Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

GUNDAM THUNDERBOLT

Here's a pulse-pounding new extended trailer for Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, the upcoming four-episode anime series launching next month from Sunshine and Bandai Visual.  Adapted from the manga spinoff of the same name written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki, this insane preview is a colorful riot of giant robots, armored outer-space combat, deadly Zaku snipers and bolts of searing coherent light all set to a hip, jazzy soundtrack.  It's a welcome addition to the ever-expanding Gundam universe that should entice hardcore fans and new converts alike.  The manga source material is set during the One Year War of the Universal Century and is based around events in the “Thunderbolt Sector,” a wasteland of destroyed battleships and ravaged colonies.

Here is the official synopsis:

The Universal Century began with mankind moving its burgeoning population into outer space. The year is UC0079. The cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth, Side 3, proclaim themselves the Principality of Zeon and launch a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Now, it is nearly one year since the war broke out. In the “Thunderbolt sector”, a reef section of space where a large quantity of wreckage from battleships and destroyed space colonies from the war lies, a violent battle plays out as the Earth Federation Forces set their sights on recapturing the Zeon controlled sector.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt’s first 18-minute episode will be available digitally in Japan on Dec. 25.