The latest addition to the Gundam franchise is Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, and the upcoming Gundam anime, which is set in the Universal Century, the original Gundam timeline, has finally revealed its very first key visual through its official website:

12219610_10153064817531326_3946750959424702547_n

The new visual reveals the Principality of Zeon’s Sergeant Daryl Lorentz with his Psyco Zaku, a variant of Zeon’s Zaku II, and the Earth Federation’s Ensign Io Fleming and his Full Armor Gundam, a variant of the original RX-78 series Gundam.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is actually a side story which happens during the One Year War, the same conflict which the original 1979 anime is centered upon. The manga takes place in the Thunderbolt sector, an area filled with wrecks of old colonies and wrecked spaceships and was formerly known as Side 4, or Mua. It follows two ace pilots from the two opposing factions, the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation as they battle to take control of the sector.

The manga also inspired a line of HG 1/144 scale GunPla by Bandai, which are currently on sale these days. More announcements about this new Gundam anime project, such as the staff, cast, release dates, and format, will be made in the future so stay tuned to AFA Channel for more updates.