The official website for the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM film project revealed on Friday that Mika Nakashima is set to perform an insert song titled “Bōkyō.” Nakashima had previously contributed an ending theme song for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed. The film, which premiered in Japan on Friday, is chronologically set in C.E. (Cosmic Era) 75.
Directed by Mobile Suit Gundam Seed’s Mitsuo Fukuda, the film was produced at Bandai Namco Filmworks. Fukuda also co-wrote the script, collaborating with his late wife Chiaki Morosawa and Liu Goto. Character designs were handled by Hisashi Hirai (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed).
The film’s theme song, “Freedom,” is performed by Takanori Nishikawa (also known as T.M. Revolution) in collaboration with producer t.komuro (Tetsuya Komuro). Additionally, See-Saw makes a return to the Gundam franchise to perform the ending song “Sarigiwa no Romantics” (Romantics Upon Parting), marking the duo’s first new music in two decades.
The film project is a significant component of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Project ignited initiative, which was unveiled in 2021 to mark the 20th anniversary of the original Mobile Suit Gundam Seed anime in 2022. The initiative encompasses various elements, including a new Mobile Suit Gundam Seed game and the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Eclipse side-story manga.
Director Mitsuo Fukuda, known for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, has confirmed that the film serves as a sequel to the second Gundam Seed television anime, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam Seed television anime aired from 2002 to 2003, followed by Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny from 2004 to 2005. The three-part Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer anime project followed in 2006. The planned film project was announced by Sony Music Anime Festival ’06 in May 2006.
Unfortunately, Chiaki Morosawa, the head scriptwriter for the two Gundam Seed series, passed away at the age of 56 in 2016. She had been collaborating with her husband, who directed both Gundam Seed television series, on the intended Gundam Seed film project. Morosawa had explained in 2008 that the plot for the project was finalized, but she had been ill since the conclusion of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny sequel in 2005.