WHAT IS GUNDAMISM AS DEPICTED BY YASUO OHTAGAKI?

While set in the world of Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt overflows with comic author Yasuo Ohtagaki’s unique sci-fi flavor and mecha perspective. We delve into the secrets behind the birth of this incredibly hard-hitting Gundam story featuring a wounded veteran as the protagonist, and boldly reimagined mobile suit designs!

IS DEPICTING WOUNDED VETERANS REALLY TABOO?

――Thunderbolt seems perfect for the age group and fan base that loves both Gundam and military themes. I think it might be the Gundam that a certain segment of fans has always wanted to see.

Ohtagaki: Thank you very much.

――In previous Gundam works, despite massive wars with countless deaths, we’ve never seen such a direct focus on grudges or wounded veterans. This seems like a concept that could be problematic whether in a seinen manga or anime. What are your thoughts on this?

Ohtagaki: I find broadcast codes and self-censorship themselves to be extremely discriminatory. Immediately complying with something just because it’s deemed “unacceptable” isn’t the right attitude for a creator. My intention is quite the opposite – I want to raise awareness about existing discrimination and realities in our world, not promote discrimination. If anything, I think those who create such self-censorship are the discriminatory ones. It feels unnatural when people say things like “That can’t be done on TV” just because Thunderbolt features wounded veterans. When did it become like this? Of course, there are reasons why it’s become this way, but I want to say that blindly accepting it isn’t right either. Manga should be free to express these things. While I draw SF in manga, I consider myself socially conscious in spirit, so I do try to include some antitheses to such real-world phenomena.

――What was the initial trigger for you to draw Gundam?

Ohtagaki: I received an offer from Big Comic Superior, where I was publishing Moonlight Mile. At the time, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE was being animated, and there was a support project where manga artists would draw Gundam one-shots for various Shogakukan manga magazines. Sunrise asked if anyone would do it for a seinen magazine, but no one volunteered – everyone was busy. The Shogakukan editor thought, “For us, it has to be Ohtagaki,” and true enough, I agreed without hesitation.

――Accepting without hesitation suggests you had quite an attachment to Gundam.

Ohtagaki: I watched the TV rebroadcast in middle school. From there, I lined up to watch the theatrical versions. I liked Sunrise’s real robot anime line that started with Gundam. However, I dropped off around Heavy Metal L-Gaim. I wasn’t watching Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam at the time either. I stopped at the original Gundam. I was somewhat aware of the later developments, but I watched Zeta Gundam and beyond after becoming a manga artist, so I inevitably viewed them from a creator’s perspective. The only one I could purely enjoy as a fan was the original “Gundam.” You could call it First Gundam fundamentalism (laughs).

DEPICTING THE UNTOLD SIDE OF THE ONE YEAR WAR

――What inspired the setting and plot of Thunderbolt?

Ohtagaki: Gundam has a well-established format centered around incredibly strong characters like Amuro and Char. It’s impossible to challenge that directly. So I thought, why not approach Gundam as a war story? That way, there can be various soldiers with different stories. If we consider Zaku and Gundam as weapons that were active during the war, there should be room for others too. I thought we could expand on that military aspect, which is part of what makes Gundam great.

――The military and battlefield atmosphere, evident in things like MSV model kits, were major factors in Gundam’s popularity. But it seems like works rarely delved deeply into this aspect.

Ohtagaki: Ensemble dramas are challenging. I’m interested in Gundam sidestories and often watch them, but I felt there hadn’t been a proper ensemble drama yet. I thought I might be able to carve out a place there.

――Was the theme of wounded veterans intended to be something different from the norm from the start?

Ohtagaki: Yes, the wounded veteran concept was there from the initial setting stage. In manga, you need to convey the protagonist’s background for readers to empathize, but overdoing it can be annoying. Endless backstory kills the mood. I thought it was crucial to communicate what kind of person they are the moment you see them.

There’s a war-themed movie called Johnny Got His Gun that deeply affected me when I was young. No matter how cool the visuals in a war movie might be, with the memory of that film, I can’t help but think, “That guy who just got blown up might end up like that.” Johnny’s image stuck with me like a thorn in my heart. I probably recalled that somewhere along the line.

In Gundam, the flashy, cool mobile suit battle scenes are the surface. But there must always be an underbelly to that world. To depict that, I felt I had to portray wounded veterans. At worst, war-themed anime and manga can become propaganda. Things like “Young people go to war to protect something” or “I’m going to protect you” are dangerously close to ultranationalism. I wanted to create an antithesis to that kind of narrative.

As a manga artist, I always aim to depict the world from multiple angles. There’s the human tendency to be captivated by war, but also the pain and sorrow of lives lost. My goal is to portray all of these aspects comprehensively.

Thunderbolt has been a very rewarding work because I’ve been able to incorporate a lot of accumulated inspiration from various films and other sources. The insights gained from war movies are actually quite difficult to express in manga. Japanese manga tends to focus on everyday life, mainly love stories between men and women, and there’s a strong constraint that stories about conflict should be set in Japan to be popular. So there aren’t many opportunities to express the things I’ve seen and empathized with.

I’m grateful that I have many opportunities to express these ideas in works like Moonlight Mile and Thunderbolt. However, I feel it’s a bit of a skewed situation that such spaces only exist in a small corner of the manga world as a whole.

A WORK TO OVERTURN THE STAGNATION OF THE GUNDAM BRAND

――There seems to be a pervasive atmosphere of vague unease, without clear reasons or evidence.

Ohtagaki: Friends often tell me, “I’m surprised you drew that.” But I ask them, “What exactly are you worried about?” Sunrise has been faithful to the manga’s expression in their adaptation. Despite anime typically having stricter constraints than manga, Thunderbolt seems to have pushed beyond those boundaries. While public reception is still to come, I think fans are cheering us on with a “Well done!” attitude for this reason.

――It’s good that we can have these discussions, isn’t it?

Ohtagaki: I believe that works like Gundam or Star Wars, which received massive fan support, were revolutionary when they first appeared. They became catalysts for overturning industry norms. However, as a title continues, it inevitably becomes its own brand, its own set of rules. But I think truly long-lasting series always have moments where they overturn these established norms.

I hope Thunderbolt can be one of those catalysts for change. With its animation, it should have more opportunities to be seen overseas. Historically, Gundam hasn’t been well-received in the West, but after the 9/11 terror attacks, many American soldiers have returned wounded from the Middle East. I’m very curious to see how the concept of the Living Dead Division will be received in countries where such individuals are a familiar presence.

――The war movie-like format of this work does seem like it could be more accessible.

CONTINUING TO BE A PIONEER IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

――The manga is currently taking quite an unexpected turn in depicting the post-One Year War world. I was honestly surprised. What’s the reason behind this?

Ohtagaki: This is a result of my belief that there’s no point unless we go to places that haven’t been depicted in animation or previous Gundam series. Many people might be critical, but religion tends to flourish most after a war. After ideological wars, people who can no longer believe in those ideologies turn to religion. This is evident throughout history, but it hasn’t been depicted much in manga or anime. Japanese readers seem to have an aversion to depicting religion, finding it frightening. I want them to consider why they find it frightening. Religion does have frightening aspects, but I want to depict why it’s frightening and why people react negatively to it, to encourage thought on these matters.

――It’s impressive how you step into areas that appear to be “landmines,” whether it’s wounded veterans or religion, even though they’re not really “landmines” in reality.

Ohtagaki: I see this as my way of surviving, so I don’t think it’s particularly impressive. Many manga artists probably think this way, but you can’t survive unless you go where no one else has gone. Why did humans migrate from Africa through Asia to North America? To survive. The fertile lands are already taken. So, you keep moving towards the cold, undeveloped, uninhabited areas. I think I’m probably that type. If necessary, I’ll also explore undeveloped parts within myself. In my manga Moonlight Mile, there are erotic scenes early on, which were necessary to break out of my shell. I was too embarrassed to draw such scenes before. But I thought I couldn’t depict a strong man like that protagonist without exposing myself. I felt I couldn’t express strength if I couldn’t show my own vulnerabilities. So I drew myself naked in the opening, wanting to express through human nature, not just character circumstances, that it’s because he lives instinctively that he can reach space. That was a breakthrough for me in my thirties, and from there I became certain of the type of artist I would become.

――I’m curious about how young people will receive Thunderbolt.

Ohtagaki: I think it will reach those it’s meant to reach. People said “Kids these days…” when I was young too, so age isn’t really relevant. Looking at my middle-aged peers, I don’t see that they’ve become richer in humanity or polished their human nature with increased knowledge – they seem mostly unchanged from their youth. Thunderbolt is currently well-received by my generation thanks to the Gundam content and because the seinen magazine it’s published in targets that demographic. But I’d like people of all generations to see it, so I’m very happy that it’s been made into an animation, as that’s an opportunity for it to reach many more users. If possible, I’d like it to be seen by kids around middle school age, the age I was when I first encountered Gundam.