Gundam Dawn Of Rebellion

Gundam is one of Japan’s treasured anime franchises. Debuting in the country in 1979 with the series Mobile Suit Gundam the franchise has since spawned countless anime, films, OVAs, manga, novels and video-games. There’s even a Gundam café in Tokyo, that’s how hugely influential this series is.

Sunrise, the company behind Gundam, announced in 2011 that it was working on a new series of anime films focusing on Gundam: The Origin and in 2015 began to release them. Three films have been made so far – Blue-Eyed Casval, Artesia’s Sorrow and Dawn Of Rebellion – and the latest of these films had its European premiere at MCM London Comic Con.

Gundam Dawn Of Rebellion

Playing at the event on Saturday morning, the film was a great way to start off proceedings that day. Exploring the story of Casval Rem Deikun, the film focuses on the first time that Casval (now named Char after faking his death) meets Garma, the heir to the Zabi family that plotted to have him and his family killed. It also details the inception of the vicious war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. It was an intense look into the dawn of that fight, and the meeting between Char and Garma certainly didn’t disappoint. Laced with tension and exhilarating battles, the film is an excellent continuation of the series.

Gundam Fatal Eve

If that weren’t enough, Anime Limited brought along producer Osamu Taniguchi and mechanical designer Mika Akitaka to give an in-depth presentation for fans. Giving information about themselves, and the process of designing and creating the mechanical suits that the series is synonymous for, the pair also revealed details of the next two films in the series: Fateful Eve and the as-yet-untitled fifth episode focused on the Loum arc.

The next film in the series will explore Char’s “fateful encounter” with Lalah Sune, the protagonist of the original series Amuro Ray, and Dr Minovsky whose discoveries lead to the use of mobile suit warfare. The pair explained that the film will also focus on the development of the MS-04 and the RX-78 Gundam mobile suits, as well as the first mobile suit battle in the history of the franchise. The fifth film, meanwhile, will focus on the Battle of Loum. Teaser trailers for both films were presented at the panel, and it’s certainly something to keep your eye out for!

Gundam Origins V will concentrate on the Lorum arc

A screenshot from the Gundam Origins V teaser trailer

Another screenshot from the Gundam Origins V teaser trailer