The Gundam GQuuuuuuX compilation movie, now out in Japan, reveals it as a reimagining of Mobile Suit Gundam. While interesting, it feels like a missed opportunity.
Now, this is not to say that Gundam GQuuuuuuX is bad or not interesting, but its “what if” scenario of shifting events around from the One Year War in the original Mobile Suit Gundam does feel a bit fanfiction-esque.
Ikuto Yamashita’s new mecha designs are great though in GQuuuuuuX, with the news of a Metal Robot Damashii toy (shown below) on the way this Summer being very welcome.
However, if alternate-timeline Gundam series are now just reimagining what has gone before rather than creating something new, why not just animate something that was already made decades ago and was also hugely popular?
Of course, I am referring to the serialized story For The Barrel in Newtype magazine back in 2000. This was and is a groundbreaking retelling of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, with a much more believable approach to the characters and especially the mecha designs.
With the mobile suits redesigned as “machining skins”, these mecha were much more industrial in tone and penned by the very talented Junji Okubo.
For gaming reference, Okubo also designed the very believable and industrial-looking vertical tanks in the equally groundbreaking Xbox game Steel Battalion, released in 2002 along with its entirely massive bespoke controller.
So now that GQuuuuuuX is out, it just seems like if we aren’t getting an all-new alternate timeline story like Iron-Blooded Orphans or Witch from Mercury, and instead more of a “what if” fanfiction, then why not animate something that already did that excellently decades earlier?
For The Barrel was a fascinating and groundbreaking retelling of the early parts of the Universal Century timeline, and to just leave that in favor of GQuuuuuuX feels like a waste.
That said, the fact we still haven’t got an anime adaptation of the insanely popular Crossbone Gundam also warrants some serious discussion, but that’s another matter entirely.
Naturally, I’m sure I’ll enjoy the series of GQuuuuuuX once it airs, much like I did with Witch from Mercury before it. It’s just that this seems like a missed opportunity when Gundam already has such a rich history of novels and mangas within its pantheon.
The compilation Gundam GQuuuuuuX movie will be released in US theaters on February 28 and will be distributed by GKIDS.
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