Kidou Senshi Gundam: GQuuuuuuX

So as someone who HAS watched all of the original UC Gundam stuff, and am knowledgeable in almost anything OYW, Gryps, Neo Zeon, etc., I'd say this is a SOLID show that has so much potential, the only thing AT THE MOMENT stopping it is the overall episode count, which is supposed to be 12. I feel as though the story only really started in 6 and is now snowballing into something bigger, with a rush to develop the characters in a limited time. Despite this, I feel as though this show is a love letter to Gundam fans, and Mecha fans alike.

Is this good ... for people who are clueless to Gundam, and don't have someone to let them in on the references, characters and the like? Not exactly. Watch a summary of the UC timeline, really simple. Or watch the show, watch the 1979 tv or compilation movies.

If this is your first Gundam, unfortunately I think you're just not going to have the same experience as the person who's a Gundam veteran, but it's still enjoyable, with the beautiful visuals, cool character designs, and the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE.

Reviewing this as a standalone anime, will not be commenting about its qualities as a what-if sequel.

Pros:
The biggest draw for this anime has been its visuals and soundwork. The CGI never felt out of place, blending 2D and 3D seamlessly. The backgrounds are gorgeous as well, notably when the station changes from daytime to nighttime, the colors in most scenes just really pop. 9/10.

The anime does a decent job at filling in the blanks, with episode 2's exposition dump intergrated surprisingly naturally. With no prior information, I've got a decent understanding of who Char was, what newtypes are, what Challia Bull wants and the current ... situation in the station without getting drowned in lore drops. 7/10.

Cons:
Over 5 episodes, the main trio are still largely a mystery. They have very one-track goals without showing their past and motivations, making it hard to root for them, especially with how little they communicate outside of giving exposition or dialogue for pushing the plot forward. Perhaps it needs a couple more episodes to get there, but it's taking a bit too long. 5/10.

The tension and tone of this series often swings from one extreme to another. With how serious the consequences of a real gundam battle is, the characters sometimes treat it as life or death, yet often act as if it were nothing more than a simulated battle in gundam build fighters. Instead of building up to a payoff, each episode feels like a isolated short with their level of seriousness bouncing like a yoyo. 3/10.

My biggest criticism is that the setting of the space station isn't well fleshed out. Constantly cycling between Machu's School -> backalley area -> underground tunnel -> commander's ship -> space, other than the during the clan fights, it doesn't feel like it's set in a space station. Also for clan battles and weaponised mechas to be highly illegal, the level of importance the governing power has appears to be 0 when theres a dedicated daily stream just for essentially fights to the death. With how large and difficult it is to hide and maintain a full sized gundam, the viability to have daily clan battles is nonsensical if the government actually put any effort into cracking down on them. The repairing and replacement of parts for the gundams is also never shown, making fights have even less weight when theres never visible consequences. 4/10.

Overall, a solid 6/10. GyuuX is gorgeously animated and directed, but very lacking in its tone and character depth. Great for watching without giving much thought.

so after watching until now (ep.7) theres 2 things i know that cant say for sure yet but 1. its seems this is sequel to the original first gundam series??? ill be honest i haven't seen that series so i dont know if its really connected...

or MAYBE they created "another timeline" story for the purpose of this new gundam series GQuuuuuuX to be connected then theres 2. where in this gundam GQuuuuuuX series story are in A peace treaty time but on ready to go on war sht (real talk just deadlock situation) then thats where our main characters comes in, this kids are ... in a neutral zone supposed to be npc role sht in this whole ass big story anyways i can only say ep.1-6 was school drama level, then episode 7 was *poof* it turn into war genre "for adults only" lol I.T W.A.S P.U.R.E C.H.A.O.S!!! it was like gundam seed all over again hahaha typical gundam plot "who's gonna die first"

gonna end it there no spoiler ahead

totally not recommended for their first gundam series to watch since its not standalone series, but i think you can watch this without knowing anything about gundam series just saying~~ like focus only the main characters story for now and ignore other else lol