Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island is the newest installment in the Gundam franchise, and it’s headed for U.S. theaters very soon. Directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the movie follows the Amuro Ray and the White Base on their journey to the eerie Island of No Return, where instead of lost soldiers, they find Cucuruz Doan and numerous children inhabiting the place. After Amuro and Doan meet, the former has to deal with the loss of his trusty mobile suit and find a way to safely escape the island.
The movie is based on the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, which ran from 1979 to 1980 in Japan. This 53-episode classic would later be wildly popularized, becoming a staple in the mecha anime scene for its revolutionary take on the genre. Proof of Mobile Suit Gundam’s massive success is the vast amount of adaptations and spin-offs the series originated, including animated tv series, manga, video games, OVAs, and, of course, movies.
With so much content for fans to go through, some might begin to wonder where the most recent movie fits in the series’ timeline. We’re here to answer that question.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island and its place in the series’ timeline
The answer is quite simple actually: Cucuruz Doan’s Island fits right into the classic anime series’ plot, between episodes 14 and 16 to be exact. You might now question how a full-length movie released 43 years after the anime’s premiere could possibly achieve such a feat, but this is no ordinary movie we’re talking about.
Cucuruz Doan’s Island is actually a remake of the infamous 15th episode of the classic anime, which aired for the first time on July 14, 1979, in Japan. Its premiere would go on to become one of the rare times the episode aired on TV, as it was later removed from re-runs and from all of the anime’s English releases. No one knows for sure why the creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino, made this call, but the fandom’s long-standing theory is that the episode’s animation defects had something to do with it. Besides, the episode had a self-contained plot, meaning it wasn’t necessary for the anime’s overall storyline, which probably helped the decision to remove it.
With Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island, fans who were never able to watch episode 15’s story unfold will finally have their chance. Plus, they’ll get treated to better animation and a deeper understanding of the original plot, as the movie expands on the story. Admittedly, it was a very long wait, but probably worth it.