FTN Hung

GQuuuuuuX was to me a 10/10 passionate work that truly understands the core of UC Gundam while not being afraid to give their unique take of the Newtype concept. First of all nostalgia. The most emotional part of this show was Char finding a resolve after all those years. Many recent UC watchers may have better reading of Tomino’s message than older fans but they don’t have the same level of nostalgia we have. Cross references weren't off-putting to new fans either since many non-Gundam fans in Japan and some parts of East Asia had some baseline knowledge about UC Gundam like ‘who Char was’ and ‘what’s One Year War’ beforehand. People (except in the West) had shown they're willing to dig into previous series because of GQuuuuuuX so I’m also happy with how many new UC fans GQuuuuuuX gathered. Narrative choice while not easy to stomach for some post-Covid anime watchers GQx catered well to us hardcore fans. The show had many hidden details enhancing storytelling, many vague plots like Shuji’s identity, and many emotions were conveyed through the untranslated lyrics of songs playing in the background, which fitted perfectly for those who like to examine the show with magnifying glasses. Pacing while fast it was carefully planned out to provide our MCs different stages of challenges and self-reflection. Room for imagination is important but it's unfortunately regarded 'lazy-writing' by those who only take in what's presented on the surface. I also appreciated how GQuuuuuuX wasn’t afraid of presenting their twist on the Newtype concept. Tomino ‘Newtype’s awareness of the burden their existence places on the system’ while sometimes capable of driving the society forward will always be detrimental to that individual. In other words, if one’s attempting to solve societal problems on their own, one would end up either questioning humanity or become overly egotistical. On most issues, top-down approaches of tackling societal problems will create new conflicts too. Only something as universal as the survival of human race would work under early Tomino’s approach so there’s only one miracle named Axis shock (That’s also why Amuro always took a passive role.) Khara’s take on Newtypes can be deemed irresponsible by early Tomino's standards but it certainly eased Char, who was never emotionally capable of taking the societal burdens he set on himself. Lastly, Machu’s writing reminded me of the time when I was more passionate with my career. Machu was ultimately Khara's praise to those who are inherently motivated and are greedy for their desires. Criticisms on how Machu didn’t earn the ending, lacked personal growth and felt disjointed to the adult cast were all valid. However, all made sense if we view her like ‘an grown-up watching kids on the playground remembering their youth’. Her character resonated a lot with fans with children / much younger siblings. Machu was put into the Gundam world abruptly just like how Tsurumaki stepped into the anime industry with all those giants, or like how we are put into the adult world. When I look back I would appreciate my younger self’s recklessness and perseverance, like Challia’s monologue when he was witnessing Machu’s battle against RX-78.