Almost 37 years in, the Gundam Franchise is seeing no
signs of slowing down its output. Even
today, it’s in as good, if not better, shape than it has ever been. Iron Blood Orphans is airing it’s second
season in Japan, as well as it’s first season on Toonami. Gundam: The Origin just released it’s fourth
episode and looks to continue the tale in 2017.
And once the first season of IBO has wrapped up early next year,
Toonami’s looking to air the tv version of Gundam Unicorn: RE0096. I’m happy, I really am. My favorite Anime franchise continues to grow
and flourish. And while I know plans are
probably in the works for what comes after Iron Blooded Orphans, I wonder about
the stories that haven’t been told that I might want to see down the line. Call it an early Christmas list, but here are
five stories not yet told in the Gundam universe I’d like to see on the screen
somewhere down the line.
#5-Full Length
Gundam F91 Series
As many people know, Gundam F91 was meant to be a big
relaunch point for the Gundam Franchise following the end of the first era of
Gundam (1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam through 1988’s Gundam: Char’s
Counterattack). Yoshiyuki Tomino sought
to create a new 50 episode series set in the far off Universal Century as a
fresh start point. With the theatrical
success of Char’s Counterattack, the studio decided to nix the idea in favor of
another movie. As you also know…this
didn’t turn out so well (See my review of Gundam F91 here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/mobile-suit-gundam-f91.html). But what did Tomino have in mind
originally? How would the journey of
Seabook and Cecily have gone if it was a TV series or a trilogy of films. I think there’s either a manga or novel
continuation written by Tomino that covers this. Still, Gundam F91 is a sadly, wasted
potential entry that deserves to have it’s full and unaltered vision shared
with the fans…if they even still care about this one.
#4-Gundam Seed The
Movie
I hate Gundam Seed Destiny, many of you know this. Even so, the prospect of a Seed movie always
intrigued me. Originally, the project
was announced following the end of Seed Destiny. Details were scarce, especially the
plot. But Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala,
along with several big names from Seed and Seed Destiny, had been confirmed to
be major players. More importantly, the
Seed Movie would have been the first, full length original Gundam movie since
Gundam F91. However, delays kept mounting (eventually Gundam 00 The Movie would
come out) and, sadly, Seed and Seed Destiny’s chief screenwriter passed away
this past year. Nevertheless, I’ll
always wonder what this tale would have been and if it could have somehow
redeemed the Seed universe…killing Shin Asuka off in the first five minutes
would have been a good start.
#3-Gundam Unicorn
Sequel
The conclusion of Gundam Unicorn left a bookmark at a
pretty important turning point in the Universal Century. The revelation of Laplace’s Box seemed set to
upset the balance of power and when last we saw the Nael Argama and Banagher
Links, aka the more or less protectors of the box, they were headed away from
Federation forces after them and their game changing discovery. Now up until Unicorn, there was a 30 year
period of the Universal Century between Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s
Counterattack and Mobile Suit Gundam F91 that hadn’t been explored. Imagine the ramnifications of the Laplace’s
Box revelation. I’m not saying it could
spark another all out war but it definitely set in motion great changes for the
Colonies, Earth Sphere and Newtypes.
Where do things go from here and how will they set society up for where
we find it in F91 (relatively peaceful)?
Even if it doesn’t involve the cast from Unicorn, though I’d like to see
Mineva back at least, this is an era of Gundam that is begging to be checked
out.
#2-Gundam Wing:
Episode Zero
While this is a manga (and a good one at that), Episode
Zero was originally intended to be included in the Gundam Wing Anime. However, time and budget constraints forced
these origin stories of the Wing Boys and Girls to be either totally scrapped
or cut down immensely and folded into Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. You’d think with the boom Gundam Wing had in
the early 2000’s in the US would have sparked Japan to go back and do an OVA
feature on these lost tales, including the ambiguous epilogue to Endless
Waltz. If you haven’t had a chance to
read this manga, and can somehow find it, I recommend it highly if you’re a Wing
fan. And if you’re as big a Wing fan as
I am, you also hope that one day, Episode Zero becomes a feature length
theatrical release, OVA, or TV Series…whichever allows it to be made faster.
#1-Sei and Reiji
Reunite
Ever since these two parted ways at the end of Gundam
Build Fighters, ive wanted their reunion.
Sei and Reiji learned a lot from each other: confidence, friendship, a
deeper understanding of Gunpla Battle.
To see a second season of one of the best Gundam series ever go to crap
cause it focused on a cast without faith or likeability, was a total gut
punch. It didn’t help that the end of
Build Fighters Try-Island Wars, teased Reiji enjoying life with his wife, Aila,
and their daughter. F*** BUILD FIGHTERS
TRY!!! What we need is a story where Reiji returns to Sei’s world and the two
partake in a new kind of Gunpla Battle.
The game will no doubt have changed but the bond between these two would
overcome any and all obstacles that would come their way. They’re the feel good heart of any Gundam
fan. We need to see them together again
and show the world that, unlike Team Try Fighters, they know how to make Gunpla
Battle, and Gundam in general, look like a good time.
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