Episode 3 is the third and final episode used for the Beginning compilation film so the next episode will be entirely new for me and anyone else who saw the movie first. I didn’t mind watching these episodes again but doing so across three weeks combined with Episode 2 putting the present day plot to a halt has made me realize that the beginning of GQuuuuuuX is very slow. It’ll be nice to finally move on from here.
After her fight with the military police, Machu leaves the the GQuuuuuuX in the Pomeranians’ care. Since they lost their Zaku and since Machu is the only one capable of piloting the Gundam, the Pomeranians’ leader Annqi (Mariya Ise) proposes that Machu fight in the next Clan Battle on their behalf. Annqi’s peers oppose the idea while Machu shows some interest, presumably because she wants to prove herself and find something more meaningful with her life.
While mulling over, Machu’s Newtype abilities makes her aware that the Red Gundam’s pilot is nearby. After following the instinct, Machu discovers that the pilot is a young boy named Shuji Itō (Shimba Tsuchiya). Given his late introduction, Beginning isn’t able to properly give Shuji the spotlight. This should hopefully be addressed in later episodes. For now, I really like how aloof and mysterious he is. The most curious about him is an apparent connection with the Red Gundam, to the point that he can “hear” it ” speak” to him.
Nyaan coincidentally shows up to deliver a package for Shuji. Due to an accident, Shuji can’t pay for the delivery so Machu suggests that he be her Mav in the next Clan Battle. If they win, they’ll earn enough money to pay for the package and, more importantly, get Machu’s phone fixed. Machu then returns to the Pomeranians to accept Annqi’s offer and she receives a pilot suit before heading into the Clan Battle. Seems a bit odd to me that she doesn’t get a helmet in case she needs to breathe in space but she does a cute beanie from Haro (Rie Kugimiya) so I’ll let it slide.
Parallel to this, Bull bails Xavier out of prison and the two make a pit stop at a restaurant. Bull correctly predicts that the GQuuuuuuX would appear on at televised broadcast of the Clan Battle. The only issue is the identity of the pilot as Machu chooses to use her nickname. Very funny that you can just watch the duel on TV. Bull wants to keep the GQuuuuuuX’s existence under the wraps but this just seems like a massive security breach. I half expected the episode to cut to the higher ups at Zeon freaking out.
Having Bull witness the fight is beneficial. Not only does it set up him and his crew possibly looking into Machu, it also allows Bull to explain how the Clan Battle plays out. He provides some interesting details like how important it is for a mobile suit spot and strikes their opponent first and how the Mav tactic can compensate for this. Part of me does think the fight doesn’t demonstrate Bull’s input too well. Like, Machu has the most powerful mobile suit at the moment. If she screws up, she can recover just fine. That said, there are still some really cool team-up moments with her and Shuji, thereby proving Bull’s point about the importance of Mav.
Watch Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX on Amazon Prime Video
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