This is Gundam: Mission to the Rise, and it’s lame. It’s a two-minute CG short of mediocre animation quality where generic Gundams and Zakus duke it out. During the skirmish, a black hole appears. A newly-seen machine from each side intentionally venture into the black hole, resulting in a Federation Mobile Suit transforming into a completely new MS that’s only on screen for about two seconds. According to the Gundam Fandom wiki, this short was created for Gundam‘s 20th Anniversary event and “originally screened on August 1, 1998 along with the Steam Boy DVD at the event with tickets bought in advance.” But… Steamboy debuted intheaters six years later? This syntax doesn’t make any sense, unless they meant to imply Mission to the Rise is a bonus feature on the Steamboy DVD release. Remember, folks: there’s always a need for professional writers.

I don’t really understand these little CG shorts Sunrise routinely makes for anniversary events. Little “expedition” features are nothing unusual and can be quite fun, but I think even within that scope, their attempts could be more meaningful. It should be clear what they’re celebrating, at the very least. Mobile Suit designs and space battles? Sure, those are cool, but Gundam originally stood out for its dramatic storyline. Why not recreate a pivotal scene in deference to that fact, instead of random standalone shorts with the vaguest of themes that will likely never be referenced again?