Japanese cosplay and character apparel company Cospa has announced the release of two new flight jackets, themed after the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash anime film and Mobile Suit Gundam TV series.
The fabric feature the same lightweight and durable nylon material as actual flight jackets, and by removing the padding, the jacket can be worn in three seasons.
In addition, all of the patches featuring Mafty and Principality of Zeon military motifs are embroidered. The Mafty and Principality of Zeon Forces Flight Jackets are both priced at 31,900 yen with an April 2023 release date.
In the “Hathaway’s Flash anime film series, the “Anti-Earth Federation Movement” Mafty is a terrorist organization led by Hathaway Noa under the name Mafty Navue Erin. The group serves as the protagonist faction waging an insurgency against the corrupt Earth Federation government, assassinating cabinet ministers, and ultimately planning to raid the Adelaide Conference in Australia.
In the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series, the Principality of Zeon is the antagonistic faction engaged in a war of independence against the Earth Federation. They are ruled by Degwin Zabi and his children Gihren Zabi, Kycillia Zabi, Dozle Zabi, and Garma Zabi.
First in a trilogy of anime films helmed by director Shukou Murase, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash or Hathaway is the official sequel to the 1988 Mobile Suit Gundam Char’s Counterattack movie. The project was announced in November 2018 to celebrate the Gundam 40th anniversary, adapting the Yoshiyuki Tomino-penned novel series of the same name. The novels were originally released from 1989 to 1990, as a follow-up to Tomino’s Char’s Counterattack: Beltorchika’s Children novel.
Ergo Proxy and Genocidal Organ’s Shukou Murase is directing the film project, with scripts by Yasuyuki Mutou. Pablo Uchida, Shigeki Kuhara, and Naoyuki Onda serve as the character designers for the films. Hiroyuki Sawano returns from Mobile Suit Gundam entries Unicorn and Narrative as music composer, with rock-band [Alexandros] performing its theme song “Senkou”. The films’ mechanical design team consists of Hajime Katoki, Kimitoshi Yamane, Nobuhiko Genba, and Seiichi Nakatani.
Opening to Japanese theaters June 11, 2021 the Hathaway film has earned record box office sales with 2.2 billion yen in revenue, with over 1.08 million tickets sold, becoming the second highest grossing Gundam film. Hathaway sits behind the 1982 Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, which earned 2.3 billion yen in box office revenue. As of June 2021, producer Naohiro Ogata confirmed the second installment was in production, tentatively titled, Sun of Bright (also read as “Son”).
In September, the Bandai Namco Group announced during their Gundam Conference Autumn 2022 from January to March 2023, Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash, Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt will broadcast as TV versions with four episodes each. The TV versions will broadcast during MBS and TBS‘s 5pm Sunday anime block “Nichigo” after Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury completes its cour 1 broadcast.
Story
The year is U.C. 0105. Twelve years have passed since the end of the second Neo Zeon War (Char’s Rebellion). Even after “the Axis Shock,” which seemed to indicate the future of humanity and the Universal Century, the world is still in a chaotic situation where intermittent military conflicts continue to break out. The Earth Federation government is more corrupt than ever, and its leadership has not only accelerated Earth’s pollution, but also implemented an inhuman “Man Hunting” policy in which civilians are forcibly exiled to outer space.
The anti-Federation government organization “Mafty,” led by someone called “Mafty Navue Erin,” has taken a stand against the corruption of the Earth Sphere. Mafty carries out fierce acts of terrorism, assassinating high officials of the Federation government one after another, but it gains a certain level of support from the populace who are growing more opposed to the Federation government.
The person who calls himself “Mafty” and leads this organization is Hathaway Noa, the son of Bright Noa, an officer of the Earth Federation Forces who once participated in the One Year War. Hathaway himself joined the forces trying to stop Char’s Rebellion. With firsthand knowledge of the ideals and ideologies of Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, he has become a warrior following in their footsteps, and plans to clear a path forward through armed resistance. His destiny, however, is drastically altered as he encounters the Federation Forces officer Kenneth Sleg and a mysterious young beauty named Gigi Andalucia.
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