Highlights Of The 'Gundam' Anime Franchise

TV & Film

Sep 13

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom, “A decided destiny, or freedom to resist,” has been slotted for theatrical release in Japan on January 26, 2024. The film and other manga storylines associated with the Gundam series are produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks, also known as Sunrise. Director, Mitsuo Fukuda, and Screenwriter, Chiaki Morosawa were a husband-and-wife creative team who oversaw the prequels to Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom – Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (television anime series), Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny (sequel series), as well as the films for both series. Sadly, Morosawa passed away in 2016. In fact, the upcoming film debut was largely brought to fruition by Fukuda’s drive to complete his wife’s passion project.

Morosawa wrote much of the story near the end of production for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny. While Morosawa was not happy with the details of the storyline initially, Fukuda enlisted new contributors (which included himself) to complete the story using Morosawa’s work. She wrote over 100 drafts of the story so the team had much content to work with. For those unfamiliar, the Gundam mecha-centered manga is a rich detailed futuristic dystopian fantasy with a loyal fanbase. The Seed series has been arguably such a culturally significant tale that the project included a life-sized Freedom Gundam statue in Shanghai, China as well as four in Japan. Most notably there is a robot on full display in Yokohama, Japan that stands at 59 feet tall, weighs in at 25 tons, and has a mechanical skeleton that allows it to move its body, arms, and legs.

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Life-size Gundam Statue Open to the Public in Shanghai, China
Image Source: Gundam.Info

With the most recent trailer release, it seems pertinent to review some of the highlights of the Gundam anime franchise created by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The first thing to understand about this fantasy world is that the historical period of the Gundam setting is labeled as C.E., standing for Cosmic Era, and that there are two types of humans. The first group is known as the Coordinators. This camp of folks is known to be genetically modified before their birth. Due to the alteration in DNA Coordinators are born with enhanced physical and mental capabilities. The other camp consists of those known as the Naturals. These people are born without any type of genetic engineering. The Coordinators and the Naturals were at war.

At some point, the Destiny Plan was suggested to assign roles to individuals to free society from competition. Ultimately, Naturals rejected this plan as they felt that it would violate their freedom. This ideological clash between the two sides is inevitably what led to the escalation from talks and plans to violence. In the year 70 C.E., the champion of the Naturals was Kira Yamato. He was just a kid of course. He and his friends went to school in the colony of Heliopolis and tended to mind their own business when the war found them there.

This conflict defined a path for the young protagonist, Kira. This was a path that he had never wanted to be on in the first place. After the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (ZAFT) commando forces attacked the colony, Kira decided to join forces with Murrue Ramius. Ramius was an officer in the Federation. During a battle, Kira fought back with a mecha suit that he named Gundam. Best friends were divided on the battlefield during this time. A keen example of this conflict was Kira’s best childhood friend, Athrun as he was often on the opposing side in battle. What’s more, is that Kira had a secret, he was a Coordinator.

The above of course is just one of the compelling storylines seen in the popular anime. This manga as a whole has a rich 40-plus-year-old history that this article could not possibly hope to summarize with justice. In honor of the upcoming release; fans new and old can review the already existing plethora of material to be ready for the return of beloved characters to the screen. There is a watch list below for newcomers to the franchise who wish to get into the Cosmic Era of genetic engineering and mecha super-solders.

It is noteworthy that this speculative genre world has been adored both in print across manga and novels as well as the many adaptations available from the small and big screens alike. Additionally, there are many toys available for fans to enjoy as well as video games to match. In a similar fashion to Star Wars, many, many side stories branch out yet intertwine. Additionally, like Star Wars, the characters, historical periods, and leadership associated with Gundam are diverse. The release order of the franchise as listed by Radiotimes.com is below: