Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (機動戦士ガンダムF91, Kidō Senshi Gandamu Fōmyura Nainti Wan), also known as Mobile Suit Gundam Formula 91, is a 1991 theatrical anime film by studio Sunrise with director & writer Yoshiyuki Tomino and writer Tsunehisa Ito. The film was first theatrically released in Japan on March 1991.

Background:

“Mobile Suit Gundam F91 takes place in U.C. 0123.

After a generation of peace, the Earth Federation has begun to build new space colonies to house humanity’s growing population. But a new force, the aristocratic Crossbone Vanguard, plans to seize the colonies of the newly constructed Frontier Side for itself. As their home becomes a battlefield, a handful of young civilians struggle to escape the conflict.

To save his friends and family, the reluctant warrior Seabook Arno becomes the pilot of a new Gundam which bears the code name F91.”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, June 2021.

So the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise reached a point where the storyline between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable had concluded, and for Sunrise they went into two different directions; creating more Universal Century content in the form of films, OVAs or TV series, and new instalments set in different timelines like Wing, 00 and SEED. But during the first 14 years or so it was mostly centred on expanding the Universal Century and for this particular title we have Mobile Suit Gundam F91.

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 is set far into the future (30 years after the events of Char’s Counterattack) at U.C. 0123, and apparently Yoshiyuki Tomino envisioned this film to start a new saga of sorts, which sort of worked because a manga series called Gundam Crossbone was written that takes place a decade later, followed by Sunrise eventually animating Victory Gundam set many years later.

Despite the failed saga attempt, Mobile Suit Gundam F91 did get licensed and released in the west by Bandai Entertainment and Beez Entertainment on DVD with an English dub. Many years later, Nozomi Entertainment and Anime Limited took over the license for a Blu-ray release, with the latter taking roughly 4 years to finally make it over.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Anime Limited gives the Gundam franchise their own brand called the Gundam Collection, and every release has a collector’s item in some form.

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 is presented with a rigid box containing an Amaray case that houses the Blu-ray disc. In addition, the box will also come with an 52-page booklet with a bunch of character and mecha artwork from the film.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £34.99. In addition, this is also a Blu-ray only release and is expected to receive a standard edition over time.

I pre-ordered the film via Anime Limited’s store during its early bird week for £19.99 plus the 10% store discount from Screen Anime (which is now replaced by the (Un)Limited membership).

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 52-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 14th June 2021

The collector’s edition release for Mobile Suit Gundam F91 contains the film on a single Blu-ray disc. The encoding and authoring was worked on by the team over at Nozomi Entertainment.

The audio options available for the film include Japanese with English subtitles and the Bang Zoom! Entertainment English dub from Bandai Entertainment’s release. The yellow subtitles are unlockable during playback, while the regions are locked to B only for Blu-ray players.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Linear PCM 5.1 English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	1 BD-50

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

• English Audio Commentary with Tony Oliver (ADR director), Eric Sherman (English dub producer), Nobuo Masuda (English dub producer at Sunrise)
• Trailer Collection
• Universal Century Timeline

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 is available to own on Blu-ray from United Kingdom distributor Anime Limited. The collector’s edition Blu-ray is available to order from multiple retailers including Amazon UK.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills. Due to current global situations, shipping restrictions may apply.)