Maaaaaaaaan....
So far, I've been content to let Tsurumaki's pace carry me, but unlike FLCL which kinda had no expectations placed upon the viewer and the intended viewing experience was to just go with the flow, GQX is building upon decades of narrative and lore that at this point are kinda essential for context, so as of right now even I'm starting to feel how crazy fast we're hitting plot beats out here.
I mean, the entire episode is about Lalah Sune, who she is as a character and what she represents thematically to the entire series, but if you haven't seen OG Gundam thru Char's Counterattack (because her relationship with Amuro and Char is an important aspect of her character) her appearance here is just going to be a weird catalyst for Machu's character growth and probably very confusing.
She looks great in GQX's animation style tho
But having said that, doing The Man in the High Castle with UC0079 Gundam is so insanely ballsy and ambitious, I'm down for the ride.
Gundam's always going to be an annoying franchise for newcomers - you more or less need to watch ~140 episodes of Tomino anime and a movie to have a baseline understanding of things.
What are the odds that we get a Beyond the Time or Meguriai insert song by the end of this?
I went back to episode 41 of Mobile Suit Gundam and Encounters in Space to revisit the big moment. Putting a spoiler tag, even if it might not be totally necessary (it feels like spoiler tagging Empire Strikes Back).
Mobile Suit Gundam
You don't say, Amuro. She's had to
everything and it seems like there's almost no way for her to save the person she feels like she owes everything to. It sounded like she's had to see the outcome where Amuro kills Char during the OYW in alternate timelines. Also, she's probably had to watch G-Savior a few dozen times.
Here's the explosion of the Hermes/Elmeth in the original series:
Here's the explosion in the movie version:
The big ol ball of light that Char and Shuji disappeared into is definitely referencing this explosion.
Right, like everyone confused about Machu/Shuji kinda need to see this ep for the exact kind of Newtype weirdness we're working with (although imo the scene with Challia this ep really did a lot to flesh out Machu and Shuji's relationship through inference, like imagine living most of your life with your parent not understanding your emotional wants or needs and then suddenly finding the one cute guy in the universe who could literally read your mind), but at the same time I think it's completely reasonable to expect a show to stand on it's own and explain weirdness like that as part of the story and not off-screen that storytelling duty to past franchise entries. It kinda is what it is at this point tho
A fate worse than death.
spoiler
Anno backdoor writing in a prequel/sequel to 0079/CCA on a multiversal technicality wasn't on my bingo card, but I'll take it since Tsurumaki seems to have something class conscious in mind to say, and I trust Khara enough to handle postmodern metatext right even after the Rebuilds. I can't believe how blatantly they're getting away with cribbing The Man in the High Castle tho lolNo shot that they don't use it as an insert song in the finale
I feel like we're so far in the age of remake-sequels and cinematic universe stuff that media homework isn't unusual. It's part of the curse of easy-ish access to so much media.
I agree with you, though, I wish more stuff would be able to stand alone for viewers who didn't do all the homework!
:::spoiler spoiler
Found my vacation book for my upcoming trip this summer lol. I should read more sci-fi novels haha.
True, as usual the problem is the internet lol
Philip K. Dick is a great author, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is probably his best work, iirc Man in the High Castle’s ending was a bit anti-climatic but I need to reread the book now too lol
Yeah I finished watching the original series and watched Char's Counterattack for the first time a few days ago. Glad I did since they're introducing alternate timeline stuff in Gquux.
I had a partial understanding of UC since 8th. MS Team is one of my all-time favorite series, but I hadn't actually seen the entire Amuro Ray story, only bits and pieces of it when it was on Toonami like 20 years ago. I've always preferred Gundam Wing, but that could be nostalgia talking.
Wing is one of those shows that sits better in the memory and conversation than on the screen imo. Endless Waltz fucking slaps, though.
If you like the aesthetics of Wing and want another "alternate UC" show, you should check out After War Gundam X. Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam might help give more context (for all of the franchise, really), but it stands alone better than GQuuuuuuX.
You should try Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket or Armor Hunter Mellowlink, or if you're looking for a longer show, Fang of the Sun Dougram or Armored Trooper Votoms.
After War Gundam X is one of my favorites, with how it critiques key aspects of the UC's newtype mythology.
I did like Gundam 00 a lot in its first season, but season 2 was merely "good" and the movie... was meh?
VOTOMS is amazing, I agree.