Gundam franchise sets second record year of profit for Bandai

The Gundam franchise raised 145.7 billion yen for Namco Bandai according to their latest financial report which shows the year ending March 31st. This is up on the previous year's 131.3 billion yen (£669.8 million) which was buoyed by the success of Gundam: The Witch From Mercury.

This year saw the second and final season of the Witch series, (which we reviewed here) as well as the release of the incredibly popular Gundam SEED Freedom theatrical release which saw a global rollout and generally favourable reviews from audiences and critics (including us!). To date the film has garnered an impressive 4,599,907,360 Yen, or £23.5 million with a final run expected in Japanese theatres on May 23rd. The impressive total doesn't take into account the US run of the film, which didn't debut until May 7th this year, well behind its run in the UK. Nice to be first for once!

The Yokohama Gundam also closed this year, attracting huge crowds for the closing ceremony and further cementing Gundam as a Japanese cultural icon.

We look forward to seeing what the coming year has in store as Gundam continues to go from strength to strength.

Source: ANN