Mechas from Transformers and Pacific Rim have reigned in Hollywood, but the OG fighting robots came from Japan with the likes of Hideaki Ano's Evangelion, Toei Animation's Voltes V, and—the most popular and widely known—Yoshiyuki Tomino's Gundam. The first animated series came out in 1979 and has since branched out to toys, games, and more shows and movies. The next Gundam film will be Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway and it will be set in a future version of the Philippines' very own Davao.
Hathaway takes place 12 years after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack and is the first film in a trilogy based on Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash—a series of light novels written by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino from 1989 to 1990. Toy company Bandai and animation studio Sunrise will release the flick on July 23 in Japan and it serves as the latest canonical installment in the series.
Just like in the previous Gundam anime and movies, the Earth Federation Space Force (or EFSF) keeps the planet in check from hostile enemies called spacenoids by deploying giant robots called Mobile Suits, which are piloted by humans.
In episode one of Hathaway, terrorists hijack a plane carrying Federation officials, but are apprehended by two of the passengers, Hathaway Noa and Federation officer Kenneth Sleg. The plane lands in Davao, where Sleg is supposed to pilot a Mobile Suit. Unknown to Sleg, the target he was assigned to bring down is Noa, son of the legendary Bright Noa, who was one of the highest-ranking officers of the Federation.
"The first episode is about Davao in the Philippines as the main stage, so I went location hunting and took a lot of [video-tape recordings] and photos with the directors," says series producer Naohiro Ogata during a streamed interview translated by Gigazine.net.
"Based on a travel book I saw at the National Library for Hathaway, I took note of famous places, but the shore where I walked is far away, so I have to go to the locals to understand the geographical relationship," shares Ogata.
It is not the first time Gundam was set in the Philippines. In the manga series Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt, creator Yasuo Ohtagaki depicted Taal Volcano as the base of a powerful cult, with a fortress deep inside the famous volcano.