Kicking off the “Real Robot” mecha genre, the Mobile Suit Gundam series is known for its military narrative aspects. Now, an upcoming Netflix series is taking that to the next level with a CG show set in the franchise’s most iconic timeline.
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance takes a very different perspective on the mecha series, presenting its most iconic conflict from a more realistic level. This can now be seen in the first major preview of the chapter, released as part of Netflix's Geeked Week. The extended preview, seen below, promises intense action amid the “One Year War,” adding to the classic continuity that began 45 years ago.
Netflix's Geeked Week Reveals First Look at Gundam's First Unreal Engine 5 Anime
The new look at Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is an expanded preview of the show's scope, which is certainly more “realistic” than many previous Gundam anime. It's set at the end of the One Year War, which was the main conflict between the Earth Federation and Zeon in the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime from 1979. That show begins the Universal Century timeline, of which Requiem for Vengeance is the latest of many installments over the decades.
Created entirely in CGI using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5, the preview of the show accurately depicts what the real-world setting will look like. There's a stronger sense of military combat, enhanced by the English voice acting and character designs. After being ambushed, a Zeon army calls in the help of the Red Wolves — a team of mobile suit pilots who use the iconic Zaku mobile suits. Protagonist Iria Sorari will be a member of the team, with their goal being to defend Zeon territory in Europe.
Netflix's Requiem for Vengeance Will Be One of the Darkest Gundam Series Ever
The series' preview tone paints an even darker picture than entries like Mobile Suit Gundam: 008th MS Team, which also stripped away the sometimes-grandiose layers and focused on more realistic military battles. Before the mobile suits came along, most of the action was handled by human troops. There's more blood and graphic violence, as well as adult language, with these elements promising what could be the darkest Gundam series yet.
Though co-produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks, Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance is an English-language production that was released globally. It was also directed by Western filmmaker Erasmus Brosdau, cementing it as a more “international” version of the series. Created entirely using computer-generated animation, it is only the second Gundam series since 2009's Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO to be produced using this method of animation, and the first series to be animated using Unreal Engine 5. It is also the first new series since 2023's Gundam Build Metaverse, although that is a spin-off and unrelated to the Universal Century timeline.
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance will stream on Netflix starting October 17, 2024.
Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam follows Amuro Ray as he learns to pilot an experimental mobile suit called a Gundam. After his home is destroyed in an attack by the Principality of Zeon, Amuro joins the crew of the aircraft carrier White Base as they attempt to regroup with the Earth Federation. The series is both a Saturday morning cartoon and a dark meditation on the cost of war and the arbitrary boundaries it creates between humanity. MSG sets the stage for the rest of the entire Gundam franchise, spanning over 40 years of television shows, comics, films, and video games.
Source: Press release
