One of the biggest anime movies of the year is coming to Netflix – and soon

Netflix has secured distribution for one of the biggest movies at the Japanese box office this year, allowing subscribers to catch the film in mere weeks.

Gundam Seed Freedom opened to a rapturous reception in Japan in January 2024. Not only is the anime movie the country’s fourth highest-grossing movie of the year, it’s the biggest feature in the Gundam franchise to date.

A limited theatrical release meant fans only had a small opportunity to enjoy that first run outside Japan. Now, Netflix is remedying that, as Gundam Seed Freedom arrives on the service September 1, 2024.

At time of writing, that’s just over three weeks away. That’s a small wait in the context of the eight months it’s taken for the new movie to get a wide release around the world.

The Gundam film arrives as Netflix continues to makes moves within the anime space. The platform has an animated remake of One Piece in development, alongside the live-action version, and the library already contains franchises such as Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Meanwhile, this year Netflix had The Imaginary from Studio Ponoc, and Terminator Zero is coming up. Dandadan and the Ranma 1/2 remake are licensed to certain regions from the platform. In other words, the company is widening its anime selection at every opportunity.

Gundam Seed Freedom forms the third part of a trilogy, though you can watch it standalone. Good thing, because the first two movies aren’t on Netflix yet. You can enjoy several other movies from within the long-running mech franchise, though.

This one follows Seed protagonist Kira Yamato, a mecha-pilot who’s been enhanced in order to better handle the giant machines. He’s involved in a prolonged space war, though he only wants peace between Earth and the colonies.

For more of what’s coming soon, check out our upcoming anime list. You can also check out what other streaming services are worth getting, and take a look at the best sci-fi movies around.