Rather unexpected
Funimation announced during its panel at Anime Expo that it will be licensing both seasons of the hit anime seriesMobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphansin partnership with Sunrise. The first season will be released in two parts sometime in late 2017, while the second season will be released at some point during 2018.
Of course it’s not a Gundam release unless there’s talk of merchandise. Funimation and Sunrise also plan to release a special limited-edition that comes with an exclusive “High Grade 1/144 Scale Gundam Barbatos + Smoothbore Gun [Metallic Gloss Injection]” model kit. This variant will be exclusive to the home release of the anime, and will not be available be any other means internationally, including in Japan. Also included will be an artbook and a chipboard box with space for when the anime’s second season is released.
The announcement comes out of left field, as in the past few years Sunrise has been slowly consolidating its various Mobile Suit Gundam series under Right Stuf Anime, including never before released series likeTurn A Gundamand the recent hit animeMobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt. So to see another publisher acquire the rights toIron-Blooded Orphanscomes as a massive surprise.
In related news, Adult Swimannouncedthat the second season of the show would be debuting on Toonami this October. Currently, Crunchyroll is streaming both seasons, and has the options to watch the first season with English dubs or in Japanese with subtitles.
Characters and mobile suits fromIron-Blooded Orphanswill be appearing in the upcomingGundam Versus, which releases this Fall for North America and Europe.
