Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island Movie - General Discussion

[RRW]

Sunrise revealed at the "Dai 2-kai Gundam Conference" event on Wednesday that it is producing a new anime film titled Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Cucuruz Doan no Shima). The film will open in 2022.
Manga creator and animator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko will direct the film. Yasuhiko had revealed in June that he was working on an unannounced anime film.

The announcement describes 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.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...n-2022/.177387

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Mobile Suit Martial Arts for the winnnn!!!!!

[Blaat]

I can't believe this is getting a movie, I'm guessing this got greenlight because the production of Hathaway 2nd movie delayed (due to covid) and they needed something to fill in.

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

Mobile Suit Martial Arts for the winnnn!!!!!

Can' t wait for Doan to use his shining finger... no wait wrong Mobile Suit Martial Arts series.

[Kanon]

Wasn't it the episode Tomino was so ashamed of he personally requested it not to be released outside Japan?

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Blaat

I can't believe this is getting a movie, I'm guessing this got greenlight because the production of Hathaway 2nd movie delayed (due to covid) and they needed something to fill in.

Nah. This must be pre-planned sometime before. It's not easy to get Yasuhiko to direct something unless there's something special within the project.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Wasn't it the episode Tomino was so ashamed of he personally requested it not to be released outside Japan?

Yes, mostly for off-model & bad animation and the rather filler-ish nature. The story itself is actually pretty good and sad. It's about a good Zeon soldier who actually protected & took care of the local children/orphans.

[n0m@n]

One of few man who managed to defeat Amuro huh. Wonder if it will take before or after the episode he appeared in. Though the title has the words "land" on it I guess it would take pace after. And the man deserves his own customized Zaku II (won't happen but want to see).

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/mOx__mmRYAM

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[Frontier]

CG RX-78 feels so weird...

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

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. - ANN

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Frontier

CG RX-78 feels so weird...

Rather than CG IMO its more of "RX-78 got a sensible movement? Impossible!"

The detail is awesome (made me wishes Char's got that line details, sticker of series number to make it even) but watching it standing with process like a real robot conflicted with how I'm used watching RX-78 stand almost immediately or how sometimes it legs looked slim due to animators trying to made good pose (e.g. last shooting) back then. LOL.

[B214]

Why does it feel like another testbed for potentially rebooting the first Gundam show.

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Rather than CG IMO its more of "RX-78 got a sensible movement? Impossible!"

The detail is awesome (made me wishes Char's got that line details, sticker of series number to make it even) but watching it standing with process like a real robot conflicted with how I'm used watching RX-78 stand almost immediately or how sometimes it legs looked slim due to animators trying to made good pose (e.g. last shooting) back then. LOL.

Then Zeta gundam needs a reboot lol. Movable frame....what's that?

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

YouTube

https://youtu.be/BiMeIhg3eIo

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Looks pretty good! As expected of Origin anime.



Doan will be voiced by Shunsuke Takeuchi. For YGO fans, he is known as the super-cool & menacing Revolver from YGO Vrains. As for previous Gundam role, he recently voiced Mafty member Iram Masam from Hathaway movie.

[Frontier]

The spiritual Origin sequel we never knew we needed .

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Some Cucuruz Doan news:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/uL6ROjm3bHQ

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Those are some nice-looking GM & Zaku variants.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/QFEpM78RTgs

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[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

New trailer:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/Dqe4YUT4ADE

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It looks even better!

[Tactics]

Damn, the trailer is so good it made me wanted to say, "Now that's how you modernized 80's style".
It got the modern movie-standard Gundam quality while the character action and delivery got enough vibe to tell this is not story from current era; some shots felt like they're taking notes from Ghibli movies.

Can't unheard Revolver who, after dealing with guilt and Soulburner trauma, now taking care of Amuro through battlefield as Zion soldier.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

I've seen the movie. It's really good for what it is: an expansion of an episode about a Zeon deserter who is protecting war orphans as a means of redemption.

First & foremost, I need to warn you that, just like Hathaway, this movie is not a wall-to-wall MS action because (again), like Hathaway, that's not really the point of the story (which I already wrote above).

Spoiler for movie events:

Also, Doan is (a lot) more realistic in this movie. That means there's no MS martial art (there's some grappling though) and there's no Zaku punching a hole trough another Zaku. That said, what Doan did is still impressive. If we only count everything that happened on-screen, he destroyed two fully-armed GMs (+ a Gunperry) with only a worn-out Zaku wielding a heat-hawk. And then he did the same feat against two high-mobility Zakus piloted by aces of Brown Southern Cross. Not too shabby considering he basically piloted a piece of junk with only one working melee weapon. Imagine the nightmare of fighting Doan in a fully armed high-mobility Zaku .

We spent the first hour with Amuro as a semi-hostage (coz Doan hid his Gundam) interacting with Doan & the orphans. This is the part where the movie felt like Ghibli the most and I really enjoyed it. Living a simple life among Doan & the kids with colorful personalities courtesy of Yaz design & writing is both enjoyable & heartbreaking to watch. It's also pretty on-point considering Gundam is an anti-war anime. It's only natural that we spend more time watching how these war orphans cope with life and how they react in front of active military personnels & battles in the 3rd act. And just like Ghibli, it's not all depressing as there are plenty of lighthearted moments.

Doan is, of course, a stand out. IMO he is a better gruff Zeon ace than the likes of Shin Matsunaga or even Norris Packard in terms of personality. And Doan also predates them if we want to get technical. Him dealing with his former comrades & the WMD is pretty satisfying.

The Gundam also gets to shine within its limited screentime. One of Amuro's kills is pretty gruesome but it needed to be done. Doan's Zaku, Gundam & the Southern Cross Zakus got enough action that feels just right. Even Sleggar's GM gets to do something before losing his head .

And speaking of limited screentime, don't expect to get a lot of screentime for characters other than Amuro, Doan & the orphans because this is their movie. Still, I like all the cameos of the various characters. We even get some screentime for General Revil and the traitorous General Elran. M'Quve was also there chewing scenery for a bit. The White Base crew are as as delightful as always. I felt a sense of satisfaction when Sayla backhanded-slap Sleggar. It's about time the man tasted his own medicine . We also get a brand new Brightslap in 4K Ultra HD!!! And Blanca the goat is a scene stealer. And the most important part of the movie: we get more screentime for Ma Boy JOB JOHN!!!.

A very good Cucuruz Doan movie: 8/10

[Infinite Zenith]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one for very similar reasons as Obelisk had stated. My own remarks are a bit lengthier and won't fit into the forum post's max char count: a fantastic combination of human elements that makes Gundam thought-provoking, brilliantly animated combat scenes and this time around, comedy in the form of Blanca vs. Kai and Sleggar's GM :P

Images

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I do hope more people will have a chance to watch this one; UC fans will enjoy themselves, and I remark here that Cucuruz Doan's Island does one more thing well (in addition to the reasons stated): rather than making viewers suffer a 11 month wait (as Girls und Panzer, Makoto Shinkai and Kyoto Animation are wont to doing), they made the BDs accessible immediately. This is how you do business.

[Tactics]

Just watched Cucuruz Doan last night and honestly, I'm in awe.

Even to audience without familiarity with Doan episode, throughout movie the staffs really shown they did the homework, spectacularly.

Different from Hathaway where the delivery goes hard from start to finish as if its a machine with high precision, Cucuruz Doan delivered comfy ride, strong reminder of 80's, with classiness of modern Gundam. This one is part I appreciated a lot from Sunrise as nowadays we got plenty remake but most of them come out as quick cash grab happened because there's no blockbusters available anytime soon; not many willing to explore how to emulate 80's-90's charm that made that work something to be remembered, let alone properly timing when to be modern and when to be a classic.

When it comes to VA, well, I have to say Furuya Tohru went 120% here.
He really bring young Amuro naivete back, something I didn't expect after used to his 'serious, older Amuro' voice for his clones like Ribbons (00) and Amuro (Detective Conan, no kidding his name is Amuro; also known as Furuya on his flashback. LOL). Shunsuke Takeuchi voice act is also amazing; too good I expected he's the typecast for the rough, gentle big bro roles in future after Doan, if not chuuni works antagonists like Revolver.

Definite score, 8 of 10 from me too. Fun ride, nothing extravagant, just enough for everything (Gundam reputation, Doan story, etc), definitely my bar for 'test for remake / reboot' anime. The minus is only, you at least need to be familiar with Zeon. It easy to mistaken them as band of Sunday cartoon villain in front of chad figure like remake Doan.