The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is preparing to enter a new era with Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, an original anime project scheduled to launch in 2027.
Bandai Namco Filmworks revealed the series during San Diego Comic-Con on July 23, introducing it as the starting point of a wider multimedia initiative known as the RG Project. The anime will be directed and written by Kenji Kamiyama, the filmmaker behind Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
An announcement video and key visual were released alongside the reveal. A more specific premiere date, international streaming platform and episode count have not yet been announced. The title’s official pronunciation is “Alex Zero.”
Kenji Kamiyama Creates a New Gundam Timeline
Rather than returning to established settings such as the Universal Century or Cosmic Era, RG XARX-ZERO takes place in a completely original timeline created for the new project.
Kamiyama is handling both the direction and series composition. Science-fiction writer Toh EnJoe is supervising the project’s science-fiction setting and helping develop its wider world.
Kamiyama explained that creating a Gundam story outside the franchise’s familiar timelines forced him to reconsider the elements that define Gundam. Instead of reproducing concepts such as the Earth Federation, Zeon, Newtypes or Minovsky particles, the production team developed a different political and technological foundation for the new universe.
The result will serve as the opening chapter of a story designed to unfold across multiple generations and forms of media.
Humanity Faces an Ecosystem Called the Apocalypse
The story begins after an autonomous interstellar object arrives from another galaxy and provides humanity with three revolutionary discoveries: gravity control, faster-than-light communication and cognitive materialization.
These technologies lead to a period of rapid development, allowing humans to expand across the solar system. However, fewer than ten years after its arrival, the mysterious object loses control and begins producing an aggressive, self-replicating ecosystem. Humanity eventually gives this threat the name Apocalypse.
After three months of fighting in Earth’s orbit, humanity is forced to abandon the planet. The year of the evacuation becomes known as A.A. 1, marking the beginning of the After Apocalypse calendar.
The anime’s main story takes place in A.A. 45, when an entire generation has grown up on the Moon and in space colonies without ever experiencing a world free from the Apocalypse.
At the center of the story is Ray Azumi, a war orphan who lost his parents during an Apocalypse attack. Ray becomes the designated pilot of a mobile suit called Gundam ZERO, placing him at the heart of humanity’s continuing struggle against the mysterious ecosystem.
Takeo Otsuka Voices Ray Azumi
Takeo Otsuka has been cast as Ray Azumi, making him the first confirmed voice actor for the anime.
Commenting on his role, Otsuka said that Kamiyama’s story gave him considerable material to think about during recording. He also expressed excitement about the way the project will connect anime and video games within one shared universe.
No additional cast members have been revealed yet.
SOLA ANIMATION Produces the Series
SOLA ANIMATION is handling animation production for Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO, with Bandai Namco Filmworks producing the project and Sunrise responsible for its planning.
Eiichi Shimizu, known as the artist behind the ULTRAMAN manga, is designing the new Gundam. STATO is credited with the original character designs, while Miyako Takasu is adapting those designs for animation and serving as chief animation director.
Go Shiina, whose credits include music for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and several Bandai Namco games, is composing the soundtrack.
The principal staff includes:
Director and Series Composition: Kenji Kamiyama
Science-Fiction Setting Supervisor: Toh EnJoe
Gundam Design: Eiichi Shimizu
Original Character Design: STATO
Character Design and Chief Animation Director: Miyako Takasu
Music: Go Shiina
Animation Production: SOLA ANIMATION
Production: Bandai Namco Filmworks
The Anime Connects to Gundam: Rogue Orbit
RG XARX-ZERO is one part of the larger RG Project, a multimedia universe that also includes the upcoming action game Gundam: Rogue Orbit.
The anime takes place approximately 100 years before the game. While RG XARX-ZERO will show how the new world and its conflicts began, Rogue Orbit will explore a later era shaped by the events of the anime.
Bandai Namco says that both projects are being designed to work as independent stories. Audiences will not need to experience one to understand the other, although following both will provide a broader view of the shared timeline.
The company has also indicated that the RG Project will extend beyond the anime and video game into additional media, although the other planned releases have not yet been detailed.
A New Starting Point for Gundam
The announcement positions Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO as more than another standalone anime entry. Its original calendar, unfamiliar technological concepts and connection to a future video game suggest that Bandai Namco is building a long-term Gundam universe intended to grow across several stories.
Kamiyama’s involvement also gives the project a distinctly science-fiction-focused creative direction. His previous work on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex explored the relationship between humanity, technology and political power—ideas that could fit naturally within Gundam’s tradition of examining warfare and social conflict.
For now, the anime’s exact release season and distribution plans remain unknown. More information about its supporting cast, mobile suits and wider political factions is expected before its 2027 launch.
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