A stage greeting for the "limited time special edition" of the popular anime series "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" with updated footage from the movie "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM" was held on September 20th at Shinjuku Piccadilly (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo), featuring Soichiro Hoshi, who plays Kira Yamato, Kotono Mitsuishi, who plays Murrue Ramius, Houko Kuwashima, who plays Agnes Giebenrath, and director Mitsuo Fukuda. Kuwashima, who played Natarle Badilule, Frey Alster, and Stella Louche in "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" and "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY", appeared for the first time at a "SEED FREEDOM" event, and performed a one-man show in which she transformed into Natarle, Frey, Stella, and Agnes. Hoshi was delighted, saying, "Everyone got to see Kuwashima's comedy, right!" Director Fukuda was surprised, saying, "I didn't think (Kuwashima) would be this kind of character..." Natarle, Frey, and Stella, all played by Kuwashima in "SEED" and "SEED DESTINY," met tragic deaths. Agnes, the character she played in "SEED FREEDOM," is alive. Kuwashima said, "I thought she would die..." Director Fukuda explained, "She was supposed to be killed by Shura, but when we were changing the structure of the second half, we realized she wouldn't die... Thanks to Athrun's delusions, we couldn't squeeze in a serious development."
In "SEED FREEDOM," the scene in which Murrue executes the "Tactical Badger Rule" was also a hot topic. Kuwashima said excitedly, "The moment I said 'Tactical Badger Rule,' I felt a surge of emotion. You didn't forget! The proof that I was alive is engraved inside you! Isn't that right, Director?" Director Fukuda revealed, "That's right. It wasn't in the script, but we squeezed it in during the storyboard."
The film was released on January 26th and had a long run of about four months, becoming a huge hit with box office takings of 4.9 billion yen and an audience of over 2.9 million. It has also been talked about as breaking the all-time record for the highest box office takings of a Gundam movie in 42 years, surpassing the 2.3 billion yen recorded by Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, released in 1982.
The Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series' Mobile Suit Gundam SEED aired from October 2002 to September 2003, and its sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY, aired from October 2004 to October 2005. SEED FREEDOM is a sequel to SEED DESTINY, and reunites the staff of the TV anime, including Director Mitsuo Fukuda. The production of the theatrical version was announced in 2006, but there were no further updates for a long time after that. It has finally been released, about 18 years after the announcement.
The special edition is the "complete version" with over 500 updated scenes from the main movie. The first part will be screened from September 20th to October 3rd, and the second part from November 1st to 14th, and different epilogue scenes will be added to each part.
