Bandai Namco released the animated intro to Urdr Hunt, the new Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans spinoff.
The new video introduces many of the new characters who will join Iron-Blooded Orphans' more grounded Gundam universe, including its cheerful new protagonist, Wistario Afam, and the new mobile suit he will be piloting, the ASW-G-35 Gundam Hajiroboshi. While Iron-Blooded Orphans explored the story of a group of child-soldiers from Mars, Urdr Hunt will detail the state of the colony on Venus, which has been transformed into a massive prison. The new spinoff's story will be told through the Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans G mobile app.
Bandai is also promoting the new IBO spinoff by re-broadcasting a new "Special Edition" of the 2015 anime on Japanese TV. The new version of the show condenses its story from 50 episodes to just nine, but despite the truncated runtime, the show's producers are promising the addition of new "animation cuts." The new release will also feature a new opening sequence and theme song, "Blaze," which is performed by the Japanese rock band Man With a Mission. An international release for the new cut of the series has yet to be announced.
Iron-Blooded Orphans originally premiered in 2015 and is the 14th series in Bandai's highly influential Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. The series is set 300 years after a conflict known as the "Calamity War" brought humanity to the brink of extinction. The show tells the tragic story of the a group of former child soldiers who rebel and form the mercenary group Tekkadan, with a focus on its charismatic leader, Orga Itsuka, and the group's ace Gundam pilot, Mikazuki Augus. The show has been praised for its memorable cast of characters, its unflinchingly brutal depiction of war and its willingness to tackle modern social issues such as militarization and the effects of colonization.
Bandai Namco is betting big on the Gundam franchise in 2022: in addition to the new IBO spinoff and rebroadcast, the company is also set to premiere the latest movie in the franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island, and a brand new TV series set in an original continuity, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury. The company also recently announced that it is investing $130 million USD into the creation of a Gundam Metaverse.
The original cut of Iron-Blooded Orphans is available for streaming on Netflix, Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Source: YouTube
