‘Gundam Thunderbolt’ is Streaming Free on YouTube for a Limited Time

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt was an ambitious set of net animations that eventually released as two compilation films that went on to much fan acclaim and critical success.

Now more fans will have their chance to see it than ever as the films are officially available to stream on Sunrise’s official YouTube page for the Gundam franchise (which you can find at the link here).

The catch is you will have to move fast if you want to stream this series as this is a special offering for a one month period starting from October 19. Both films are available in HD, with both English subtitles and dub being available for interested fans. For an extra bit of goodness, the films are in their director’s cut versions with additional scenes from the net series being included.

The series takes place in an alternate timeline from the original Gundam series during the One Year War. For those unfamiliar, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky is officially described as such:

“Their war has not yet ended… It is Universal Century 0079, at the end of the One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. The space colonies of Side 4, or Moore, were previously destroyed by a Zeon attack, and many colonists lost their lives. Side 4 became a shoal zone filled with the wreckage of destroyed colonies and warships, lit by constant flashes of lightning due to collisions between electrified debris. It soon came to be known as the ”Thunderbolt Sector.” The Moore Brotherhood, an Earth Federation Forces unit made up of surviving citizens from Moore, set out to exterminate the Zeon forces in the Thunderbolt Sector in order to reclaim their homeland.

To halt the Federation advance, the Zeon forces deployed their own Living Dead Division, which was established to collect combat data on soldiers with prosthetic limbs. Io Fleming, though part of the Moore Brotherhood, hates being tied down by his homeland and family history. Daryl Lorenz, having lost his legs in earlier battles, is now an ace sniper of the Living Dead Division. When they confront each other on the battlefield, they will reach a mutual realization. These two are destined to kill each other.”