Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX made headlines across the anime world when it was announced, primarily because Studio Khara was in charge of it. Studio Khara is a production founded by the same creators behind Neon Genesis Evangelion, including lead creative director Hideaki Anno. Evangelion is one of the most celebrated anime series throughout the world, so fans were ecstatic to discover that the same team behind Evangelion was working on the next Gundam series. The Gundam GQuuuuuuX and Evangelion connection was made the most apparent with Episode 8 of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. The Eighth Episode, "Falling on the Moon," introduced a new mecha called gMS-κ GFreD, nicknamed the Gundam Fred.
Fans were quick to point out the striking similarities between the Gundam Fred and Evangelion's iconic EVA Unit-01. The mecha designs in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX borrowed heavily from the thin proportions, elaborated lines, and the unusual head shape with a long chin from Evangelion. The Gundam Fred's primary color is a shade of purple, similar, though not an exact copy, of the EVA 01. Furthermore, the Gundam Fred's first appearance echoes the EVA's debut, with the characters walking in front of it on a bridge. The Evangelion similarities were so apparent that Anno had to go on Studio Khara's social media to reveal he had nothing to do with Episode 8.
Artistic creators would often reuse the same themes and stylistic direction throughout their careers. There are specific aspects that everyone, not only artists, gravitates to more than others. For example, Anno's work often centers around existential questions about individuality, depression, and the importance of camaraderie. Anno only has a minor role in the creation of Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, having written certain scenes, specifically the flashback in Episode 2. However, Studio Khara consists of many different creators who worked on Evangelion, so it makes sense that many of the styles and themes evident in Evangelion would appear again in Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.
Nonetheless, Gundam GQuuuuuuX isn't really copying Evangelion. The similarities are more a situation of fans recognizing matching styles carried over from a previous project from the same creative teams. The Gundam Fred likely looks like an EVA Unit because Ikuto Yamashita, who worked on the original Neon Genesis Evangelion, also designed the mechas for Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. Evangelion and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX also share many of the same directors and writers, which would explain why certain scenes and camera angles play out similarly to one another.
However, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX is not plagiarizing Evangelion. Gundam GQuuuuuuX features a different premise with characters not similar to the Evangelion characters. Evangelion is about a post-apocalyptic government attempting to stop strange creatures called Angels from destroying the Earth. Contrastingly, Gundam GQuuuuuuX is about teenagers using mobile suits to fight in underground mecha battles while slowly getting involved in an internal political conflict. Even the Gundam Fred doesn't look like the EVA Unit-01 one-to-one.
The Fred uses a greater color variety than the EVA Unit-01, with a lighter shade of purple and more turquoise and orange contrasts in the official artwork. The EVA Unit-01 was almost entirely bright purple with some lime green and dark black to break up the color scheme. The Gundam Fred also has cat-like antennae that further differentiate it from the EVA. While it is fun to jump to the similarities between the two projects, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX should not be viewed as a derivative of Evangelion and should be viewed as its own thing that simply shares specific superficial likeness.