Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolts" anime version, first episode was previewed in Akihabara!　Report on the preview event featuring two voice actors!

A report from the limited preview event of the first episode of the OVA "Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" has arrived.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt" is an anime work based on Yasuo Otagaki's manga serialized in Big Comics Superior. It is produced by Sunrise Studio 1, which produced "Mobile Suit Gundam UC (Unicorn)," and directed and written by Matsuo Kou of "Revolutionary Machine Valvrave. The series consists of four episodes, and the first episode will be available for a fee from December 25 (December 11 on the official smartphone application "Gundam Fan Club").

On November 23, a limited preview event of the first episode was held within the Gunpla EXPO World Tour Japan 2015. The event was held at Bellesalle Akihabara, where the original author Yasuo Otagaki, director Kou Matsuo, and Sunrise producer Naohiro Ogata appeared. Yuichi Nakamura (Io Fleming) and Ryohei Kimura (Daryl Lorenz) also made an emergency appearance. Below is the report.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt," a popular comic series that has sold a total of 1.4 million copies and is currently being serialized in "Big Comics Superior," a youth comic magazine published by Shogakukan, will be adapted into an anime through EST distribution (cell distribution) and TVOD distribution (rental distribution) (4 episodes in total)!　Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolts" is a hard-boiled anime that depicts the backstage of the fierce battles that took place in the "Thunderbolt Space" at the end of the One Year War in Space Century 0079, and the profound human drama of the Earth Federation Forces and the Principality of Zeon Forces respectively. A limited preview of the first episode was held on November 23 (Monday, national holiday) at the special stage of the "Gunpla Expo World Tour Japan 2015" held at Bellesalle Akihabara in Tokyo. The talk show, held after the screening of the first episode, featured Yasuo Otagaki, the manga author, director Hira Matsuo, producer Naohiro Ogata of Sunrise, Yuichi Nakamura, who plays Io Fleming, and Ryohei Kimura, who plays Daryl Lorenz, as surprise guests.

When asked about what he focused on in his work, Director Matsuo replied, "When I was adding the music, the picture was almost finished. I think that allowed me to match the music and the images well. In that sense, the music was one of the points we focused on.

When asked how he felt about the visualization of his work, Ohtagaki replied, "In the manga, there is no music, so that part was supplemented by the imagination of the readers. That's why I was happy to have Naruyoshi Kikuchi in charge of the music, and he was able to add music that perfectly matched what I had imagined. On the other hand, when asked about his impression of playing Io, Nakamura said, "This is my own interpretation, but I thought it would be good if Daryl looked good and Io looked bad (laughs). (Laughs.) Of course, Io has his own sense of justice, but when you see the film as a whole, I was hoping that he would be seen as the antagonist. When asked about his impression of playing Daryl, Kimura said, "When I read the comics, I thought that the two characters, Io and Daryl, were the ones to focus on. I thought that the balance between the two characters was the heart of the work. This time, we used the "presco" style, in which the director drew pictures to go along with the play, and I was impressed that Matsuo asked me to make Daryl look a little younger in his performance. He also revealed the difficulties of playing the character and the key points of how he played the character. Producer Ogata asked him if Io and Daryl were both main characters. Oatagaki answered, "They are both main characters. I wanted the story to be seen from both sides, not from the side of the Federation or Zeon, so I decided to make Io and Daryl the two main characters to keep a balance. Director Matsuo also commented, "I didn't want the story to focus on one side or the other, but to treat them as equals. I was conscious of the use of color and other aspects so that the two characters would be seen as equally balanced as possible.

Nakamura was asked about the mobile suits that appear in the work. "In the scene where the Full Armor Gundam appears, there is an additional scene where it knocks down Zaku, which is depicted in a single cut in the comics, and it gives it a completely bad guy feel (laughs)," he said. (laugh). Director Matsuo commented on the scene, "I thought it could be a little long in my mind and had set the cut to about 20 seconds, but Mr. Genma (Nobuhiko) extended it by about 6 seconds on his own (laugh). (Laughs.) What was I going to do even though the length of the scene was already set? At that time, Mr. Genma said, "Gundam has to be an object of awe. That's why the Gundam looks scarier than my storyboards, and that's why I had to add the performance of the Gundam being relentlessly beaten down (laughs). When asked what he thought of Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Kimura, who played the main characters Io and Daryl, respectively, Mr. Otagaki replied, "When I play them back in my brain, they are based on my own voice, so they were both a little old (laugh), but with Mr. Nakamura and Mr. Kimura playing them, they became very young and energetic. I'm glad to see that they became younger and more energetic. In the manga, I wanted to make it more adult oriented or calm, but it would not be interesting if the anime had the same impression as the manga, and I wanted it to be more appealing if it were to be made into a movie. I thought it was a very satisfying completion. The talk show ended with a passionate message from all the speakers to the fans.