A teaser trailer for "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM ZERO," the newest installment in the popular anime series "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED," has been released on YouTube's Gundam channel. The "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" series has produced "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED," "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY," and "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM." "SEED FREEDOM ZERO" is the "story after" of "SEED DESTINY," and is a prequel to "SEED FREEDOM." Morosawa Chiaki and Morita Shigeru wrote the screenplay during the planning of "SEED FREEDOM." The teaser trailer was shown at the end of the second special edition screening of "SEED FREEDOM," but was also released on YouTube.
It was also announced that Ono Daisuke will appear in the drama CD that will be included in the "Mighty Edition" and "Special Limited Edition" Blu-ray Discs (BDs) of "SEED FREEDOM," which will be released on December 25th. Ono will be playing Leonard Balway, a new character in Moonlight Walküre.
The Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series 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 sees director Fukuda and other staff from the TV anime reunite. The production of the film was announced in 2006, but there had been no further news about it for a long time. It was finally released about 18 years after the announcement.
"SEED FREEDOM" was released on January 26th and had a long run of about four months, surpassing the 2.3 billion yen box office revenue set by "Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space" in 1982, and is also making waves for breaking the all-time record for the highest box office revenue for a "Gundam" movie in 42 years. A special edition was also released, which is the "complete version" with over 500 updated scenes from the main story, and it has been a huge hit, bringing in 5 billion yen in box office revenue and drawing an audience of over 3 million people, including the special edition.
