It’s a double treat for Gundam devotees — following a highly successful outing at the box office with the -Beginning- animated feature, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (pronounced “g-kwux” and with six zeroes) will be available for streaming in over 240 countries and territories, in both subtitled and dubbed versions.
The anime begins streaming on Prime Video on 8 April, marking a simultaneous release with Japan. A collaboration between Studio khara, renowned for the Evangelion series, and Sunrise, of the Gundam franchise fame, it brings together a pool of industry veterans, including director Kazuya Tsurumaki, writers Yoji Enokido and Hideaki Anno (Evangelion), character designs by Pokémon Journeys’ Take, and mechanical designs by Ikuto Yamashita.
Here’s the official synopsis of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX:
“Amate Yuzuriha, a high school girl who lives a peaceful life in a space colony floating in space, meets Nyaan, a war refugee girl, and gets caught up in the illegal mobile suit duelling competition ‘Clan Battle.’ Using the entry name ‘MACHU’ Amate pilots a GQuuuuuuX and throws herself into fierce battles every day. At the same time, an unidentified Mobile Suit ‘Gundam,’ pursued by both the space army and the police, and its pilot, a boy named Shuuji, appears before her. And the world is about to enter a new era.”
The series is foregrounded by Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning-, a re-edited version of the anime’s first four episodes. It opened in Japan on 17 January and is now the second highest-earning film in the franchise, earning 2.3 billion at the domestic box office. In comparison, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom scored an all-time high of 4.79 billion yen (US$31.05 million / S$43.21 million).
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX will premiere on 8 April, with Tomoyo Kurosawa (Rebecca in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners), Yui Ishikawa (Mikasa in Attack on Titan), and Shimba Tsuchiya (Tsutomu Goshiki in Haikyu!!) leading the voice cast as Amate, Nyaan, and Shuji Ito, respectively.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
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