G Gundam Director Talks Returning to the Series For a Sequel (Exclusive)

Goro Taniguchi has been a big name in the anime world for quite some time. Over the creator’s decades-long career in the medium, Taniguchi has had major roles to play in series such as Code Geass, S-CRY-ed, and One Piece. Most recently, the director has been a part of a wild online anime series dubbed Enter The Garden, in which he helped create the second entry of the anthology, Azuki. Of course, Gundam fans might know Taniguchi best for the role he played in creating Mobile Fighter G Gundam, so we were more than happy to discuss what he thinks about a potential return to the franchise.

When asked about hopping onto a potential G Gundam sequel, Taniguchi laid out what it would take for him to jump back into the robot, “I’ve never thought about it. I believe my contributions to the Gundam franchise have already ended. If there’s any possibility, it would be with G Gundam. The series’ director, Yasuhiro Imagawa, is my mentor. If I were to be Domon, the main character of G Gundam, he would be the Master Asia character. That is our type of relationship. If he ever called on me, I would find it hard to refuse his offer.” So if you are listening Yasuhiro Imagawa, the offer is on the table from Goro regarding returning to Domon’s story.

[RELATED: G Gundam Director Knocks The Current State of The Franchise (Exclusive)]

The Current State of Gundam

Another aspect of our interview with Goro was the current state of the mech franchise, wherein Taniguchi didn’t mince words, “At this point, Gundam has become more of a business entity than just a creative work. The Gundam series has been developed in many forms, and I respect the efforts of the staff who are constantly searching for something different from the previous series, something that has not yet been done. However, there’s always the risk of catering solely to longtime fans, which could limit its appeal and I hope the franchise doesn’t take that path. I am saying this because I feel Gundam has significantly reduced the number of robot-themed anime in Japan. There’s been an increase in the number of Japanese viewers who say, ‘I will be able to enjoy this anime only because it is a Gundam.’ This could lead to the decline of the robot genre.”

All Things Azuki

You can check out the second episode of Enter The Garden thanks to the video posted above. During our chat with the legendary director, Goro discussed his thoughts on the project and initially being approached to join the anthology series, “When I was first approached, I wondered, “Why me?”. But as I listened to their proposal, I realized it would be a valuable learning experience, so I decided to join this project. When I was asked to
direct episode 2, the more I learned about the world of Azuki, the more I felt that it would
be a very unique and exhilarating project.”

Want to stay updated on Gundam and Enter The Garden? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the anime world and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.