Mobile Suit Gundam: Seed Freedom Will Release Special Edition

Gundam's biggest movie is getting a new special edition for mech fans.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Seed Freedom is the biggest movie to release under the Gundam banner in the anime's long history. Acting as a sequel to the original Gundam Seed series, Freedom was a smash success in Japanese theaters and is aiming to make landfall on Netflix in North America beginning on September 1st. Mech fans in Japan will have the opportunity to see some wild new footage that lengthens the movie to the point where the "Special Edition" will need to split into two. To follow along with this major announcement, the film's director stated that this would be the "perfect version" of the movie that has become Gundam's most profitable. 

The movie will arrive in two parts in Japan, with the first film running from September 20th to October 3rd and the second film playing from November 1st to November 14th. At present, Bandai Namco Filmworks hasn't revealed if this special edition will make its way to North America but considering the popularity of the film and the Gundam franchise, it's a safe bet that it will arrive in some form or fashion

Gundam Seed Freedom: Special Edition Trailer

Gundam Seed Freedom's director, Mitsuo Fukuda, said the following about the upcoming release that will add new material to the film, "Thanks to your support and encouragement, we have decided to screen a special edition of 'Gundam SEED FREEDOM'. In the original version that was screened from January 26, due to time constraints, it was not possible to make all the scenes to the extent that each section was satisfied with. This time, we have updated those scenes and also made some changes to various parts of the film, including those that were uncomfortable after the screening. I think we can say that this is the perfect version of 'SEED FREEDOM.' Short episodes were newly written for the end of the ending as an epilogue. We hope you will enjoy them as well!"  

If you have yet to see Gundam Seed Freedom, here's how Bandai Namco describes the runaway hit film, "In Cosmic Era (C.E.) 70... The tensions mounted between the Earth Alliance and the ZAFT Forces caused by the 'Bloody Valentine' tragedy have erupted into an all-out war. The Earth Alliance's mobile armor forces and tanks launch...mobile suits are destroyed one after another...It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Earth Alliance, with its superior numbers, would be victorious. But this initial assessment proved to be false. Almost 11 months have passed since the conflict began, with no end in sight..."