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They are rebooting the Gundam universe, overseen by the Ghost in the Shell anime writers & director
Kenji Kamiyama is creating a new Gundam timeline, with a new anime series announced at SDCC 2026.
NewsbyTrent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer
Published on Thu Jul 23 2026
The sprawling timeline of the Gundam universe is perhaps one of the most impressive achievements in anime. For nearly 50 years, the Universal Century has been growing and changing, all the way through to this year’s Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe. However, a new Gundam timeline is coming, and it is being steered by the writer and director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
At San Diego Comic-Con, Bandai Namco Filmworks announced that they are launching a new Gundam project, which includes a new timeline and universe to follow. Titled RG Project, this new Gundam universe is being developed by Kenji Kamiyama, a writer and director whose works include Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex,Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,and Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi. Joining Kamiyama is award-winning Japanese novelist Toh EnJoe, who wrote the screenplay for the current Ghost in the Shell anime adaptation.
The RG Project is a new multimedia timeline within the Gundam franchise, which includes the previously announced Gundam Rogue Orbit video game. Announced today was Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, an anime that takes place roughly 100 years before Gundam Rogue Orbit. The new Gundam anime tells the story of how humanity found itself battling for survival against a force known as the Apocalypse.
Kamiyama is said to be shaping the future of the Gundam franchise through the RG Project, which is likely to continue beyond these initial projects for stories that are interwoven with each other.
“When I was approached with the idea of creating ‘a Gundam set in an entirely new timeline, one that is neither the Universal Century nor the Common Era,’ I found myself wrestling with all sorts of questions,” explained Kamiyama in a statement. “What would replace the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon? What would become of the Newtype concept? What about Minovsky particles? And where did war fit into all of this? The more I turned over the question of what fundamentally makes Gundam ‘Gundam,’ the further I drifted from the creative excitement that should have been driving the project.”
“So I stepped back and reminded myself: I had been given the chance to create my own Gundam from the ground up for a series I’ve loved for years. What could be more exciting than that? Once I found my way back to that excitement, a fresh and unexpected Gundam began to take shape. That Gundam is Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO.”
No release date for Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO has been announced. Gundam Rogue Orbit is set to be released in 2027.
Each week, Popverse’s resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say “greatest,” in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included…
- Aggretsuko vs Chainsaw Man: Two Wildly different anine with the same anti-capitalist message
- The Summer Anime season return of Kaiju No. 8, Sakamoto Days, & Dan Da Dan are forcing me to break my vow of watching less anime
- From Tomo-Chan to Oshi No Ko: How some of your favorite manga creators got their start in hentai
- Piracy is baked into anime’s past, but, like Crunchyroll, we should move on from it
- Flying whales, mechs, and Miyazaki vibes: Inside Netflix’s Leviathan anime with the people who made it
- How AI translations of manga continues the ‘enshitification’ of the medium, and why Japanese publishers are “less precious” about it
- I never wanted a Cyberpunk Edgerunners sequel, but God help me I’m going to watch it
- The Summer Hikaru Died delivers its cosmic horror at an agonizingly slow pace
- The one thing that Dan Da Dan does better than Demon Slayer ever did
- Studio Ghibli movies have never been as cozy as you think they are and that’s what makes them magic
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Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)
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