My Life In Fandom: New UC Gundam Movie--"Cucuruz Doan's Island"--In Theaters Next Year

This came over the Bird App on Monday:

映画『機動戦士ガンダム ククルス・ドアンの島』は、
2022年初夏公開！

＼超特報映像解禁／

《ガンダム、再び大地に立つ————》

劇場版『機動戦士ガンダムⅢ めぐりあい宇宙』から40年、RX-78-02 ガンダムとアムロの物語がスクリーンに舞い戻る！#ククルス・ドアンの島 pic.twitter.com/Lfnyw9Cen1

— 機動戦士ガンダム ククルス・ドアンの島 (@g_cucuruzdoan) December 20, 2021

Translated via Google Translate:

The movie "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Island of Kukurus Doan" Released in early summer 2022! \ Super special news video lifted / 《Gundam, stand on the ground again ————》 Forty years after the movie "Mobile Suit Gundam III Meguriai Universe", the story of RX-78-02 Gundam and Amuro returns to the screen!

There's more on the official GundamInfo site (which you'll need to use a translator for if you don't read Japanese). If that's confusing, here's some info from a Crunchyroll article:

As its title suggests, the film is based on the first Mobile Suit Gundam TV anime's 15th episode of the same name, which was aired in Japan on July 14, 1979. The episode depicted the melancholy of war through the interaction of the protagonist, Amuro Ray, with Doan, a deserter from the Zeon army. The film version tells that story again, using the latest visual technology, including CGI.

This is the source of some seriously memey bad animation images from the original series, and here's why this film matters: it's the backdoor pilot for a remake of the original series that would follow on from where Origin left off.

That means that Bandai and Sunrise are going to be paying close attention to how this film does in theaters, followed by related merchandise and home video sales. The better this film does, the more that C Suite will come to believe that such a remake using the animation of Origin is a worthwhile production expenditure. (Related merchandise sales would go through the roof, guaranteed.) Therefore don't be surprised if there is a limited release outside of Japan, even if it's a one-night event like the Macross Plus event was last week, and if that happens I'll put the word out here as soon as I can.

(It can also be speculated that the appearance of the OG Gundam in Super Robot Wars 30 was an animation testbed for this film, but I ain't going there yet.)

This is going to be another good year for mecha fans, isn't it? Oh, and with Yamato 2205 releasing its Part Two early next year that means that there's going to be quality Space Opera (albeit from established franchises) to be had worldwide once more. Forge ahead!