On September 26th, it was revealed that the box office revenue of the movie version of the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, has exceeded 5 billion yen. The movie was released on January 26th and had a long run of about four months, and was a huge hit, grossing 4.9 billion yen and attracting over 2.9 million viewers. A "limited-time special edition" with updated footage was released on September 20th, and as of September 25th, it had grossed 5 billion yen and attracted over 3 million viewers.
The movie has also been talked about for breaking the all-time record for the highest box office revenue of a Gundam movie in about 42 years, surpassing the box office revenue of Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, which was released in 1982 and recorded approximately 2.3 billion yen.
The Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series was broadcast from October 2002 to September 2003, and its sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY, was broadcast 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 movie was announced in 2006, but there were no further updates for a long time. It has finally been released after about 18 years since the announcement.
The special edition is a "complete edition" with over 500 cuts of the main story updated, and the first edition will be screened from September 20th to October 3rd, and the second edition from November 1st to 14th, with different epilogue cuts added to the first and second editions.
To commemorate the 5 billion yen box office revenue and 3 million audience members, illustrations of the Strike Freedom Gundam Nishiki, Infinite Justice Gundam Nishiki, and Black Knight Code Carla were also released.
