A year in Gundam anime
It’s December! Let’s step back, and take a moment to reflect on what 2025 served us. First up, Gundam anime. 🍿
Rewinding back to November 2024, things were looking hazy. SEED FREEDOM’s movie release had dominated the months prior, with a couple more experimental offerings having just dropped (Silver Phantom, Requiem for Vengeance). And then… the surprising near-shadow-drop of GQuuuuuuX, during December’s Gundam Winter Conference.
Skip to 30 mins in!
✨ The Kira Kira-verse
And a GQuuuuuuX year it has been. Lest to forget, it released in an unusual order — kicking off on January 17th, with a chronological ‘movie’ edit of episodes 1-3+. Followed by the main show airing between April-August.
Particularly notable is that the show was a Studio Khara joint, led by some heavyweight talent: Evangelion’s Hideaki Anno (first segment script & oversight), FLCL’s Kazuya Tsurumaki (showrunner/direction), Revolutionary Girl Utena’s Yōji Enokido (main script), Evangelion’s Ikuto Yamashita (lead mechanical design), and Pokémon’s take (ta-ke) (lead character design).
And GQuuuuuuX kicked off with a bang. An interesting premise rooted in some classic source material; complemented by a suite of instantly-iconic characters — Challia! Machu/Nyaan/Shuji! And of course the red thing. The show’s final arc received mixed impressions, but it’s certainly been an interesting entry in the franchise. With nothing else quite like it.
In April, Giant Robot FM invited me onto their podcast to dissect episode 3, as part of their ‘Side 6 Soundwaves’ suite. The episode is now available for free! It’s a fun/geeky time, so check it out if interested.
And of course, many of us also learnt what metasyntactic variables are, thanks to the ‘qux’! The 6x u’s are still a rule-of-cool mystery though.
GQuuuuuuX is receiving a physical DVD/Blu-ray release next year in Japan. EN subs included. Summary thread.
🪽 Another Impression
Moving onto September! In celebration of Gundam Wing’s 30th Anniversary, the Endless Waltz movie edit received a 4K Remaster — which initially graced a limited selection of Dolby Cinema venues across Japan. In short, it looks good! And brilliant to see it on the big screen.
For more detailed thoughts, here’s a duo of blog posts:
- Gundam Wing Endless Waltz in 4K — Pt.1 — Advance Thoughts
- Gundam Wing Endless Waltz in 4K — Pt.2 — Screening Impressions
Gundam Wing Endless Waltz 4K Remaster is receiving a UHD Blu-ray release next year in Japan. EN subs included.
We were also treated to a special ‘Operation 30th’ short. Brand new animation of classic shots, plus all-new scenes — naturally led to a flurry of discussion about what’s coming next. It think it’s safe to consider it a neat novelty project, vs a tease for a whole new animated feature.
International vid linked below, if you’re in Japan watch it here.
🔩 More Iron, More Blood
Bringing this year to a close has been the ‘Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Urdr-Hunt Special Edition: Path of the Little Challenger’ movie edit, which received a limited Japanese theatrical run in November.
It’s an interesting curiosity! A compilation cut from animated episodes originally featured in the ‘IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS G’ mobile app. An engaging cast, plus a minimal splash of cameos provides some novelty. With minimal new scenes added — fans awaiting a more substantial conclusion to its narrative were left hanging. And viewers new to the source material might find its breezy pacing tricky to follow.
But that’s not all. Fans of the original Tekkadan crew were treated to a special 10th Anniversary short — ‘Wedge of Interposition’. Screening alongside the Urdr-Hunt movie, it’s an enjoyable slice of a time-long-gone for this cast of characters.
I posted more impressions after watching both in this blog post.
Urdr-Hunt and Wedge of Interposition have just been released for digital purchase/rental in Japan. No news yet on streaming or physical media offerings, though assuming it’ll happen next year.
🎟️ Coming Right Up
So what’s next on the horizon for Gundam anime? The biggie is the next movie in the Hathaway trilogy: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. With its Japanese theatrical run starting January 30th — almost 5 years since part one — there’s a lot riding on it. In contrast to SEED FREEDOM, Bandai has been cagey with teasers. I’d like to think it’s a play to build up an allure, vs a lack of confidence in the material.
After January, it’s all up for grabs! We do know the following projects are in the works (or at least have been), but whether any of them drop within the coming 12 months is anyone’s guess:
SEED FREEDOM ZERO (2026 too soon?)
Gundam 00 animated feature (assuming 2027 for anniversary?)
Gundam Unicorn follow-up (assuming 2026 unlikely)
Anniversary related shorts or similar (X?)
Gundam Live Action Movie (a way off)
+ Maybe something Build related, it’s been a minute?
+ Maybe a totally new entry?
Let me know on Bluesky if you have any thoughts! And see you soon for the next year-end post — A year in Gunpla. 🛠️
