Gundam creator isn’t making his new series for you, doesn’t care if you don’t like it
Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino always seems to be seething at someone. Recently, he had harsh words for the anime voice acting industry, and now he’s gnawing even further up the arm that’s connected to the hand that feeds him by setting his sights on a new target: all adult Gundam fans.
Tomino recently gave an interview in Spa! magazine, where he was asked to go into greater detail about remarks he’d made about his upcoming TV series, Gundam Reconguista in G, or G-Reco, for short. Specifically, Tomino, who is directing the series, was quoted as saying, “Preexisting fans of Gundam won’t be able to understand it…I’m not making this for you, so please show it to your children and grandchildren, instead.”
It seems Tomino is ready to write off all of the goodwill the Gundam franchise has earned in its 35 years. “We can’t expect anything from people in their 20s, 30s, or 40s,” he asserted. “If you watch the news, you understand what I’m talking about, right?”
The anime veteran had special venom reserved for political figures. “How can they call themselves politicians? They shouldn’t be earning any more than two or three million yen (US$19,800 to $29,700). That’s not the case, though, and we taxpayers are the ones who allow them to be paid so much, so everyone is being stupid. The only ones who can change this are kids.”
Tomino says he was especially disheartened by the handling of the 2011 earthquake and subsequent nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, saying that both influenced the creation of G-Reco by clearly showing him that adults aren’t able to clean up the messes they cause.
The Gundam creator has repeatedly called for increasing shifts to renewable power sources, and lamented the way in which he feels similar environmental pushes lost momentum a year after the earthquake, with many businesses operating 24 hours a day and Tokyo’s extensive neon signage and other illuminating back in full force. “Some idiots say that without sufficient lighting, crime will go up, but I can’t imagine the crime rate during the Edo Period (1603-1868) was any higher than it is now.”
As a result, Tomino is pinning all of his hopes on the next generation of grown-ups, claiming that the issues raised in G-Reco regarding how resources are procured and used will raise young viewers’ consciousness of these problems. “In 10 years, you’ll see them starting to take action. I think I’ve sown the seeds for that.”
(only the) article written by Casey Baseel
for http://en.rocketnews24.com