Mobile Suit Gundam as a franchise has spent quite a bit of time in outer space. While numerous anime arcs in the mech series take place in alternate realities, timelines, and universes, the robots flying through outer space has become a staple from the story created by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Despite being in his 80s, Tomino still has plenty to say and will routinely take part in events revolving around his classic anime franchise. At the recent event, Spacetide 2025, Yoshiyuki didn’t hold anything back when it came to Elon Musk and others wanting to see humanity travel to the stars.
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While not calling out Elon Musk by name at the recent event, Tomino knocked him and others who were seeking to have human colonies established on Mars, “These naive people who say we should emigrate to Mars don’t understand the harshness of outer space. They are also a group of people who don’t have the ability to imagine the distance of space. If we send a rocket to Mars, what will we do about the fuel for the return? Anyone who talks about sending humans to Mars without considering the fact that there is no supply base there is just an amateur.”
Tomino Talks Space
While Yoshiyuki Tomino doesn’t believe that colonizing Mars is an easy exercise, the Gundam creator did highlight that space travel for mankind shouldn’t completely cease. In fact, Tomino endorsed the idea of sight seeing space trips, using the idea to drum up tourism in Japan. Here’s what Yoshiyuki said specifically, “What Japan should do in the next 10 years is to bring tourists to low orbit and make it possible for them to go on a sightseeing trip. It’s not just about tourism. I want politicians, military personnel, religious leaders, and scientists to go up to low orbit satellites and see the Earth. I’m sure it will change the way we view the world. If we observe the Earth for about three days and discuss it on board, it will be a great learning experience. I want children to have this experience. To do that, we need to make a rocket that is absolutely safe.”
Mobile Suit Gundam recently ended yet another battle-filled anime taking place partly in outer space with GQuuuuuuX. Created by director Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, the latest show confirmed that it would not be returning for a second season. Despite this fact, the mech anime franchise will have plenty of anime projects in the future, with the Gundam series confirming that Hathaway’s Flash’s sequel film is in the works. With this year’s San Diego Comic-Con also planning to celebrate a recent anniversary for Gundam Wing, the franchise will explore stories for new and old in the future.
Want to see what the future holds for the Gundam series both on Earth and in the stars? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on the Mobile Suit franchise and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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Image courtesy of DC Studios -
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Image Courtesy of DC Studios.
