Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (機動戦士ガンダムSEED DESTINY, Kidō Senshi Gandamu Shīdo Desutinī) is a 2004 television anime series directed by Mitsuo Fukuda and produced by studio Sunrise. Staff credits also include writer Chiaki Morosawa and music composed by Toshihiko Sahashi. The series first broadcast in Japan on October 2004, while the HD Remaster was released around 2013.
Background:
The year is Cosmic Era 73. The Bloody Valentine War, fought between the PLANTS space colonies and the nations of the Atlantic Federation, has ended and an uneasy truce has settled upon the Earth sphere. With the signing of the Junius Seven Treaty, the world’s soldiers have left the battlefield and the grizzly sights of war behind. Many who fought now seek peace and refuge in the shelter of civilian life.
But one boy, Shin Asuka, is finding that incredibly hard. A coordinator who lost his entire family during the Battle of Orb, he now fights with ZAFT in one of their newest machines, the Impulse Gundam. Of course, ZAFT is only developing these machines for defensive applications – or so they claim – but when a group of Federation operatives steal some of these prototype machines, the world is once again plunged towards war.
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, December 2022.
After the success of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, which is considered to be a divisive one among the Gundam community, they made a sequel series which is apparently even more divisive so I am curious to see how this turns out. Much like its predecessor, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny was not only 50 episodes in length (making SEED the longest non-Universal Century Gundam series to date) but it was also given the HD remaster treatment by Sunrise.
The HD Remaster started with the predecessor in 2012 and the same amendments apply with SEED Destiny. Updated visual presentation using a 16:9 aspect ratio than 4:3, and some tweaks to the production. The original Episode 41 was removed and they split the final episode’s director’s cut into two episodes, which retains the 50 episode count. Nozomi Entertainment in their partnership with Sunrise, released an Ultra Edition for the series similar to Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Gundam 00 and Gundam SEED. Though the set is designed in a similar fashion to SEED.
Because the HD Remaster changed a lot of the presentation and scenes, this meant that the English dub that Bandai Entertainment and Ocean Group produced for the original 2004 version was also in the same situation as the previous series, where they couldn’t be on the same disc and use the same video master as the audios wouldn’t sync. Therefore, Sunrise has instead produced a new English dub with NYAV Post and a new cast. The original audio is included with the Ultra Edition and Ultimate Edition box sets from Nozomi and Anime Limited, but not for the cheaper sets.
Anime Limited acquired the rights for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster and its original version about the same time as the previous series, but the release was delayed constantly due to approvals and also waiting to see if this series had the same video issues by Nozomi’s end. For context, Gundam SEED‘s release when it first came out in North America initially had the wrong video masters (the Japanese TV broadcast version rather than the Blu-ray version) as Sunrise didn’t provide them properly. Therefore Nozomi spent months sorting out a replacement, and Anime Limited had to be delay their release by about 6 months. Thankfully Gundam SEED Destiny didn’t share the same issue, though it was still being affected by production delays which according to the distributor was partly blamed by the Sunrise and Bandai merger over in Japan.
Ultimate Edition Contents:
Anime Limited have kept the consistency going for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster with another Ultimate Edition release, in a similar design to its predecessor.
Original 2004 Version & Special Edition films
As mentioned before, the situation is the same as the 2002 series. The original and HD remasters cannot sync on the audio, hence why the HD remaster had to be re-dubbed. Now the good news is the original for the 2004 series is included on two Blu-ray discs, presented in Standard Definition format which is similar to Discotek Media’s SD on BD format.
In addition, all four Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Special Edition compilation films are also included on a single Blu-ray disc presented in Standard Definition format because they were not remastered in high definition. Both the 2004 version and compilation films are in their original 4:3 aspect ratio in 480i resolution, but you can watch them in their original Japanese audio and the older English dub.
The bad news is that the original 2004 version and the films are exclusive to the Ultimate Edition release (and the Ultra Edition in North America). The UK Collector’s Edition and Standard Editions only focus on the HD remaster.
Packaging
For the Gundam Collection, Anime Limited keeps them rather consistent in terms of the spine presentation with the logo positioned near the top. The size of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster is the same as the predecessor – presented with a big outer rigid box to house all of the contents, and inside are two regular sized rigid boxes – one for the HD Remaster, and another focused on the original 2004 version, the Special Edition compilation films, and an OVA called Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer. Both boxes include two Amaray Blu-ray cases.
Housed inside the HD Remaster box are 7 Artcards and a fold-out poster at 34x40cm size. 6 Artcards are also included in the other box. Housed within the larger box outside of the regular two boxes is a 120-page hardcover artbook. The artbook has a ton of gallery artwork, and I haven’t checked to see if Nozomi’s Ultra Edition artwork is similar, but the Nozomi version was much larger in height.
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 Ultimate Edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £199.99, just like its predecessor. As mentioned before, Collector’s Edition Blu-rays and standard Blu-rays will be available for those who only want the HD Remaster.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED HD Remaster was pre-ordered as part of Anime Limited’s Early Bird offering at £119.99, with the Anime (Un)Limited membership 10% discount lowering the price to £108.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny 2004 version of the series, presented in SD
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Special Edition films, presented in SD
- 120-page Hardcover Artbook
- 34x40cm fold-out poster
- 13 artcards (7 in HD Remaster box, 6 in 2004 Version box)
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 19th December 2022
This release for Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster contains all 50 episodes of the series across ten Blu-ray discs in total (five per Amaray case). In addition, all 50 episodes of the original 2004 version as well as the additional Final Plus episode are presented across two Blu-ray discs in Standard Definition format, followed by all 4 compilation films on a single Blu-ray disc (also in SD), and then the OVA Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer on a single Blu-ray disc. The encoding and authoring was worked on by the folks over at Nozomi.
The audio options available for the series include Japanese with English subtitles, the NYAV Post English dub for the HD Remaster and the Ocean Group English dub from Bandai Entertainment’s release for both the original 2004 version and compilation films. The yellow subtitles are unlockable during playback, while the regions are locked to B only for Blu-ray players. Despite re-dubbing the main series, C.E. 73 Stargazer does not include an English dub.
The SD on BD discs have no on-disc extras, so if you miss out on this release there’s no bonus features that won’t be left out in the standard edition HD Remaster sets.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster: English (NYAV Post), Japanese Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004) & SEED Destiny Special Edition: English (Ocean Group), Japanese Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer: Japanese |
| Audio | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster: English (NYAV Post) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004) & SEED Destiny Special Edition: English (Ocean Group) Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster & SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer: 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004) & SEED Destiny Special Edition: 480i Standard Definition format 4:3 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster: 10 BD-50s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004): 2 BD-50s Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Special Edition: 1 BD-50 Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Stargazer: 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
HD Remaster Disc 1:
- Textless Opening 1 “Ignitied”
- Textless Ending 1 “Reason”
HD Remaster Disc 2:
- Interview with Director Mitsuo Fukuda and Line Producer Hiroomi Ikeya
HD Remaster Disc 3:
- Textless Opening 2 “Pride”
- Textless Ending 2 “Life Goes On”
HD Remaster Disc 4:
- Director’s Concept Music Video 1
HD Remaster Disc 5:
- HD Remaster Box 1 Promotional Video
- HD Remaster Commercials
HD Remaster Disc 6:
- Textless Opening 3 “Bokutachi no Yukue (Our Whereabouts)”
- Textless Ending 3 “I Wanna Go To A Place…”
HD Remaster Disc 7:
- Director’s Concept Music Video 2
- Director’s Concept Music Video 3
HD Remaster Disc 8:
- Director’s Concept Music Video 4
- Director’s Concept Music Video 5
HD Remaster Disc 9:
- Textless Opening 4 “vestige”
- Textless Ending 4 “imi wa Boku ni Niteiru (You are Similar to Me)”
- Director’s Concept Music Video 6
HD Remaster Disc 10:
- SEED Destiny Character Theater 1
- SEED Destiny Caharcter Theater 2
- HD Remaster Box 2 Promotional Video
- Director’s Concept Music Video 7
- Director’s Concept Music Video 8
C.E. 73 Stargazer (Disc 14):
- Promotional Video 1
- Promotional Video 2
- Clean Ending “STARGAZER ~ Hoshi no Tobira”
Unboxing Photos:
Overview:
HD Remaster:
SD 2004 Ver., Special Edition & C.E. 73 Stargazer:
Artbook:
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny HD Remaster is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The ultimate edition Blu-ray can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.
(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.)
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