Cartoons that are just 30 minute product placement ads are nothing new.... but how about a 90 minute series about people playing with the product? Wait...wha?  Bandai is trying a different approach for their 30th anniversary - a new show called "Mokei Senshi Gunpla Builders Beginning G".

At the 49th Shizuoka Hobby Show, Bandai revealed that for the 30th anniversary of Gundam plastic models, aka "Gunpla" in Japan, they are creating a new 3-Episode Gundam cartoon that centers around a young boy named Haru who gets into building Gundam models.  The premise is that Haru and his buddies load their Gunpla into a computer and can control them via an arcade sim so expect to at least see some battles, but I wouldn't expect more than what the show is - a celebration of 30 years of building these intricate little plastic kits.

The anime focuses on a boy called Haru Irei, who becomes a Gunpla Builder after building a Gundam plastic model. His pal, Kenta Sakazaki who loves Gunpla as well,  helps Haru with his hobby by showing him tips on how to build them.

The Gundam anime studio Sunrise has teamed up with director Kou Matsuo on the series. Yousuke Kuroda is writing the script and Kaichiro Terada is the animation director. Mechanical designers Kunio Okawara, Atsushi Shigeta and Junichi Akutsu have signed on for this project to give us such wonderful new kits like the Bear ACGuy.

To see the official Bandai page click here.