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Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island Film Gets Prequel Manga in Gundam Ace Supplement

The July issue of Kadokawa's Gundam Ace magazine revealed on Thursday that the magazine will get a supplement titled Cucuruz Doan Ace in its next issue on June 24, focused specifically on the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima) anime film. The supplemental issue will contain more than 100 pages, and will include a 60-page prequel manga for the film.

The film will open in Japan on June 3.

The film's original announcement described the film as a retelling of the 15th episode of the original Mobile Suit Gundam television anime. The episode itself has been omitted from English releases of the series.

The story is set after the Federation defense of Jaburo, with the Federation planning to renew offensives on Zeon's invasion headquarters in Odessa. Amuro and the White Base head to Belfast to resupply, but the White Base receives new orders: to head to the "Island of No Return" to search and destroy any Zeon stragglers. Amuro set out on the island in search of Zeon spies, but finds a group of children and a Zaku mobile suit on the supposedly uninhabited island. With the Gundam left behind, Amuro encounters a man who calls himself Cucuruz Doan. After uncovering the secret of the island, Amuro attempts to make his way back to the Gundam to escape.

Manga creator and animator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is directing the film, and is also credited with the character designs alongside Atsushi Tamura (Weathering With You) and Tsukasa Kotobuki (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Saber Marionette J). Yasuhiko had revealed in June that he was working on an unannounced anime film. Ka Hee Im is credited as assistant director. Toshizo Nemoto (Macross Delta) is penning the script. Longtime Gundam mechanical designers Kunio Okawara, Hajime Katoki, and Kimitoshi Yamane are credited for mechanical design in the film. Takayuki Hattori (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin) is composing the music.

Junji Ōno's Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin MSD: Cucuruz Doan no Shima (Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin MSD: Cucuruz Doan's Island) manga (pictured at left) launched in Kadokawa's Gundam Ace magazine in May 2016, and ended in May 2019. The manga has a total of five volumes.

The manga is a spinoff of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga. The manga tells the story of Cucuruz Doan, a character who appeared in the similarly-titled 15th episode of Yoshiyuki Tomino's original Mobile Suit Gundam anime series. In the episode, the titular character is a Zeon pilot who abandoned his post after refusing an order.

Source: Gundam Ace July issue