On Apr. 26, Japanese media company Kadowkawa’s Gundam Ace magazine revealed that the world-renowned Gundam franchise will have a new spinoff manga in their upcoming June issue: Mobile Suit Gundam Wearwolf.  

   The new manga will take place in the Universal Century (U.C.) timeline, the most well-developed timeline of the entire Gundam franchise. The spinoff will be written by Yasushi Shigenobu, who rose to fame as one of the three composers of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime series, heading the creation of episodes 261 to 273. In addition, Kei Itō, the artist behind the anime Space Battleship Tiramisu, will also be drawing the artwork for this particular series. Rounding off the list would be none other than Ukyō Kodachi, who wrote the script for episode 34 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, as well as chapters 1 to 51 of the corresponding manga, according to Anime News Network. 

   The manga takes place during U.C.0087, during the conflict between three groups: the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG), an elite unit of mechs called “Titans,” and members of the asteroid base “Axis.” The manga itself is centered around the titular mech-called a “Mobile Suit” in the Gundam franchise-called “Wearwolf.” The spelling of the suit may indicate a deeper meaning to the suit itself. One may be inclined to spell the name of the suit properly, as “werewolf” instead of how it was actually intended to be spelled.  

   The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise began its life as an anime television series created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, who originally did the screenwork and created the storyboards for another classic series, Astro Boy. It first premiered in Japan on April 7, 1979, and ran until Jan. 26, 1980, containing a total of 43 episodes. While the original series did not see much success, the popularity of the new series saw a boost thanks primarily to the introduction of “Gunpla” model kits released by Japanese toy company, Bandai depicting mech characters from the series. 

   The series takes place in the future, whereby human beings have instituted a new calendar system called “Universal Century”(U.C), which began in U.C 0079. This calendar system, however, appears to be completely arbitrary.

   According to “Mobile Suit Gundam: High Frontier,” an online webpage dedicated to the franchise, “The year 0079 seems to have been selected to correspond with the year 1979, when the original series went on the air.” The plot itself focuses on “The One Year War,” a war of independence started by the Principality of Zeon, who wishes to detach itself from the larger Earth Federation.

   Despite their smaller numbers, Zeon has the technological advantage thanks to their implementation of the titular mechs: Mobile Suits: humanoid mech suits that use two arms to deploy ordnance, two legs to propel themselves, and a head that acts as a primary camera system that occasionally houses a weapon in a rotating turret.