After years of not releasing any new major movies or TV series, the Gundam franchise came out with the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash film in 2021. The first of a planned trilogy of Hathaway's movies on Netflix. Needless to say, fans rejoiced at this unexpected but welcome development.
However, it seems like this legendary Mech franchise still has more treats in store for fans, because there are plans to release tons of Gundam-related properties in 2022. From a special edition of Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, to a new series called Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, and a new movie called MobileSuit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island. Here's everything that you need to know about this new movie.
The Same Director as Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
The director of the movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island is a man by the name of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Hardcore fans of the Gundam franchise may be familiar with this name. After all, he was the chief director of what most fans consider to be one of the best UC Gundam storylines; Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.
The Origin tells the story of one of the most iconic characters not only in the Gundam franchise but also in the world of anime, the red comet, Char Aznable. In the process, it also laid out the history of how the main antagonist of the series, the Principality of Zeon, came to be. In a way, The Origin was a prequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam from the 1970s.
Speaking of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko also has a crucial role in that influential anime. He was the art director and responsible for the keyframes animation for the majority of the episodes. Other than the creator of the Gundam franchise, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is definitely one of the most important people in the history of the Gundam franchise.
Based on the Lost Episode of the Original Anime
The story of the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island is based on the lost episode 15 of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime that also bears the same title, The Cucuruz Doan's Island. The reason why it's considered a lost episode is because this particular episode did not exist in the official broadcast and the DVD version for the North American release of the Mobile Suit Gundam anime.
The director of the series, Yoshiyuki Tomino, asked Bandai Entertainment to omit this episode from the official release. So for the longest time, international fans couldn't watch the original episode 15 of the anime. Instead, we jumped straight to episode 16 called “Sayla’s Agony”, which was then renamed to episode 15.
The reason why Tomino made that request is still unclear to this day. The theory that is widely accepted by the fans is due to the poor animation quality of this episode. Out of every Mobile Suit Gundam's episode, this is the only one that was outsourced to a third-party studio in South Korea. Unfortunately, the animation was not up to par. There are instances when the bulky Zaku appear to be extra slim and this episode is also the source of the infamous flat Gundam's head meme. That being said, Tomino never confirmed nor denied this theory.
The Story of Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island
The story of the Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island revolves around the titular character, Cucuruz Doan. He was a former Zaku pilot for the Principality of Zeon who decided to desert the military and choose a simple life with the children on the island. His accidental meeting with Amuro Ray sets a troubling chain of events for him and the people of the island.
That was the story from the original episode 15 of Mobile Suit Gundam. This story was a quick spin-off from the main story and had no impact whatsoever on the main storyline. Fans who didn't watch this episode didn't miss any key information at all. This is why Tomino and Bandai had no problem with it being discarded from the official North American release.
Other than the original episode 15, there's also a manga adaptation called Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin MSD: Cucuruz Doan's Island. It further expands the original story by providing more story that is set before and after the events in episode 15.
Whether Yoshikazu Yasuhiko will use this material for the movie or not is still unclear. There's enough material from the manga for it to become its own miniseries, but Yasuhiko might have other plans for the movie and decide to take the story in an entirely different direction. The movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island is planned to be released on June 3, 2022. Just like any other anime movie, that is the official date for the Japanese theatrical release. The official international release date or whether it will be available on any international streaming platform is still unclear at this point in time.