Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (partially found English dub of anime series; 2005)
Promotional art for the series.
Status: Partially Found
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ is a 46-episode anime series produced by Sunrise that aired in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network between 1986 and 1987. Acting as the third entry in the Gundam franchise, the show was directed by franchise creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and is a sequel to the earlier Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam series. While both the original and Zeta were dubbed and released in North America in the early 2000s by Bandai Entertainment, the underwhelming commercial performance of the duo caused the company to skip over ZZ and other older entries in favor of exclusively focusing on more modern Gundam productions.
An English dub of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ began airing on Animax in South East Asia in May 2005 as part of their "Supermaniac" programming block.[1][2] This followed their broadcast of the original Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, though it's not known if the channel recycled the North American dubs of those series, or if they commissioned their own. ZZ's dub was produced in Hong Kong and featured Andrea Kwan, Candice Moore, Claudia Thompson, David Bridges, Darren Pleavin, Rik Thomas, Russell Wait, Sarah Hauser, and Victor Lee as the cast.[3]
There are no known home video releases for the English dub. Only a handful of clips from it have surfaced online.[4][5] The series hasn't aired regularly on Animax Asia since the mid-2000s and stands as the final Gundam series picked up by the channel.
In 2016, The Right Stuf International released Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ on home video in North America for the first time.[6] Despite acquiring and releasing the Asian produced English dubs for Gundam Build Fighters and Gundam Build Fighters Try that same year, the company released ZZ solely with the Japanese audio track.[7][8][9][10] This had been speculated to mean the production materials for the English dub have been lost, or that Sunrise has barred its release - a move the Japanese production house has done in the past, having prevented the English dub of the Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy from being re-released after its debut on VHS.[11][12] In 2017, The Right Stuf confirmed Sunrise has banned ZZ's dub from ever being re-released.[13]
Surfaced content
See Also
- Doozy Bots (partially found unaired American adaptation of "SD Gundam" anime series; 1991)
- Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (lost YTV promo for anime film; 2000)
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny The Movie (lost production material of cancelled anime film; 2006-2007)
References
- ↑ Gundam ZZ coming to Animax-Asia Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ ::Animax Asia:: Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (TV) - Anime News Network Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Gundam ZZ by rune_master_charlie - 4shared Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Gundam ZZ Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Sunrise, Right Stuf Offers Gundam ZZ in N. America for 1st Time Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ Collection 1 Blu-ray Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ Collection 2 Blu-Ray Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Right Stuf Schedules Gundam Build Fighters on Blu-ray/DVD on August 2 Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Right Stuf Offers Gundam: Char's Counterattack, Build Fighters Try on BD/DVD in September Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Nozomi Entertainment on Twitter: "Sorry, but the original Dub is no longer available for use and Sunrise doesn't have plans to redub it." Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Nozomi Entertainment on Twitter: "The release will be sub only, the decision rests with Sunrise." Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ↑ Nozomi Entertainment on Twitter: "Same reason as the 0079 Movie Trilogy. If Sunrise doesn't like the dub, it will not be released. The Asian dubs are newer and more faithful to their original Japanese counterpart. All decisions rest with Sunrise." Retrieved November 11, 2017.