For viewers who have watched dozens of episodes of the First Gundam in real time, reruns, or streaming, "teteteen, teteten!" is a classic jingle for subtitles. It's ingrained in their bodies as an "icon" that triggers memory reflexively through auditory perception.

Even though the visuals are updated to be contemporary, the moment the sound reaches the ears, only the emotions are transported back to 1979. This time the subtitle is "White Gundam," but the sound that accompanies it is the "Gundam sound" from 46 years ago. This gap, too, made the atmosphere of the series instantly special.

The performance was extremely brief, yet it left a more than sufficient impact, showcasing the strong "memory of sound" in the "Gundam" series.

There may be young fans who don't feel anything particular about this sound. But for fans who have grown up with Gundam over the years, "teteteen, teteten!" alone can take them back to their boyhood. Feeling like they've time-traveled 46 years back with just one sound, it was indeed a moment where they were shown the power of the Gundam brand's performance.

"Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX" is the latest installment of the series that started with "Mobile Suit Gundam" in 1979. It tells the story of a high school girl, Amate Yuzuriha, living peacefully in a space colony in space, who gets entangled in illegal mobile suit dueling competitions called "Clan Battle" after meeting a girl named Nyan. The joint production by Studio Khara, known for the "Rebuild of Evangelion" series, and Sunrise has sparked interest, and the theatrical release in January, ahead of the TV series, recorded a box office hit of over 3 billion yen.

(C)SOTSU·SUNRISE

English