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A newGundamseries has been announced. It is titledMobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX(the pronunciation is something like “G-Quacks”) and is slated to get atheatrical cut in Japan on May 19, 2025.
This will be the 16th installment of the franchise, but what caught everyone’s attention was that this is a collaborative project between Sunrise (the traditionalGundamstudio) and Studio Khara, whichproducedRebuild of Evangelion. Legendary Evangelion creator,Hideaki Anno, is in charge of the scripts.
This is the first time Anno has been officially involved with a mainGundamseries, buthe’s been a huge fan of the franchise(and he was eveninterviewed once alongsideGundamcreator Yoshiyuki Tomino). So what exactly can we expect from it?
It’s Still A Gundam Series
Tackling politics and the consequences of war
Well, this might have Anno’s sigature, but it’s still a Gundam series. It’s going to tackle issues like war and politics, which are not unfamiliar to Anno, who has also worked on another series known for having political subtexts (maybe the texts are not so sub, though), delivering thefantasticShin Kamen Ridermovie.
Given the synopsis to this series, it’s going to tackle not only wars, but the humane consequences of them, witha refugee as one of the main characters. The trailer remindsGundam: Witch from Mercurya bit, not only of its tone but also because it includes illegalGundambattles, that, in this case, seem to be related to rich people or shady organizations (which are generally related to rich people anyway) — maybe in a sort ofKengan Ashuraway, but apparently more grounded (or it could be something like rich people just have weird hobbies).
It would be nice if those battles tackled differences in economic classes. Like, they are just fun for the rich to watch, while poor people are trying to move up in the world, because they don’t have many other options, and things could go very wrong from here (that would be quiteGundam-ish, but also a very hard theme to tackle properly).
The subjectivity of warriors
Maybe an “Evangelion-like” approach
While the trailer has this sort ofWitch from Mercurytones, it also seems to have an “Evangeliontouch” to it. However, it’s important to remember Anno is not directing the series.Kazuya Tsurumaki, who is considered Anno’s “protégé”, is the director (but he has directedRebuild of Evangelionmovies so he does know what an “Eva touch” would be like).
Evangelionstarts as quite plot-driven, butfocuses a lot on the subjectivity of the characters, especially on howeverything impacts Shinji’s mental state. Back then, this was a new approach tomechaseries, and it’s no surprise it resonated a lot with teen audiences, who tend to have similar struggles to those Shinji goes through (except that regular Japanese teens do not usually drive high-tech military steerable weaponry). Despitethe controversial original ending,people generally like the show. We canexpect well-written characters for this series(not that they are lacking inGundamuniverse).
Anno’s worksare mostly known forsubverting genre/tropes expectations and also for intertextuality. He is just writing the scripts, so a lot of decisions will depend on how Tsurumaki will approach Anno’s ideas and bring them to life. Anyway, everything on this newGundamlooks promising! Those in Japan will be able to watch it this month, but theproduction team asked overseas fans to “wait for more information”, which means they are planning to drop the movie internationally too.
Anno is only in charge of the scripts, and is not directing the series. Kazuya Tsurumaki, who is considered Anno’s protégé, is in charge of the direction.
