Gundam Director Defends Watching 140 Anime Episodes to Understand New Movie

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the greatest anime franchises of all time, dating back to 1979 and still kicking to this day. The latest entry in the series, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: Sorcery of Nymph Circe, is set to release soon, but is built upon decades of storytelling, making it daunting for newcomers to jump into. Sorcery of Nymph Circe is a sequel to three anime series and two whole movies, which begs the question, can you just jump in and appreciate the film?

GameRant had the opportunity to interview the director of Sorcery of Nymph Circe, Shūkō Murase, in a deep, candid talk about the new movie and the Gundam franchise’s legacy. Anime viewers who want to watch the new film stand alone will miss out on major details, references, and storytelling nuances that’ll only resonate for fans who are more versed in Gundam‘s UC (Universal Century) Saga.

7 Best Gundam Anime, Ranked

Of all the stories told in the Gundam universe – an iconic name in the mech genre – the following titles stand among the very best.

Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: Sorcery of Nymph Circe Explains Why the New Movie Isn’t Stand Alone

And That’s a Good Thing

In GameRant’s interview with Shūkō Murase, the director of Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: Sorcery of Nymph Circe, was asked if the latest movie could be watched and appreciated as a stand alone film by newcomers. Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway is a direct sequel to Char’s Counterattack, which itself is a sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. Interestingly, Murase defended the fact that Sorcery of Nymph Circe builds upon three entire series and two movies to fully appreacite the story.

Murase replied,

“That’s a very difficult, but very good question. I haven’t seen Star Wars, but if I watched the latest edition of Star Wars, would I be able to understand? Would I find it entertaining? I think that’s the same thing, and most likely, the answer is “maybe not,” and one of the reasons is because Tomino-sensei has a very unique naming sense, so is it a person’s name? Is it a Mobile Suit’s name? Is it an organizational name? People who aren’t aware of the universe wouldn’t know; there’s no way to tell.

There’s a very distinct way that he names things, and I heard from someone who watched the movie that the word “Anaheim” in the Gundam universe is a very famous, well-known term, but if you just say “Anaheim” to a random person who doesn’t know Gundam – they won’t know what it is. The answer is that it’s a company, but people who don’t know Gundam wouldn’t know that. There are so many elements like that spread throughout this world, so if you’re not educated in Gundam, you need to watch several of these movies in order to get to know this world.

If we create a movie where anybody can jump right in and understand everything, then I think it would cease to be Gundam, because that’s how the world is created. This UC that Tomino-sensei created is really at the core of this story, and so I think creating something that would be universally understood is really hard.”

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Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino claims the franchise lost its original anti-war message and become popular among “military geeks.”

The Gundam UC Saga is Amazing & Worth Watching

The Original UC Trilogy & Char’s Counterattack Are All Streaming on Crunchyroll

To call the original UC Gundam trilogy and Char’s Counterattack a masterpiece would be the understatement of the century. These are three of the best anime series ever made, capped off by an absolutely outstanding movie that wraps up Yoshiyuki Tomino’s original vision for the franchise perfectly. You shouldn’t watch the UC series to understand Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway; you should watch them because they’re three of the best anime series ever made, followed by a 10/10 movie finale.

The original Mobile Suit Gundam more or less codified the real robot genre single-handedly, while featuring an outstanding main cast and a nuanced storyline that never shied away from depicting the realities of war. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a dark, cynical story about the rise of fascism that’s never felt more profound, while never shying away from showing how cruel war is. Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam is a painfully underrated anime that shows the real victims of war are children, while featuring the best art direction, animation, and ending in the franchise.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack is still one of the best anime movies ever made to this day. The film features excellent animation, the best fight choreography in the series, a magnificently told story about a battle of ideologies, and an emotionally charged conclusion to the UC saga. Every anime and Sci-Fi fan owes it to themselves to enjoy 140 outstanding episodes and a brilliant movie – not to appreciate the latest Gundam movie – but to understand why Gundam is still a beloved franchise nearly 50 years later.