Episode will be available digitally on March 18

Bandai Channel began streaming a promotional video for the third anime episode based on Yasuo Ohtagaki's Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt manga on Thursday.

The episode will launch digitally on March 18 at noon JST (March 17 at 11:00 a.m. EDT). The Gundam Fan Club app will have an early release on March 4 for paid subscribers.

The second of four 18-minute episodes began streaming on February 12 at 12:00 p.m. JST (February 11 10:00 p.m. EST), although the Gundam Fan Club app hosted an early release on January 29 for paid subscribers. The second episode is 800 yen (about US$6.70) to own and 400 yen (about US$3.40) to rent. The episode comes with bonus footage when purchased to own. The show's official website is listing the services that offer the anime for sale and for rental.

The first episode became available digitally on December 25. Episodes are available via an EST (Electronic Sell Through) service that allows purchasers to download the episode, and it is the first time a Gundam series is available via this method.

The story is set in the same One Year War in UC 0079 as the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime series, and it follows the battles between two ace pilots at the "Thunderbolt Sector," a shoal zone with numerous wrecks of space colonies and warships.

Ohtagaki launched the manga in Shogakukan's Big Comic Superior magazine in March 2012, and Shogakukan published the seventh compiled book volume on December 25. The manga has more than 1.6 million copies in print.

Thanks to Dennis R for the embedded video.