Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt


Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki. The manga takes place in the Universal Century timeline during and after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam. The manga is published by Shogakukan in Japan, with the English version licensed by Shogakukan Asia in Southeast Asia and Viz Media in North America. An ONA series adaptation by Sunrise was released between 25 December 2015 and 8 April 2016. A second season of the ONA series adapting the second arc of the manga was released between 24 March 2017 and 14 July 2017.

Plot

The series takes place concurrently with Mobile Suit Gundam, during the One Year War. In U.C. 0079, the Earth Federation's Moore Brotherhood and the Principality of Zeon's Living Dead Division engage in a fierce battle in the, a shoal zone littered with debris from destroyed space colonies, named for its frequent electrical discharges. Since the outbreak of the war, Zeon forces have secured the Thunderbolt Sector as it is a vital supply route to the Zeon-aligned A Baoa Qu asteroid fortress. The story focuses on Federation soldier Io Fleming as he battles Zeon's best sniper, Daryl Lorenz.

Characters

Moore Brotherhood

The is an Earth Federation squadron consisting of former residents of the space colonies of Side 4: Moore, with the intent of punishing the Principality of Zeon for destroying their homeland.

''Spartan'' crew

The is a Pegasus-class warship that serves as the protagonists' base in the series' second season.

Earth Federation

;

Living Dead Division

The is a Principality of Zeon squadron made of amputee pilots fitted with metal prosthetic limbs. The division is assigned to defend the Thunderbolt Sector from the Federation.

Zeon Remnants

South Seas Alliance

The is a Buddhist radical cult faction aligned with the Earth Federation until U.C. 0080, when it calls for independence. Its military consists primarily of mobile suits cobbled together from Federation and Zeon units from the One Year War. Intelligence reports reveal that the South Sea Alliance possesses the remains of Daryl's Psycho Zaku and plans to mass-produce its Reuse P. Device technology.

Media

Manga

Yasuo Ohtagaki put his Moonlight Mile manga on hiatus in November 2011 to write a Gundam series. He began serializing Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt in Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior magazine in March 2012.
North American publisher Viz Media announced their license to the series during their panel at Anime Expo on 1 July 2016.

Volumes

Anime

A 4-episode original net animation adaptation, produced by Sunrise, was confirmed on 28 October 2015. It was directed and written by Kō Matsuo, with character designs from Hirotoshi Takaya and mechanical designs from Morifumi Naka, Seiichi Nakatani and Hajime Katoki. It premiered on 25 December 2015 with the last episode officially aired on 8 April 2016 via pay to watch service in Japan, with early access from the Gundam Fan Club app service on 11 December 2015. The first episode was streamed outside Japan for a limited time from 25 December 2015 to 7 January 2016. A 4-episode second season was announced by Bandai Visual on 18 November 2016 and premiered on 24 March 2017. Sunrise announced in the 2017 Anime Expo that the second season will receive an English Dub.

Episode list

Movies

A theatrical compilation film of the first season titled Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky was released in Japanese theaters on 25 June 2016 with the Blu-ray release on 29 July 2016. Sunrise and Anime Limited distributed the film outside Japan. A theatrical compilation film of the second season titled Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower was released in Japanese theaters between 18 November – 1 December 2017.