The Bandai Namco Group announced the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Project ignited initiative during the opening ceremony for the life-size Freedom Gundam statue in Shanghai on Friday. The initiative commemorates the 20th anniversary of the original Mobile Suit Gundam Seed anime next year, and it will have several parts. Headlining the initiative is the previously announced film project (confirmed as being in production now) that serves as a sequel to the television series. The staff, led by returning director Mitsuo Fukuda, will announce the opening date and other details in the future.
The initiative also includes a new Mobile Suit Gundam Seed game which will be announced in the future.
The Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Eclipse side-story manga (pictured above) will launch in Japan and overseas in July as a new Mobile Suit Variation project. The story is set in Cosmic Era 72, during what would become known as the “lost two years” between the two wars. Some call it the time of “peace on thin ice,” while others call it the “brief respite before the next turmoil.” The story follows 17-year-old mobile suit pilot Tatsumi Hōri, 19-year-old commander Miyabi Oto Kiō, 18-year-old Coordinator pilot Ken Noland Suse, and others who risk their lives in an empty unit known as “ODR.”
The manga’s MVF-X08 Eclipse Gundam is a custom mobile suit developed in top secret by ODR. Bandai will offer the Master Grade 1/100 model kit in August.
(Source: Gundam.Info)