Bandai Namco unveiled new information on Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe, the second film of a planned trilogy based on the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash novels. The company revealed a new visual teaser for the sequel during its Gundam Showcase – Featuring 30 Years of Gundam Wing Panel. Bandai also confirmed the film will release in Japanese cinemas this year and announced it will also open in North American theaters afterwards. No specific release date was revealed for The Sorcery of Nymph Circe, but Bandai is committed to opening the motion picture in Q4 of 2025.
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Bandai also claims the sequel will open in North American cinemas this winter. Kensho Ono, who plays lead protagonist Hathaway Noa, appeared on screen during the panel to share a message with the fans. Most of the cast and crew return for the follow-up film, including director Shukou Murase. The Hathaway Flash books were written by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the original creator of Gundam, and were published between 1989 and 1990. The novel is a direct follow-up to the Char’s Counterattack theatrical film, which ended the ongoing storyline between the franchise’s two lead characters.
What Is Gundam Hathaway Flash About?
The novels and films follow the adventures of Hathaway Noa, son of Bright Noa, a renowned Earth Federation Commander. Hathaway was initially introduced as a child in Char’s Counterattack, and still suffers from PTSD from the events of the movie. Despite being the son of a legendary Commander of the Earth Federation, Hathaway leads a terrorist group under the guise of Mafty. Hathaway and his comrades believe the Earth Federation is corrupted and aim to assassinate several key figures in the privileged social class. The original novels delved deeply into the complex morality questions, as the Earth Federation is deeply corrupt, but Mafty’s actions affect and hurt innocent civilians.
The standout moment in the first film adaptation is an on-the-ground point of view of a mobile suit fight, where the actions feel visceral and real. The scenes highlight how Hathaway’s cold and calculated approach to fighting the Earth Federation led to human casualties. Hathaway Flash continues Tomino’s cynical viewpoint towards humanity and governments, a theme he constantly portrays in his work. The first Hathaway Flash film was meant to open in the summer of 2020 but was postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Netflix gained the streaming rights for the first movie and released it on its platform on July 1, 2021, in selected territories.
GUNDAM Showcase – Featuring 30 Years of Gundam Wing Panel featured a stacked lineup of guests and free gear for attendees. The panel was primarily a celebration of the iconic Gundam Wing anime, the show that successfully popularized Gundam in the West. Among the guests were English dub voice actors Mark Hildreth, Scott McNeil, and Brad Swaile. Hildreth voiced the lead, Heero, giving the character a stoic disposition that reflected the character’s machine-like personality. McNeil, who voiced the cocky Duo in Wing, is an Australian actor living in Canada, best known for his roles in Transformers, Beast Wars, ReBoot, and X-Men Evolution. Swaile, who voiced the sensitive Quatre in Wing, is actually one of the most prolific voice actors in the Gundam franchise. He voiced Gundam protagonists Amuro Ray and Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam 00, respectively. Attendees received an exclusive shirt, cards for the Gundam TCG, a shopper bag, a comic book, a music card, and an introduction booklet.
H/T: Anime News Network
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