The pinnacle homage, however, occurs in episode 8, "Falling to the Moon," with a tribute to the "Gunbuster" episode 5's Solomon Defense Battle. The scope effects, the launch signal while looking back, the throttle push cut, and the explosion rush seamlessly mimic the scene where Kazumi and Noriko cut through a swarm of space monsters.

Given that Studio Khara, which has worked on "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Gunbuster" is involved in this production, it's likely that "those compositions" were intentional. For veteran anime fans, the subtlety of these nods is particularly appealing.

This "distinctly different from previous Gundams" charm is one of the elements that makes "GQuuuuuuX" so entertaining. Moreover, the homage scenes listed here are not the only ones outside the Gundam series. Revisiting and enjoying the "homage hunt" is one of the unique appeals of "GQuuuuuuX."

"Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX" is the latest installment of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" series that started in 1979. It follows the story of Amate Yuzuriha (voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa), a high school girl living peacefully in a space colony, who gets caught up in the illegal mobile suit dueling competition, "Clan Battle," after meeting the girl Nyaan (voiced by Yui Ishikawa). The collaboration between Studio Khara, known for the "Rebuild of Evangelion" series, and Sunrise has garnered attention, and the movie preview version released in January this year was a major hit with a box office income of approximately 3.4 billion yen. The film will be re-released in 368 theaters nationwide starting June 20.

(C)SOTSU·SUNRISE

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