Mobile Suit: Gundam as a franchise has done what many other anime franchises could only dream of. First starting in the 1970s, the series has managed to continue thanks to not only further exploring beloved storylines from its past, but also forging a brand new future in universes linked by the mech suits. The latest example, Gundam GQuuuuuuX, is noteworthy thanks to who is responsible for its creation, aka Hideaki Anno. While groundswell for the new series has been noteworthy, many anime fans might not have expected for the movie leading to its upcoming television series to take the top spot at Japan’s box office.
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For those unfamiliar with Gundam’s latest movie, the GQuuuuuuX cinematic offering is a compilation film in the same vein as recent offerings such as Demon Slayer, Solo Leveling, and Bocchi The Rock to name a few. Compiling the first three episodes into one outing, the Mobile Suit film landed in Japanese theaters last week and is planning to make a North American arrival next month on February 28th. The television series will then arrive later this year to introduce a new Gundam universe to the world. As anime fans know, Hideaki Anno is responsible for the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, the anime that is considered one of Gundam’s biggest mech competitors.
[RELATED: Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Movie Sets North American Release Date]
Gundam Takes Japan’s Top Spot
The Gundam movie with the most difficult name to pronounce came roaring into the box office, taking the number one spot in theaters thanks to scoring over $3.8 million USD in ticket sales. Considering the fact that this is a compilation film, it is all the more evident that the Gundam franchise is a beloved one in Japan. In terms of GQuuuuuux’s competition, the Hatsune Miku anime film, Project Sekai: The Movie: The Broken World and The Miku Who Can’t Sing, came in second place with Cells At Work’s live-action adaptation arriving in fourth.
Neon Gundam Evangelion
While many have been curious to see what creator Hideaki Anno will create following his take on the EVA pilots of NERV, recent spoilers for the new Gundam film has thrown mech fans for a loop. Without diving into spoiler territory, the setting of the new locale allows for old characters to make a comeback with some fresh spins placed on them, pushing the Gundam universe into wild new territory. Of course, GQuuuuuux isn’t the only major project that the anime franchise has in the works.
Recently, Bandai Namco announced “Gundam Assemble,“ a miniatures game that will take a page from the likes of Warhammer 40K and give fans the chance to customize their own mechs in a tabletop battle. The franchise has also hinted at more anime projects on the way thanks to Gundam celebrating upcoming anniversaries, with Netflix still working on a live-action adaptation of the series in an upcoming movie. While a release date has yet to be hinted at by the streaming service, Netflix’s recent successes with One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender point to this being another win for the platform.
Want to stay up to date on all things Gundam in the future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the mech universe and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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