Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

A few months ago we saw the return of Gundam Wing and now we have another Gundam series making its re-appearance to the UK. This time a few weeks earlier than initially planned thanks to early stock.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 is a 2007 anime series from studio Sunrise and directed by Seiji Mizushima. It is the twelfth television series in the Gundam franchise and one that won’t require knowledge of the previous titles to enjoy it.

Gundam 00 takes place in the Anno Domini timeline, which is a separate continuity from the Universal Century where Amuro & Char’s saga is covered. That means a whole new cast of characters but the series keeps the same themes of war and the idea of using Gundams to fight.

Like Gundam Wing, the series was previously released in the UK by distributor Beez Entertainment on DVD, however, due to the publisher discontinuing at the same time as Bandai in the US the Gundam licenses went in limbo until Anime Limited stepped in and became the UK distributor for the franchise on behalf of Sunrise.

UK distributor Anime Limited is the main distributor for Gundam on home video. As part of their Summer of Gundam 40th Anniversary plan, they are finally releasing Mobile Suit Gundam 00 however the film and the OVA special edition are delayed to 2020, so only the main series is going to be available during this plan. Like the other Gundam UK releases on Blu-ray, we have the collector’s edition box first for the first half followed by the booklet for the second half. A standard edition version will be planned later down the line once the two parts go out of print.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 contains all 25 episodes of the show’s first season across 4 Blu-ray discs, using the Nozomi & Rightstuf master this time around (much like Gundam Wing did). The audio options for the series are both English & Japanese audio with English subtitles. The disc is region locked to B and the subtitles are unlockable during playback. The colour of the subtitles is yellow for the main dialogue and white for secondary dialogue or on-screen info.

The collector’s edition Blu-ray is available to order through Amazon UK.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: English, Japanese
Audio: English Linear PCM 2.0, Japanese Linear PCM 2.0
Video: 1080p High Definition Native format with 16:9 ratio
Region: B
Subtitles: English
Locked Subtitles: No
Discs: 4

Plot Synopsis (via Anime Limited):

“The year is 2307 A.D. While the Earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been depleted, humanity has obtained a new, nearly infinite source of energy to replace them in the form of large-scale solar-powered generation systems based on three huge orbital elevators. However, the benefits of this system are available only to a handful of major powers and their allies.

These orbital elevators belong to three superpower blocs: the Union, the Human Reform League and the AEU. These confederations continue to play a grand zero-sum game for the sake of their own prestige and prosperity. Thus, even in the 24th Century, humanity has yet to unite as one.

In this world of unceasing conflict, a private armed organisation steps forward, declaring their intention to eliminate war through martial force. Using the power of their mobile suits combatively, a series of four high-performance machines each dubbed “Gundam,” the paramilitary organisation known as Celestial Being takes the world stage, beginning armed interventions within all the world’s nations.”

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Gundam 00 “Daybreak’s Bell” Promotional Video (Disc 2)
Gundam 00 Flash-like Chibi Short (Disc 4)
Japanese Audio Commentary for Episode 17 (Disc 3), 21 & 25 (Disc 4)
Tactical Forecasts 3-6 (Disc 1), 7-10 (Disc 2), 11-14 & 15-18 (Disc 3), 19-22 & 23-25 (Disc 4)
Clean Opening Song 1 (Disc 1) & Song 2 (Disc 3)
Clean Ending Song 1 (Disc 2) & Song 2 (Disc 4)