Arisa Toyosaki, product marketer with Google Japan announced yesterday the tech giant would be adding iconic Japanese characters to its augmented reality search feature, allowing users on iOS or Android mobile devices to view 3D models of characters in augmented reality.
Japan’s anime and video game culture emerged between the 1950s and the 1980s, as comic books, gaming arcades and home TVs and consoles boomed. But it wasn’t just a Japanese phenomenon. The most iconic characters caught people’s imaginations around the world, and they’re still hugely popular today.
Arisa Toyosaki
Among the slew of Japanese IP is Gundam, specifically the three main Gundam type mobile suits featured in Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash: Xi Gundam, Odysseus Gundam, and Penelope. The selection of these mobile suits over the plethora of choices comes as no surprise with anime studio Sunrise gearing up for the release of the Hathaway’s Flash anime film.
Designed by mechanical designer Yasuhiro Moriki, the RX-104FF Penelope and RX-105 Xi Gundam were developed by Anaheim Electronics as sister mobile suits, both containing a Minovsky craft system giving them advanced flight capabilities. The RX-104 Odysseus Gundam is the Penelope separated from its Fixed Flight(FF) unit. Penelope and Xi Gundam serve as the lead rival mobile suits from Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash piloted by Earth Federation lieutenant Lane Aime, and Mafty leader Hathaway Noa aka Mafty Navue Erin, respectively.
How to access and share:
Search for one of the characters on Google using a mobile device and tap “View in 3D” to rotate or zoom in and see it up close.
- Android: Search for “Gundam” or one of the 14 characters on the Google app or any Android browser and tap “View in 3D.” You can see 3D content on devices with Android 7 Plus and you can see AR content on ARCore-enabled devices.
- iOS: Search for “Gundam” or one of the 14 characters on the Google app. 3D and AR content is available on iOS 11.0+ devices.
Full list of characters:
- Ultraman
- Ultraman Zero
- Ultraman Belial
- Gomora
- Evangelion (EVA-01 Test Type)
- Gundam (Xi Gundam, Odysseus Gundam,, Penelope)
- Cogimyun
- The drums from Taiko no Tatsujin
- Pac-Man
- Pompompurin
- Little Twin Stars
First in a trilogy of anime films, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash, or Hathaway is scheduled for a May 7, 2021 release date, serving as the official sequel to Char’s Counterattack. 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, published by Kadokawa’s Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko imprint.
The film project serves as the second entry in Sunrise’s U.C. NexT 0100 Project following Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative. The first entry of the trilogy was initially set for a July 23, 2020 release date, but was delayed due to coronavirus COVID-19.
Following the 15 minute Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash preview on Gundam Channel, it was announced the Blu-ray for the film will be released simultaneously with the theatrical release date of May 7, 2021, at all participating theaters in Japan. The upcoming Gundam film will have standard and limited edition versions priced at 5,000 yen and 12,000 yen respectively.
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.
Cast
- Kensho Ono as Hathaway Noa
- Junichi Suwabe as Kenneth Sleg
- Reina Ueda as Gigi Andalucia
- Soma Saito as Lane Aime
- Toru Furuya as Amuro Ray
- Kenjiro Tsuda as Gawman Nobile
- Yuki Ishikawa as Emeralda Zubin
- Fukushi Ochiai as Raymond Cain
- Shunsuke Takeuchi as Iram Masam
- Misato Matsuoka as Mihessia Hence
- Chiharu Sawashiro as Kenji Mitsuda
- Atsumi Tanezaki as Mace Flower
- Koichi Yamadera as Hundley Yeoksan
Ergo Proxy and Genocidal Organ’sShukou 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. The films’ mechanical design team consists of Hajime Katoki, Kimitoshi Yamane, Nobuhiko Genba, and Seiichi Nakatani.
Source: Google
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