It’s easy to forget how long the Gundam franchise has been around, and the Gundam Conference Spring 2026 livestream event serves as a reminder of its upcoming 50th anniversary. In the lead-up to the celebration in 2029, fans can look forward to a series of upcoming projects and events, starting with Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom Zero.
Previously shown during the second round of special-edition screenings for Gundam Seed Freedom in Japan in November 2024, the prequel is set for a theatrical release at an undetermined date, with Chiaki Morosawa — the late screenwriter and creator of the “Cosmic Era” of Mobile Suit Gundam Seed — and Shigeru Morita credited as the original scenario writers.
According to director Mitsuo Fukuda, the script was completed 20 years ago, and the storyboards were nearly half-finished. Other details, including story specifics and presentation format, were not shared, though the project was originally planned as an original video anime (OVA).
Alongside Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom Zero, other announcements include a prologue video titled A Boy With Gundam for the 50th-anniversary “Road to 50” project, centered on three generations of fans; a Gundam-Con event that will take place at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan, from 9 to 11 January 2027, before it heads to various regions around the world; the official designation of 7 April as Gundam Day, taking after the premiere date of the first anime series; a remaster project in the works; and a new “big project” called Gundam Landmark Project. Additionally, the life-size Unicorn Gundam located at Tokyo’s Odaiba will be taken down at the end of this August, while a collaboration with Hololive Productions is also in the pipeline.
Mobile Suit Gundam Freedom opened in Japan in January 2024 and remains the highest-earning franchise film in the country to date. It grossed 1,065,983,130 yen (US$7.2 million / S$8.6 million) in its first three days, and serves as a direct sequel to the Gundam Seed Destiny, with a synopsis that reads:
“C.E. (Cosmic Era) 75, the battle was not over yet, with an independence movement arising and an invasion by Blue Cosmos, a group calling for the expulsion of the Coordinator. In order to calm down the situation, the world peace monitoring organisation “Compass” is established with Lacus as its first president, and Kira and the others intervene in battles in various places as members. At that time, the Emerging Country Foundation, which was independent from the Eurasian Federation, requests the dispatch of Compass to the Blue Cosmos’ headquarters and proposes a joint operation.“
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
