After War Gundam X is an interesting entry in the Gundam
Franchise in that it shares a few historical similarities with the original
Mobile Suit Gundam Series. X was the
show that aired in the wake of Gundam Wing and was planned for a more traditional
(at the time) 50 some odd episode run.
However, ratings were never nearly as strong as they were with Wing or
it’s other predecessor, G Gundam, and after flopping back and forth between bad
time slots, Gundam X was cancelled after 39 episodes, a similar fate which
befell Mobile Suit Gundam which ended its run at 43 episodes, 7 short of its
intended run. For all the ratings drama,
the question stands: did Gundam X deserve its fate and does its cancellation
mean it’s a bad show? After checking out
the first couple of episodes I can say, in my opinion, that Gundam X holds a
lot of promise when it comes to its story.
I think it could definitely keep me invested, even if the animation leaves
a lot to be desired.
Gundam X is the first of the Alternate Universe Gundam
shows (after G and Wing) to ask a very important “What If?”: What if the One Year War had gone totally
FUBAR and Zeon had carried out more colony attacks? With a question like that, it’s easy to see
why X and the original 1979 series have more similarities besides their abrupt
endings. Several images invoke the early
episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam, from the colony drops to Garrod’s first ride in
the titular Gundam X. Thankfully, these
omages don’t overshadow X’s potential in its story. The Earth show in After War 0015 is as close
to the end of days as you can get. Often
times I was thinking it reminded me of Mad Max, other times Trigun (though
those two kind of go hand in hand don’t they?)
With the world on the brink of collapse around him, where scavengers are
fighting each other to the death for the next big score, it’s amazing Garrod
Ran is such a bright eyed optimist. The
kid seems a fan of “everything will work out” given he was born into this
imperfect world right after it went to Hell.
And then there’s Tiffa. Clearly,
she’s this shows version of a Newtype, with precognitive abilities and some
sort of spiritual connection to the Gundam.
The look of horror on her face after the X fired its big gun and left a field
of glass, where there was once a forest, says it all. She’s got the power but I doubt she knows how
that power works or just how destructive it can be. Garrod might not be an Amuro Ray but Tiffa definitely
gives of vibes of an early Lalah Sune, without proper mastery of her
abilities. These two will clearly drive
this show and I want to see where their journey takes them.
The animation department is where I can see the main
problems I had with these intro episodes.
Gundam X looks a heckuva lot like Wing…sometimes. Then there are moments where the pretty boy
pilots Roybea and Witz look like they were plucked from Escaflowne, while
Garrod’s Looney Tunes facial experession and hyperactivity remind me of Trigun
again. Then, of course, there are the
aforementioned omages to the original Gundam series, which feel like reskins of
familiar events (right down to the rise of the X and it’s initial glowing of
the eyes upon activation) though they do have their differences. Gundam has always been a long time title of
Studio Sunrise. So it’s kind of strange
that X would look so inconsistent when it comes to finding its animation
voice. Gundam Wings animation might’ve gone
all over the map, especially in the second half, but you could always tell it
was trying to be serious and consistent.
Im hoping it will get better but like I said, the story seems to make up
for this big shortcoming…for now anyway.
Upon initial watch, I can see why Gundam X is considered
an overlooked title in the Gundam mythos.
It’s cancellation when it aired might raise a stink but, much like Joss
Whedon’s Firefly, that doesn’t mean the show was bad enough to deserve it. The What If scenario is fascinating and the
setting you get from it is much bleaker than most Gundam shows, even the
original series. A pair of promising
leads propel the story along a path that I hope doesn’t get to rough or even
predictable. I’m sure more original series
nods will pop up but I cant see them overshadowing the here and now with Gundam
X’s storyline (definitely now how they did for Gundam Seed). I’ll have to look into checking this series
out in full somehow. Cause if im right,
maybe this is the series Toonami should have gone with once Gundam Wing wrapped
up it’s run (though G Gundam wasn’t a bad choice but that was two years after
Wing aired…and a whole other discussion for another time).
See you next Friday for the conclusion of GundamCember,
as well as the last First Impression Friday for a little while.
Awesome
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