The Gundam franchise has certainly found its niche in focusing on countless realities and universe-spanning battles over its decades-long history. With next year set to introduce mech enthusiasts to the “After Apocalypse” universe, a world that sees Gundams fighting against an extraterrestrial threat, the franchise has been more than willing to return to stories from the past. Seeing major success with the likes of Gundam SEED Freedom Destiny in theaters, a brand-new Gundam story bringing back a mech classic has arrived in the pages of Gundam Ace. Prepare yourselves, Gundam fans, because a new story in the Gundam X universe is here.
After War Gundam X first hit the scene in 1996 with a manga by creator Koichi Tokita, with an anime adaptation arriving later that same year. Focusing on a young pilot named Garrod Ran, a scavenger who finds himself in the cockpit of the “Gundam X,” the original thirty-nine-episode anime series wove a war-torn tale for the franchise. While the space battles of Gundam X might have seemed familiar considering the Universal Century universe focusing on the conflict between the Earth Federation and Zeon, X had plenty of new material to bring to the table. In the latest issue of the manga publication, Gundam Ace, Tokita himself has returned to his universe with the sequel series, Mobile Suit Gundam X Flash. You can check out the new art for the mech sequel below.
The new series from the “After War Universe” will act as a follow-up to the one-shot special, After War Gundam X Next Prologue: If I’m With You… Also created by Tokita, this prologue special brought back Garrod and Tiffa following the conclusion of the original series. While Next Prologue didn’t receive an anime adaptation, it did move the universe forward when it first landed on shelves in 2018. For Flash, the pair of protagonists return once again, with this sequel seeing Tiffa and Garrod receiving a message from “D.O.M.E.” For those who might need a refresher, D.O.M.E. stands for “Depths of Minds Elevating,” and played a key role in the original series. Once again making a comeback following the events of After War Gundam X: Under the Moonlight, it seems that Depths of Minds Elevating can’t be out of the spotlight for too long.
Unfortunately, no news has arrived from Bandai Namco Filmworks as to whether they will adapt this current story to the screen, though this is par for the course for many Gundam manga and light novels. Series like Gundam Wing and G Gundam have released sequel stories that were printed on the page, but never given anime adaptations. Thanks to the success of Gundam Seed Freedom, the franchise might well see box office potential in revisiting old universes.
