sun rises Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island (Kidou Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima) will hit Japanese theaters on June 3, 2022. A recent tweet from the official account confirmed the release date and national roadshow.
This followed an earlier announcement on December 21, 2021, which included a “Super Teaser Visual” and a “Super Special Video” aimed at Japanese Gundam fans.
The theatrical release is a remake of Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island (1979), directed by Yoshiyuki Tomin† Furthermore, it is based on Episode 15 of Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 (aired on July 14, 1979 in Japan).
But due to a substantial drop in animation quality, Tomino demanded that Cucuruz Doan’s Island not be released in the US. And according to a 2019 NHK documentary called Making Gundam: the inside story, it is alleged that Tomino was hospitalized during production due to a lung infection. For example, the animation team was unable to keep the keyframes coherent during his absence.
Fan speculation about the quality degradation was due to animation tasks outsourced to studio Anime Friend. The same studio behind the animation and production of Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV series (aired October 3, 1982 – June 26, 1983, in Japan).
And this was allegedly why characters and mecha were misproportioned, making the show hilarious to watch for all the wrong reasons.
But Gundam fans needn’t worry that the animation quality will let them down this time. Sunrise’s foray into CGI and modern animation techniques has made them a formidable studio. Sunrise is responsible for series such as Code Geass R3 Lelouch Of The Resurrection and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon Season 2.
How did Gundam fans react to the announcement?
The original tweet in Japanese:
This tweet reads:
[Release date decided] “Mobile Suit Gundam Kukurus Doan no Shima” June 3, 2022 (Friday) National Road Show Release Date Decision Commemorative Illustration A beautiful illustration of Atsushi Tamura, the chief animation director and character designer, has arrived! † #Kukurusu Doan Island #Mobile Suit Gundam
Munetaka responded as follows:
This tweet reads:
I’m excited ♪ — Munetaka 🧡🦈🍑🐥 (@StallionTemjin) Feb 2, 2022
And Rikuoko/BOLT R responded as follows:
Since the release date is my birthday, I’m taking a break and going to check it out ☺️ — Rikuoku / BOLT R (@mutsu_minazuki) Feb 2, 2022
Who is the production team behind the remake of Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island?
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko will direct Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island. He was also the character designer and director of the 13-episode TV series, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Advent of the Red Comet (streamed between April 29, 2019 and August 12, 2019 on Crunchyroll and FunimationNow).
The assistant director is Lim Ga-Hee and also the episode director of Sonny Boy. Toshizou Nemoto will write the screenplay and he also composed the series for Super Club Season 2. Hajime Katoki, Kunio Ookawara and Kimitoshi Yamane provide the mechanical design.
The art director is Yuuji Kaneko and the CGI director is Abe Morihito, who was also the CG director of Mobile Suit Gundam G40. And the sound director is Sadayoshi Fujino, and the composer is Takayuki Hattori. Finally, sunrise takes care of production and planning, and Shochiku does the distribution.
Who are the voice actors of the main characters?
The recent announcement of the voice cast came as no surprise to most Gundam fans:
- Toru Furuya as Amuro Ray
- Ken Narita as Bright Noa
- Hideki Nakanishi as Hayato Kobayashi
- Toshio Furukawa as Kai Shiden
- Tomofumi Ikezoe as Sleggar Law
- Misato Fukuen as Fraw Bow
- Satomi Arai as Mirai Yashima
- Megumi Han as Sayla Mass
A translated excerpt from the official Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island Island website claims the following about Toru Furuya voice acting Amuro Ray:
“I never thought that the island of Kukurus Doan would be a movie.
After 43 years, he is the only voice actor who can play Amuro, a 15-year-old fighting back in Gundam, in the film version.
During the dubbing, he spent a lot of time rehearsing at his home.
When he finished watching the footage from the final scene, he unexpectedly burst into tears.
Very realistic behavior of mobile suits, expressive characters and a really attractive work that is unique to director Yasuhiko.”
There seems to be quite a bit of excitement surrounding Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island in Japan. But will the US and the international Gundam fan base be left out in the cold this time around? Hopefully, we expect this theatrical release to take place outside of Japan in the near future. Stay tuned!
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