News

Bandai Namco Filmworks Releases Aura Battler Dunbine 'Experimental Video' With New Footage

Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly Sunrise) opened a new "Sunrise Robot Laboratory" website to highlight the studio's past mecha anime works on Wednesday. The site includes "AURA BATTLER DUNBINE SIDE L," a video incorporating new footage for Yoshiyuki Tomino's 1983 anime Aura Battler Dunbine to evoke (but not exactly recreate) the anime's first opening and ending sequences. It features the theme songs "Dunbine Tobu" and "Mieru Darō Byston Well" by MIO, and also features old footage from the anime alongside a narrated synopsis by voice actor Norio Wakamoto.

Kamikaze Douga and Bandai Nimco Filmworks collaborated to produce the new video, which is labeled as an "experimental video." The two will collaborate on an upcoming "SIDE R" video that will feature new mecha and weapon designs, as well as new music from an artist who was not in the original anime.

Sunrise's 1983 series is an alternate retelling of Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino's first The Wings of Rean novel from the same year. It was followed by a three-episode original video anime (OVA) series titled Aura Battle Dunbine: The Tale of Neo Byston Well. The novel series would go on to inspire Garzey's Wing in 1996 and The Wings of Rean in 2005.

ADV Films previously released the series in North America. The show streamed briefly along with other Sunrise shows on the Daisuki streaming service in 2017. Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in 2018, and begna streaming it on HIDIVE in April 2018. Sentai Filmworks released it on Blu-ray Disc in August 2018.

Sources: Sunrise Robot Laboratory, Mantan Web