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Hiroko Moriguchi Sings Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island Anime Film's Theme Song
posted on by Egan Loo
Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on Sunday that frequent Gundam franchise contributor Hiroko Moriguchi is singing the theme song "Ubugoe" (Baby's First Cry) for the Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima) anime film. The song's CD will go on sale on June 1 with the accompanying tracks "Ima wa Oyasumi" (I'm Going to Bed Now), "Eien ni Amuro" (Amuro Forever) with VOJA, and "Ubugoe (Instrumental)."
The CD will have a standard edition as well as a limited first edition with "Ubugoe's" music video on a bundled Blu-ray Disc. Another edition with an LP-sized jacket packaging will be available in limited numbers at participating theaters. Director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko illustrated the two limited editions.
Moriguchi previously sang theme songs for Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam F91, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. She also sang songs for the Aim For The Best! anime franchise, Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers, and One Punch Man.
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 find 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.
The previously announced cast includes:
Shunsuke Takeuchi as Cucuruz Doan
Ken Narita as Bright Noa
Satomi Arai as Mirai Yashima
Megumi Han as Sayla Mass
Toshio Furukawa as Kai Shiden
Hideki Nakanishi as Hayato Kobayashi
Misato Fukuen as Fraw Bow
Tomofumi Ikezoe as Sleggar Law
The cast for the Zeon Southern Cross team includes (bottom row, left to right in the image above) Yuu Hayashi as the team's bellicose new member Danan Rashica who admires Doan, Shizuka Itou as Selma Levens who thinks their current leader does not compare to Doan, Atsushi Miyauchi as the team's leader Egba Atler who detests Doan, Yoji Ueda as the team's deputy leader and sniper Wald Ren, and Koji Yusa as Yun Sanho. The team members all fields MS-06GD Zaku mobile suits with increased leg thrusters for enhanced maneuverability and custom loadouts.
The cast members for other Federation and Zeon military personnel include (from left to right in the image above):
- Katsuyuki Konishi as a staff officer involved in the Odessa offensive who puts a lot of command pressure on Bright Noa
- Hiroshi Shirokuma as Elran, a lieutenant general in the Earth Federation Forces
- Hiroshi Naka as Johann Ibrahim Revil (returning from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin), the supreme commander of the Earth Federation Space Force that sends White Base to Belfast under the command of General Gopp
- Naomi Kusumi as Gopp, a general who commands the Le Grand Pas fleet, and is negotiation with M'Quve for the capture of Gibraltar. White Base falls under his command.
- Takumi Yamazaki as M'Quve, a Zeon colonel with a tactical mind, and has a hidden plan under his sleeve
- Makoto Yasumura as Uragang, M'Quve's subordinate. He dispatches the Southern Cross unit from the Morocco front to investigate an anomaly in point CA
Manga creator and animator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko directs 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.
Yūji Kaneko is the art director, while Nagisa Abe is the color key artist. Takeshi Katsurayama and Ryō Iijima are the compositing directors of photography. Shuhei Morita is the CGI line director, and Morihito Abe is the CGI director. Kazuhiro Nii is editing, and Sadayoshi Fujino is the sound director.
The film will open on June 3.
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.
Yasuhiko's Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga is also inspired by and re-imagines the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. Viz Media published part of the manga in North America from 2002 to 2004, before it halted publication of the series. Vertical licensed the series in 2013, and released all 12 volumes.
The manga inspired a six-episode anime project in Japanese theaters from 2015 to 2018. Yasuhiko worked as chief director, character designer, and storyboarder for the anime. A 13-episode television series recompilation of the anime premiered in April 2019.
Sources: Cucuruz Doan's Island film's Twitter account, Gundam.info
