Sunrise revealed a new trailer forMobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, which reveals originalGundamprotagonist Amuro Ray will be appearing in the movie, alongside a release date for the movie in Japan’s theaters. We’re here to explain what you need to know aboutHathaway’s Flashas aGundamfan.
What’sMobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash?
Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash(Senkou no Hathawayin Japanese) was originally a novel. In case you didn’t know, there’s a plethora ofGundammanga and novels besides the animated works. And most never ever leave Japan.
Some of them were written byGundam’s original author and director Yoshiyuki Tomino. AndHathaway’s Flashis one of these novels. Taking place over 10 years afterChar’s Counterattack, the original novel features Hathaway, Bright Noah’s son, as he leads a terrorist organization by the name of Mafty. Hathaway himself uses an alias, Mufti Nabiyy Erin, and pilots a new mobile suit, the RX-105 Xi Gundam.
Hathaway is tormented by the events fromChar’s Counterattack, and the legacies of Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, and his father. He ends up confronting Lane Aim, piloting another Gundam unit, the RX-104FF Penelope.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flashwas first published from February 1989 to April 1990, with illustrations by Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross' character designer among other works) and mecha designer Moriki Yasuhiro.
Moriki Yasuhiro, who also handled the mecha design for theZeorymeranime adaptation, and the design ofGreat Zeorymerappearing inSuper Robot Wars, has an iconic touch with how “pointy” his mecha are:
In theHathawaymovies, the mecha designs were re adaptated by Seiichi Nakatani. Judging from the trailers, the animation looks incredible, though the use of 3DCGI might not fit every mecha fan’s taste.
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathawayrelease date
Sunrise initiallyannouncedMobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flashin 2018 for the 40th anniversary of theGundamfranchise. The anime project is made of three movies, and the first one was supposed to release in June 04, 2025, in Japanese theaters, but was delayed with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The firstMobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flashmovie in Japan will now be releasing on July 18, 2025 in theaters. Dates for future movies were not announced yet.
Outside Japan, theMobile Suit Gundam: Hathawaymovie has no release date yet. However, seeing how huge of a franchiseGundamis, it’s likely that one of the simulcast services, such as Crunchyroll or Funimation, will announce a release at some point.
The trailer also confirms Amuro Ray will be making an appearance as we can hear him at the end.
Note that the rock band handling the theme song is Alexandros, who also did the opening theme of Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’sJudgment. Which is part of theYakuzaseries.
IsGundam Hathawaycanon?
Originally, the novel was meant to be not a sequel to theChar’s Counterattackanime movie, but a sequel toBeltorchika’s Children, which is a novel retelling of the movie. As such, it’s ambiguous whetherHathaway’s Flashis canon or not. Personally speaking, I’d suggest to not brood over it, as it’s most of the time pointless arguing about timelines and whether something is canon or not when it comes to Japanese works. Especially with huge franchises likeGundam.
