The highly anticipated 2025 Gundam anime, "Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX," a collaborative effort between two animation giants, khara (of the "Evangelion" series) and SUNRISE (of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series), has sparked immense fan buzz since its announcement. Its theatrical preview, "Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning-," which compiles select early episodes, has already smashed box office records.
Today (February 2), an official stage event was held in Tokyo, where director Kazuya Tsurumaki shared his thoughts on the production and highlighted the crucial role played by khara representative Hideaki Anno in this theatrical release.
"Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning-" has already surpassed 1 million viewers, marking a massive box office success. Commenting on this achievement, Director Kazuya Tsurumaki expressed, "We initially just planned a limited preview screening, so I never expected it to be this popular. I'm incredibly happy! The fan creations are off the charts; I'm constantly seeing amazing fan art on Pixiv and X, and it's super touching!" When host Neki Matsuzawa confirmed, "So, Director, you check Pixiv?" Tsurumaki chuckled shyly, "Yeah, I search for them (laughs)."
"Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX-Beginning-" kicks off with an immediate impact. Series composition writer Yoji Enokido noted, "I've been watching Gundam since the very first series. When it first aired, I was 15, just like Amuro (laughs). This work holds immense significance for me."
Director Tsurumaki revealed that the first half of the script was penned by Hideaki Anno. He explained, "Originally, we just wanted to breeze through that section as a prologue. But with the time constraints of a TV series, it felt too rushed and crammed. During a meeting, someone on the team suggested, 'Why not make it a standalone segment?' And right at that moment, Anno suddenly burst in (laughs) and started writing the script. Within days, we received a massive amount of story from him; he was incredibly motivated!"
Regarding Anno's script, Director Kazuya Tsurumaki stated, "Nobody else could have written this segment better than Anno. I thought, if we could get him to write it, that would be the absolute best choice, and it actually happened—a complete wish fulfillment!" Yoji Enokido added with a wry smile, "Some of those lines, truly only Anno could write them. The things we wouldn't dare to write, he just went for it (laughs)."
Tsurumaki further elaborated, "If I had written it, I might have held back a bit, tried to make the scenes look cooler, but I couldn't have gone all-out like Anno. I truly admire him, especially Anno this time around; he was completely 'liberated.' It was like he was back in his GAINAX days, working on 'Gunbuster' or 'Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water,' bursting with otaku passion. When I saw his script, I really felt—'Ah, this is the real Anno!'"
▼ Kazuya Tsurumaki and Hideaki Anno previously co-directed the "Rebuild of Evangelion" series.
While this theatrical preview is merely an edited compilation of the TV anime's initial episodes, and the broadcast date for the full series is still under wraps, it has nonetheless drawn a massive number of fans. It's also set to premiere in Taiwan on February 27th! This dream collaboration between khara and SUNRISE clearly has a lot to offer, and we eagerly await the official announcement of the TV series' broadcast schedule.
via： oricon news