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, and a special exhibit, “The World of Yoshiyuki Tomino,” is touring museums in Japan through 2022.
Tomino, who turns 80 on Friday, November 5, 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. “In middle school, 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. In 1970, I already thought of space colonies as part of the real world, not as science fiction.”
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. A decade later, 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, piloted by psychic teenage warriors.
Designed by Kunio Okawara, the Gundam robots were beautifully crafted, with every shape, angle and color carefully calculated, down to the V-shaped antenna that recalls the crest on a samurai helmet. Tomino commented, “I still profess my respect for Mr. Okawara’s talents, 50 years later.”
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, economic inequality, ecology, evolution and prejudice. 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. “For the Gundam world, I had to think of a background in which these giant weapons could be produced; I had to make assumptions about economies, industries and manufacturing capacities. To introduce new mechanical weapons every week, I assumed prototypes were continually being designed and produced by a military-industrial complex. When you think about these things, 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.”
Currently, 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, but due to the support of fans, which I also deeply appreciate.
Tomino has recut more than one TV series. When the initial Gundam program debuted on Japanese television, its run ended early due to low ratings. 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.
Charles Solomon is an animation critic, historian, lecturer and author whose books include Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation, The Art of Frozen and The Art of Wolfwalkers. His next book, 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, Daitarn 3, in 1978. Over his near 60-year career, 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, Rin Iogi.
Tomino’s Gundam filmography at a glance:
- Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie (1981)
- Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow (1982)
- Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space (1982)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985-1986)
- Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986-1987)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991)
- Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)
- Turn A Gundam (1999-2000)
- Turn A Gundam I: Earth Light (2002)
- Turn A Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly (2002)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation I – Heirs to the Stars (2005)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation II – Lovers (2005)
- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation III – Love is the Pulse of the Stars (2006)
- Ring of Gundam (short, 2009)
- Gundam Reconguista in G (2014)
- Reconguista in G I: Go! Core Fighter (2019)
- Reconguista in G II: Bellri’s Fierce Charge (2020)
- Reconguista in G III: Legacy from Space (2021)
