Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX

Episode 5

From Mobile Fighter Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX and its Clan Battle format have surprised me. This is no game preparing its participants for future warfare; it is just as deadly as war. Now, Nyaan has ed the fray, she is as capable as Machu in the cockpit. The title "Nyaan Doesn't Know About Kira-Kira” turned out to be a misnomer as Nyaan also exhibited Newtype potential, completing the show's central trio in more ways than one. This episode hit like a gut punch with its bombastic action and sobering implications.

But first, an explanation of the Black Tri-Stars. This episode introduced, or rather reintroduced, two characters from the original Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin). In the 1979 show Gaia, Ortega, and Mash are three Zeon pilots known for their custom Rick Dom mobile suits and distinctive three-pronged fighting style. They all canonically died in episode 24, but in this alternate timeline, Gaia and Ortega survived and decided to enter Clan Battle. Their deaths at Nyaan's hands did not hit me as hard as Shiiko's did last week because I've already said goodbye to them before, not to mention they aren't Zeon's most endearing antagonists to begin with (on the level of, for example, Ramba Ral). I've already seen a teenager kill these guys once before, is what I'm saying. So, as shocking as it was to see Nyaan merc these guys, it told me a lot more about her than it did about them. (How did they think the Jet Stream Attack would work without Mash?) This soft-spoken refugee has a lot more going on than just money troubles.

This means Nyaan is the second member of our teenage trio with a kill count. They're shaping up to be a pretty risky bunch. I said earlier that the show has been surprisingly restrained about sex up to this point, but this week was all about showing some skin. I'd argue that it wasn't in a creepy, leering way, but done intentionally. Machu delivered her trademark sulk while sunbathing on the roof of Annqi's office in a bikini top and shorts. In this outfit, with headphones firmly in place, she looks every bit the teenage girl she is. It seems she's processing not only Shiiko's regrettable death, but Shuji's cold-blooded execution. Shuji was anything but cold-blooded this week, suffering from an illness that was obvious even before Conch performatively took his temperature. (I don't think the girls realized it because he's loopy even on his healthiest days.) In Shuji's Gundam Cave, the girls beat the heat by stripping to their skivvies. I liked the characterization detail of showing Nyaan tossing her clothes in a heap while Machu carefully folded hers. I can't tell if Nyaan sees her actions as an adolescent attempt at seduction, but Machu certainly perceives a competition for Shuji's affections at stake—otherwise, why would she strip down if it's making her so obviously uncomfortable? (Haro, you're not helping here!) My request to GQuuuuuuX: I would like to order a fully balanced love triangle here with sexual tension not only between Shuji and Machu or Shuji and Nyaan, but Machu and Nyaan as well. You're damn right I'm thinking of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans' enlightened take on polyamory, in which it took only the flimsiest of shipping goggles to see Mikazuki, Atra, and Kudelia finding their happy ending in triangular domestic bliss. Indeed, they were the real Tri-Stars!

What gave this episode its “Kira-Kira” sparkle was the action, both when Machu said ACAB in the subway (a Gundam protagonist kicking a cop in the balls is the energy I want in 2025) and when Nyaan pivoted into a high-functioning, heartless Newtype—going so far as to use Shuji as her shield, shocking everybody. But even as GQuuuuuuX offers an increasing number of reasons to watch in and of itself, the parts that get me the most excited are the throwbacks to the original show. Did Challia Bull say he needs a Ikuto Yamashita's take on this supremely weird machine. And the title of the next episode, “The Plot to Assassinate Kycillia,” is absolute catnip for longtime fans. I'll be ready with some Kycillia lore drops next week.

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Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Tuesdays.

Lauren writes about model kits at Gunpla 101. She spends her days teaching her two small Newtypes to bring peace to the space colonies.