GUNDAM 45th ANNIVERSARY CHALLENGES:
New Visual Expression in Requiem for Vengeance and Silver Phantom
Interview with Producer Naohiro Ogata

The latest entry in the popular Gundam anime series, Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, launched worldwide exclusively on Netflix on October 17th. This 3D original animation focuses on the European front of the One Year War from the first Mobile Suit Gundam series, and was produced as a Gundam for the global audience. The VR film Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom was released for Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro on October 4th, marking two ambitious ventures into new forms of visual expression this October. As the Gundam series celebrates its 45th anniversary, where is it headed? We spoke with Bandai Namco Filmworks’ Executive Producer Naohiro Ogata about the vision behind these two works and the future direction of the series.

◇ JAPANESE ANIMATION GLOBAL EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY

Requiem for Vengeance is a collaboration between Sunrise and SAFEHOUSE, created using the 3D game development tool Unreal Engine 5. Unreal Engine enables sophisticated graphics and real-time rendering, and is primarily used in game development.

“While anime and game expression and production processes aren’t entirely equivalent, they’re evolving through mutual technical exchange. We’re also using Unreal in parts of Gundam: Hathaway Part 2, which is currently in production, and such 3D technology is becoming increasingly significant in anime production. While we’ve previously used 3D as a base for creating 2D anime, with Requiem for Vengeance, we challenged ourselves to create an entire series using Unreal Engine as a new form of visual expression.”

In recent years, Japanese anime, including the Gundam series, has gained unprecedented global acceptance. The number of international fans watching anime through streaming services has exploded. Requiem for Vengeance aims to present a new form of expression for international audiences while incorporating traditional Japanese anime techniques. With German director Erasmus Brosdau and American scriptwriter Gavin Hignight leading a global production team, they sought to challenge conventional visual expression.

“Since it’s being distributed through Netflix, it will be simultaneously released in many countries and regions. This is different from our previous approach of targeting Japan first and then expanding globally. While we’re still experimenting with global expansion, and it’s clear that Japanese animation, which evolved from limited animation, has gained worldwide acceptance, we’re still exploring different approaches, including the visual aesthetic, for global audiences. Even in 2D animation, having international staff has become the norm. We wanted to challenge ourselves to create globally, including the creative aspects. How do foreign creators view the One Year War? I sense their perspective on war is somewhat different. Given that 08th MS Team is popular overseas and has had significant influence, we brought in Kimitoshi Yamane as our Super Mechanical Advisor. Since we needed to maintain Gundam’s signature mechanical expression, we developed the mobile suit presentation and action sequences with Yamane’s input.”

While Japanese anime is undoubtedly gaining traction overseas, there are still demographic segments that remain unreached. The team sought to both satisfy existing fans while expanding their audience base. This new visual expression serves that purpose. The Gundam series has a history of challenging conventional animation, as demonstrated by the release of the 3DCG anime Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO in 2004, about 20 years ago. In this streaming era, they aimed to create a “new Gundam” that could only be realized through cutting-edge technology.

“There are still many people around the world who haven’t watched Gundam. We wanted to explore that potential. Of course, we’ve included elements for core fans and value them greatly, but we aimed to create visuals with a different direction than before. Global expansion has always been an aspiration for Gundam. Hollywood is currently facing difficulties producing blockbusters due to COVID and strike impacts. Given that Japanese anime is now widely available through streaming, there’s a significant opportunity for Japanese content. While we’re fortunate to have many fans in Japan and Asia, there’s still tremendous growth potential in the United States and Europe. Looking toward our 50th anniversary and the Hollywood live-action film currently in development, I believe it’s our mission to reach an even broader audience.”

◇ HISTORY OF EVOLUTION THROUGH CUTTING-EDGE

Silver Phantom is set in U.C. 0096 and was co-produced by Sunrise and Atlas V, a French VR production company known for works like Gloomy Eyes and Battlescar. The project gained attention when it was nominated for the Venice Immersive competition in the Extended Reality (XR) section at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, one of the world’s three major film festivals. This marked the first time a Gundam series work had been nominated for an international film festival.

“VR has been strongly associated with gaming, with relatively few narrative works in the medium. Moreover, a 90-minute feature-length VR piece is extremely rare. Most VR works tend to be heavily game-oriented with interactive elements, and even at Venice, there weren’t many story-focused feature-length pieces. While Gundam has primarily focused on series and theatrical releases, we have a history of creating immersive visual experiences, such as GUNDAM THE RIDE at Fuji-Q Highland and DOME-G in Odaiba, constantly evolving by incorporating cutting-edge visual technology. This VR project is an extension of that tradition. Although VR might not be widely accessible yet, we believe it will become essential for future visual expression, which is why we took on this challenge. We think VR is particularly well-suited for Gundam, as it can fulfill fan desires like sitting in a mobile suit cockpit, operating the controls, or entering a mobile suit hangar.”

While Requiem for Vengeance features more photorealistic characters, Silver Phantom has a style closer to 2D anime.

“Due to technical specifications, we opted for a more 2D-oriented style as the most suitable expression for VR. Representing Universal Century characters in 3D while maintaining the lineage of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s style has been one of the challenges for the Gundam series, but I believe we’ve managed to overcome it to some extent. The production combined both 3D and hand-drawn elements, with work divided between Sunrise, Atlas V, and Meta… It was truly a multilingual production environment where French, English, and Japanese all mixed together.”

◇ WHAT’S NEXT FOR GUNDAM: HATHAWAY PART 2?

Both Requiem for Vengeance and Silver Phantom are Universal Century works. What developments are being considered as we approach the 50th anniversary? Fans are particularly eager to hear about Part 2 of Gundam: Hathaway.

“With The Witch from Mercury and SEED FREEDOM behind us, and the 50th anniversary on the horizon, we’ll definitely keep the Alternative series going strong, but this Fall marks a shift in Gundam’s overall focus back to the Universal Century timeline. Part 2 of Gundam: Hathaway is in full production. While we’ve kept fans waiting, we want to deliver it as soon as possible. I believe the visuals will exceed everyone’s expectations, so please look forward to it.”

While they’re challenging themselves with new 3D visual expressions, there’s no doubt that Sunrise (Bandai Namco Filmworks) remains the world leader in hand-drawn robot animation techniques and expression.

“While future expansion, including overseas markets, is key, Gundam: Hathaway won’t shift to visuals like those in Requiem for Vengeance. There are things possible with Unreal Engine, and there are expressions that only 2D can achieve. Our core strength will remain the mecha action, human drama, and 2D animation style we’ve cultivated over the years. We’re challenging ourselves to evolve our visual expression for the future. Sunrise’s powerful weapon is our robot animation, which no one else in the world is doing quite like us. While preserving this strength, we’re incorporating new technologies and expressions to create works that can reach an even broader audience.”

The evolution of the Gundam series shows no signs of stopping. We can expect to see new forms of expression while maintaining the nearly 45-year tradition.