The Gundam franchise has easily earned its place as the biggest mech series in the anime world, with a steady stream of anime series and films hitting the screen. The long-running anime juggernaut is a brainchild of creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, who is now 84 years old and still hitting the circuit to talk about his beloved franchise and everything he can think of. In a new interview with a Japanese outlet, Tomino shared his opinion on the current state of Japan’s government and didn’t mince words with how he felt the country was doing as a result.
Mobile Suit Gundam’s themes in the past have frequently been those revolving around war, with Tomino first introducing the anime landscape to the conflict between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Tomino, in the latest publication of the magazine Animage, didn’t shy away from sharing his displeasure with the current elected officials in Japan’s government: “Even without looking at examples like Nazi Germany, authoritarian regimes are often decided through elections. That’s exactly what’s happening in Japan right now. A mass of ignorant people is truly troublesome.“ It’s no surprise to see Yoshiyuki having political commentary to share, as the anime franchise has long disparaged the idea of war, which the creator also touched upon in this interview.
Gundam Creator Controversy
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Tomino didn’t stop with just criticizing the Japanese government, as the Gundam creator also disparaged some fans of the franchise, “Even among Gundam fans, there are many people whose comments are far removed from anti-war thinking. They remain at the level of simply enjoying a military-otaku mindset, and in the end, perhaps nothing essential has been conveyed to them. What you hear from (Gundam fans) is ‘mobile suit battles are cool.
Nowadays, younger creators are making Gundam, but there’s no sense of real war experience in it. It’s completely just a picture-story (fantasy). That is my responsibility for not having taught it properly.”
The man who made Gundam also disparaged the idea of placing all of a country’s problems into the hands of one person: “In politics, there is no convenient person to whom you can just ‘leave everything.’ Each and every one of us has no choice but to think seriously. I want Japan to take action toward world peace.”
This year, the universe that first kicked off Gundam’s most well-known war is returning to North American theaters. On May 15th, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway’s Flash: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe will hit North American theaters, returning anime fans to the world that introduced us to Char and Amuro’s battle. While the original confrontation between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation had already come to an end long before the arrival of Noa Hathaway, the Gundam pilot has been deemed the spiritual successor to the hero and villain of the original series. Whether he’ll end up more like Char or Amuro by series end is anyone’s guess.
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Via Kajiponmz
