The opening ceremony for GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE FINAL in TOKYO was held on February 21 at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building Triangle Square in Tokyo.

During the event, a new immersive experience film, GUNDAM: Next Universal Century, was announced for the upcoming Osaka-Kansai Expo. This new Gundam NEXT FUTURE PAVILION attraction will feature an 18-meter-deep, 8-meter-high screen, enhanced with Sony’s Haptic Floor technology, allowing visitors to experience the New Universal Century and a future where Mobile Suits coexist with humanity in a fully immersive 360-degree environment powered by Unreal Engine 5.

Director Takanori Tsujimoto Shares His Excitement

The project is helmed by Takanori Tsujimoto, the main director of Ultraman Arc (2024) and a native of Osaka.

At the opening event, producer Kentaro Morishita shared how he reached out to Tsujimoto through SNS. Recalling the moment, Tsujimoto said:
"At first, I thought it was a joke. I had to do a double take—no, a triple take! But then I realized, Morishita-san isn’t the type to joke about something like this, so it had to be real."

He continued:
"Morishita-san’s message was pretty short, but I sent him six responses because I felt my excitement wasn’t coming across enough! I wanted to make sure he understood how much I wanted to be part of this."

Although Tsujimoto was busy juggling multiple live-action and anime projects at the time, he enthusiastically accepted the offer:
"As a freelance director, work tends to pile up at certain times, but I told them, ‘I cannot turn down a Gundam project—let me do this no matter what!’"

The GUNDAM NEXT FUTURE FINAL in TOKYO event will run until February 24.

Synopsis: GUNDAM: Next Universal Century

Year 2150. As a visitor to Yumeshima, you join a tour of the massive space station "Star Jaburo." Guided by Haro, you board an orbital elevator, embarking on a journey 36,000 km above the Earth.

At Star Jaburo, various Mobile Suits play a crucial role in humanity’s expansion into the depths of space. However, just as the tour unfolds, an unexpected crisis occurs—an anomaly in a Space Debris Removal Operation threatens to escalate into disaster…!

Cast & Staff: GUNDAM: Next Universal Century

Cast
Ix – Gaku Hamada
Poe – Tao Tsuchiya
Gurou – Yuki Totsuka
Raizen – Noboru Kaneda
??? – Shinji Takeda
Announcer – Takumi Saito

Staff
Planning & Production – Sunrise
Original Work – Hajime Yatate, Yoshiyuki Tomino
Director – Takanori Tsujimoto
Screenplay & Special Settings – Shigeru Morita (Studio Nue)
Mechanical Design – Kunio Okawara, Mika Akitaka, Takashi Miyamoto
Marking Design – Hajime Katoki
Art Setting – Ariaki Okada
Color Design – Nagisa Abe
CG Director – Yusuke Kumano
CG Modeling Director – Keito Morita
Music – Evan Call
Ending Theme – Uyanga Bold "Dream Beyond Forever"
Production – Bandai Namco Filmworks

Source : ORICON NEWS