Original Gundam Director Reveals Why He Helped Reboot the Series

Mobile Suit: Gundam recently celebrated its 40th Anniversary, unleashing a torrent of different [...]

By Evan Valentine

Mobile Suit: Gundam recently celebrated its 40th Anniversary, unleashing a torrent of different pieces of news and events that placed a spotlight on one of the biggest mech franchises in the world, and series creator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko sat down to explain why he had rebooted the franchise! Mobile Suit: Gundam The Origin was a retelling of the original anime series via a manga and anime format, walking through the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon! Yasuhiko revealed a surprising twist about why the hero had to be retold, as he considers it to be the "only Gundam".

Last year, Yoshikazu took a part in the celebrations for his franchise's fortieth anniversary when New York City had created a "Gundam Day" to pay homage to the long running mech series. In an interview with Asahi Shimbun Digital, Yasuhiko opened up about why he dove in head first into the retelling of the original series in Mobile Suit: Gundam The Origin:

"The first 'Mobile Suit Gundam,' so-called 'First Gundam' is the only 'Gundam' for me. I have kept thinking that it is the only series for which I have to take responsibility as one of its staff. It's only a story about the 'small people' who get involved in a war. However, the element of 'Newtype' became more important in the following series after that. Human innovation = Newtype will change the world. More and more otaku and critics who misunderstood that that was the theme of 'Gundam' started appearing. In fact, some of the sequels were produced to be interpreted that way. However, that is elitism."

Baring this in mind, Yoshikazu expanded on why he had to return to the series:

"I had to do another job to correct the distortions in understanding 'Gundam'--, which was why I ended up drawing 'The Origin' in response to Sunrise's request. It was over 10 years of hard work, but I could depict the outbreak of the war in the prehistory of 'Gundam' and the absurdity of the elitism advocated by the Principality of Zeon to some extent. I think I was able to get rid of the unnecessary after-added ideas from 'Gundam'."

It's definitely an interesting perspective that Yasuhiko had as its clear that he favors the original story he helped create over the likes of Gundam Wing, G Gundam, and Iron Blooded Orphans to name a few!

What do you think of Yasuhiko's explanation for why he rebooted the series? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and Gundam!

Via Crunchyroll

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