Across the last 45 years of mecha anime history,Gundam has been unafraid to both imagine alternative riffs on its iconic primary timelineeither across re-imaginings of its story, alternate scenarios, or heavily inspired alternate timelines and settingsor expand on it entirely. But the latest entry,Gundam GQuuuuuuX, is perhaps going for one of the boldest yet well have seen on screen, and we finally have a little more information what that exactly looks like. A few short weeks after the Japanese release of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Beginning, a theatrical compilation of the early episodes of the series with new material, Bandai and Khara have formally lifted the lid on a series of designs and information about the mysterious new shows settingconfirming what has been rumored and furiously speculated upon by anyone poring over snippets of footage over the past few months that yes, GQuuuuuuX is indeed a retelling of the events ofGundams iconic Universal Century timeline, from a perspective where the Principality of Zeon won the war depicted in the 1979 anime rather than the Earth Federation. The new information confirms thatGQuuuuuuX is set in the year 0085, little over half a decade after the conclusion of the One Year War that formed much of the worldbuilding for the originalGundam. This time around, Char Aznable successfully manages to steal the Federations prototype Gundama recon mission we saw go south in Gundams very first episodeclaiming it for Zeon, who go on to retrofit its advanced technology and use the Gundam to turn the tide of the conflict in their favor. And of course, Char being Char, he paints the damn thing red in the process.Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Mecha and Zeon Characters White Gundam, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Red Gundam, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Zaku, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Chars Zaku, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Char Aznable, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Dren, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Denim, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Challia Bull, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Xavier Olivette, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Comoli Harcourt, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara By 0085, Char is seemingly nowhere to be foundbut the Red Gundam, as its now dubbed, re-emerges in the Earth Sphere, participating in underground mobile suit battles at the colony GQuuuuuuX protagonist Machu calls home. As well as new looks at both classic and Zeonic forms of the Gundam RX-78-2re-imagined by Evangelion mechanical designer Ikuto Yamashita as something altogether more skeletal and like the frame of a prototype compared to the armored form of the classic aestheticthe new material also includes a look at the settings take on the iconic Zeon grunt suit, the Zaku, given curved armor placements over a similarly skinny internal frame, as well as several intriguing Zeon characters beyond Char himself. Those include Challia Bull, a newtype Zeon officer who appeared in a later episode of the 1979 anime to help set the stage for its exploration of psionically enhanced pilots, and two new young officers of various Zeon military academies, Xavier Olivette and Comoli Harcourt. The studio also revealed a few more characters who also call the Side 6 colony home that Machu eventually meets as shes wrapped in the world of clan battles in the form of the proprietors of Kaneban Co, a junk dealer acting as a front for recruiting pilots into the underground fight sceneincluding an adorable Pomeranian who acts as company mascot, and two little robots, one new (Konch, a cuboid little robot seen in the trailers with Shuji, the new pilot of the Red Gundam), and one very familiar (a Haro, wearing a beanie, the spherical robot whos been a part ofGundam since the very beginning).Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Colony Characters Annqi, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Jezzi, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Nabu, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Kaine, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Pomeranian, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Haro, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara Conch, Bandai Namco Filmworks/Khara WhileGundam diehards have had a little while to ponder just what exactly it means for the new show to directly riff off the originalGundam like thisa Rebuild, if you will, given series director Kazuya Tsurumakis prior work on the Evangelion re-imagining film seriesthis is the first time the studio has been willing to really show off what it has cooking to the world beyond Japanese theatergoers. Just how it all comes together remains to be seen, but in many ways, Gundam has been in conversation with itself ever since the franchise was saved from seeming doom, from how successor series to the first show developed the story of the Universal Century and its cyclical conflicts, to how myriad alternate universe in the franchise since have tackled its premise and grandest questions in their own way. What GQuuuuuuX is doing might be more direct, but it still in turn is part of that broader conversation of re-examiningGundams legacy: an idea thats full of potential, and ripe for exploration in a project that was explicitly announced in celebration of the franchises latest anniversary milestone. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Beginning is set to come to American theaters in a limited capacity later this month on February 28. The TV anime is expected to begin broadcast in Japan this spring. Want more io9 news? 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