The Fan-Favorite Gundam Anime To Watch Before New Netflix Movie

Gundam SEED Destiny sets the story two years after the original series, with its narrative starting when the Orb leader reunited with the PLANT’s Supreme Council chairman to discuss the construction of new suits made for a particular military organization. Three of those suits get stolen, an all-out war between the factions breaks out, and the series is once again thrown into explorations of war and betrayal, as well as the tragedies of destruction that can be caused by simple miscommunication or misunderstanding between people or factions.

Of course, Gundam SEED Destiny continues the traditions set by the original series, offering extensive mecha battles involving the array of new mobile suits, including the iconic Gundam units, which made the entire franchise popular.

In fact, Gundam SEED Destiny has been very popular in Japan and won several awards for the best anime in 2004 and 2005, with its characters topping the most popular characters categories. It was the top-shelf product of the Land of the Rising Sun, its DVD sales in Japan broke the 1 million DVD mark, and its soundtrack dominated the charts.

Critical reception of Gundam SEED Destiny has been nothing but positive, but it was also often compared with its predecessor, Gundam SEED, with many critics and audiences noting the importance of Gundam SEED’s backstory in the main narrative of Gundam SEED Destiny. In fact, many fans believe that, despite Gundam SEED Destiny being a standalone release, both newcomers to the franchise and existing fans should watch Gundam SEED before engaging with Gundam SEED Destiny’s narrative.

Hence, we’re doing the same with the upcoming Gundam SEED Freedom; before hopping onto Netflix to enjoy the new movie, we strongly suggest that you take your time and watch not only the original Gundam SEED but Destiny as well—provided that you haven’t already done so.

The movie in question is coming this summer, much to the content of the Netflix subscribers who also love mecha anime. It’s interesting to see Netflix growing its library of anime content, especially since it recently added some anime hits, like Rising Impact.

The Gundam SEED Destiny sequel movie was released in Japanese theaters on January 26, 2024, and its earnings broke the ¥1 billion (yen) mark within the first three days of its release.

In a more recent announcement, it was revealed that the movie grossed nearly ¥5 billion—equivalent to approximately $30 million—with nearly 3 million tickets sold in Japan as of May 22, 2024. Thus, it’s currently the highest-grossing Gundam movie, which only attests to its quality, which you will soon be able to check out on Netflix, along with the previously mentioned Gundam SEED Destiny on Crunchyroll.