After War Gundam X Part 1 Episodes 1-5

The year is After War 0015.  Fifteen years have passed since a bloody war between the Earth and the Space Colonies ended with the near total destruction of the Earth. The survivors and descandants of that event try to eek out a living in a world without law or order.  Garrod Ran is one of those scavangers trying to make it in a dangerous world.  A recent job to rescue a beautiful young girl brings him into the crosshairs of several scavenger groups-The Vultures.  Garrod soon finds himself at the doorstep of destiny with the fate of a potential Newtype in his hands…as well as the ancient weapon that calls to her: The Gundam X.

Happy Holidays dear readers and welcome back to this special GundamCember (sans First Impression Friday).  Now that Gundam AGE is thankfully out of our way, the second half of December belongs to a potential hidden gem within the franchise: After War Gundam X.  This is the series which succeeded Gundam Wing in Japan in 1996 and only saw a US release in 2016.  Gundam X is notable for a couple of reasons going in.  However, one of those more infamous reasons, it’s unfortunate early cancellation, is something I’ll get into closer to the end of my review of the series.  For now, let’s start off at the very beginning and man, what a beginning it is.

While Mobile Fighter G Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing are most certainly alternate universe takes on the Gundam mythos, Gundam X feels more like a straight up “What If” that ties back into the Universal Century more than it’s two predecessors.  What if Zeon had gone for full blown overkill and launched dozens of Space Colonies at the Earth instead of just one?  Would the Federation be able to stop them?  What would happen to both Earth and Newtypes in the process?  Would the war have a true victor?  The first few episodes of Gundam X answer a couple of those questions to various degrees.  As you’d expect, Earth is basically a desert wasteland.  Society hasn’t quite gone that combo of Mad Max or Trigun (the latter of which I can feel might’ve drawn some inspiration from this Anime…did Trigun come before or after…after, in 1998, gotcha).  But it’s far from a futuristic technological marvel that other Gundam shows might see planet Earth as at this point in history.  It’s a very unforgiving setting, definitely the bleakest of the shows since the authoritatian regime of the Titans in Zeta Gundam. 

And yet there is hope among the ruins and that hope is Garrod Ran.  He’s a good kid; a bit naieve but not ignorant of the ways of this post apocalypitic Earth.  He’ll do the right thing for the right price but more often than not his moral compass will steer him away from a monetary reward.  Garrod feels like the kind soul who’s perfect for piloting a Gundam.  Granted, he does has motivation in a cute love at first sight kind of way.  Tiffa is going to be an interesting character to follow, same with Freeden captain Jamil.  Both are Newtypes; one born after the war and the other partly responsible for the calamity that has befallen the Earth.  Jamil is well aware of how destructive Newtype powers can be.  The degree of Tiffa’s knowledge of her own powers can vary.  But damn, her reaction when she saw the devastation she cause giving the GX the power to unleash its main cannon, that is one of the most haunting images in all of Gundam, that poor girl.  Ive heard some fans say that Jamil himself is kind of a combo of Amuro Ray and Char Aznable and I can kind of see that: a powerful Newtype veteran used as a weapon by the military who rocks sunglasses at night and all other times.  He wants to keep Newtypes from sharing his same debilitating fate.  I’m curious how far he’ll go.  In short, this trio is going to make things very interesting for Gundam X for sure.

There are others wandering the wasteland, mostly scavengers and the concept of an entire system of them, known as Vultures, is fascinating.  Characters like Sam and Dean Winchester clones Witz and Roybea (I think im gonna just shorten his name to Roy for sake of sakeness), are purely in most fights for money and that’s usually the only way to get them to stick around when the going gets tough.  That’s the law of the land: do what gets you paid and nothing more.  These two chick magnets aren’t all gruff exterior though.  At least in the case of Witz, we see he’s pulling together tons of gold to help out his family.  What exactly all that gold could do is probs going to be up for debate for a while cause…honestly what’s left that could truly be paradise on Earth right now?  Then there’s the more darker side of scavenger life: the Frost brothers.  Shagia and Olba feel like a more confident version of the McGougall Brothers from Outlaw Star, only both are a lot more menacing rather than one being more intimidating than the other.  The pair play out their missions like elaborate chess games, complete with a strange psychic connection (Newtypes perhaps).  I genuinely felt terrified for Garrod really early on given how devious Shagia and especially Olba are, especially when theyre piloting their own custom Gundam Mobile Suits.  Shagia also seems to know a bit more about the Gundam X and I’m wondering if he might be an old rival of Jamils (if that’s true Jamil might’ve recognized his Mobile Suit, idk long shot theory there). 

Story and setup wise, Gundam X is pretty solid.  Presentation wise…there’s a lot to be desired at this point in Anime history.  Sure Wing wasn’t the prettiest series of the Gundam franchise (and the animation arguably got worse as the show went on, sorry).  But X doesn’t look quite as fine tuned in the animation department like other shows to come out at this point in the 90’s (Martian Successor Nadesico came out not long after this show debuted and it looks ten times better).  The still poses of the Gundam X itself look awesome, it’s a really good looking Gundam.  Seeing it and others in action…yeah, this needed more polish.  Also, maybe it’s just me, but many of the Gundam designs feel…recycled.  The X itself I like, it’s pretty unique.  But Roy’s Gundam Leopard feels like a scaled down Gundam Heavyarms from Gundam Wing.  And while I know this show was years away, Witz’s Gundam Airmaster seems like a prototype for Allelujiah’ Haptism’s Gundam Arios, complete with twin blaster cannons and a Macross Fighter Jet mode.  Even Shagia’s demonic looking Gundam Virsago gives off a Frankenstein-ish vibe with a mash up of Gundam Epyon and Altron from Gundam Wing and the Master Gundam from G Gundam.  It might be a nitpick but after two back to back 90’s shows where every Gundam had a distinct and memorable look, the bulk of the Gundams in Gundam X are lacking in inspiration.

All in all, this is a good start for After War Gundam X.  The animation and mecha might leave a lot to be desired.  But the “What if Universal Century” storyline and a trio of great leads could keep things interesting going forward.  Will I think this series deserved the premature cancellation it suffered?  I guess we’ll find out.  It’s a Gundam show, so we’ve got a long way to go.  Suit up everyone and see ya Wednesday.