We are already well into 2022, and as far as Gundam is concerned there are two key productions to look forward to. And now we can look forward with some certainty as we have dates attached to these productions.
First is Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island which is a theatrical film expanding on a one-off story from the original series. It depicts Zeon-defector Cucuruz Doan and his interactions with Gundam pilot Amuro Ray. For all intents and purposes, this story is going to be told through the lens of Yoshikazu Yazuhiko’s Gundam THE ORIGIN, which have elements that don’t completely line up with the original series canon. But personally, I don’t really care that much as long as we get a great story.
Cucuruz Doan is also a protagonist of a similarly titled manga under the Gundam THE ORIGIN MSD (or Mobile Suit Discovery) banner though we’ve yet to determine if the movie will pick story beats from this manga. In any case, this will be the first time we’ll see the Gundam THE ORIGIN version of the RX-78-02 Gundam in animation outside of featured shorts.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island is set to be released on Japanese theatres on June 3. There’s yet to be word on any international distribution via streaming platforms similar to Gundam Hathaway.
And later this Fall, we’ll see the premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam THE WITCH FROM MERCURY, which is the next mainline Gundam series following a seven-year gap following IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS. We don’t have any details about this series though that doesn’t stop fans from speculating, including the possibility of a female main protagonist thanks to the use of “witch” in the title.
While entirely speculative, this has some merit as recent Gundam productions leaned towards more female leads, such as the games Gundam Battle Operation: Code Fairy and Gundam U.C. Engage, or even Gundam Breaker Battlogue.
Japanese television stations MBS and TBS also released a promotional video about the history of the timeslot THE WITCH FROM MERCURY will be broadcast in. This is the same 5PM timeslot that became the home to previous Gundam series, including Gundam 00 and Gundam AGE, as well as other notable titles like Code Geass R2 and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. You can check out the clip below.
Mobile Suit Gundam THE WITCH FROM MERCURY is set to premiere this October, with a likely simulcast over at Gundam.Info on YouTube.
