A screening to commemorate the release of the Blu-ray Disc (BD), DVD, and discless package of the anime "Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX" was held at Shinjuku Piccadilly on January 29th, with director Kazuya Tsurumaki and series composition/scriptwriter Yoji Enokido in attendance. The series aired from April to June 2025. Since not much information was released in advance, social media was flooded with reactions of surprise at the unpredictable plot developments. More than six months have passed since the end of the broadcast, and Director Tsurumaki and Enokido have been revealing secrets that they can now only share.
◇MS concept
"Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX" was designed by Ikuto Yamashita, known for the "Evangelion" series. Director Tsurumaki said, "I had originally commissioned Yamashita to design the red Gundam and the GQuuuuuX, but he wanted to decide on the concept for this world's mobile suit, so he brought in the Zaku, which I hadn't ordered, first. It was OK in one try. It has propellant tanks on its thighs and jet nozzles on the back. Mobile suits in this world are a type of spacecraft. The white Gundam's engine is almost entirely its core fighter. That's the concept behind Federation mobile suits. The GQuuuuuX is an evolved version of the Gelgoog, incorporating elements of both Zeon and Federation mobile suits."
When the topic turned to the Gyan, Enokido explained how it came to be, saying, "Ghiren and Kycilia are in conflict. I tried to give Ghiren and Kycilia different weapons. I thought the Big Zam would be good for Ghiren's side, and the Gyan for Kycilia's side. The director said Kycilia wanted a new MS, so I was arguing over the phone. Ikuto-san brought up the Gyan, which he hadn't even ordered." Director Tsurumaki praised Yamashita's design, saying, "The equipment called Hakuji was designed from the beginning. It's really good. It has lots of nozzles and is used as a booster. I thought it was cool to use the Hakuji to accelerate."
◇Shiiko, which has been around since the initial concept
Shiiko Sugai, a former Earth Federation pilot who shot down over 100 planes during the One Year War, also became popular. Shiiko fought in a Gelgoog, which looked similar to a GM. Enokido said, "It's called a Gelgoog, but it looks like a GM. I was worried about the difference in combat power between the Gundam Mav and the GM Mav. What about a magnetic coating? Mosk Han came along, and I thought that if we applied a magnetic coating, it would just about be possible."
Director Tsurumaki said, "The original concept was for a rival character to appear in each episode and engage in clan battles. I had the idea that each rival character would have a special move. That's why I wanted to do an episode about Shiiko. Shiiko's name was in the proposal even before Sharia Bull appeared." He seems to have strong feelings about the series.
Enomoto seemed surprised by Shiiko's design, saying, "After the war, heroes are unable to adapt to normal life. The idea was to depict the Cold War. I was thinking of a visual like Laila Mila Laila..." Director Tsurumaki explained, "I didn't want a cool character, I wanted one that looked like a normal mother."
◇Do Murasame is a girl
The appearance of Psycho Gundam and Doo Murasame also became a hot topic. Enokido revealed, "The director said he wanted to have Psycho Gundam appear. If that's the case, it would be best to have it before Four (Murasame) at the Murasame Laboratory. However, 'Two' doesn't sound like a name. I thought it would be called by the numbering in their native language, so I used French." When the topic turned to gender, he immediately replied, "Girl." It seems that the decision to call her a "tomboy" led to some misunderstanding among viewers.
Familiar characters from "Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam" such as Geez Capa and Basque Homme also appeared. Enokido said, "The director wanted to include Basque Homme, so we asked if it was okay to include Geez as well," while Director Tsurumaki explained, "He was my favorite character from 'Z.' There isn't much of a depiction of the Federation, but they are on Earth sharpening their fangs. I wanted to express that as part of the worldview."
It seems that many fans were surprised to see the transformation of Kikeroga, a Principality of Zeon Newtype-exclusive MA (Mobile Armor) operated by Sharia Bull. Director Tsurumaki said, "Originally, it was Kikeroga in (Hideaki) Anno's script, so we added elements that make it different from Brown Bro," and Enokido was surprised, saying, "There was an idea to have an MS inside an MA. I was thinking of having a Rick Dom inside a Kikeroga, but it transformed!"
The 11th episode featured the hit song "BEYOND THE TIME (Beyond the Moebius Sky)" by the music group TM NETWORK, which also caused a stir on social media. The song is also known as the theme song for the animated film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. Director Tsurumaki said with a smile, "Producer Sugitani Yuki told me about 'BEYOND THE TIME' from an early stage. I was stubborn about it, but it turned out to be a good thing."
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX was also a hot topic as it was the first collaboration between Sunrise, the studio behind the Gundam series, and khara, known for the Evangelion series. Ahead of the TV anime series' broadcast, a pre-release theatrical version, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuX -Beginning-, which reconstructed some episodes, began screening on January 17, 2025. The TV anime aired from April to June of the same year.
