Gundam SEED film slated for release this fiscal year

During a recent fiscal presentation, covering plans between April 2023 and March 2024, a slide presented plans to release a sequel movie to the popular Gundam SEED iteration of the franchise:

Announced as part of the 20th anniversary of Gundam SEED, which includes a statue at Gundam Docks in Shanghai, a manga series titled Gundam SEED Eclipse, a new video game and the theatrical film that will serve as a sequel to the SEED and SEED Destiny TV series.

The film has suffered from a troubled past - first announced way back in 2006, the script was completed by the time writer Chiaki Morosawa passed in 2016. The Destiny TV series was also littered with rumours of behind the scenes personal issues between the cast and creative team which led to problems with production and changes to key plot points as fans failed to respond to Destiny's more somber tone.

Despite all this, the series is still one of the most popular alternative timeline releases in the franchise, and certainly served as an introduction to Gundam for many (including myself, as I didn't find Wing appealing). As an updated re-imagining of many of the core concepts behind the original Gundam series, with Coordinators replacing Newtypes but still following the chase-through-space template that made the original so compelling, it has many fans nostalgic for the adventures of Kira Yamato and the crew of the Archangel.

Both TV series have received HD updates, released in the UK by Anime Ltd in what can best be described as heavily nerfed box sets at an outrageous £200 RRP.

With the Gundam franchise hitting its highest ever yearly sales largely thanks to the success of Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, it's a great time to dip back into one of the major pillars of the Gundam franchise and we can only hope the film reaches cinemas in the UK. Given the proliferation of theatrical releases in the last few years, this seems more likely than ever.

Original report: Gundam News