Gundam GQuuuuuuX Ep 7 Review: Holy Mother of Gundamn!

May 17, 2025Episode Review,  Mecha Discussion,  ,  
Here comes the showdown!
Last episode spent the entire episode setting up what feel like an entire war on its own, and this episode deliver that “war” – on multiple fronts. Dozens of gears start turning for the next arc in the Alternate Universal Century timeline – with Machu and Nyaan at the center of it all. Director Tsurumaki really just said “It’s Eva time!” and proceeded to Neon Genesis all over the place. This episode (and the last) feel like an entire anime on their own.

We start the episode with the Clan Battle’s opening and a flashback to the meeting between Machu and Nyaan at the end of last episode. Well’ it’s more of a confrontation rather than a “meeting”. because they basically hit each other with the “What do you think about the boy I like?” question and both kinda just stared really hard at each other. However, Machu broke the stalemate by saying that Shuji is in danger, and they need to gtfo asap after the Clan Battle tomorrow. It’s kinda crazy that Machu is ready to leave it all behind to run away to Earth with a boy she met like…for a week or two. Nyaan is already a refugee with a very dubious status so…leaving is not an issue for her.

A small hint of what’s to come was revealed when Kycialia agreed on the deal with Naval One – the “Sunlight Amplification System” for “Global Environment Improvement” (yeah right!). It’s obviously a plan for the infamous Solar Ray – a massive space station with a Colony Laser.

Back to the Clan Battle, this is the first (and only) Clan Bat that take place INSIDE the colony. And with the Psycho Gundam joining, you know it ain’t gonna be pretty. And of course, shit hits the fan realllllly fast.

From the preview at the end of the last episode, we can kinda tell that this battle will have Nyaan in the GQuuuuuuX instead of Machu. And Machu is doing a lil’ bit of Garrod Ranning herself – trying to steal the winning money from her Clan Battles from Anqi. She did catch Machu in the act and tried to talk her out of it. But Machu pulled a revolver on her and they go through the whole “Oh you gonna shoot me? You don’t have the guts!” exchange and if we were in the 90s or 2000s and if we weren’t in Gundam, the young teenage MC probablyyyy would hesitate then drop the gun then ran off etc… But this is G*ndam, b*tch! Machu squeezed the trigger and of course she missed cause we can’t show Anqi getting her brains blown off. And Anqi dropped another “Baka” while Machu run out. She seems to say that word a lot.

This episode also bamboozled us by tricking us into thinking that the Gundam duos will face-off against the Psycho Gundam. It turned out a bunch of Military Police Zaku just shot down Nyaan and Machu effortlessly. I know Nyaan had less experience than Machu but last episode she pummeled a Black Tri-star. And Shuji doesn’t have a cold anymore so he should be back to decent capacity. And yet they just took the beating and basically got absolutely rekt. And then the beginning of the end (or the mid-season epilogue) started. Did you remember how in the early episodes, Comoli expressed concern that if the two Gundams fought, there’s a chance of triggering a Zeknova? Well, guess who just hit the lotto now?
It feels so…nonchalant, so abrupt, so…random even. The Red Gundam suddenly trigger a Zeknova – and absorbed Shuji into it despite Nyaan’s desperate plea. it’s interesting how Nyaan just basically ditched Machu’s plan immediately when things went to shit. I think that’s a survivor’s instinct kicking in after she had to flee her previous war-torn Colony. When things aren’t going to plan and there’s a real danger of dying, you gotta find a way out fast no matter what! Bring only your previous things and your loved ones – which is why Nyaan tried to convince Shuji – because she has a crush on him. And she didn’t really care about Machu because at the end of the day, she isn’t her family, and Nyaan doesn’t really consider Machu someone irreplaceable in her life. But Shuji – the person she shared the Kira-Kira with – gave her the sense of freedom she was looking for, and she basically imprinted on him after he sniffed her hair (lol!)

Regarding the Zeknova, it absorbing Shuji may also be a soft confirmation that Char isn’t actually…dead. Since if he is, then it means that Shuji is also…well…dead, and that’s a very drastic fate for one of the “main” characters, unless Mr. Tsurumaki want to go full Tomino here. And the fact that it’s a much smaller scale than the one in the OYW means that it can be controlled – and may be due to the will of the “Gundam”. There’s a lot of theory that can explain this weird phenomenon but we’ll see where it goes. Also…this is the 2nd Zeknova. So it means…the third “Impact” is coming *wink wink*.

And with that, our two Gundams are out of the fight – leaving the Psycho Gundam and the Hambrabi to zero-in on Kycilia. So now it’s up to the Zeon force to stop the Psycho. But then, it got some Evangelion power up! The armor of the Psycho Gundam was casted off, revealing the muscular frame inside. Yes you heard me, it has muscles. The armor became Psycho bits that can fly around and reflect beams for combat. This is an entirely unique addition that noone saw coming. The purple color of the Psycho is really reminiscent of the Evangelion Unit-1 berserk mode, and Deux was indeed going berserk inside the Psycho. She mentioned the Kira-Kira being tainted – which is kinda weird because…why would she call it the Kira-Kira caused that’s something Machu came up with? But nevertheless, it seems that when many Newtypes are nearby each other, they can “join in” on the Newtype space, further warping the space with their own “color”. Deux definitely doesn’t like that, just like Machu. So she went absolutely crazy and noone could stop her, not even Gates.

But here comes the clutch! Xavier arrived in a spanking new white Gyan. The new GQuuuuuuuX version looks absolutely majestic, with an even more knightly aesthetic compared to the original UC Gyan, even compared to the Krieger. The GQuuuuuuX version utilizes the new “thruster doctrine” to add more exhaust to the lance and the MS itself, boosting it mobility significantly. And yeah, the first Xavier W since the start of the series. But still, facing off against the mighty Psycho, a mere Mobile Suit could not suffice.

And finally, entered the hero of the war – Challia Bull himself. We didn’t get much of his fighting prowess in the tv version since they cut it from the ep 2 flashback, but we know of his position as Char’s Mav in the OYW in the Kikeroga, and here we can witness it first hand in this time. The Kikeroga is a massive Mobile Armor, but Challia piloted it like an elegant arrow, swerving left and right, and unleashing all-range omni-directional attack without breaking a sweat. It’s both super awesome and anti-climactic when he disposed of the Hambrabi and the Psycho in under a minute. The animation is kinda insane in this episode, with the Psycho’s armor bits flying around and Kikeroga’s amazing maneuverability, as well as its “transformation”.

Yes, the Kikeroga can “transform”, or to be more precise, its “core” can. When Machu tried to escape in the GQuuuuuuX, she was shot down and Challia came to take the Gundam into custody, along with Machu. The MS version of the Kikeroga is super weird that it is probably the most out-of-left-field unit yet in the series.

After everything that has happened, we ended the episode with some insane setup for the next arc: Machu was captured by Challia team and put in the brig on the Sodon, plus being “branded” as a terrorist on all Side 6, possibly affecting her mother. Nyaan was recruited by Xavier and joined Kycilia’s faction, with bitterness in her heart from losing Shuji. Challia revealed his intention to accomplished what Char wanted – eliminating both Gihren and Kycilia, putting an end to the Zabi’s reign for a new Zeon. Ep 6 and 7 turned our heads back around for an action packed and drama-filled arc that “concluded” the warming up stages with the Clan Bat. With Shuji gone, our two protagonist girls will be sent into vastly different directions, maybe even against each other. Will the next time they meet on the battlefield?

=Aaron=
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