The Hello Kitty/Gundam crossover seems to have no interest in toning down the violence of a mecha war in space.

Back in the spring, the Gundam vs. Hello Kitty Project launched, in joint celebration of the 45th birthday of Japan’s favorite cute cat character and the 40th for its most famous anime robot. But despite the “vs.” part of the name, there two aren’t out to destroy each other, as the conflict is more of a popularity contest, with fans tossing their support towards one side of another by eating or shopping at participating shops and restaurants, with the chance to earn exclusive merch as prizes.

However, things aren’t nearly so peaceful in the ongoing Gundam vs. Hello Kitty short web anime series. Episode 1 starts out deceptively sweet, with Kitty-chan setting out cups and cookies for a tea party in her home, until she gets a sudden message, though her TV, from Haro, the ball-shaped robot buddy of Gundam pilot protagonist Amuro.

“Save Amuro” Haro instructs Kitty, while showing her scenes from the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam TV series where a heavy-hearted Amuro sorties out to do battle with enemy forces, mixing tearful sadness at the atrocities of war with a steely declaration of “I’ll defeat you.”

Kitty responds with agitated distress. “Wait, we’re all friends, aren’t we? Don’t talk about ‘defeating’ people!” she says to the TV screen, before realizing this is a message she needs to deliver to Amuro directly, and in order to do so she dashes out the door and appears in outer space, in front of Amuro and his Gundam, in a Kitty-shaped mecha of her own.

This brings us right up to the start of Episode 2, where Kitty tries to talk Amuro out of fighting.

▼ “If you talk to each other, I’m sure you can work things out! Let’s stop fighting. We’re all friends!”

But if you were expecting this saccharine Sanrio appeal to pacifism to work, you’re going to be disappointed. “What are you talking about? There’s no way to stop this fight. You’re too late!” Amuro retorts, and when Kitty insists “It’ll be OK! We can all get along!” He gets even more adamant, telling her “If you’re not going to fight, then evacuate the area. This is a war zone!”

“Wait, just listen to a little more of what I have to say-“ Kitty pleads, but she’s cut off by the famous (but no longer so mysterious) Newtype sound, as Amuro’s semi-psychic abilities pick up the presence of enemy forces in the form of an ambush party of three Zion mobile suits! As for what happens next…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lotw0yxtSUo#t=1m25s

…Amuro shoots first, scoring direct hits on two of the enemy mobile suits (both cannon fodder Zaku units), turning them into pretty pink fireballs.

In case you’re not familiar with all the nitty-gritty bits of Gundam techno-lore, the Zaku are manned units, meaning that they’ve got human pilots inside. We don’t see any escape pods or other signs that said pilots survived the shots from Amuro’s beam rifle, though, which suggests that they’re now both very, very dead.

But the third mecha in the raiding party is still active, and it fires a blast from its own laser cannon, which is shown speeding right towards Kitty-chan!

“Look out, Kitty!” cries Amuro, and that’s where the episode comes to its freeze-frame end. While there was only about a three-month gap between Episodes 1 and 2, the cliffhanger is going to last an extra-long time, as Episode 3, “Love. Warriors.” Won’t be coming until sometime in 2020.

▼ Gundam vs. Hello Kitty Episode 1, which also has a body count in its new battle scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yCR6f5C5UQ

In the meantime, here’s a question to ponder. The series is called Gundam vs. Hello Kitty, but what exact form will the conflict between the two take on? Is it a purely philosophical battle, with Kitty struggling to hold on to her belief that goodness lies in the hearts of all living things? Or will Kitty-chan, shocked to her core at seeing Amuro fire first, turn her back on the Gundam ace and the Federation he serves and offer her services to the opposing Zion forces and their charismatic leader Char?

Really, after seeing unflinching mecha pilot death in a Hello Kitty cartoon, we don’t know what to expect anymore.

Related: Gundam vs. Hello Kitty official website
Featured image: YouTube/ガンダムvsハローキティ プロジェクト
Top image: YouTube/ガンダムvsハローキティ プロジェクト
Insert images: YouTube/ガンダムvsハローキティ プロジェクト (1, 2)
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s now wondering if the Macross space war is secretly going on in the background of every My Melody story, or if Badtz-Maru could somehow get transported to Escaflowne’s world of Gaia.

[ Read in Japanese ]