Disney's Star Wars sequels.   This feels less like an attempt at a real show and more like a corporate mandate of specific iconography and imagery meant to evoke nostalgia in a cheap key-jingling way for people who were fans of UC Gundam and Evangelion.  I suppose it's fitting that they chose the character designer from Pokemon.  

 

[pengbuzz]

*Imagines Char singing The French Mistake*

[Big s]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

*Imagines Char singing The French Mistake*

How about “ Blame Canada”?

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

*Imagines Char singing The French Mistake*

Mobile Suit Gundam-san Char absolutely would.😆

 

[pengbuzz]

Careful... I just might do a cartoon of that!

[Seto Kaiba]

16 hours ago, VF8000G said:

Maybe I'm getting old but I feel so cynical about this show.  It's like an even lazier version of Disney's Star Wars sequels.   This feels less like an attempt at a real show and more like a corporate mandate of specific iconography and imagery meant to evoke nostalgia in a cheap key-jingling way for people who were fans of UC Gundam and Evangelion.  I suppose it's fitting that they chose the character designer from Pokemon.  

Yeah, I've had a similar feeling about the series from a very early point.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX doesn't bother to develop any of its main characters, it derails the development and motivations of the secondary ones who actually run the story, it drunkenly stumbles through a premise from a previous series and then frantically rushes through a bunch of familiar plot beats to tick off some obligatory appearances on its way to what seems set to be an uncharacteristic-for-the-franchise happy end.

When you think about it, all Studio Khara really did here was give Mobile Suit Gundam the Rebuild of Evangelion treatment.  The Beginnings movie is basically Rebuild of Gundam 1.0 and 2.0 which recap the original story and its different outcome, and GQuuuuuuX proper is Rebuild of Gundam 3.0 where a radically different outcome is depicted.

[PointBlankSniper]

Nice, just when it's at the point where every show is supposed to exposition dump to try to make sense of itself, we ge for the classic "random bs, go!!!11!!1!" ending instead.

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Yeah, I've had a similar feeling about the series from a very early point.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX doesn't bother to develop any of its main characters, it derails the development and motivations of the secondary ones who actually run the story, it drunkenly stumbles through a premise from a previous series and then frantically rushes through a bunch of familiar plot beats to tick off some obligatory appearances on its way to what seems set to be an uncharacteristic-for-the-franchise happy end.

When you think about it, all Studio Khara really did here was give Mobile Suit Gundam the Rebuild of Evangelion treatment.  The Beginnings movie is basically Rebuild of Gundam 1.0 and 2.0 which recap the original story and its different outcome, and GQuuuuuuX proper is Rebuild of Gundam 3.0 where a radically different outcome is depicted.

In other words: Mobile Derp Gunderp.

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

In other words: Mobile Derp Gunderp.

In fairness, I'd still call Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX substantially more watchable than any of the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

GQuuuuuuX's main problem is that it has a potentially interesting premise that it just fails to deliver on.  The series never takes the time to explore and do proper worldbuilding in its Alternate UC setting, several potentially interesting plot threads are teased and never explored or touched on in only the most cursory way, and the main characters aren't engaged in the main story in a meaningful capacity.  These problems are all eminently fixable with a capable writer.  The Big Reveal at the end of the most recent episode should be a Big Deal if properly foreshadowed... but it wasn't, so it just feels like an Arse Pull.  At times, it's hard to believe the series was in development for over five years when the result is this messy and unpolished.

Rebuild's main problem, by contrast, is its own pretentiousness.  It's tries so hard to pretend that the original was doing something deep and complex and artsy not just parodying the many cliches of 90's mecha anime. 

 

2 hours ago, PointBlankSniper said:

Nice, just when it's at the point where every show is supposed to exposition dump to try to make sense of itself, we ge for the classic "random bs, go!!!11!!1!" ending instead.

They spent the better part of the last episode dumping dustbins worth of exposition on us.

There's not much more they can usefully exposit on at this point without distracting from resolving the main plot.

[Big s]

12 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

The Big Reveal at the end of the most recent episode should be a Big Deal if properly foreshadowed... but it wasn't, so it just feels like an Arse Pull.

If you’re talking about 

Spoiler

Char, I think it was foreshadowed that he would be revealed, but I think most of us were expecting something far more complex than the guy sitting in front of us the last few episodes with his hair in front of his face wasn’t just a slob, but was masking his identity.

I think it was obvious from the beginning that Shuji came from whatever the zeknova was from pretty much the beginning, but dragging the og gundam through seemed a bit odd. The gundam in the main universe was destroyed a few years back , so I kinda thought that we’d see a different Amuro suit pop through, but I guess this show does time travel/ multiverse stuff all at once.

I do think it would be hilarious if we were all thinking this was connecting the G quuuuuux universe to the og one, but instead it was just a gateway to the build divers or something equally as silly.

[F-ZeroOne]

On 6/18/2025 at 3:28 PM, pengbuzz said:

*Imagines Char singing The French Mistake*

I mean, considering who hes named after... 😅

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

In fairness, I'd still call Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX substantially more watchable than any of the Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

GQuuuuuuX's main problem is that it has a potentially interesting premise that it just fails to deliver on.  The series never takes the time to explore and do proper worldbuilding in its Alternate UC setting, several potentially interesting plot threads are teased and never explored or touched on in only the most cursory way, and the main characters aren't engaged in the main story in a meaningful capacity.  These problems are all eminently fixable with a capable writer.  The Big Reveal at the end of the most recent episode should be a Big Deal if properly foreshadowed... but it wasn't, so it just feels like an Arse Pull.  At times, it's hard to believe the series was in development for over five years when the result is this messy and unpolished.

Rebuild's main problem, by contrast, is its own pretentiousness.  It's tries so hard to pretend that the original was doing something deep and complex and artsy not just parodying the many cliches of 90's mecha anime. 

Fair enough. I have yet to see Rebuild (and am not interested really); I just know that from what I saw of this one, it was just plain disappointing.

[Seto Kaiba]

11 hours ago, Big s said:

If you're talking about

Spoiler

Char, I think it was foreshadowed that he would be revealed, but I think most of us were expecting something far more complex than the guy sitting in front of us the last few episodes with his hair in front of his face wasn’t just a slob, but was masking his identity.

No, no I am not.  That "reveal" was so incredibly obvious that I don't think it even counts as any kind of spoiler.

I mean, come the f*** on...  who didn't guess that the Mysterious Blonde Man who goes by an Obvious Alias, conceals the upper half of his face, and otherwise both looks and sounds exactly like the missing Char Aznable is Char Aznable?  Especially in the mid-UC 0080's, where Char has already infamously done that once before in Zeta Gundam as under the rather atrocious alias Quattro Vageena.

'bout the best they did to try and hide it even a little was cast Yuuki Shin instead of longtime Char voice actor Shuichi Ikeda... but that's still an actor with prior credits playing Char.

 

12 hours ago, Big s said:

Spoiler

I think it was obvious from the beginning that Shuji came from whatever the zeknova was from pretty much the beginning, but dragging the og gundam through seemed a bit odd. The gundam in the main universe was destroyed a few years back , so I kinda thought that we’d see a different Amuro suit pop through, but I guess this show does time travel/ multiverse stuff all at once.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX does absolutely bloody nothing to foreshadow that Shuji Ito is...

Spoiler

... from "The Other Side".

There's nothing to indicate that zeknova go anywhere until Shuji disappears in one with the Red Gundam and nothing at all to indicate they link to another universe until we get properly introduced to the Rose of Sharon and see that it's Lalah's Elmeth from the original Mobile Suit Gundam.

They did absolutely nothing to develop Shuji as a character too.  The only indication something was off about him, besides the fact that he's a total space case, was that acts like the Red Gundam is talking to/through him.  

Most of the assumptions I saw from other viewers was that the Red Gundam was possessed by the (possibly vengeful) Newtype ghost of Char Aznable.  After all, that would not be the first time we saw something like that in the UC.  Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative from 2018 prominently features the Unicorn Gundam Phenix being operated by a disembodied Newtype consciousness from beyond the grave.  

 

Quote

The gundam in the main universe was destroyed a few years back , so I kinda thought that we’d see a different Amuro suit pop through, but I guess this show does time travel/ multiverse stuff all at once.

Amuro's Gundam was not the only Gundam.

It's easy to forget that... goodness knows GQuuuuuuX's writers seem to have done... but the Earth Federation had eight RX-78 Gundam prototypes.  Three in the so-called "First Lot" and five in the "Second Lot".  

There's a bit of "Depending on the writer" when it comes to what happens to the ones who don't appear directly in the animation, but there were at least two present when Zeon attacked Side 7 and at least two of them were evacuated from Side 7 by the White Base/Pegasus.  Whether Unit 1 was destroyed at Side 7 or simply damaged beyond immediate repair and then evacuated is explicitly left unclear.  Unit 3 was damaged too badly to use, but was taken aboard White Base and used as a parts donor for Unit 2 before being transferred to Federation Forces, repaired, used as a testbed for the magnetic coating upgrade (RX-78-3 specification), transferred to the Pegasus-class Blanc Rival, fought at A Baoa Qu, transferred to the Pegasus-class White Base II, and was used in operations to suppress Zeon remnants after the OYW.

Units 4-8 were also originally the same basic spec as the RX-78-3 and used to develop the RGM-79 GM, before being modified for other roles.

Whatever Lalah summoned here, it could be a time-displaced copy of Amuro's Unit 2... or it could be one of the other RX-78-2s that existed at the same time like Unit 1 and Unit 3.  Unit 1 is officially "fate unknown", which makes it seem a likely candidate.

 

[Tking22]

I'm still thoroughly enjoying the series, I agree the premise isn't being explored quite as deep as it could, there's almost endless potential in an alt-universe UC timeline, but I'm still enjoying myself. That said, I love me some What If, so this series has been right up my alley for the most part. 

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Tking22 said:

I'm still thoroughly enjoying the series, I agree the premise isn't being explored quite as deep as it could, there's almost endless potential in an alt-universe UC timeline, but I'm still enjoying myself. That said, I love me some What If, so this series has been right up my alley for the most part. 

I’m still having fun with it despite the problems and the time travel/multiverse stuff. A what if story seemed more interesting to me if they just stuck to that without the goofiness of the extremely overdone Time travel Multiverse shenanigans that are plaguing every franchise these days.