Despite its massive popularity, the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has a lot of side stories that have never made it outside of Japan. One of these stories is Hathaway's Flash, a three-part novel series about Hathaway Noa, the son of series veteran Bright Noa, as he acts as the secret leader of the anti-Earth Federation group Mafty. Written by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, the story is one of the later stories featured within Gundam's Universal Century timeline.
Recently, a new movie trilogy was announced based on Hathaway's Flash, with the first movie (Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway) having been released earlier this year on Netflix. While many might be eager to go see the latest Gundam movie, it might be beneficial to watch some other shows also placed within the Universal Century for context. As Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway takes place in the year UC 0105, there is a lot of history and politics that help to frame the movie's setting.
Mobile Suit Gundam (UC 0079)
The very first Gundam series is important for a variety of reasons. It helps to establish the world of the Universal Century, especially focusing on the conflict between the Federation on Earth and Zeon in space. It also introduces the concept of Newtypes, humans who have evolved psychic powers to better adapt to the isolation of space.
Most importantly, it introduces Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, two of the most important characters in the Universal Century series, and Gundam as a whole. Their relationship and rivalry form an important aspect of the Universal Century, and it's symbolic of the relationship between Earthnoids (those living on Earth) and Spacenoids (those living in space). Another character of note is Bright Noa, who plays a role in the majority of Universal Century stories and will eventually become Hathaway Noa's father.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (UC 0087)
The second Gundam series is generally considered one of the best Gundam series of all time. Taking place years after the original series, Zeta Gundam is important as it focuses on the endlessly contentious relationship between Earthnoids and Spacenoids, especially as the Federation grows both more powerful and corrupt in the wake of Zeon's destruction. In addition, it shows the next step in Amuro and Char's relationship; formerly enemies in the last series, the two find themselves as unlikely allies, although they spend very little of the show fighting together. Amuro takes a sort of backseat in this series, as the viewers spend more time getting to know Char. In an impassioned speech, Char makes clear his fervent desire to have humanity spread out into space to allow the polluted Earth to recover from humanity's ravages.
While Zeta Gundam is an important series to watch, its follow-up Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ can be skipped, especially if viewers are in a hurry to watch Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway. While Gundam ZZ resolves conflicts that start in Zeta Gundam, the scope of its story is much smaller in comparison, and it is of little relevance to the events in Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (UC 0093)
This movie is the most important piece of Gundam media that viewers must make sure to watch, as it has the most relevance to Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway. Hathaway Noa himself is fully introduced in this movie (after an inconsequential appearance in Zeta Gundam). His actions in this movie and his relationship with Quess Paraya help to form the kind of person that he becomes in the future.
Char's Counterattack also covers the culmination of Amuro and Char's rivalry. Now mortal enemies once again, Char becomes the leader of Neo Zeon and is hell-bent on forcing humanity to leave Earth for space by dropping massive asteroids onto the Earth's surface, intending on making the planet uninhabitable. After a vicious clash between the Federation and Neo Zeon, Char's malevolent plan is stopped, but at the cost of many lives, including Amuro and Char's, who disappear after Amuro manages to stop the final asteroid from falling to Earth.
The outcome of this conflict has a huge effect on the young Hathaway Noa, who is forced to see Quess Paraya killed right before his eyes. Jaded by the event, Hathaway loses faith in the human race and adopts Char's ideologies, causing him to become the anti-Federation terrorist Mafty Navue Erin. While there are still Federation soldiers who are interested in the well-being of the people, the organization has become increasingly corrupt as the Earth's pollution continues to worsen. The importance of this movie to Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway cannot be understated.
It is always up to the viewer how much extra work they would like to do before checking out Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway. However, to have the necessary context and background to fully appreciate the significance of the events in the movie, watching these series and movies is invaluable. While it's certainly a lot to watch (93 episodes and 1 movie), these are all classic series that are beloved by mecha anime fans, so anyone interested in Gundam as a franchise is certainly going to enjoy the ride.