6th episode focuses on Char earning "Red Comet" nickname, Federation's "Project V" development

Sunrise announced on Friday that "Tanjō Akai Suisei" (Rise of the Red Comet), the sixth episode of the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin anime and the last in the anime's "Loum Arc," will open in Japan on May 5, 2018. The episode will focus on the young Zeon ace Char Aznable earning his "Red Comet" nom de guerre, as well as the beginnings of the Federation's "Project V" weapons project that will eventually birth the RX-78-2 Gundam.

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin V: Clash at Loum ( Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin V: Loum no Kaisen ), the anime's fifth episode, will open in Japan on Saturday in 35 theaters — more than double the previous four episodes' 15 theaters. The episode's screenings will also be extended to four weeks, double the two-week screening run that each of the previous episodes had.

The episode is the first episode in the anime's "Loum Arc," which covers the Battle of Loum, the pivotal conflict in the One Year War's early days before most of the events depicted in the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime. The battle came after the Operation British space colony drop and other devastating events that wiped out nearly a third of the human population. Char Aznable, the nemesis of the first Gundam anime's protagonist Amuro Ray, became famous as the legendary ace "Red Comet" during this war.

In addition to Char and his infamous Zaku II mobile suit mecha, the new episode will feature Char's younger sister Sayla, the Zeon pilot Ramba Ral and his lover Hamon, and Amuro and Fraw Bow (living in the tranquil Side 7 colonies before the specter of war visits them).

The Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin IV Eve of Destiny anime, the fourth episode in the series, opened in 15 Japanese theaters last November, and it ended the Char/Sayla arc of the anime.

The anime project adapts Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's manga of the same name, which in turn is inspired by the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime's story. Yasuhiko designed the characters in the first Gundam anime, and he serves as the chief director and storyboarder for the Gundam The Origin anime. The manga has 10 million copies in print.

Anime Consortium Japan is releasing the Gundam The Origin series digitally worldwide through a premium rental streaming program, and Right Stuf — in collaboration with Sunrise — is releasing the series on home video.

Source: The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web