by The spring season TV anime “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuX” (hereinafter ” Zeku Axe “), which has been making fans excited in various ways for the past three months, has finally reached its final episode.
The movie version of this work, which was released in January 2025, surprised many Gundam fans who went to the cinema, saying, “What! Is this the story of ‘Zeku Axe’!?” Gradually, word of mouth spread that it was a different world line of “Mobile Suit Gundam” (1979), and it became a massive hit despite being a pre-screening of the TV series.
The “One Year War” is a fierce battle between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, or the Earth Federation Forces and the Principality of Zeon. As an extension of that worldview, many “Gundam” works about the One Year War have been produced so far, in which Amuro and his friends do not appear (well, there are some works in which they do).
The original One Year War ended with the Federation Forces winning, thanks to the efforts of Amuro and the Gundam. However, “Zeke Axe” is set in a world of “what if,” where Zeon won. In addition, at the time Amuro should board the White Mobile Suit (Gundam), Char steals the Gundam.
In accordance with the custom of the Gundam world, where Char’s machines are always painted red, the Gundam stolen by Zeon appears to be painted red. Fans were excited by the many refreshing rule-breaking scenes that made them think, “How can that even be allowed?” and sometimes confused as they followed the broadcast.
“Zeke Axe” is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, who directed the “Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition ” series (2007-2021) produced by Studio Color. Sunrise initially produced Gundam itself, but because “Zeegaxe” was a surprising collaboration between Studio Khara and Sunrise, Director Tsurumaki and the essence of Khara were introduced in large quantities into the Gundam world, leading to unpredictable developments.
Machu, also known as Amate Yuzuriha, is a girl who grew up in a relatively wealthy family and is far removed from the brutal atmosphere of war. Nyaan, on the other hand, is a war refugee girl who makes money by transporting illegal parts.
While Machu is shown bathing in a spacious bathtub and talking to her mother, Nyaan, who lives alone, is shown bending over in a small unit bath (a Western-style toilet and bathtub are lined up next to each other, which tends to trap moisture). The direction of casually showing the disparity between the friends was also good.
The way the main and supporting characters of “Zeegaxe” are portrayed, including the chemical reaction that occurs when two completely different types of girls interact, is more similar to “Aim for the Top 2!,” a work by the same director, Tsurumaki, than the “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo” series. I felt a strong sense of nostalgia for “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie,” but I won’t delve into “Top 2” because it would take me forever to go off on a tangent.
In the sense that Gundam was able to enjoy several significant twists that could not have been experienced with a single production by Sunrise, the collaboration with Color was substantial. Initially, it was noted that the broadcast would be one season (usually 12 to 13 episodes in total), and seeing the amount of information until about the middle of the broadcast, I was watching while thinking about various possibilities, such as “Is it going to end in one season?”, “Will it end with a continuation of the 2nd season?” and “Or will it end with a movie version?” It did end in one season, surprisingly, but it was a Gundam that was completed in one season. It was regrettable that not only “Mobile Suit Gundam” but also the characters from its sequel “Mobile Suit Z Gundam” were brought in.
They were not linked to the expansion of the drama, and I was always haunted by the feeling that “I wish I could have been involved with the work for longer.” For example, the story of Basque Om, a character from Z Gundam, and the Murasame Laboratory, which also originates from Z Gundam and creates new types artificially, could have been expanded, so in a word, it’s a “wasteful” work.
I think many characters could have been given more opportunities to play an active role, and their backgrounds could have been developed further, such as Anky, the junk shop owner who is involved in illegal business, and her friends, Major Komori of the Zeon army, Lieutenant Exabe, and others. Still, in that respect, it was lacking. It may be asking for too much, but there were so many attractive characters in Z-Axe that the spotlight on each character was a little modest.
While I felt that it was a shame to close it in one season, Z-Axe, which attracted so much attention, was successful because it was a weekly TV anime. The unpredictable developments continue, and we eagerly await next week’s broadcast, wondering, “What will happen next!?” In the meantime, this work had the fun of a weekly anime, where you can look at fan art drawn by professional manga artists and animators, read the opinions, and think about it yourself.
That’s probably why it was so popular. Netflix’s exclusive streaming anime features high-quality drawings and many excellent works. Still, an exclusive streaming anime that can be watched from start to finish in one sitting is unlikely to become a hot topic on the Internet, no matter how interesting it is. After all, the benefit of watching it in real time once a week is that fans all over the country can simultaneously follow the story and experience a range of emotions, from happiness to sadness.
The live feeling of everyone enjoying the phenomenon of high waves coming in once a week is what’s important, and these three months made me realize that again. Even now, long after television has fallen from the throne of entertainment, if it wasn’t for the serial TV anime that you watch one episode a week, the OVA and streaming anime “Zeke Axe” might have ended up being recognized as a slightly unusual “what if” anime about the One Year War. “Zeke Axe” was also available on various distribution sites just a few hours after it was broadcast on terrestrial television, allowing me to experience the convenience of digital distribution.
However, watching the entire series all at once, from the first episode to the final one, is entirely different from watching one episode a week. I hope that in the future, there will be more TV anime like “Zeke Axe” that real-time viewers can enjoy while sharing the live feeling in a good way.
