Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino spoke at Seien Girls’ High School last month after being contacted on behalf of a student passionate about Gundam She and her fellow students wanted industry figures to share how to make dreams come true with their wish eventually reaching Tomino.Delivering the speech “To Live on a Finite Earth -Thinking about the Future-,” Tomino spoke for 90 minutes to a hall of students and even their parents many of whom were in their youth when Mobile Suit Gundam premiered nearly 46 years ago in April 1979 ALSO READ:Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Reveals New Key Visual and Trailer for Movie Version where Bellri and Aida developed new worldviews as a result of the conflicts they were thrust into These contrasted with the worldviews of previous generations His other comments included criticisms of Putin and a discussion of race and gender diversity in his series Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb After a decade, Japanese accessory maker Jam Home Made is bringing back "Yoshiyuki Tomino's Wallet," made to order for the Gundam creator's exacting specifications The Jam Home Made brand's X (formerly Twitter) account announced the return of Yoshiyuki Tomino's wallet on November 5 The brand began offering the updated wallet that day as part of its Signature Collection which develops fashion accessories with notable figures in society 「個」のユーザビリティを追求する事で誕生するJAM HOME MADEの”SIGNATURE COLLECTION”富野由悠季の財布2024年11月5日（火）より販売開始https://t.co/pWoN8No7Td#富野由悠季 #Respect pic.twitter.com/UFCRRyY9th According to the Jam Home Made website Tomino wanted the wallet to be “a wallet with higher specs.” More specifically the Gundam creator and director wanted the wallet to be: It also needs to be easy to take cards in and out and it needs to be easy to see so the wallet is easy to find in your bag The website also notes the first new run of Tomino's wallet will come with a limited-edition Haro coin as well as Tomino's (reproduced) signature. The wallet retails at 36,300 yen (about US$236) and is available at the Jam Home Made Tokyo location, the Jam Home Made Online Shop, and Jam Home Made ZOZOTOWN shop JAM HOME MADE first offered Tomino's wallet in 2012, and then brought it back two years later in 2014 this year's updated version adds a hidden card case inside its coin pocket Sources: Jam Home Made's X/Twitter account, Jam Home Made's website, Comic Natalie The Japan Art Academy is a national institution that gives preferential treatment to artists who have made outstanding achievements in different fields of art including literature Tomino was born in Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture on November 5 As a singer, Baisho performed theme songs for animated films such as Studio Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle, the 1993 On a Paper Crane - Tomoko's Adventure film, and the 2015 film Air Bound Sources: NHK News Web, Gundam.info Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb, an Amazon company© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc. Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb, an Amazon company© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc. Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb, an Amazon company© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc. Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb, an Amazon company© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc. Will Hartman We’d like to meet Tomiño Taberna Gallega’s tomato guy. The Spanish restaurant in Little Italy has two of the most simple, memorable tomato dishes we’ve tasted, maybe ever: a bright pan con tomate and ice cold gazpacho—and we’d like to know what blood magic their farmer is using to create such juiciness.  We could get as dewy-eyed about a lot of the produce and seafood at Tomiño Taberna—not to mention the legs of jamón Iberico strung up behind the bar. The Galician food alone makes this the kind of restaurant where you’ll want to become a regular. Lower East Side Spanish Gramercy Casa Mono’s open kitchen is just as exciting as their encyclopedic Spanish wine and vermouth program Chelsea Eat some very solid Spanish food and drink great cocktails next to a mural of Don Quijote fighting some windmills in this historic hotel restaurant Will is passionate about bagels and being disappointed by The Mets He has been writing for The Infatuation since 2023 In the opinion of Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino humanity must take care to protect the planet Earth because the prospect of escaping out into the frontiers of space is completely unfeasible RELATED: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ Creator Slams Disney’s Recent Output As “Disappointing” And “Boring”, Says Full Switch To Digital Animation Has Left Company Creatively Sterile The 82-year old creator offered his slightly dour take on mankind’s future while speaking with Japanese news outlet Aera Dot in reflection of the 60th anniversary of his anime industry start Pressed by the outlet (as machine translated by DeepL) as to what influence his seminal film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack has had on his career “There is one thing that became clear to me after making films for about 10 years from Mobile Suit Gundam to Char’s Counterattack I realized that I was simulating what would happen if humans went out into space to live My conclusion from this is that it is absolutely impossible for humans to leave the earth and live in space I would not be able to create ‘space battle stories,’ so I continued to create the Gundam series.” some people seem to think that I have a positive view of human life in space but it is quite the opposite,” he explained “Humanity must continue to live on this Earth and that is why we must take care of the Earth’s environment I have been making a series called Gundam Reconguista in G since 2014 I have brought aspects of my true feelings more to the forefront.” RELATED: Completion Of Funimation-Crunchyroll Merger Results In Over 100 Anime Titles Being Made Digitally Unavailable To Western Audiences Including ‘Astro Boy’, ‘Slayers’, And ‘Mobile Suit Gundam SEED’ Met with the subsequent observation from the news outlet that “in recent years has been making progress,” Tomino affirmed in turn “Private space development has started worldwide I am skeptical about how serious they are.” “Perhaps they know that it is impossible but I think they are just advocating a theme to make space development a business,” he continued “Even if there is no space immigration the space business will continue to move forward in areas such as launching more satellites and procuring resources from space In the sense that space development is actually gaining momentum one might say that humanity is obsessed with ‘capitalism of the 21st century’.” I do not think that space is the way out for the human race,” the anime director added “We have to think about how we can continue to live on the earth forever And I believe that the theoretical struggle over how to confront the ‘capitalism of the 21st century,’ which is trying to find a way out of the universe To this end, Tomino then revealed that rather than fearing the reports of that the world population will hit its peak and subsequently proceed to decline sometime in the next century he believed such an outcome would be beneficial for humanity’s continued survival “The space colony that underpins the Gundam worldview was originally a concept proposed in the 1960s due to concerns about a population explosion,” said the series creator the United Nations now predicts that the world’s population will peak around the year 2100 This change in the times also seems to have led to the current situation where the space colony concept is fizzling out “I feel that the trend is good in its own rights,” he told Aera Dot “There are some news reports that speak ill of a population decline because we humans will have to use the earth forever I have been saying for the past couple of decades that the world’s population must be reduced to the level of the Meiji Restoration If the world population decreases to that level we can become self-sufficient by adding on to our current science and technology and we may be able to solve the food problem and so on.” Closing out his interview with his thoughts on the current worldwide political climate “I am concerned that the current political situation in the world is infested with presumptuous politics.” “Some people have pointed out that the political situation in the world today resembles that of the ancient Greeks when we look at it from a bird’s eye view,” he argued “According to the ancient Greek view of cyclical history a ‘monarchy’ becomes corrupt and becomes an ‘aristocracy,’ which then becomes corrupt and becomes a ‘democracy’ The democratic government eventually falls into a ‘popular government,’ which then leadsd to a ‘pretender government’ in which unqualified people claimed to be leaders This is an article written by Terumasa Nakanishi and it was an eye-opener for me when I read it.” “The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is a typical example,” he concluded don’t you think that the current era is much worse than the Cold War era but I wish the young people living today the best of luck.” NEXT: ‘Mobile Fighter G Gundam’ To Celebrate 30th Anniversary With New Story Penned By Original Series Director More About:Anime ShareSaveInnovationGamingYoshiyuki Tomino On 'Gundam', Newtypes And The Perilous Future Facing HumanityByOllie Barder The writer and director Yoshiyuki Tomino at his desk at Sunrise from his work to what he thinks will await us in the future Tomino is a very big figure in Japanese animation having written and directed many very successful series and movies While he may be more known for his mecha-related anime what has allowed his work to resonate and endure is down to the depth of his stories and characterization the mecha in a series in Mobile Suit Gundam are closer to conduits for the characters that pilot them and the narrative is far more human as a result my university and Mushi Production were quite close had an interview and ultimately got the position people get into the industry because they adore animation but for me that wasn’t the case “During my final year of university the anime for Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) series started its weekly airing It was known then as a ‘limited anime’ but after one year into this broadcasting approach they began to settle into their production process about three months in I began to wonder whether I could direct or write a script So I started to do that and six months later my storyboard for an original story was accepted and I got to be involved in the directing side of things I found this kind of work within animation to be a bit childish and I wasn’t sure it would be all that gratifying “I had a hard time familiarizing myself with the method of limited anime I left Mushi Production and went into TV advertising as a freelancer but that turned out to be financially difficult I was so accustomed to desk work at that point and my body had a hard time switching to a job that was more physical It was childish work but I could make ends meet So as a freelancer I did subcontract work directing and storyboarding I returned to all this with a very pragmatic frame of mind But I did things differently after getting back into animation I was making around half my income from storyboarding and I thought that as someone that is involved with making animation I just wanted to increase my level of skill by accepting whatever work came my way I was focusing on improving my skill and to deal with all sorts of areas looking back at those days I can see it was very important that I did all this I continued on with this until 1978 when I started working on Mobile Suit Gundam.” There are few anime that have had the long-term cultural impact of Mobile Suit Gundam While I have watched and enjoyed the Gundam saga in its entirety its origins are something I obviously wanted to know more about Until then I had never thought about playwriting for animation It was a really great period of study for me “If you’re not involved in a wide variety of work If you are not studying various types of works and if you don't learn different types of dramatization then you will only make limited work What I mean by this is that I don't want to be a producer that is only capable of making something like the films made based on Marvel Comics properties I acknowledge the existence of Marvel label as a business The original 'Mobile Suit Gundam' has gone on to be hugely iconic and influential since its release.. “So from around 1977 onward I started to do mecha related series and from then on I was integrally involved in checking all the stories and production I felt that because of all the studying I'd done up to that point I could do a much different job without making it like some kind of Marvel film series “Within the restrictions placed upon these productions I tried to move them away from them being inherently childish and to make it closer to a film in terms of its approach and depth “To create cinema you have to rely on the structure of each scene Normally within each shot you tend to need two points (allies and enemies) to focus on to make it work if you are going to make a story based around a war in space As the setting itself is so vast in terms of the distances involved but that means you won't be able to get these objects into the scene This means if things don't get closer to one another they won't be able to fit into one shot and it would be impossible to depict the drama “To solve this problem, my team and I came up with the idea of the Minovsky particle When this was distributed across large areas you couldn't rely on radar or detect where the enemy might be This meant the forces had to come closer to one another in order to fight we were able to create something equivalent to the depiction of a cinematic (and theatrical) drama within this space war scenario That meant within the next 30 minutes of the story due to the Minovsky particles the forces had to fight in close proximity to one another This wasn't done because I necessarily wanted to make a story based around a space war itself but was invented purely for cinematic purposes it was possible to communicate over large distances the depiction would have been too ideological or too difficult to have theatrical empathy This meant unless the distances between the characters were closer together it would have been difficult to express human relationships If I hadn't been conscious of theatrical expression then Mobile Suit Gundam would have been the same as any other type of story about war The Minovsky particle then forced the characters to meet one another I didn't come up with the idea for the Minovsky particle all on my own I discussed with my staff and explained my requirements and they came up with this solution this was a key point in making a story set in space have more of an impact as to its cinematic effect “These things as well as everything I learned from Mr Miyazaki in terms of characterisation and how to build characters not to mention the various other theatrical and dramatic elements that I learned from Mr If I hadn't met these two individuals and learned all these elements from them then it's very likely that Mobile Suit Gundam would not have turned out in the same way I'm admitting this for the first time but without them and me aiming to make the series more cinematic such as thinking very keenly on how to set up each scene; it would have ended up being worse than the Marvel films it had its own realism and was maybe just a different approach So I suppose there should be places for various types of entertainment but I only think that if it is coming from somewhere like Tokyo it shouldn't be placed in somewhere like Hollywood “Moving back to Mobile Suit Gundam for a bit, while the Minovsky particle was meant to bring characters together in a cinematic way the idea of Newtypes was separate from this. The Newtype notion came from somewhere completely different.” Newtypes are a very big part of the narrative for Mobile Suit Gundam they are the product of humanity moving into space and evolving to meet that challenge in the years since their portrayal has been warped somewhat Something that Tomino went on to talk about in detail there were other mecha-related science fiction works but looking at them they didn't come across as being science fiction at all So in that sense the creation of Newtypes was a solution to that the use of psychic powers and telepathy in science fiction were often added as some kind of fighting ability Whereas a Newtype is just a notion in the story Newtypes are a big part of the 'Gundam' saga and played a key role in the movie 'Char's.. “While I was working on Mobile Suit Gundam over the course of 10 years I began to think about how human beings might improve and evolve I was unable to properly get this idea into the original Mobile Suit Gundam I was unable to present an adequate form of a more evolved human the first cognitive revolution occurred when Homo sapiens crossed the ocean and I wanted to depict the second cognitive revolution by going into space “In terms of describing this idea in subsequent Gundam series In terms of the later Gundam stories I worked on trying to show how a human might evolve into something better it would be usually described as something like a god but that's not something I intended Newtypes are just evolved beings and not gods I don't think that the later Gundam series were able to adequately show what that might be about 25 years ago I tried to get at the core of this Newtype idea and it resulted in a type of human that could comprehend someone else without any misunderstanding I couldn't really make a compelling story out of it So I couldn't do it and I've been stagnating since and I've recently caught a cold as well (laughs).” Aura Battler Dunbine And Its Realm Of Imagination This premise of how Newtypes could comprehend someone else without misunderstanding is an ongoing theme in Tomino’s work and something he built on further with series like Aura Battler Dunbine “So in Mobile Suit Gundam I sent a message to viewers If I continued on from trying to send that message I thought that then a new story would need to be set within an imaginary world as I don't think Aura Battler Dunbine is technically within the realm of fantasy It is set within a world of imagination and one that consequently features mecha It is not based on a world of a different dimension “So the setting for Aura Battler Dunbine is within the world of imagination one of the reasons being that I think Japanese people of my generation have an interest in European folktales and mythology Considering that animation needs to have a global appeal I thought that setting everything in Japan would go against that That's why I used the somewhat medieval European setting in Aura Battler Dunbine.” What’s fascinating about Aura Battler Dunbine is that you have all these disparate people from what is known as the earthly world (our realm) transported to this imaginary world of Byston Well This was something that was played with in the series, as certain characters from places like China would bring their nationalistic grudges with them and bear them out on other people, such as the series’ protagonist, Sho Zama a Chinese character called Fei Cheung Kwan fights Sho Zama and berates him for being Japanese something that Sho points out to be both crazy and irrelevant as they are all caught up in the realm of Byston Well nationalism has no place in this imaginary world 'Aura Battler Dunbine' was a unique anime series from the start of the 80's and set in a mysterious.. I was curious as to whether this was intentional or not and Tomino was happy to clarify I did that intentionally because in this imaginary world it wouldn't be hate speech and it can be expressed as something more open “For the production, I also looked into things like The Iliad as a base but it's not as though I was trying make anything particular English or Celtic in terms of mythology I also tried to use a similar notion of the Minovsky particle in Aura Battle Dunbine in the world of Byston Well I wanted to make something quite separate So there is this notion of where the land meets the sea that this was the point where the world divides up That meant that while these European elements exists in the setting of Byston Well there is still this approach to an imaginary world in the form of this realm that isn't at all affected or influenced by European legend or folklore.” Following on from Aura Battler Dunbine, Tomino also wrote somewhat of a sequel series of novels called the Wings of Rean set in Byston Well it lacked the Aura Battler mecha seen in the anime While this wasn’t the first series of novels Tomino had written it seems that he had originally wanted to be a novelist “I always wanted to be a novelist and I took on that challenge with the Wings of Rean I felt that I couldn't be a novelist or a real writer of drama The cause of this failure was that I couldn't find a proper way to dramatize fantasy There must be a way to do it but I couldn't find one While the beginning and end of the story was good As a result of this I was unable to make it a successful work Gundam Reconguista in G And How Anime Is Made For A Global Audience In addition, we’ve also seen the worldwide release of Tomino’s latest Gundam series, Gundam Reconguista in G It turns out that this series has also been a point of frustration for him “In terms of these new Blu-ray releases of my work in the West this is something other people have organized so I suppose I am quite nonchalant about it these releases are something that is innately part of that The fact that these animated works weren't widely available beforehand is the issue really That was quite irritating and annoying actually I will be very happy if there is any response to my work now that it is more widely available outside of Japan as I fundamentally think that animation is made for a global audience I regret that I could not make more works that had a previously wider release and in turn produced a reaction we made the TV series but it wasn't perfected in terms of the content So the fact that the production couldn't stop to include the updated content in the Blu-ray version is something I found extremely frustrating Even in my position as the originator and producer I didn't have the power to stop it whereas someone like Mr that's why I am now working on the movie version but I can't really talk about that yet all the various recent Gundam series somehow target an audience older than teenagers I don't think that is how it should be I tried to make Gundam Reconguista in G for younger people I also think other directors that have worked on Gundam have even noticed this situation and that it was wrong so with that in mind I made Gundam Reconguista in G That means even though the story is about war I also wanted them to raise questions toward the adults as we might not see a reaction for another 20 years or so 'Gundam Reconguista in G' was aimed at younger audiences and to encourage them to think about the.. [+] utility of technology such as space elevators unless it is in the world of animation there aren't any legitimate reasons to travel into space via an elevator I really wish engineers would understand this simple fact; there needs to be a real utility here On Video Games And That There Are Simply Too Many Of Us Over the years, Tomino has been quite critical of video gaming but I’ve always wondered whether he was accurately quoted. This is because in one of his later series called Overman King Gainer the protagonist is an ardent gamer and his gaming abilities play a role in the story So I wanted to get to the bottom of this and Tomino was happy to explain So in the same way I don't like a certain food as it is popular it must be fun but I don't really want to touch it in terms of my personality I think it would be unwise for me to play video games as I would likely spend far too much money on them “Regarding the fact that Gainer Sanga was a skilled gamer in Overman King Gainer the staff around me decided that it was a good idea within the work I believe I wasn't able to make use of this idea that if you play games your overall skill improves.” we shifted the discussion more towards some of the technological themes explored across Gundam as a whole One of the biggest underlying points in the saga is that the humanity created orbital colonies due to overpopulation and pollution on Earth there’s a broad undercurrent of sustainable environmentalism in the narrative It’s clear that this is a subject that Tomino has continually pondered over the years “During the Obama administration there was a plan to send people to Mars “The idea that we need to escape the Earth due to environmental pollution is just science fiction I suppose this might be a quite shocking remark to make but the solution should be to stop the human population from growing any further and find some way to reduce it by at least half over a period of time We need to re-organise and plan our civilisation to use the available natural resources on the planet for the next ten thousand years or so I'd almost say that capitalism in its current form shouldn't be really allowed I believe the modern world is a miserable result of the entire world focusing only about the economy.” so I think in that regard it’s clear Tomino is aware that he is not the only one that has considered this Japan's population was around 35 million perhaps that would be the right sort of number for sustainable living the mentality of people has changed completely The types of crimes now committed are things I worry about I would still be in need of a comfortable lifestyle with things like washlet toilets and heated floors This contradiction is something that brings to mind of my own despair.” In regards to the 1% and the distorted economic landscape that the vast majority of humanity now has to navigate it seems that this was also something that Tomino thought about a great deal for the production of Gundam Reconguista in G I learned that capitalism came about by quite a moral and Christian set of ideals that it was based around undertaking trade via things like guilds From there it developed onward into what we have today So very serious and hard working people made this system but now it has changed into free market capitalism which isn't the same as the original form it's not the time to talk about idealism if we want to continue to live on this planet for the foreseeable future We have to find a way though and if I were able to figure this out then I would become a real Newtype.” I came away from my discussion with Tomino thinking that he was similarly pragmatic about his approach to work but still had a very active mind There were clearly a great many subjects that concerned him and that required concerted thought to unravel He was also refreshingly magnanimous about the fact that he was obviously not the only one that worked on these various anime something that again seems to be have been misattributed over the years one thing that did stick with me was how harsh he was on himself which I found both admirable and somewhat unfair I’ve always enjoyed his work because I find it thought provoking and it engages my imagination So I don’t really agree with his stance on his own creative failings My only hope is that now Tomino’s work is more widely available it will garner a similarly curious and thoughtful following That it will indeed bring forth the Newtypes we clearly need in these troubled times Read my Forbes blog here No part of this website or its content may be reproduced without the copyright owner's permission VG247 is a registered trademark of Gamer Network Limited Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) ranks among the most successful franchises in animation history: The various broadcast series total more than 750 episodes plus streaming and direct to video installments and more than a dozen theatrical features Nearly 700 million Gundam model kits have been sold A “life-sized” (59 foot) figure of the RX-78F00 Gundam currently towers over a themed amusement center in Yokohama “The World of Yoshiyuki Tomino,” is touring museums in Japan through 2022 discussed his most famous work in a recent interview conducted via email He traced the origins of his watershed property to a childhood interest in outer space “When I was a senior student in elementary school I learned about space travel (which meant going to the Moon) by reading boys’ magazines,” he recalls I began investigating rocket science —  I acquired the knowledge I needed for my anime works before I finished ninth grade.” The Gundam stories take place in the not-too-distant future when most of humanity has left Earth for the orbiting Space Colonies The idea of the colonies came from the writings of American physicist Gerard O’Neill who proposed building structures at the Lagrange points — stable places in the solar system where a spacecraft can maintain its position without expending energy “It was a wonderful idea from the viewpoint of a space-travel lover,” Tomino adds “I couldn’t help adopting this idea when I was building the Gundam world I already thought of space colonies as part of the real world There had been giant robot sci-fi adventures in Japanese animation before Gundam Early series like the 1963 Tetsujin 28-go (Gigantor in America) featured remote-controlled robots the boy-heroes commanded to transport them or attack an enemy Mazinger Z and other programs introduced robots that suggested a fusion of an outsized space suit a one-man spaceship and a set of samurai armor the Gundam robots were beautifully crafted down to the V-shaped antenna that recalls the crest on a samurai helmet But Gundam offered more than superior mecha designs Like George Lucas’ Galactic Empire or Gene Rodenberry’s Federation Tomino’s Gundam universe offered filmmakers a place to explore politics The leaders of the democratic space colonies come into conflict with the corrupt oligarchs of the Earth-based world government The outcome of the struggles hinge on the battles fought by the heroic space-born pilots in their ‘mobile suits.’ “There has to be a war between nations if you want to produce giant humanoid machines and make them fight,” Tomino explained I had to think of a background in which these giant weapons could be produced; I had to make assumptions about economies To introduce new mechanical weapons every week I assumed prototypes were continually being designed and produced by a military-industrial complex you have to take economic issues into consideration I think creators in the contemporary movie industry pay too little attention to such economic and political issues.” Tomino is reconfiguring his 26-episode series Gundam Reconguista in G (2014) into a five-feature cycle “If you realize the work you’ve made isn’t in a completed form it’s natural to want to correct it,” he said “I think Reconguista in G will be finished next year I’m grateful to all the companies involved for giving me this opportunity I’ve been given this opportunity not because of my powers When the initial Gundam program debuted on Japanese television Tomino reworked the material into three theatrical films in 1981-1982: The response was so enthusiastic fans fought over Gundam model kits in stores and established Gundam as one of the essential anime properties lecturer and author whose books include Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation The Art  of Frozen and The Art of Wolfwalkers The Man Who Leapt through Film: The Art of Mamoru Hosoda will be published next year Tomino’s early anime credits include working for Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Productions as a writer and storyboarder on the original 1963 Astro Boy series and his series directing debut Triton of the Sea (1972) His first encounter with mecha anime came with Brave Raideen (1975) before creating his own series Tomino has been honored with awards including Best Director from the Tokyo International Anime Fair (for Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: Heirs to the Stars) and Animage Anime Grand Prix (for the series  Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Runaway Ideon) He has also created many themes and original songs for Gundam and other anime projects under his pseudonym Tomino’s Gundam filmography at a glance: We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorised as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns By Jamie Lang | 12/26/2023 4:24 pm | Be the First to Comment! Yoshiyuki Tomino, an anime industry veteran of more than 50 years and the creator of the iconic Gundam franchise, recently sat down with Japanese publication Toyo Keizai to discuss the current state of the his country’s animation industry “I think it would be difficult to say that better work than what is being produced now will come out,” he told the publication before warning that he’s seen recent changes that could derail the good thing the Japanese industry has going “After switching from hand-drawn to digital animation many of Disney’s works became disappointing But that’s how they’re produced,” he explained arguing that if Japanese producers follow suit Tomino says that since Bandai Namco Group reorganized its business and moved his offices into a new he’s been unhappy with the work environment which he believes is not conducive to creating enduring artwork “This magnificent building has been completely digitalized and has excellent air conditioning,” he started before explaining why modernization isn’t necessarily a good thing “It’s like Disney’s boring digital production system today If you can create a piece of art in a space with fully controlled air conditioning But when I look back at something like Machiko Hasegawa’s Sazae-san I get the sense that it was drawn in a drafty workplace during the post-war period when manga began to appear I feel there is a danger that sense may disappear.” Tomino also lamented that he had noticed a fundamental change in his own creation over time the creator says it’s been driven by audience taste rather than shifting production techniques I feel that the fundamental messages I put into Gundam are hindered by the design of the giant robot called Gundam and aren’t being conveyed as well as I would like,” he explained and Gundam’s popularity is an extension of that.” Pictured at top: Yoshiyuki Tomino, Credit – 文部科学省ホームページ Jamie Lang is the former Editor-in-Chief of Cartoon Brew For the first entry in “The Complete Mecha Works of Yoshiyuki Tomino” I’m reviewing the first 13 episodes of Tomino’s first mecha show: Brave Raideen a show widely considered to be the first Super Robot series and introduced the concept of the pilot-able mecha to anime and Japan at large it took a couple of years for studios to catch up to what Nagai had created Sunrise would enter the arena with Brave Raideen and Tomino would direct the first 26 episodes of the series as he had a decent amount of talent behind him including Character Designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Gundam: The Origin) Dragonar & the first six episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team) and writers Fuyunori Gobu (the head writer of G Gundam) who wrote for the first two Kamen Rider series) As the series is episodically driven and doesn’t have a continuity based story this review will be split into reviewing the individual episodes Let’s start off with the basic plot synopsis your typical high-school student who just happens to be the captain of the high school’s soccer team and other natural disasters occur all around the world yet he hears a voice in his head telling him he needs to head to a giant pyramid The voice tells him the evil Demon Empire has awoken and wants to take over the world through their giant monsters and a flying hand fortress (I’m not joking By piloting a mystical giant mech named Raideen his girlfriend (the daughter of one of the scientists) Mari If it sounds generic I would inherently agree with you The first three episodes sells the show short and isn’t good I remember thinking these episodes felt like a combination of the 1960s Batman TV series crossed with Kikaider or Kamen Rider and Mazinger Z It was setup like a Saturday morning cartoon The core problems in the first three episodes involved a schizophrenic tone (like Akira’s father dying because Akira failed to rescue him) and then cut to the annoying comic relief characters (the entire soccer team minus Akira) illustrating a tone which consistently shot itself in the foot The only saving bright spot was the introduction of the leader of the Demon Empire huge fanbase (he has nameless followers praise him) a couple of things happened to turn the show around in episode 4 the plot kicks off when a nun tells Mari she’s in grave danger as the stone turns out to a beacon for the monsters Eventually the nun reveals herself to be (brace yourself) Rei Asuka I feel Hideaki Anno’s lying about where he got the names for Rei and Asuka in Evangelion because this is clearly where the inspiration lies we learn of this mysterious stranger who had appeared in Episode 3 (who looks like Gihren Zabi from Gundam) but is an ally named Riki Jinjuki Both Rei and Jinjuki pilot a support vehicle to helps Raideen at important times They also now have a control center which looks like a clam You would think these occurrences in episode 4 would make the series better were slogs to sit through and by focusing on the kids If “Kill ‘em all” Tomino was directing episode 7 who had been held hostage) would have died as they are grating to endure Yet the series wouldn’t be down for long as Episode 8 made a return to form The plot involves a crashed airplane and a scientist’s daughter captured for ransom Episodes 9 & 10 continued this trend with Episode 9 involving Sharkin transforming into a human and giving Akira a concussion This episode was notable for one other thing: it made me jump out of my seat with joy when it happened Akira is moping around on the soccer field as one of the comic relief’s health is directly connected to Raideen winning (Yes the elder scientist comes to Akira and gives him the “Bright Slap” (before the term was coined) Grandpa scientist tells him to train with Raideen and basically insists Akira be a man I screamed for joy as if I had won the Super Bowl This is the first time the “Bright Slap” occurred on a Tomino giant robot show which could have also been the reason I was so excited a motorcycle riding delinquent named Jagger the Demon Empire gives him shelter in the form of the half-man/half-monster of the week and Jagger holds the support vehicle and Rei hostage Rei talks him out of it by telling him he’s a man of wealth and taste our delinquent realizes you can’t always get what you want decides not to dodge Raideen’s final attack The episode ended with Rei missing him as she tore off three flower petals Episode 11 is where things seemingly start to get interesting with the townspeople not happy about Raideen This was part of Prince Sharkin’s plan for the episode thinking the best way to defeat them was with negative publicity and an imitation of Raideen You can see Tomino toying the edge of deconstruction unfortunately it went right out the window in the next episode with another standard kidnapping plot Akira discovers someone who looks likes his dead mom who is a spy for the demon empire (another Prince Sharkin plan) inconsistent in tone as it strives to be this serious show When I mentioned it was a cross between the 60s Batman TV series with Kikaider or Kamen Rider and Mazinger Z It does feel like the silly series from the period but you can see building blocks of future Tomino series in here This is a show with two completely different visions of itself and they couldn’t decide on which one to pick ShareSaveCommentInnovationGamingYoshiyuki Tomino Concerned Anime Could Become Like Disney With “Empty Blockbusters Without Any Personality”ByOllie Barder Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights Ollie Barder covers Japanese pop-culture and gaming from Tokyo.Follow AuthorDec 20 11:11pm ESTShareSaveCommentAnime writer and director Talking with Japanese newspaper Toyo Keizai Tomino went into a lot of details about how he feels that anime is facing a new boom in terms of investment this could lead to an approach similar to Disney’s and would see the medium just create “empty blockbusters without any personality” While the interview is in Japanese, the excellent fullfrontal.moe has offered some helpful English highlights (shown below) One additional point of note is that Tomino is noticing that despite the boom in investment in anime it seems that prosperity is not trickling down to animation studios this remake will make Netflix an exorbitant amount of money but it’s clear that prior streaming productions are not financially benefiting the anime studios that made them there are no financial protections in place to protect the creative heart of the industry Read my Forbes blog here ShareSaveInnovationGaming‘Gundam’ Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino Will Be Honored In Japan As A Person Of Cultural MeritByOllie Barder Ollie Barder covers Japanese pop-culture and gaming from Tokyo.Follow AuthorOct 27 03:13am EDTShareSaveThis article is more than 3 years old.Yoshiyuki Tomino at his desk at Sunrise So it’s about time that Tomino was officially recognized in this capacity Read my Forbes blog here By Jamie Lang | 02/19/2024 10:08 am | Be the First to Comment! The Niigata International Animation Festival will launch its second edition on March 15 This year’s NIAFF has invited writer and director Yoshiyuki Tomino best known for creating the Gundam anime franchise to be its guest of honor and will screen his 1988 classic Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack Tomino will attend the festival and host a keynote speech Tomino began his animation career at Mushi Productions in 1964 as a production assistant working as a storyboarder and screenwriter for Astro Boy before he left the studio to be a freelance artist Tomino has worked on numerous iconic franchise titles His most recent work was as a writer on Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Freedom released in Japanese theaters earlier this year NIAFF was launched last year as an annual event dedicated to elevating animated features from around the world in Japan This year’s competition lineup is indicative of that goal and includes the following 12 titles: The 12 films were selected from 49 submissions. That’s a significant increase from last year when 10 features were screened from 21 submissions The jury that curated this year’s selection included Yoshihiko Yatabe (former Tokyo International Film Festival programming director) Akiko Sugawa (Yokohama National University professor / Japan Society for Animation Studies president) The year’s festival competition jury will include Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner) NIAFF program director Naoshi Sudo said of this year’s lineup: The entries were more diverse than last year not only in terms of culture but also in terms of methods of production and expression Some works did not fit into the conventional concept of animation which led to the selection committee engaging in lively debates about the question of “What is animation?” The competition specializes in feature-length films and the selection committee was committed to the festival’s goals of “excellence in images,” “excellence in storytelling,” and “achieving diversity.” Although we were able to expand the competition selection to 12 from last year’s 10 there were many works that the selection committee was heartbroken that they could not include We are confident that if you come to Niigata you will be able to see a snapshot of the current state of animation production around the world More details, including the full non-competition screening lineup, are available on the festival’s website Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack He also described Shinkai's works as "stories about a boy and a girl who are always stretching out their hands towards each other," and said "And yet the boy's hand never reaches the girl's crotch." Tomino appeared to be remarking on the lack of adult maturity and perspective in the focal relationships portrayed in Shinkai's films. He tread similar ground in an interview published in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine on Thursday The interview is a deep dive into Tomino's perspective on the intersection of art and politics Note: This article contains spoilers for Weathering With You According to Tomino, today's Japanese youths are different from his generation. Unlike youths in the 1960s, who dreamed of communist revolution, today's youths find similar catharsis in works divorced from reality, which Tomino thinks is exemplified in the appeal of YouTube and Makoto Shinkai's films "Weathering With You is really easy to watch," he said. "But the reason it became a hit is because it understands the viewer's feelings. An even easier example is your name.: a lot of people could relate to the feelings of yearning depicted when the characters ask and are asked 'What is your name.?' But even if the characters possess wholesome feelings of admiration they don't take that step towards declaring love and touching the other's body unresolved feeling is connected to Tokyo's submerged state I was surprised that so many people could relate to a resolution like that to the extent of pouring over ten billion yen into the box office To think that there are people in today's society who think that reality is just that harsh And the fact that Shinkai's works are hits around the world means that in spite of the differences between countries that feeling of looking inward can be seen across the world." Tomino then remarked that a feeling of frustration towards the state of Japanese politics has been a constant since World War II "It ends up being a case where people feel like all they can do is just plod along steadily in life without getting caught up in the incompetence of politicians they look away from reality and instead direct themselves inward They dream of revolution taking place within themselves watching Shinkai's anime and feeling refreshed even when it's only your own feelings that are being addressed is one way of living in today's society without becoming a criminal." When the interviewer responded that this seemed like a rather defeatist outlook Tomino said that "plodding along steadily" is a very human characteristic people should be applying that mentality towards the problems of the world rather than focusing all of it inward he cited the cleanup activities performed by elementary school children on the island of Okinoerabujima in order to prevent plastics on the beaches reaching other countries Applying an attitude of diligence towards the environment within one's daily life and passing that attitude on to children is a way of confronting the world's problems the world can be changed without looking inward or through sparking revolution "And if society were to change like that.. maybe Shinkai's works won't be hits to the extent that they are now," Tomino remarked with a laugh Tomino recently attended the Anime NYC convention where he shared some of the themes of his works to his fans A question regarding his comments on Shinkai's works also came up there and Tomino clarified that he was not talking about the level of "sexiness" in Shinkai's films the image of a sexy animated character is Disney's Snow White.” Source: Weekly Young Jump Issue #51 (December 5) When Bandai Entertainment was preparing to license Mobile Suit Gundam in North America in 2001, director Yoshiyuki Tomino had an unusual request: Delete episode 15 Tomino has never been coy about his dislike of “Cucuruz Doan's Island.” The fifteenth episode, which originally aired in 1979 during Mobile Suit Gundam's initial run on Nagoya Broadcasting Network was a particularly off-model episode of an already strained production and the result was that episode 15 has never been released outside of Japan and streaming versions of Mobile Suit Gundam all skip over the episode as if it never happened If Tomino had not attempted to conceal “Cucuruz Doan's Island,” it would probably be a forgotten footnote in the show's history. But since he did, the mystery around Gundam's “lost episode” has only grown. Now, even a feature film based on the episode is slated to open in theaters in 2022 How did the director's least favorite episode become so popular Let's explore the history of Mobile Suit Gundam's lost episode What's Wrong With “Cucuruz Doan's Island?” and asked Tomino face-to-face about why “Cucuruz Doan's Island” was left out “I asked that it be skipped,” Tomino said through a translator Tomino has never been more direct than this so we can't know for sure what his reason was the most popular fan theory is that the episode simply isn't up to Tomino's standards “Cucuruz Doan's Island” is a side story to the main plot of Mobile Suit Gundam Protagonist Amuro Ray lands the Core Fighter on an island where he encounters a deserter from Zeon After he was shocked to find he'd orphaned three civilian children in combat Cucuruz Doan leaves the war and instead uses his Zaku to defend the children and their caretaker It is the only time in the series that we meet a character who isn't affiliated with either side of the war Doan's mobile suit is a spaghetti-slim Zaku that barely resembles the proportions of the heavyset enemy grunt suit seen elsewhere in the show A particularly low point is at the episode's 18-minute mark when ​​Doan's Zaku's shoulders are flipped Another famous moment renders the Gundam's head as hilariously inflated episode 15 is far from the only episode to have funny animation errors Is it so much worse than anything else in Mobile Suit Gundam a serious lung infection possibly accelerated by overwork Without Yasuhiko to keep keyframes cohesive Gundam's art became increasingly inconsistent in his absence “It was so hard to watch,” he said in Making Gundam that's so bad.' I was in a private room with a bed and kept pulling the blanket over my head until I was completely underneath unable to watch anymore I would sneak a peek and see a terrifying Gundam staring back at me and think of how terrible it was I feel bad for the people that worked on it that's just the conditions they had to work with.” It would be a tidy explanation to say that Yasuhiko's hospitalization was the reason for the problems with “Cucuruz Doan's Island,” except that it's difficult to pinpoint exactly when during the production the hospitalization occurred. Yasuhiko drew the character sheet for Cucuruz Doan and therefore was at least partially involved with the episode we don't know if Mobile Suit Gundam episodes were produced in the order they aired and the character sheet indeed includes Yasuhiko's handwritten “#?” in the corner What we do know is Yasuhiko is credited as animation director as late as episode 30 Even if he was out of commission for episode 15 it would certainly be unfair to blame the episode's issues on one person By eliminating this episode from distribution Tomino could eliminate all of Anime Friend's involvement with the show but we simply don't know why “Cucuruz Doan's Island” got the chopping block and it's doubtful there will be answers as long as the staff is alive as Tomino explained at Anime Expo New York 2002 only serving to fuel Gundam fans' outsized interest in the episode As of this writing, “Cucuruz Doan's Island” still has never been released overseas. Conversely, this simply means that more people know about it than they would otherwise. It's the Streisand Effect in action: the more Tomino attempts to hide the episode “Cucuruz Doan's Island” might have been a forgettable throwaway episode a consequence of a low budget and a strained animation team But the mystery around its concealment has proved irresistible and is frequently used as an Easter Egg for fans Here's a shortlist of Gundam products that reference the episode: which includes the first and only official English subtitles for the episode This Japanese release is import-friendly since Japan and the US are in the same Blu-Ray region (though at roughly 17,000 yen or about $150 it isn't exactly cheap.) The good news is that English speakers can finally check out this forbidden footnote in Gundam history and see for themselves if it's really as bad as they've heard Tom Aznable provided research assistance on this article Lauren Orsini runs a Gunpla modeling for beginners blog called Gunpla 101. a condition in which the spaces within the spine narrow “I probably only have three years left that I can work at the studio,” he told the magazine He did seem upbeat throughout the interview and—as one might expect—opinionated about space and space explorers are not thinking about how harsh things will be in the near future.” radiation exposure is one logistical hindrance for colonization on Mars adding that this is one issue “that a lot of folks unless there were fundamental changes in rocket propulsion the planet would be destroyed in the process.) A life-sized RX-0 Unicorn Gundam was unveiled in Tokyo in September 2017.Photo: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP (Getty Images)“You’re saying due to the recent the rocket fuel is polluting the Earth,” said Weekly Playboy he did say it was necessary to put more effort into research Even though something like this isn’t possible is thinking through the large impacts of space travel no human spaceflight program has established the necessary groundwork for Mars colonies humans are exploring the universe and colonizing Tomino has been clear that Gundam is not reality “The world of Gundam is unrealistic,” he said in a 2010 talk (as translated by Zimmerit) “It’s just an anime.” That it most certainly is real-life problems always seem pushed aside and kicked down the road Batman made headlines on Monday when Harley Quinn showrunner Justin Halpern revealed that in the adult animated comedy show's third season, a reference to Batman performing cunnilingus on Catwoman was vetoed by DC Comics As Halpern explained: “We had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman You absolutely cannot do that.' They're like 'Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?' They were like it's that we sell consumer toys for heroes It's hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.'” The news has rippled into the anime and manga world inspiring questions about which anime characters would absolutely "go down" on someone One particular suggestion that came up on social media was Gundam's Char Aznable. The source for this claim: an interview with Yoshiyuki Tomino from the Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack fan book Tomino is very frank about discussing the sex lives of his characters saying that it is an important part of conceiving a fleshed-out world and character relationships Regarding the character of Char's love interest Nanai you can really understand a person through that part (sex).. That's why I absolutely have to imagine what Nanai's vagina is like It's something I particularly think about during the scriptwriting phase." He went on to say that when drawing the storyboards "I don't want her vagina to be all withered out," because he thought "it would reflect poorly on Char and Nanai isn't a dull woman herself." He wanted to convey the feeling of their relationship in the scene where Nanai sits on Char's lap "It was a challenge to myself to figure out what this woman would be like when she's sitting there He also said that he conceived Nanai as the kind of self-confident woman who would be a good match for Char "There are times when a man wants to embrace a woman it might as well be with a woman like Nanai.'" stating that he expects voice actresses to be able to portray a level of expectation for sexual reciprocation "They start moaning as soon as their character gets touched by a man 'The guy wasn't dexterous enough to warrant that reaction!' Or something like 'Have some pride when you're being made love to!' I get really exasperated wondering why on earth they don't think something like Tomino said that he really wanted to bring out a "raw/carnal feeling" in the confrontation between Amuro and Char "to the degree that you might wonder whether the two of them are homosexual." retranslated the quote related to voice actresses Sources: M.S. Gundam Fan Club Char's Counterattack book (scans via cyzlar), Variety (Joe Otterson) via Daryl Surat he also spoke of the challenges in Japan's creative environment today warning that "Japan is no longer a leader in animation." I feel that the animation industry's position will become precarious," he said bringing up the high-quality animations in music videos as an example of progressing technology it rankles me that they've come so far that they can even do animation even a single individual can create a satisfying whole The question is how should Japan's anime production which deals with series and story-driven works He said that he perceives a certain amount of indifference at Sunrise towards these innovations and that he thinks that both he and the studio have a responsibility in proactively seeking out new talent he hopes that the workflow can evolve to such a degree that the views of old men such as himself are no longer necessary for driving things forward He also hopes that the digital generation in turn can embrace the teamwork environments of studios in order to create things that aren't just personal projects but which can also be regarded as "open entertainment" by the public Tomino then went on to highlight the rapid developments of animation in Beijing saying that "they are developing very polished works of commercial entertainment." He said that the anime-lovers who attended his lectures at Beijing University 10 years ago are now working as professionals in the current Chinese animation industry "What's scary is that even intellectuals from big-name universities like Beijing University have entered the world of anime." he claimed that the Chinese government has been supporting its domestic animation industry quite heavily as part of its state policy Japanese politicians are acting as if "they're stuck 30 or 40 years in the past." "There's a danger that if Japan keeps making anime with a single-minded focus on the business angle then we'll suffer a total defeat to the guys in Beijing," he warned "But I don't intend to throw a bone to those guys who came to my lecture I want you all to be aware that Japan is no longer a leader in animation the media and business worlds are not conscious of it." Tomino created and directed the Mobile Suit Gundam anime in 1979. He made his debut at Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production where he worked on the Astro Boy television anime Source: Real Economy via Otaku USA The Tokyo International Film Festival (from hereon This year’s anime feature is none other than Gundam appeared at the talk show hosted as part of this special project and also found time in his busy schedule to give a combined interview to overseas media Yoshiyuki Tomino’s ProfileJapanese anime director he began his activities at the dawn of Japanese anime taking part in the production of Japan’s very first serialized anime Astro Boy and Space Battleship Yamato and even wrote lyrics for—became a social phenomenon bringing forth wildly enthusiastic fans he continued taking part in many of the subsequent shows and films of the currently still ongoing Gundam series he took the seat of supervising director for the first time in 15 years since Turn A Gundam and made Gundam Reconguista in G He was also involved in numerous anime besides the Gundam series such as Space Runaway Ideon and Aura Battler Dunbine Reality as the Motivating Force Behind Creation ―The Gundam series is one of the special features of this year’s TIFF Please tell us about the appeals of Gundam movie adaptations in comparison to the series Yoshiyuki Tomino (T): I basically had the movie adaptations made to make the message easier to get through so I wanted give the fans a more exhilarating feel of the story by summarizing a few episodes a movie adaptation would be easier to understand and easier to get through to the audience and this is why I wanted the movie adaptations up through Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam made as you mentioned in one of your Japanese interviews you are also trying to shed the concept of “Newtype.” Where do all these new ideas and challenges come from T: I’m a person who can’t make a story in an anime which is why everything real is my motivation letting the people who came up with the foolish idea of a space elevator know the extent of their foolishness by making them go ”What the...?!” Or using my feelings toward certain things such as “What’s with the present political system and international situation?!” as motivation and launch a counterattack against them I don’t think you can make something like that space elevator in reality it could only come into existence in the form I showed in Gundam Reconguista in G “Did you think about the transportation infrastructure for making the space elevator as Indicated by the Large Number of Female Fans ―In the 35 years you’ve been working on the Gundam series a shift in the audience seems to have occurred Due to the change in world affairs and the internet environment people from all around the world became able to watch your works Is there a special way you would like them to see those works is there something you would like them to feel T: I don’t think that’s for the creator to say or expect I interacted with fans for the first time in a long while there is such a thing as “present fans,” and that different people look at it in a different way Did you know that most of the early fans of Mobile Suit Gundam ―That’s very surprising for a franchise such as Gundam where you would expect most fans to be male I witnessed a similar phenomenon this time I realized that I wasn’t wrong in my way of making the anime and movies art—isn’t something that only experts should enjoy watching you will realize that even if you make something mecha fans would like it wouldn’t necessarily be considered a piece of art Which is why when I saw the female fans it gathered (and I saw the same kind of tendency this time as well) “There’s no mistake here.” I think this might be Gundam’s chance to become known worldwide it could only acquire a narrow base of fans even if it were to spread throughout the world it wouldn’t be worth going through all the trouble of making a theatrical It costs too much and it would be a waste of money ―What gave you the impression that there are female fans T: It was after production was fully concluded that I saw the signs I went to a gathering of those who bought the Blu-ray and I was surprised to see some girls finally set foot inside only those who like it in a “Tomino is doing a late night TV anime after 15 years” way came so I seriously felt like it would be a waste of time But when I went to a fan gathering after the production about 15-16 were girls under the age of 20 T: And producers and writers of later Gundam series are too unaware of this sensation I can’t forgive how they so blatantly ignore it ―So you are saying a creator takes the customer you can’t let someone be a maker who thinks like “We can make a Gundam so it’s fine.” In other words on top of having a sense for liking movies or theater the Gundam world won’t be able to expand any further director Tomino reminisces about the production background of the first generation Mobile Suit Gundam Hideaki Anno directed the TV anime *Neon Genesis Evangelion* which went on to become a social phenomenon and secured his place in the anime world He's gone on to create the *Rebuild of Evangelion* film series Fans from around the world listened eagerly to what he had to say ULTRAMAN will stroll down the opening carpet this year along with many guests from around the world In expressing a sentiment shared by many a fan of the House of Mouse’s portfolio of animated classics Mobile Suit Gundam series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has revealed that he is not a fan of Disney’s near-full abandoning of its hand-drawn animation roots as he believes that their transition to digital has essentially taken the ‘soul’ out of all their animated productions RELATED: After Trashing Animated Original, Live-Action ‘Snow White’ Star Rachel Zegler Now Claims “I Love Everything That The Disney Co. Has Put Out In The Past 100 Years” The man behind one of the most popular mecha anime series of all times shared his opinion on Disney’s current sterility during a recent interview regarding the current state of his own industry given to Japanese news outlet Toyokeizai Online (translated via DeepL) Speaking to the outlet’s Yusuke Nishizawa on December 17th Tomino opened their discussion by both acknowledging the fact that “the [anime] industry is certainly in a period of prosperity” and subsequently warning “however it is unclear whether this situation will continue in the future.” “The excitement may continue for another five or six years and it will fade away,” explained the veteran anime creator of his appraisal “The same is true for novels and movies but there are always ups and downs that occur with the changing times Works are meant to be enjoyed by people with hearts and people’s hearts will also change we will reach a dead end from now on.” Tomino then admitted that while “Animes themselves will not disappear,” at it current he found it “difficult to say whether there will ever be a better work than what we have now.” In support of his argument regarding the quality of industry’s current production methods the creator then pointed to how “after the switch from hand-drawn animation to digital Disney’s works were all disappointing,” and lamented how “that kind of animation will continue.” Following a brief detour regarding the topic of AI art tools – which the creator fears little “the amazing ability of humans is that they have the ability to discern when something is different I trust that feeling” – Nishizawa then pressed Tomino for his thoughts on how the industry’s profits are currently being “unevenly distributed” between production companies with the latter usually getting the shortest end of the stick RELATED: Amidst Continued Box Office Struggles, Disney Announces Theatrical Releases For Pixar’s ‘Soul’, ‘Turning Red’, And ‘Luca’ Tomino revealed that “it is neither the production companies nor the investors who make the most money in the industry,” but rather “the companies that distribute the videos.” “‘Are these ‘platformers’ really paying for the intellectual property rights of their works in a fair and just manner?’ That is my biggest concern,” said the mecha genre pioneer “I have thought in the past about how to avoid losing profits from those who have created such a clever system to keep users in a tight circle and prevent them from getting away with it The only thing I could come up with was to charge for the [internet] signal itself I know that’s not much more than science fiction.” “But I dare say that it would be a good idea,” to which Tomino boldly replied “But I would venture to say that those who are in a position to do the creative work could do without it.” “It has been a year since my workplace was moved to this new building in Ogikubo as part of the organizational integration of the Bandai Namco Group but I don’t think it is a good environment for creating new works.” Attempting to explain the ‘creative sterility’ of such a work environment Tomino told Nishizawa that “This fine building is all digitalized and over air-conditioned,” and as such lacks any real ‘personality’ with which to inspire its occupants Drawing a parallel between such sanitized working conditions and the art of digital animation “Same thing with the boring work produced by Disney’s digital production system today “If you can create an indigenous work of art in a space with complete control of the air conditioning I think you should make it,” he continued before proceeding to offer up a more concrete example of his sentiment “When I look back at Machiko Hasegawa’s Sazae-san I can smell that it must have been drawn in a workroom where a drafty wind was blowing when manga first started appearing in postwar life I think it would be more dangerous to lose that smell.” “The most important thing for producers is to give artists a place where they can make the most of their talents.” “It is not as simple as just spending money and offering a floor of a high-rise building as a workplace,” he argued “It would be presumptuous to think that an office worker who does not know the practicalities of production can ‘manage’ the creative process it is not surprising that the producer is also a creative person.” NEXT: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ Returns To The Universal Century In New ‘Requiem for Vengeance’ CGI Animated Series More About:Anime Movies His relentless criticism of popular titles in the industry as well as his own works cast the image of an artist forever striving towards some kind of magnum opus some final project that we could point to as an encapsulation of his decades-spanning career Detractors argued that breakneck pacing left little room for characters to grow and scarce exposition baffled audiences when it came to the nature of the show's setting Indeed, it's always seemed like Tomino has had more faith in G-Reco than fans at large do, foreseeing that in 50 years he will be vindicated, somehow and somewhere, despite the show's flaws. So abundant is his confidence that Sunrise greenlit a whopping five compilation films for G-Reco – that's two more films than even longer Gundam entries like Zeta received has been transparent about his ambition to use these films as a project to fix the errors made during the production of the original anime If this ambitious commitment to his original vision for G-Reco ends up being his final directorial effort how should we evaluate its position within his larger body of work What added significance does the project take on if it ends up being the capstone to Tomino's career We'll take a look at his shifting attitudes towards his career since 1999 as well as his commentaries on G-Reco itself to find out to the unflinching look at industrialized warfare's toll on the human psyche in Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels it's easy to see why Tomino has a reputation for doom and gloom one of the most significant shifts in his career can be seen from Turn A Gundam onwards beginning a period where it seems like “Happy Tomino” has started to win out If Tomino's filmography does indeed end with the G-Reco films it's likely that anime fans will look back on the span from Turn A to G-Reco as a unique and conclusive period in the director's career and Tomino's vision for the project hasn't wavered If we want to be successful in identifying what that vision is it's helpful to draw comparisons between it and the two compilation films that have been made available thus far – namely regarding what doesn't change between the two versions of the story The pacing feels more reserved in the films and constantly shifting factional loyalties are the same It's still difficult to ascertain exactly why certain characters do what they do and the objectives of the show's competing interest groups are often obscure Tomino was critical of the way the original anime turned out but comparing the two available versions of G-Reco leaves us with no choice but to conclude that the things that left Tomino dissatisfied with the original anime are not necessarily the things that dissatisfied audiences Befuddled viewers knew that Gundam is a very serious war anime so why do the actions undertaken by G-Reco's characters and organizations not make any sense If “Kill 'em All” Tomino is trying to teach us that war is bad through grisly drama and tragedy then why do characters keep defecating in their mobile suit's built-in toilet I'm here to argue that G-Reco's absurdity is a feature it's that absurdity that allows it to be one of the most purely effective expressions of Tomino's anti-war views and therefore a fitting finale to the legendary director's career is a show that is sharply critical not just of the practice of warfare but also of militarism and militaries themselves but there's an important nuance between the two that highlights the shift in Tomino's attitudes in the post-Turn A period and it's this broader critique that constitutes the biggest thematic difference between “Happy Tomino” and “Sad Tomino” works Consider the broadly true adage that Mobile Suit Gundam is an anti-war anime It's anti-war because it shows us the magnitude of the tragedy war inflicts on its participants but someone's got to take out Char before he drops another asteroid on the Earth and the Titans cannot be allowed to continue marauding through the colonies There's a sharp point of divergence here between the original Gundam saga and Turn A (and G-Reco) a show which isn't about winning or surviving a conflict so much as it is about preventing one from taking place Where the original Mobile Suit Gundam posits the Zabi family as a malevolent force that needs to be vanquished before the show's tragic war can come to an end Turn A's villains are those who would see the conflict between the Earth and the Moon erupt into a shooting war Rather than being members of the enemy faction that must be defeated the antagonists of Turn A are anyone and everyone who beats the drums of war In Turn A there is no right or wrong side in the conflict; the conflict itself is the enemy G-Reco offers audiences this same thesis but not exactly in the way that people were expecting When the anime first aired there was abundant confusion about what the show's factions and characters stood for there ought to be grandiose clashes of ideals that give rise to tragic audiences were greeted with a religion that worships an elevator (SU-Cordism) pilots and officers that seem fundamentally incompetent and military organizations that don't appear to stand for much at all outside of senseless violence Viewers found themselves searching for that something the thing that would allow them to make sense of the setting's central conflict that the conflict isn't supposed to make sense Tomino sees militarism as a fundamentally incoherent ideology While critics might attribute the show's lack of coherence to Tomino's dialogue or the whiplash-inducing pacing a closer reading of the text reveals that the absurd nature of the show's conflict was a deliberate choice on the director's part Tomino illustrates this by refusing to explain or sympathize with the ideologies of G-Reco's militarists and by highlighting just how misguided the show's characters are A particularly telling scene happens early in the first movie where Aida (a mysterious pilot) explains to Belliri (our protagonist) that using space elevators for energy distribution is stupid and that the planet ought to be covered with solar panels instead but Tomino doesn't permit us to hear him out – the camera cuts away just as he begins to explain why his religion's monopoly on energy distribution is justified cutting back to him only once his monologue has ended choosing instead to simply smack him in the face this confused many viewers – shouldn't we hear an explanation as to how SU-Cordists justify their monopoly Wouldn't that help us make sense of why there's all this fighting going on because for him any ideology that leads its adherents towards militarism is fundamentally hollow G-Reco's war is absurd in practice as well as justification There are few heroic sacrifices or feats of military heroism to be found and the most dramatic character deaths in the first two films happen for no good reason at all Belliri accidentally kills his former instructor despite being on a mission to rescue Belliri Each was confused about who was piloting the other's mobile suit and Belliri didn't even want rescuing in the first place suggesting that even the show's characters can't quite keep up with who's on what side erratically tries to order his ship to fire on a capsule containing Aida's adoptive father not because it doesn't seem like a good idea but because the ship can't rotate to the proper angle in time In a similar scene featuring characters trying to destroy unidentified civilian vehicles for no reason with Belliri frantically having to stop her from accidentally blowing his mom out of the sky It's unclear why either of these characters thought it would be a good idea to fire on random They don't seem to need much of a reason to shoot at something In a farcical war run by incompetent clowns it makes perfect sense that you can poop in the robots seeing Belliri defecate in his splendorous model-kit selling mobile suit made an impact on viewers They were stunned at the audacity it must have required to include such a thing – why did you feel it was important to reveal that mobile suits have built-in toilets The director answers this question by extending the scene where Belliri uses the toilet in the compilation film with brand new animation to boot is suggesting that this awesome engine of destruction is little more than a weaponized toilet with legs One can scarcely imagine something less cool but remember – there's nothing cool about the military Tomino explained that although G-Reco was aimed at young viewers he still wanted to give them important ideas to chew on The Capital Tower is in the anime so “the younger viewers would wonder if it was really possible to make” as well as presenting them with comically misguided factions and characters so that they might “raise questions toward the adults” we see the crystallization of Tomino's views on war – it's bad and tragic and so are the people who would see it waged This is what makes G-Reco an essential entry in the franchise particularly where young audiences are concerned Perhaps the most effective way to convey an anti-war message to young viewers is to decline to valorize war in the first place to show them an empty conflict perpetrated and sustained by misguided adults and to invite them to ask questions of said adults by laying bare their foolishness it seems that G-Reco's tumultuous reputation is the product of we looking for the show's meaning in the wrong places.