Mobile Suit Gundam's Creator Will Send Message to Space Ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Mobile Suit Gundam has been around for decades now, so you can say it has some clout. The mech series helped bolster the sci-fi genre in Japan while introducing a new kind of robot. For many fans, the series' ingenuity has kept it fresh and made Gundam a franchise very worthy of revisiting. And as it turns out, Gundam has made its creator well worthy of sending a message into space.

Yes, that is right. Yoshiyuki Tomino just sent a message straight to space, and it will be greeting life outside our atmosphere for quite some time.

According to a recent report by Anime News Network, Tomino got the chance to record a message that would be send into outer space thanks to the Olympics. Next year, the Summer Games will take place in Tokyo, and the city will bring some otaku flare to the event. In fact, there are plans to send a satellite into space which will transmit cheers to the athletes, and Tomino will kick off the whole thing.

During a recent press conference, Tomino did confirm he has already written and recorded his personal message.

"I made a message that proclaims the truth clearly. I can't reveal it here, so I want you to hear the message transmitted from space. You'll definitely laugh," he shared.

It turns out Tomino will not be the only Gundam figure recorded on the satellite. Toru Furuya recorded a message as Amuro while Shuichi Ikeda took care of Char. Tomino said the chat between the characters was difficult to write, but he hopes fans will enjoy the conversation once the satellite is launched and ready to play.

Normally, you'd imagine Amuro and Char duking it out in their mobile suits, so it was quite tough writing a conversation that veers away from that," Tomino explained.

For now, fans will have to wait a bit to hear these messages for themselves. The satellite will launch next year and be equipped with plenty of cameras. It will enter orbit with a slew of Gunpla as a way to honor one of Japan's greatest franchises, so it's no wonder why Tomino is so happy these days.

What message would you leave on this satellite? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most popular franchises in the world, and that popularity is only expected to grow as Sunrise continues to release new projects for the franchise. This includes new anime based in the original Universal Century storyline, which will next see a film trilogy based on the Hathaway's Flash novels, a returning anime for its SD Gundam spin-offs, and even a brand new live-action movie coming to the West co-produced by Legendary, a studio who is currently in the midst of bringing a new take on Toho's Godzilla franchise to the screen.