![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theglorioblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gq0201.jpg?w=700\")
<\/a>\u201cThe White Gundam\u201d<\/h3>\nPresenting: The world\u2019s most expensive Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> fan film<\/p>\nZigg\u2019s<\/span> Thoughts<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis episode is, I think, emblematic of all of the things people anticipated that GQuuuuuux<\/em> was actually going to be, both in a good and a bad way. It\u2019s good because it\u2019s clearly a loving, deeply reverent homage to the original 1979\u00a0Mobile Suit Gundam.<\/em> And it\u2019s bad because, well, it\u2019s a loving, deeply reverent homage to the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>. What this episode tells us is that GQuuuuuux<\/em> is not going to shy away from its status as an alternate-history Universal Century \u2013 instead it\u2019s going to embrace it wholeheartedly and without reserve. Where that decision takes us is where the tension and fascination that has defined the show so far is rooted.
<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theglorioblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gq0202.jpg?w=700\")
<\/a>For those of you less familiar with a nearly fifty year old mecha show, more detail is probably appropriate. The beginning of this episode is close to a 1:1 remake of the beginning of episode 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>, with of course one very important difference: Char ends up in the Gundam rather than Amuro. Even though the story rapidly diverges from that point, the episode continues to stylistically ape the old show, abandoning the art style of and character designs of episode 1 in favour of a close imitation of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko\u2019s iconic 70s look. Were it not for the updated mechs I could easily have believed this was an episode of\u00a0Mobile Suit Gundam THE ORIGIN, <\/em>such is the fidelity to the older style.
<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not just visually that the episode displays its credentials, as the script also shows off a plethora of references and nods that will delight the obsessive Gundam<\/em> crowd. Subsequent interviews have confirmed that this flashback section was the part of the script which most came under the purview of Hideaki Anno, and that makes a lot of sense given the extremely hardcore-fan nature of a lot of the story here, digging into long debated what-if scenarios and pulling out deep continuity cuts. It\u2019s certainly in line with Anno\u2019s recent work on Shin Ultraman\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Shin Kamen Rider<\/em>, productions which fetishised their source material perhaps to the point of creative sterility.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theglorioblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gq0203.jpg?w=700\")
<\/a>That\u2019s ultimately the main issue with this episode \u2013 it\u2019s just kind of boring. Hell, I would class myself as a mid-to-upper-tier Gundam<\/em> sicko and even I found this pretty draggy at times, so I can\u2019t imagine what the experience would be like for a fresh pair of eyes. It\u2019s worth pointing out that the\u00a0Beginning<\/em> movie was arranged so the material was in strict chronological order i.e. the contents of this episode came first. I think the TV show made the right choice to lead with the \u2018present day\u2019 material since it\u2019s a much stronger hook, but that does mean that by putting this stuff in the second episode slot you sort of check any momentum the story had before it\u2019s even really gotten rolling.<\/p>\nBeyond the novelty value of seeing an alternate history unfold, I don\u2019t even think the material on show here is actually up to much. The gradual lionisation of Char Aznable is a decades long process you could literally write a book on, and I\u2019m not going to get into it here, but this episode doesn\u2019t do much to dispel the common criticism of him as an overpowered Mary Sue who single-handedly turns the tide of wars. To me at least Char is most interesting when used in a supporting role, where his struggle with his divided loyalties and inherently self-sabotaging nature can play out in the background of the hero\u2019s story. An episode of him narrating how awesome he is to himself (which, to be fair, is entirely keeping in the style of how the character is usually written) doesn\u2019t hold much appeal.<\/p>\n
Zigg\u2019s<\/span> Thoughts<\/strong><\/h3>\nThis episode is, I think, emblematic of all of the things people anticipated that GQuuuuuux<\/em> was actually going to be, both in a good and a bad way. It\u2019s good because it\u2019s clearly a loving, deeply reverent homage to the original 1979\u00a0Mobile Suit Gundam.<\/em> And it\u2019s bad because, well, it\u2019s a loving, deeply reverent homage to the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>. What this episode tells us is that GQuuuuuux<\/em> is not going to shy away from its status as an alternate-history Universal Century \u2013 instead it\u2019s going to embrace it wholeheartedly and without reserve. Where that decision takes us is where the tension and fascination that has defined the show so far is rooted.
<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>For those of you less familiar with a nearly fifty year old mecha show, more detail is probably appropriate. The beginning of this episode is close to a 1:1 remake of the beginning of episode 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>, with of course one very important difference: Char ends up in the Gundam rather than Amuro. Even though the story rapidly diverges from that point, the episode continues to stylistically ape the old show, abandoning the art style of and character designs of episode 1 in favour of a close imitation of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko\u2019s iconic 70s look. Were it not for the updated mechs I could easily have believed this was an episode of\u00a0Mobile Suit Gundam THE ORIGIN, <\/em>such is the fidelity to the older style.
<\/em><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not just visually that the episode displays its credentials, as the script also shows off a plethora of references and nods that will delight the obsessive Gundam<\/em> crowd. Subsequent interviews have confirmed that this flashback section was the part of the script which most came under the purview of Hideaki Anno, and that makes a lot of sense given the extremely hardcore-fan nature of a lot of the story here, digging into long debated what-if scenarios and pulling out deep continuity cuts. It\u2019s certainly in line with Anno\u2019s recent work on Shin Ultraman\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Shin Kamen Rider<\/em>, productions which fetishised their source material perhaps to the point of creative sterility.<\/p>\n<\/a>That\u2019s ultimately the main issue with this episode \u2013 it\u2019s just kind of boring. Hell, I would class myself as a mid-to-upper-tier Gundam<\/em> sicko and even I found this pretty draggy at times, so I can\u2019t imagine what the experience would be like for a fresh pair of eyes. It\u2019s worth pointing out that the\u00a0Beginning<\/em> movie was arranged so the material was in strict chronological order i.e. the contents of this episode came first. I think the TV show made the right choice to lead with the \u2018present day\u2019 material since it\u2019s a much stronger hook, but that does mean that by putting this stuff in the second episode slot you sort of check any momentum the story had before it\u2019s even really gotten rolling.<\/p>\nBeyond the novelty value of seeing an alternate history unfold, I don\u2019t even think the material on show here is actually up to much. The gradual lionisation of Char Aznable is a decades long process you could literally write a book on, and I\u2019m not going to get into it here, but this episode doesn\u2019t do much to dispel the common criticism of him as an overpowered Mary Sue who single-handedly turns the tide of wars. To me at least Char is most interesting when used in a supporting role, where his struggle with his divided loyalties and inherently self-sabotaging nature can play out in the background of the hero\u2019s story. An episode of him narrating how awesome he is to himself (which, to be fair, is entirely keeping in the style of how the character is usually written) doesn\u2019t hold much appeal.<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just visually that the episode displays its credentials, as the script also shows off a plethora of references and nods that will delight the obsessive Gundam<\/em> crowd. Subsequent interviews have confirmed that this flashback section was the part of the script which most came under the purview of Hideaki Anno, and that makes a lot of sense given the extremely hardcore-fan nature of a lot of the story here, digging into long debated what-if scenarios and pulling out deep continuity cuts. It\u2019s certainly in line with Anno\u2019s recent work on Shin Ultraman\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Shin Kamen Rider<\/em>, productions which fetishised their source material perhaps to the point of creative sterility.<\/p>\n Beyond the novelty value of seeing an alternate history unfold, I don\u2019t even think the material on show here is actually up to much. The gradual lionisation of Char Aznable is a decades long process you could literally write a book on, and I\u2019m not going to get into it here, but this episode doesn\u2019t do much to dispel the common criticism of him as an overpowered Mary Sue who single-handedly turns the tide of wars. To me at least Char is most interesting when used in a supporting role, where his struggle with his divided loyalties and inherently self-sabotaging nature can play out in the background of the hero\u2019s story. An episode of him narrating how awesome he is to himself (which, to be fair, is entirely keeping in the style of how the character is usually written) doesn\u2019t hold much appeal.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/theglorioblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/gq0201.jpg\")
<\/a>For those of you less familiar with a nearly fifty year old mecha show, more detail is probably appropriate. The beginning of this episode is close to a 1:1 remake of the beginning of episode 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>, with of course one very important difference: Char ends up in the Gundam rather than Amuro. Even though the story rapidly diverges from that point, the episode continues to stylistically ape the old show, abandoning the art style of and character designs of episode 1 in favour of a close imitation of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko\u2019s iconic 70s look. Were it not for the updated mechs I could easily have believed this was an episode of\u00a0Mobile Suit Gundam THE ORIGIN, <\/em>such is the fidelity to the older style.
<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>That\u2019s ultimately the main issue with this episode \u2013 it\u2019s just kind of boring. Hell, I would class myself as a mid-to-upper-tier Gundam<\/em> sicko and even I found this pretty draggy at times, so I can\u2019t imagine what the experience would be like for a fresh pair of eyes. It\u2019s worth pointing out that the\u00a0Beginning<\/em> movie was arranged so the material was in strict chronological order i.e. the contents of this episode came first. I think the TV show made the right choice to lead with the \u2018present day\u2019 material since it\u2019s a much stronger hook, but that does mean that by putting this stuff in the second episode slot you sort of check any momentum the story had before it\u2019s even really gotten rolling.<\/p>\n