The visuals for the bonus features included with the Blu-ray Disc (BD), 4K UHD-BD, and DVD of the movie version of the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, have been released. The illustrations were drawn by character designer Hirai Hisashi, and each company will have a different design. In addition to Kira, Lacus, Athrun, Cagalli, Shin, Lunamaria, and others, Yzak and Dearka are also depicted. The illustration for the bonus for all companies who purchase the series is a group illustration of a total of eight characters, including the main characters as well as Mu and Murrue.
Preview videos for the drama CDs included in the special limited edition, "Two Escapes," "Moonlight Walküre," and "Neumann's Logbook," have been released on YouTube. There are three types in total: "Escape for Two," which depicts a brief respite for Athrun and Cagalli as they each work their duties; "Moonlight Walküre," which depicts Agnes, Shin, and Lunamaria's time at the military academy; and "Neumann's Logbook," which is told from the perspective of Neumann, the Archangel's famous helmsman. Blu-rays and other versions will be released on December 25th.
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 movie version was announced in 2006, but there had been no further news for a long time since then. It was released about 18 years after it was announced. It has also been talked about as breaking the all-time record for the highest box office revenue of a Gundam movie in the history of the series, breaking the 2.3 billion yen box office record set by Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, released in 1982, for the first time in about 42 years.
A "limited-time special edition" with updated footage from the main story was released on September 20th, and together with the special edition, the box office revenue was 5 billion yen and the number of viewers exceeded 3 million. The special edition is the "complete version" with over 500 cuts of updated footage from the main story. The first edition will be screened from September 20th to October 3rd, and the second edition will be screened from November 1st to 14th, with different epilogue cuts added to the first and second editions.
