It’s been…a minute since I last blogged about GQuuuuuuX. I believe the show is ending in a few days at the time of writing this post (though I’m assuming there hasn’t been any hints of a second season or sequel series). I probably should’ve gone the Quickie route to catch up but I don’t know, I kind of wanted to tackle this show more earnestly.
The opponents of the week are Gaia (Yōji Ueda) and Ortega (Kenji Hamada). These two are former members of the Black Tri-Stars, an elite Mobile Suit squad that operated under Zeon. After getting kicked out of the squad, they have since been working in junk trading and Clan Battle around Side 6. The third member of the squad, Mash, is mentioned to have left the Black Tri-Stars before getting kicked out and he has since had a successful career in politics. I checked the wiki and as it turns out, these characters are actually returnees from 0079. Honestly, without that contest, Gaia and Ortega come across as really random additions to the cast. Their backstory is glossed over very quickly and there’s less time spent on exploring their characters compared to Shiiko.
After contemplating on witnessing Shuji kill someone in the last Clan Battle (and working on a tan), Machu meets up with Nyaan to get food for Shuji and prepare for the next Clan Battle. This apparently includes getting Machu’s pilot suit clean and going to be honest, I didn’t take that outfit to be machine washable. At Shuji’s hideout, the gang talks about getting a shuttle to head to Earth. Nyaan grows curious about the graffiti Shuji likes to draw, which Machu believes is based on the Kira-Kira phenomenon. There’s a pretty odd scene where Shuji lies against the Red Gundam to cool off, leading Nyaan and Machu strip down to their underwear to do the same as some sort of way to connect with Shuji more. I don’t really get their reasoning but it is very interesting that Nyaan does it first and not Machu. Also yeah, this show appears to be hornier than WFM ever was. I don’t have a problem with it, outside occasional oddness such as the scene mentioned earlier, but it’s fair if someone does and it is a bit surprising after WFM was so light on fanservice. Then again, I’ve watched SEED so maybe I shouldn’t be taken aback.
Apparently, Xavier has taken upon himself to track the GQuuuuuuX on his own. While struggling to make progress, Xavier learns from an informant that Kycillia Zabi, the leader of Zeon, suspects that Challia wanted and even orchestrated for the GQuuuuuuX to get stolen. This is understandably surprising to Xavier though as the viewer, I can actually see Challia acting subordinate. He’s worked with Char after all. The fact that Challia is taking his sweet time to take the GQuuuuuuX back also lends some credibility to the informant’s claim.
Funnily enough, Xavier ends up spotting Machu on her way to the next Clan Battle. When Machu attacks some police officers attempting to check Nyaan’s refugee status (how topical), Xavier has her hide in a locker with him, giving him the opportunity to interrogate Machu and prevent her from participating in the match. A solid plan but it ultimately doesn’t work as Nyaan decides to secretly take Machu’s place and the GQuuuuuuX still appears in the livestream.
Given that this is Nyaan’s first time piloting a Mobile Suit, I assumed that she would suck at it. Hell, Nyaan’s own plan for the fight is to just sit back and have Shuji do most of the heavy lifting. This backfires on her when Shuji is briefly unable to fight due to a fever, allowing Gaia and Ortega to completely overwhelm Nyaan with their coordinates attacks. I like that those guys target the GQuuuuuuX. While these two apparently have a grudge against Char and the Red Gundam, they’re still smart enough to know that they should take down the more advanced Gundam first. Surprisingly, Nyaan eventually turns the tables on her opponents. As she grows more frustrated and hurt from the fight, Nyaan begins to manifest latent Newtype abilities and experience the “Kira-Kira” sensation. Nyaan not only begins to pilot the GQuuuuuuX competently and coordinate well with Shuji, she arguably does so on par with Machu, certainly enough to fool everyone but Machu that the Gundam is still piloted by the same person. About the only thing more surprising than Nyaan’s comeback is the fact that she joins Shuji in killing Gaia and Ortega. Shuji committing murder I get, that’s just becoming a Tuesday for him, but Nyaan? I just didn’t think she’d go that far and the episode weirdly brushes it off. Then again, perhaps that’s the point. The fact that Nyaan killed someone and barely acknowledges it could very well be a red flag in and of itself.
After watching the whole fight, Machu escapes out of the locker and runs back to the hideout, only to then learn about Nyaan taking her place. Machu getting distraught over someone else experiencing the Kira-Kira is really interesting. Even though that technically isn’t exclusive to her and Shuji, Machu doesn’t know that and there’s nevertheless a surrealness and intimacy to it that Machu gravitated towards. The phenomenon feels a lot less special now when there’s a third person who can tap into it. The fact that the third person is Nyaan then makes this revelation also feel like a betrayal. I’m very curious to see how Machu and Nyaan’s relationship develops in the next episode and the rest of the series. From the first couple of episodes and the ED, the show really had me thinking these two would be the best of friends. Now though, it’s looking like things are about to get really tense or really awkward.
Watch Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX on Amazon Prime Video
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