State of the Titans (post-Gryps)

[Seto Kaiba]

So even if we were to discount the statements made by Sunrise's planning group that expressly indicate they are the ones in control of the Gundam IP and its licensing, which in and of itself completely refutes your argument... it's also worth noting that in the Bandai Namco Group, Sunrise Inc. and Bandai Co. Ltd. are not even in the same division of the Bandai Namco. The former Sunrise Inc., now Bandai Namco Filmworks, is the head company of the IP Creation division. Bandai Co. Ltd. belongs to the organizationally separate Toy & Hobby division. Bandai Namco Filmworks is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings, with Bandai Co. Ltd. having no stake or control in it whatsoever.

TL;DR, your argument is blatantly fictive.

The best I can find are the trademark registrations, out of the 120 Gundam trademarks: https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/s0100 (you will have to do the search yourself)
only 15 of them are filed by Sunrise, and others by Sotsu as the owner.

One of the major flaws in your argument is your incorrect belief that Bandai "bought" Sunrise in 1994 and became owner of the Gundam IP itself.

If that were true (and it is not), every Gundam work produced after that point would not be ©Sotsu/Sunrise but ©Bandai. After all, the Intellectual Property rights to a property are the primary rights conferred by the ownership of the copyright. Yet as we see from the shows produced after that point:

• Mobile Fighter G Gundam ©1994 Sunrise Inc.
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing ©1995 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team ©1995 Sunrise Inc.
• After War Gundam X ©1996 Sunrise Inc.
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz ©1997 Sunrise Inc. (OVA) ©1998 Sunrise Inc. (Movie)
• Turn-A Gundam ©1999 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ©2002 Sunrise Inc.
• MS IGLOO ©2004 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny ©2004 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 ©2007 Sunrise Inc.
• MS IGLOO 2: the Gravity Front ©2008 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam UC ©2010 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00: A Wakening of the Trailblazer ©2010 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam AGE ©2011 Sunrise Inc.
• Gundam Build Fighters ©2013 Sunrise Inc.
• Gundam: Reconguista in G ©2014 Sunrise Inc.
• Gundam Build Fighters Try ©2014 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: the Origin ©2015 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans ©2015 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt ©2015 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Twilight Axis ©2017 Sunrise Inc.
• Gundam Build Divers ©2018 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative ©2018 Sunrise Inc.
• Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise ©2019 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway ©2020 Sunrise Inc.
• Mobile Suit Gundam: the Witch from Mercury ©SUNRISE

Now would you look at that... the copyright notices listed right on the works themselves all say Sunrise. Why might that be? Because Sunrise Inc. is the author of this work for purposes of copyright and therefore holds the IP rights as dictated by Japanese and international copyright law.

Also, for the record, Bandai did not "buy" Sunrise in 1994. The Bandai Group purchased a big enough block of stock in Sunrise Inc. to make Sunrise an affiliate company under the Bandai Group's umbrella (note: note Bandai Co. itself, but the Bandai Group). They did not consolidate ownership of Sunrise Inc. until they purchased Sotsu Agency (the other majority shareholder of Sunrise Inc.) on 1 March 2020. Even then, Sunrise Inc. (now Bandai Namco Filmworks) belongs to a different branch of what is now the Bandai-Namco Group than Bandai Co. Ltd. according to the Bandai-Namco Group's own organizational statements. Bandai Namco Filmworks is the head of the IP creation division (as in, they report to nobody but the holding group and everyone in that division reports to them), while Bandai Co. Ltd. is in the Toys & Hobby division.

Business and economic news also share the view that Bandai, or if you prefer the name Bandai Namco, won the copyright war:

You ignored what's actually WRITTEN there... which ironically undermines your own argument.

That first article on Nikkei is from 2019, and talks not about Bandai Namco Group OWNING the Gundam copyright but controlling it via their acquisition of Sotsu consolidating their control of Sunrise. The other three are the same.

Having majority control of a company does not equate to ownership of that company and its intellectual property. Even having 100% ownership of a company does not transfer ownership of its IP to you directly... you own that IP through ownership of that company. Once you own the company you CAN strip its assets and transfer ownership of its IP to another entity (like yourself), but that demonstrably didn't happen here because even after 2020 new Gundam works are still clearly marked ©Sunrise.

Oh, and Sentinel is a very good example. Model Graphix didn't negotiate with Sunrise, they negotiated with Bandai. And as we know it, publications involving canon includes Sentinel, yes, including the ones you like to say "endorsed by Sunrise". That was in 1988, even before Bandai bought Sunrise.

One of the few partially-accurate statements you've made... though you missed a key detail. Gundam Sentinel was commissioned by Bandai Co. Ltd. (who licensed the merchandising rights to Gundam from Sunrise) as a way to promote plamodels. Bandai Co. authorized it using the rights they held under license from Sunrise, though because they failed to do their due diligence and the whole thing ended up being made on verbal agreements alone, actual ownership of the story ended up being disputed between Bandai Co. and Model Graphix, but both acknowledge (and you'll find this clear statement in the official publications made for Gundam Sentinel that Gundam is ©Sunrise/Sotsu Agency.

Sunrise is an anime company, they don't touch anything non-anime, and Bandai does so for publications, games, etc. They don't send some Sunrise personel to do it for them because they are the major sponsor and have nested interest in the Gundam franchise.

Sunrise is an animation production company, yes.

I'm about to explain to you how licensing works.

You see, copyright ownership confers several different categories of rights upon the copyright owner including:

• the exclusive right to produce or authorize the production of derivative works (e.g. sequels, spinoffs, side stories, adaptations).
• the exclusive right to distribute the work worldwide.
• the exclusive right to develop, market, and sell merchandise based on that work worldwide.

As an animation production company that develops its own original IPs, Sunrise (in partnership with Sotsu Agency) uses licensing agreements to delegate portions of its exclusive rights under copyright to its affiliates in the Bandai Namco Group and various third parties so that those other companies can develop, produce, and sell things like toys, plamodels, games, manga, and books as well as distribute the series in Japan and other countries by broadcast, streaming, and on home video. All of that authority flows, via license, from the copyright owner. Licensees can, in turn, license part or all of the rights they hold under license to others as long as that doesn't violate any terms delineated in the license agreement. The license issuer can also write into the license all kinds of other provisions, typically including things like an editorial review over any new goods that are being produced before release.

Bandai Co. makes Gundam toys and plamodels because they licensed a subset of the merchandising rights to Gundam from Sunrise... specifically the rights to produce those categories of merchandise.

Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Bandai Games) is the same, having licensed the right to produce games based on Gundam.

The publishers of the various mooks, books, and manga are doing so under license from Sunrise as well... with the exception of doujinshi writers, who are a grey market.

Sunrise has, as per their own statements and the credits for many such works, dedicated staff from the Sunrise Planning group overseeing the work of licensees and determining what content is permissible and what is not. That same group are also the ones who determine what works are, or are not, a part of the official Gundam setting, as per Sunrise's own statements on the matter.

If you check, for instance, Gundam Officials, you will notice it may be published by Kodansha... but under the supervision of Sunrise. Not Bandai, Sunrise.

[Deacon Blues]

To step back into the discussion about manga and novel issues and whatnot, Ark Performance lamented about how difficult it was having to license every little tiny thing (uniform, weapon, shield, etc). While their series is likely an exception because of the MSV-R brand, series like Walpurgis and Crossbone fall on the Gundam Ace editorial staff and whatnot for most planning (same with Frozen Teardrop).

However, everything that is coming out since the inception of the UC NexT 0100 project is going to have 100% involvement from Sunrise for all aspects of planning (characters, Mecha, plot, etc). An excellent example of the detailed reach can be seen in F90FF (although we have two scriptwriter at this point).

That's not to say we won't have hamfisted idiotic adventures like Gundam Sequel of the Flanagam Boone comic. We will never be rid of those. But, it's safe to say that their new focus with manga and novels IS to make them fit into official continuity 100% going forward.

[Seto Kaiba]

However, everything that is coming out since the inception of the UC NexT 0100 project is going to have 100% involvement from Sunrise for all aspects of planning (characters, Mecha, plot, etc). An excellent example of the detailed reach can be seen in F90FF (although we have two scriptwriter at this point).

That's not to say we won't have hamfisted idiotic adventures like Gundam Sequel of the Flanagam Boone comic. We will never be rid of those. But, it's safe to say that their new focus with manga and novels IS to make them fit into official continuity 100% going forward.

Yeah, Sunrise has acknowledged the allure of a mixed-media format. I have to wonder how much of that is because digital distribution of manga and light novels has eliminated a bit of the old FOMO that came with those limited print runs. Either way, I'm sure they'll have fun with the challenges that will come from coordinating across formats and Gundam fans will get a more consistent, higher quality product going forward.

[Deacon Blues]

However, everything that is coming out since the inception of the UC NexT 0100 project is going to have 100% involvement from Sunrise for all aspects of planning (characters, Mecha, plot, etc). An excellent example of the detailed reach can be seen in F90FF (although we have two scriptwriter at this point).

That's not to say we won't have hamfisted idiotic adventures like Gundam Sequel of the Flanagam Boone comic. We will never be rid of those. But, it's safe to say that their new focus with manga and novels IS to make them fit into official continuity 100% going forward.

Yeah, Sunrise has acknowledged the allure of a mixed-media format. I have to wonder how much of that is because digital distribution of manga and light novels has eliminated a bit of the old FOMO that came with those limited print runs. Either way, I'm sure they'll have fun with the challenges that will come from coordinating across formats and Gundam fans will get a more consistent, higher quality product going forward.

The closer we get to invalidating or redoing Crossbone the better!

[DragoMaster009]

However, everything that is coming out since the inception of the UC NexT 0100 project is going to have 100% involvement from Sunrise for all aspects of planning (characters, Mecha, plot, etc). An excellent example of the detailed reach can be seen in F90FF (although we have two scriptwriter at this point).

That's not to say we won't have hamfisted idiotic adventures like Gundam Sequel of the Flanagam Boone comic. We will never be rid of those. But, it's safe to say that their new focus with manga and novels IS to make them fit into official continuity 100% going forward.

Yeah, Sunrise has acknowledged the allure of a mixed-media format. I have to wonder how much of that is because digital distribution of manga and light novels has eliminated a bit of the old FOMO that came with those limited print runs. Either way, I'm sure they'll have fun with the challenges that will come from coordinating across formats and Gundam fans will get a more consistent, higher quality product going forward.

The closer we get to invalidating or redoing Crossbone the better!

Well, I wouldn't mind seeing a UC Gundam work that manages to get an "A" rating for once, the vast majority of them (canon or otherwise) seem to hover around high-C to mid-B with a couple high-B's and several overall D's for the remaining entries.