Get in the Gundam, girlfren.
What They Say:
Amate Yuzuriha is a high-school student living peacefully in a space colony floating in outer space. When she meets a war refugee named Nyaan, Amate is drawn into the illegal mobile suit dueling sport known as Clan Battle.
S1 E1 – The Red Gundam
Amate Yuzuriha, a high-school girl living in the Izuma colony, meets a female courier named Nyaan.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The latest Gundam series comes from an unlikely source, Studio Khara. Directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and written by Yoji Enokido and Hideaki Anno! It’s like an anime ouroboros of mecha admiration. When this was announced, it took everyone by surprise, but can it live up to the hype?
What if… Zeon won the war? No good can come from space Nazis winning the war, can it?
That’s where we begin launching into this series. In the Side 6 space colonies, where a very athletic schoolgirl named Amate dreams of feeling the weight of real gravity. A run-in with another teen girl working as a courier sends her on a crash course with a group of… hackers? Nope, underground mobile suit prize fighting it would seem. Before you can even ask what is going on we collide with the B-plot, or is it the A-plot of the episode? A Zeon commander named Challia Bull is tracking a red Gundam across space attempting to recover if. He is also having his crew test out a new mobile suit, the eponymously named GQuuuuuux, to intercept the rogue Gundam.
You can guess what happens next. The red Gundam is pursued to the colony, but the colony mecha cops get involved. The kids get stuck in the middle. The girl steals the Gundam, there’s some newtype nonsense, ass is kicked, and we have our introduction complete.
First of all, this is a very good-looking show. Lots of action with a lovingly handcrafted feeling. I love the designs of the characters. There’s a HARO bot wearing a beanie! Second, wow is a Gundam novice going to have absolutely no clue as to the greater ramifications of what is happening here. This is an alternate history version of the original Gundam universe, one where the Zeon won the war they started.
They haven’t explained anything about why that is or what has transpired to get to this moment in history, but we do know that Char is missing. Once again, that only means something to existing Gundam fans. I’m aware Challia is a character who died in the original series but it has been ages since I read Gundan Origin and couldn’t remember him from a hole in the ground. Hopefully, episode two provides some more context to go with the excellent action and fun characters.
I really like the ending theme and credit sequence. The ending is “Mо̄ Dо̄ Natte mo Ii ya” performed by Hoshimachi Suisei. The animation features the girls hanging out in the coziest-looking apartment, singing and eating pizza… dystopian police state future be damned! I want to go hang out with them!
In Summary:
The new Gundam is certainly a looker, one moving at the speed of light. I’m interested to see what they can do with only a short one-cour series, if that episode count is accurate. A Gundam novice is going to be lost here, so much seems to hinge on at least having some understanding of the original UC timeline. It is fun having two girl protagonists in a row for the Gundam franchise. It has been a long time coming for that. The idea of underground mobile suit battles isn’t fresh on its own, but combining that with an alternate take on the existing UC timeline is wild.
Episode Grades: B +
Streamed by: Amazon Prime
