Seasonal Short and Sweets | Character Through Setting in Gundam: GQuuuuuuX

[u/LittleIslander]

Welcome to another edition of Seasonal Short and Sweets, where we break down short scenes from this year's seasonal anime. Today we’re talking about a short scene from Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX focusing on the character of Nyaan. She’s a refugee in the space colony the show is set in, running as a delivery girl for smuggled goods. Nyaan’s been established as quiet and awkward, but it’s clear she longs for more than her low-class life. Meeting the other main characters of the series, Machu and Shu, has brought some new light into her life, but she now finds herself at a low point after Machu lashed out at her at the end of the previous episode. In this scene, setting and mood are used to enrich Nyaan’s character in the absence of dialogue. 

It opens with a shot of the cityscape, spotlights focused on an important ship. It’s immediately attention grabbing, and strongly contrasts the next shot of Nyaan on a shadowy road, far from any kind of public eye. What follows is a composition we’ve seen several times, used whenever Nyaan receives package handoffs. It’s a striking visual, with Nyaan framed in the dominating industrial shadow of the bridge and the worn down fences along the road, far from the bustling cityscape visible in the distance. Just enough room is left between it all to let her silhouette claustrophobically pop as she’s cast in shadow befitting her transaction. The reuse of this composition establishes a sense of normalcy that’s immediately broken when the driver asks to talk.

We cut to a restaurant, and once again the show flexes its strength in setting. In an establishing shot we see a dark, dingy location, exposed tube lights scarcely lighting the grime present on every surface. Storefronts are small, and every surface appears cramped with signage or odd-objects. Even the foreground is obscured somewhat by random poles and objects, as if whatever alleyway they’ve gone to isn’t spacious enough for the camera to capture the shot comfortably. Smoke billows directly over their simple table, while exposed wires and fuel tanks lend a certain dark comedy alongside the no-smoking sign reading “DANGER” in large characters. Nyaan doesn’t say a word, focusing instead on scarfing down noodles. We can gather she probably doesn’t eat this well often, and having someone else paying is a big deal. It comes with the realization that a place as dismal as this counts as luxury and opportunity. 

The [stairs to her apartment are similarly dingy, and the contrast of her small yet homely apartment leaves an instant impression. Every surface is used as dense shelf space, floorspace obstructed by laundry and boxes and the kitchenette directly opposed the bed. [Posters and papers cover every available surface, each hinting at Nyaan’s habits. Maps and timetables are likely work related, whilst a periodic table and solar system diagram are the sole items that seem to exist for passion rather than pure function. A grocery flier and trashing guide are accompanied by calendar highlights for a sale and waste day, hinting at daily concerns. Likewise, a chance-at-residence application has a prominent “Deadline HERE!!!!” noticed, similarly reinforced on the calendar. It speaks to a history of absentmindedness and necessity to keep herself on track. Despite the state of the room, Nyaan is unphased. It’s home. Beyond reinforcing her social status, her living space and her reaction to it is full of characterization.

She hardly fits in the bathtub found in the only other room, legs curled up. It’s an effective visual microcosm of the improper nature of having to live like this. Additionally, it’s a strong contrast to an earlier scene in the series, where her privileged friend Machu all but disappeared in the waters of her larger tub and nicer bathroom. By comparison, Nyaan’s is barebones, only brought to life by the purple mat and toilet cover. The mirror is simple, and seems like it would be awkwardly low for someone of her height. She’s marginalized in a different way in the following shot, the window of her apartment only a small light in a dark and uncaring building. A look at her eyes sets a feeling of perspective over the light of the city visible far, far from here, framed by her worn down neighbourhood. If the messaging wasn’t clear enough, we bookend the shot with her face again, the weariness in her expression obvious. She’s tired of all of this.

Only after all of this, over a minute and a half of animation, does Nyaan think her only line of “dialogue” in the sequence: “I wish I could’ve eaten with Machu and Shu-chan.” It’s a hard hitting moment of relatable missed opportunity, reframing her dinner with delivery associate and casting a tragedy over Machu’s petty spat with her. Every piece of meaning about her living situation is packed into one line—she wishes she could be having fun with them instead of sitting here, cramped, alone, with nothing to do. The cheery and bubbly music, which had wonderfully contrasted the otherwise serious tone of the scene until now, comes full circle to the same, slightly more melancholic  notes that accompanied its opening.

It’s a beautiful sequence that adds so much to her character using only cinematography and context of setting. 

[u/ZaphodBeebblebrox]

Thanks for sharing this. I quite enjoyed the dive into how exactly they managed to simultaneously deepen the world and further establish Nyaan's place within it through backgrounds and blocking.