After War Gundam X

After War Gundam X
Promotional image of the main protagonists and mobile suit Gundam X.
機動新世紀ガンダムX (Kidō Shin Seiki Gandamu Ekkusu)
Genre	Military science fiction, Mecha
Created by	Hajime Yatate Yoshiyuki Tomino
Anime television series
Directed by	Shinji Takamatsu
Written by	Hiroyuki Kawasaki
Music by	Yasuo Higuchi
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	NA: Sunrise
Original network	ANN (TV Asahi)
Original run	April 5, 1996 – December 28, 1996
Episodes	39
Manga
Written by	Kōichi Tokita
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Comic BomBom
Original run	April 1996 – March 1997
Volumes	3
Manga
After War Gundam X: Under the Moonlight
Written by	Chitose Oojima
Illustrated by	Yutaka Akatsu
Published by	Kadokawa
Magazine	Gundam Ace
Original run	October 26, 2004 – September 26, 2006
Volumes	4
Manga
Next Prologue: If I Am With You
Written by	Hiroyuki Kawasaki
Illustrated by	Kōichi Tokita
Published by	Bandai Visual
Published	March 23, 2018

After War Gundam X (Japanese: 機動新世紀ガンダムＸ（エックス）, Hepburn: Kidō Shin Seiki Gandamu Ekkusu; lit. Mobile New Century Gundam X), is a 1996^[1] Japanese anime television series and the seventh installment in the long running Gundam franchise that started in 1979, but takes place in an alternate timeline called After War (A.W.; アフターウォー or 戦後, Sengo). The series has 39 episodes, aired in Japan from April 5, 1996, to December 28, 1996, across TV Asahi's ANN stations. It was directed by Sunrise veteran Shinji Takamatsu (Mobile Suit SD Gundam, The Brave of Gold Goldran, School Rumble), and the screenplay was written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki.^[2]

The year is A.W. 15, fifteen years after the Seventh Space War and the catastrophic “colony drop” that wiped out the majority of Earth’s population; survivors now scrape by as the planet slowly stabilizes.^[3] In this post-war landscape, mobile suits and armaments circulate among civilian “Vulture” outfits, with surplus machines like the DT-6800 Daughtress and RMS-006 Jenice commonly recovered and repurposed by scavenger crews.^[4]

Jamil Neate, captain of the Vulture land battleship Freeden, organizes his crew around finding and protecting Newtypes so their abilities are not exploited.^[5][6] As the reconstituted Earth authorities (the New Earth Federation forces) and the Space Revolutionary Army drift back toward confrontation, the series centers on the Freeden’s efforts to navigate and head off a renewed large-scale conflict, with Garrod Ran and Tiffa Adill at the heart of the story.^[7][8]

Sunrise developed After War Gundam X in the mid-1990s as a new television entry following the alternate-universe successes of Mobile Fighter G Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Series director Shinji Takamatsu collaborated with series writer Hiroyuki Kawasaki from the earliest planning stages. In later interviews Kawasaki explained that he was first approached by Sunrise producers after completing Mobile Suit Victory Gundam novelizations, and that he joined Gundam X because he wanted to explore “ordinary people trying to live after the collapse of an advanced society,” rather than the purely militaristic focus of prior shows. He recalled that Takamatsu emphasized building the world around scavengers and survivors, which directly shaped Kawasaki’s scripting of Garrod as a pragmatic, street-smart lead instead of a soldier or idealist.^[9]

Casting emphasized voices that could embody the post-war, scavenger tone of the setting. Lead actor Wataru Takagi (Garrod Ran) recalls that director Takamatsu selected him because his natural performance fit the unpolished, street-smart protagonist the staff envisioned, an approach Takamatsu reiterates in interviews tied to later home-video releases.^[10][11]

Mechanical design divided responsibilities by role and faction. Veteran designer Kunio Okawara led core “X” concepts while additional weapons and variable machines were assigned across the design team; Junya Ishigaki’s contributions and production anecdotes were highlighted by Sunrise during a retrospective that also promoted newly prepared artwork and commentary.^[12]

Sunrise and Bandai Visual (now Bandai Namco Filmworks) supported the 1996 TV broadcast with standard franchise tie-ins (plastic model kits, music singles) and continued to promote the title through anniversary and catalog initiatives. In 2018 the company mounted a coordinated revival around the Blu-ray MEMORIAL BOX, including staff and cast interviews, new commentary, and newly produced side-stories.^[13] Alongside the box set, Bandai’s official portal announced additional promotional content such as an all-new “special comic” and presentation of previously unreleased design materials, positioned to reintroduce the series to newer fans.^[14]

The Blu-ray campaign also featured long-form conversations about the show’s production intent and its focus on life after catastrophe, framed by Takamatsu and principal cast as a character-driven take on Gundam’s war-and-aftermath themes, providing rare behind-the-scenes context that had not been widely available.^[15] In these same interviews, Takamatsu and Kawasaki noted that the narrative trajectory of Newtypes within Gundam X, moving from feared, misunderstood outsiders to a possibility for mutual understanding, was deliberately written to mirror the franchise’s own evolution, from an experimental, niche property in 1979 to a broad cultural phenomenon by the 1990s. Takamatsu remarked, “Just as Newtypes in X begin as a burden and end as a hope for the future, Gundam itself began as something fragile and uncertain, but grew into a symbol that connects generations.”^[16]

The series 39 episodes aired in Japan from April 5, 1996, to December 28, 1996, across TV Asahi's ANN stations. It was directed by Shinji Takamatsu, and the screenplay was written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki. Character designs was by Nobuyoshi Nishimura while mecha designs were done by Kunio Okawara & Junya Ishigaki. Masaru Sato directed the art and the music was composed by Yasuo Higuchi.^[2] The series was released on DVD in North America in 2016 and had a special edition Blu-ray release in 2018,^[17] and a wider release on Blu-ray in 2020.^[18]

An adaptation of the anime was released in Comic BomBom. The manga by Kōichi Tokita ran from April 1996 to March 1997, outlasting the anime by three months, and was collected in three volumes. It was re-released with additional chapters focusing on Jamil Neate's past on January 26, 2022, as After War Gundam X Re:Master Edition.^[19]

After War Gundam X: Under The Moonlight, also known as New Mobile Century Gundam X: Under the Moonlight, written by Chitose Oojima and illustrated by Yutaka Akatsu, with design cooperation from Takyuki Yanase, is the sequel manga to the After War Gundam X anime and was released between 2004 and 2006. The manga takes place seven years after the final episode in the series. The four-volume series stars a new cast of characters different from those in the anime, but includes the same designs and mechanical drawings of the ships and mobile suits featured in the anime. The series focuses on Rick Aller and a Newtype pilot from the 7th Space War named Kai, as well as a mysterious organization that has rebuilt D.O.M.E. after its destruction at the end of the After War Gundam X anime. Originally planned as only a short series in Gundam Ace, the popularity of the series caused it to be expanded and compiled into a four-volume manga series published by Kadokawa Shoten.

A one-shot sequel manga Next Prologue: If I Am With You (Anata to, Issho nara) supervised by the original anime's director Shinji Takamatsu, written by the anime's series composition writer Hiroyuki Kawasaki and illustrated by Kōichi Tokita was included as a bonus material for the Blu-ray release of the series on March 23, 2018. It focuses on Garrod and Tiffa after the end of the series.^[20] It was later included in the volume 3 of After War Gundam X Re:Master Edition manga, released on January 26, 2022.

According to Japan’s Weekly The Television magazine, the series’ terrestrial broadcast ratings reportedly peaked at 6.2% with the first episode, then declined over the first ten episodes, averaging 4.3% during the first two quarters.^[21] A decision was subsequently made to shorten the broadcast from a planned year to a final 39 episodes; Sunrise’s official catalog confirms a 39-episode run from April 5 to December 28, 1996 on TV Asahi.^[22] In the key Kantō market, the TV Asahi broadcast was also moved from a Friday 5:00 p.m. slot to Saturday 6:00 a.m. beginning with episode 27, a change noted in period summaries of the show’s performance.^[23]

In Japan, contemporary ratings troubles colored perception during the 1996 broadcast, but later critical retrospectives have been more favorable. Writing for culture outlet Real Sound, critic Haruka Ihara highlighted protagonist Garrod Ran as “the most down-to-earth hero in the Gundam lineage,” arguing that the show’s human-scale road narrative and emphasis on “life after war” distinguish it within the franchise’s alternate-universe cycle.^[24] A separate Real Sound column likewise framed the series’ curtailed run as “ironically clarifying” its themes, noting that the finale “lands with restraint rather than spectacle,” and crediting the Garrod–Tiffa relationship for giving the narrative a consistent emotional axis.^[25] Mainstream tech/entertainment press has echoed these points in coverage tied to later digital availability; for example, Dengeki Online introduced a late-series episode by spotlighting how Gundam X treats Newtypes “not as a miracle, but as an ability,” and by underscoring the show’s focus on character relationships over escalating set pieces.^[26]

Reception in the West has been more polarized. Reviewing Nozomi’s DVD release, Lauren Orsini of Anime News Network argued that the cancellation “might be the best thing that could have happened,” noting that while the series “begins sluggishly,” the shortened run forces it to “pick up the pace” and ultimately “concludes cleanly” within the time it has.^[27] Other critics were harsher: John Oppliger of AnimeNation dismissed the series for having “absolutely no likeable characters,” describing it as a test of “aggravation tolerance,”^[28] while Carlos Ross of THEM Anime Reviews called it “bland,” criticizing its bleak tone and limited emotional range, and ultimately deeming it “downright mediocre.”^[29]

At the same time, more favorable appraisals have also emerged in Western commentary. A retrospective review praised the series for offering “everything I want in an anime: an interesting but easy to understand storyline, great characters with their own lives and backstories, beautiful animation, a great soundtrack, great twists,” highlighting its ability to resonate even with viewers unfamiliar with the wider Gundam franchise.^[30] Similarly, the site Mechanical Anime Reviews emphasized the show’s hopeful outlook despite its grim setting, describing it as “a powerful force of good and hope” and praising protagonist Garrod Ran as “a complete, awkward dork that dares to challenge fate.”^[31]

As a result, while After War Gundam X is frequently cited as a weaker performer in terms of ratings and merchandise during its initial run, later Japanese and Western commentary has recognized both its flaws and its strengths: uneven pacing early on versus a tighter back half for some Western reviewers,^[32] and, in Japan, enduring appreciation for its grounded tone, road-movie structure, and focus on ordinary people surviving the ruins of war.^[33][34]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• After War Gundam X (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia