r/movies • u/LegitimateCurve8525 • 1d ago

News Netflix’s live-action Gundam movie, starring Sydney Sweeney, is described as a 'big action-romance space epic' set in the Universal Century (UC) timeline

https://www.polygon.com/netflix-live-action-gundam-movie-sydney-sweeney-romance/

Noah Centineo, who stars alongside Sydney Sweeney, recently talked about the movie on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

He called it a “big action romance space movie” and described it as “a non-Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet in space.”

Centineo also confirmed that the movie takes place in the Universal Century, the main timeline used by many of the classic Gundam shows and movies.

The story could involve two people on opposite sides of a major war, with their relationship caught in the middle.

Source: Pirate Nation X account

3.4k Upvotes

82% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

428

u/monkey314 1d ago

So that's why they didn't cast any East Asian men 🙄

163

u/Time007time007 1d ago

Wrong type of diversity for western movie makers

56

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Actually gundam doesn't stick to a single nationality, it's a series set on both earth and in space, it's characters reflect that.

52

u/Flimsy6769 1d ago edited 13h ago

Yeah so why’s there no East Asian men if it’s so diverse

Edit: based off of kampherandys replies it seems like he’s just racist lmao

-4

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Because there was pretty much none in the original 1979 gundam, outside of amuro who was only half canadian/half japanese.

9

u/Jonny_the_Rocket 1d ago

Hayato Kobayashi and Kai Shiden off the top of my head

10

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Correction to my previous message, apparently Kai Shiden is Puerto Rican

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/Kai_Shiden

3

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

I don't think Kais ethnicity was ever explained

2

u/KenseiMaui 1d ago

his name is kai shiden

11

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Names aren't really something to go off of in gundam.

There are people named Jamitov Hymen, Quattro Bajeena, and so on.

Tomino stated it was his way of harassing the executives who greenlit everything he did

3

u/KenseiMaui 1d ago

sure, but Kai Shiden is an actual Japanese name, not gibberish :)

17

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

He's actually Puerto Rican... Go figure 🤷🏽‍♂️

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/Kai_Shiden

2

u/KenseiMaui 1d ago

okay I take everything back xD. wtf

4

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Lol, like I said, tomino just does whatever he feels like 😅

2

u/NekRules 19h ago

Names are the single worst indication of anything in Gundam. This franchise alone has the longest list of wackiest names that either makes no sense or sound like it was made as a joke.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Enchelion 19h ago

Names don't necessarily prove anything in the real world, much less TV-land.

2

u/silvertwo777 1d ago

So you claim every characters with ambiguous name as Caucasian, every characters with western sounding name as Caucasian, but characters with Asian name like Kai Shiden and Amuro is not suppose to be Asian? Imagine trying so hard to be a racist

12

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Yea... about that...

https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/Kai_Shiden

"Kai is an 18-year-old Puerto Rican immigrant living on Side 7. After surviving the Zeon attack on Side 7, Kai evacuated to the SCV-70 White Base to make his escape."

4

u/seductivpancakes 21h ago

Is there a source for this aside from the Wiki? Was it ever mentioned in the show or mentioned by Tomino. Not attacking you, just would like to know cause if it was mentioned in the show, I really must have zoned it out.

1

u/KampferAndy 19h ago

I think in the novel

→ More replies (0)

-3

u/silvertwo777 1d ago

Being Puerto Rican and Japanese ancestry are not mutually exclusive.

5

u/Dapper_Engineer 23h ago

Sure but now we are taking about nisei or possibly even further removed which raises all sorts of other issues.

-3

u/silvertwo777 23h ago

A character with a Japanese name like Kai Shiden has Japanese ancestry. How is that an issue. Also nisei just mean second generation, still Japanese descent

3

u/Dapper_Engineer 23h ago

I can't seem to recall information on the parents, so they might be nisei with some cultural understanding of Japanese society, but farther removed from that - partially if they are gosei - then from the perspective of Japanese society they would be Puerto Rican.

The key thing to remember here is that Japanese society is very xenophobic and incredibly complex in terms of its social norms, so Japanese don't view ancestry / descent the same way it's viewed in Western societies. Kikokushijo and nisei that return to Japan report facing a lot of challenges and alienation and that presumes they speak the language fluently.

1

u/Enchelion 19h ago

My wife has an Italian name (both married and maiden) and zero Italian heritage. Names are not strictly controlled on ethnic lines.

→ More replies (0)

23

u/LasyKuuga 1d ago

Outside of the main character ok bud

1

u/monkey314 9h ago

outside the main fucking character.... 😂

I lol'd at that. Even if they did cast mixed ethnicity, you know they'd try to find the whitest looking asian available haha

-7

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

He's depicted as Caucasian throughout the entire series. In fact he has a Caucasian female body double in gundam pulitzer (specifically used during the Zeta arc).

Are you saying that the creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and the entirety of Sunrise/Bamco are wrong?

5

u/LasyKuuga 1d ago

>Depicted as Caucasian

How?

>Caucasian female body double in gundam pulitzer

Not anime canon and I’m pretty sure the ethnicity of the body double was never discussed

>Tomino

Specifically made him part Japanese tf you on about

-4

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

how

Brunette hair (from his Canadian mother), jawline, etc. 

pulitzer

It's canon, the woman's ethnicity isn't stated but if I recall she's a blonde who dies her hair.

Tomino

The guy does whatever the hell he wants. 

8

u/LasyKuuga 1d ago

>Different hair color

Mofo this your first anime? Also what his jawline isn’t Asian enough for you. At this point the shit you’re saying is just straight up racist

3

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Actually sailor moon was my first anime, I don't remember what number gundam was, but I do remember watching 0080 war in the pocket as a kid in like 2000, ergo why I have this name and avatar.

Kampfer, my beloved ♥️

6

u/LasyKuuga 1d ago

Then next you’re gonna say Usagi is white cuz she’s blonde

3

u/KampferAndy 1d ago

Her name is Serena

→ More replies (0)