Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer is a 2010 original theatrical anime film by studio Sunrise, director Seiji Mizushima and writer Yōsuke Kuroda. The film was theatrically released in September 2010 for Japan. In addition, Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Special Edition is a 2009-2010 original anime video series by the same studio and team. The OVAs were distributed between October 2009 to February 2010.
Background:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer
“2314 A.D. The new government of the Earth Sphere Federation is carrying out a program of peaceful reconciliation and preparing for the appearance of the Innovators who will lead the human race into a new era. But the return of a derelict Jupiter exploration ship marks the beginning of an unprecedented crisis. What are the alien entities known as Extraterrestrial Living-metal Shape-shifters? What do they want? And will Setsuna F. Seiei and his fellow Gundam Meisters be able to answer these questions before humanity is wiped out?”
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Special Edition
“Through destruction, Celestial Being will bring rebirth to the world.
Eradicating war by means of armed interventions. The year is 2307 AD. As three superpowers, the Union, the Human Reform League, and the AEU, are vying for global influence, the private armed organization “Celestial Being” suddenly appears. Celestial Being, using the mobile weapon “Gundam” in an attempt to eliminate war, brings astonishment and chaos to the people of the world with its contradictory actions. Before long, it begins to provoke even hatred and anger. However, this will become the power to compel the world into a drastic reformation.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, August 2020.
Last year, Anime Limited revealed the Summer of Gundam which covered Char’s Counterattack, Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower, Gundam Wing and Gundam 00. Most of them managed to get released during that time period, however, two instalments did not – Gundam Wing Endless Waltz and Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer.
Fast-forward to present time, the former was released earlier in the year and now we finally get our hands on the remaining instalment for the Gundam 00 franchise. Back when Beez Entertainment released some Gundam, only the main series was brought over so this is the first time that Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer receives a UK release. But that’s not the only title included, as we also receive Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Special Edition which is an OVA series that complies the events of the main series, similar to what Gundam Wing did with Operation Meteor.
Like Gundam Wing, Gundam 00 has done pretty well in terms of sales with a majority of the collector’s editions for this franchise sold out with just under 500 units left now for this release. Anime Limited have the UK & Ireland rights as part of their partnership with Sunrise, while Nozomi Entertainment have the US & Canada rights.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
For the Gundam franchise, Anime Limited is giving each Gundam anime a rigid box to house the film or series with one or a couple of physical additions. Earlier this year, Gundam Wing received a special treatment that has an additional box to house the whole franchise and Gundam 00 gets the same treatment also. The twist here is that we have the film and OVAs in separate amaray cases, and therefore the box is larger.
Like the other Anime Limited sets, the main regular collector’s edition release is 1000 units only, but the shop exclusive box that houses the whole set is 500 units (which has in fact sold out also). I received my copy early as part of pre-ordering the set during their early bird sale. The SRP is £59.99 and the early bird price was £34.99 (I paid £31.50 for being a premium member of Screen Anime).
Physical Contents:
- Shop Exclusive: Rigid Outer Box with clean artwork to house all CE sets
- Rigid Box with amaray case packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specs and sticker on wrapping for BBFC logo
- 7 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 17th August 2020
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer & 00: Special Edition contains the film and 3 OVA episodes across four Blu-ray discs using the Nozomi Entertainment author. The audio options available for the film include Japanese with English subtitles and the Ocean Productions/Bandai Entertainment English dub. The 00: Special Edition OVAs were never dubbed before and thus will only be accessible in Japanese with English subtitles.
As this is a Nozomi authored title, we have yellow subtitles which are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | A Wakening of the Trailblazer: English, Japanese 00 Special Edition: Japanese |
| Audio | A Wakening of the Trailblazer: English Linear PCM 2.0 English Linear PCM 5.1 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 5.1 00 Special Edition: Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | A Wakening of the Trailblazer: 1 00 Special Edition: 3 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
A Wakening of the Trailblazer:
- Gundam 00 Movie PVs
- Gundam 00 Movie Trailers
- Gundam 00 Movie TV Series Guide
- “Celestial Being” Movie Trailer
00 Special Edition – Disc 1:
- Special Edition Ending 1
00 Special Edition – Disc 2:
- Special Edition Ending 2
00 Special Edition – Disc 3:
- Special Edition Ending 3
- Gundam 00 Movie Preview PV
Unboxing Photos:
Here’s a quick comparison of the UK collector’s edition Blu-ray collection for the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 franchise for those interested.
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer & 00: Special Edition is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. You can grab the collector’s edition over on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
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