Mobile Suit Gundam Creator On How Hayao Miyazaki Inspired Him

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most popular and influential creators in the anime world, co-founding Studio Ghibli and making anime accessible internationally. One creator that arguably matches Miyazaki’s popularity and influence is Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. Tomino changed the mecha anime genre forever, and Gundam is still running stronger than ever. It is no secret that anime creators are inspired by others work, but in a recent interview, Tomino revealed that Miyazaki was a major influence on why Mobile Suit Gundam was so successful.

Tomino was being interviewed by Forbes magazine when he was asked questions about the creation of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. When asked, he mentioned that he met Miyazaki, and he had a big influence on his creative process.

“Then I realised that I shouldn’t be looking at my work in a purely practical manner and that I needed to look at this work as something creative and almost artistic. I also met Mr. Hayao Miyazaki around this time and he really loved animation and how to approach mecha type stories. Until then I had never thought about playwriting for animation. It was a really great period of study for me.”

It is interesting to hear about the two legendary anime creators working together behind the scenes. Miyazaki is known for having a very unique and creative approach in the story writing process, and apparently that left an impression on Tomino. He later goes on to talk more about Miyazaki’s influence.

“These things as well as everything I learned from Mr. Miyazaki in terms of characterisation and how to build characters, not to mention the various other theatrical and dramatic elements that I learned from Mr. Takahata. If I hadn’t met these two individuals and learned all these elements from them, then it’s very likely that Mobile Suit Gundam would not have turned out in the same way. I’m admitting this for the first time but without them and me aiming to make the series more cinematic, such as thinking very keenly on how to set up each scene; it would have ended up being worse than the Marvel films.

According to Tomino, Mobile Suit Gundam wouldn’t be the franchise it is today without the help and inspiration of Miyazaki. It is encouraging to hear about creators in the same field working together and learning from each other. Hopefully creators keep working together in the future, in order to better themselves, and anime as a whole.

[HT: Forbes]