New art, casting details and a Japanese premiere date have been revealed for Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island.
All of the new information about the movie was revealed through animation studio Sunrise's official Gundam website. The movie has been confirmed to premiere in Japan on June 3. The movie's character designer and chief animation director, Atsushi Tamura, drew a new illustration of the franchise's original protagonist, Amuro Ray, and his first mobile suit, the iconic RX-78-2, to celebrate the premiere date announcement. Tamura is an anime industry veteran who has worked on everything from the cult-classic sci-fi thriller Serial Experiments Lain to more modern hits, such as My Hero Academia.
The new film's cast was also revealed. Toru Furuya will once again reprise the role of Amuro Ray. In addition to his many years of portraying Gundam's first hero, Furuya is also known for being the voice of Yamcha in the Dragon Ball franchise. Furuya will be joined by fellow Dragon Ball alum Toshio Furukawa. The voice of Piccolo will once again portray the character of Kai Shiden. Ken Narita will also reprise the role of the slap-happy Federation commander Bright Noa. Narita took over the role after Noa's original voice actor, Hirotaka Suzuoki, passed away in 2006. Narita will also voice the character in the upcoming sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, which still doesn't haven't a final premiere date. They will be joined by Satomi Arai (A Certain Scientific Railgun) as Mirai and Megumi Han (Ultraman) as Sayla Mass. Han previously portrayed Sayla in the prequel series Gundam: The Origin.
The new movie recreates Episode 15 of the original 1979 TV anime. Set after the defense of Jaburo, the movie sees White Base deployed to a supposedly uninhabited island in order to search for any Zeon stragglers that may have been left behind. Things get complicated when Amuro encounters a group ofchildren and an old man named Cucuruz Doan, a Zeon deserter who has now dedicated himself to protecting children who have been orphaned by the on-going war. When the conflict between the Federation and Zeon once again reaches the shores of the island, Amuro must rush back to his Gundam and face the horrors of war firsthand.
A release date outside of Japan for the movie has not yet been announced, but it is worth noting that the previous Gundam movie, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, was released internationally through Netflix just weeks after the film premiered in Japanese theaters.
Source: Official Gundam Website
