It has been revealed that a snow sculpture of the Xi (Xi) Gundam, the protagonist's mobile suit from the theatrical anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash(directed by Murase Shukou), part of the popular Gundam anime series, will be appearing at the 2026 Sapporo Snow Festival, an event to be held in Sapporo city from February 4th to 11th. This will be the third consecutive year that the Gundam series will be exhibiting at the Sapporo Snow Festival. A Gundam booth will also be set up at the Tsudome venue. Products in collaboration with local Hokkaido companies will also be on sale.
"Hathaway's Flash" is based on a novel published in 1989-90 by director Yoshiyuki Tomino, known as the creator of the "Gundam" series. Set in the year 0105 of the Universal Century, Hathaway, the son of Bright Noa, who experienced a bitter separation during the Second Neo Zeon War, pilots a new mobile suit, the XI Gundam, and rises up in rebellion against the Earth Federation government.
It has been announced that the anime will be made up of three chapters, with the first chapter, released in June 2021, being a hit, grossing approximately 2.23 billion yen at the box office. The second chapter, "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash - The Witch of Circe," will be released on January 30th.
