Yoshiyuki Tomino: “Time for change in the media has come.”
From where does the Newtype arise? The sense of defeat in Gundam

YOSHIYUKI TOMINO’S “THE CHANGE” #4
(Interview Series 4 of 5)

In 1979, with Mobile Suit Gundam, Director Yoshiyuki Tomino brought a new genre of realism to the world of robot anime. Even at 82, he continues to challenge the forefront of animation. But from where does his seemingly boundless creativity spring? We delved into Tomino’s “THE CHANGE” in the conference room of White Base at Bandai Namco Filmworks in Suginami, Tokyo.

■ “I’ve failed to create a narrative demonstrating how humanity can innovate.”

“My career started with Mushi Pro’s Astro Boy, so I’ve often been told, ‘You’re really into anime, aren’t you, Mr. Tomino?’ But the truth is, I’ve never been anime-oriented. I was only ever considering making anime as a form of cinema, but I couldn’t do that properly, so I ended up here today. In this sense, I have a sense of ‘defeat.'”

Director Tomino, who has shaped a new genre by incorporating realism into robot anime and persistently produced frontline works, often criticizes his own works and himself with harsh words. Perhaps, this is a testament to his relentless pursuit of truth.

“Since being called ‘Tomino’s Gundam,’ because I introduced the term ‘Newtype,’ I wanted to create a narrative showing how to innovate humanity, but I couldn’t. The term ‘Newtype’ isn’t about a single psychic or a Superman, but rather it’s about the whole of humanity being uplifted. And there’s a sense of ‘defeat’ that I couldn’t indicate the methodology for this uplift. It weighs heavily on me.”

In Mobile Suit Gundam, characters called ‘Newtypes’ appear, including the protagonist, Amuro Ray. The concept is not clearly defined, but it is about a new human race advancing into the vastness of space, acquiring empathic abilities that transcend time and space, and fighting over ‘human innovation’ and ‘new ways of human existence.’. These thoughts are conveyed not only through Amuro and Char’s words but also through Director Tomino’s words.

“There is a view that calling it a ‘sense of defeat’ is rather audacious. Yes, it is audacious. If anyone could uplift all of humanity, they’d be above Buddha or Christ, right? But I also think, ‘Haven’t we reached that level yet?’

In Gundam, we already talk about ‘it’s because the human population has increased too much.’ That’s not my idea or anything; it’s just something I picked up from discussions about energy problems and the capacity to deal with population growth proposed at the Club of Rome a few years before Gundam production started.
When thinking about the solution to this, ‘we cannot keep waging war,’ that’s where Gundam started from. But when I thought about a story of a war with space immigrants, a war among people, I thought we had to raise humanity to stop wars, but I couldn’t show how to do that.”

Yet again, Director Tomino reiterates his ‘sense of defeat.’ Recently, he felt it most strongly when Donald Trump became President of the United States in 2017.

“I thought it was hopeless when, in fact, humanity, who let this level of person become President, is probably hopeless. And this past year, nobody can stop what Mr. Putin is doing. Doesn’t it seem like humanity has regressed at a level of 40, 50, or even 100 years? That’s why I think so. I feel defeated because I couldn’t create a work that shows how to prevent such people from emerging.”

―――Was it actually better a hundred years ago?

“Well, it’s as if we’re still playing the same political game as we did a hundred years back. Not a single step forward. If anything, things have taken a turn for the worse; just because our weapons got more sophisticated, our manner of conflict did.”

―――That is certainly true.

“What’s more important, though, is we’ve come to realize that the Earth’s energy is finite. We need to consider how the human race can survive for another hundred million years on this finite Earth, but the population just keeps skyrocketing. We should be tackling issues of food, water, and living conditions, but we can’t even put a stop to wars. I can’t help but think this is just a blueprint for human annihilation. That’s why I believe we must consciously consider this theory of a Newtype and continue to self-reform.”

■ The future of our children, witnessing the current war

“But this time, I have a feeling that someone who could be a budding ‘Newtype’ has emerged.”

―――Who might that be?

“I’m going to catch a lot of flak for this, but it’s the current Ukrainian President, Zelenskyy. I believe that Putin’s war this time around was sparked because Zelenskyy became president. Because an actor and comedian like him became the president of Ukraine, it made Putin think, ‘I can take this.’ And that, I believe, is down to President Zelenskyy.”

―――I see what you mean.

“But, conversely, comic actor-turned-president Zelenskyy is putting up more resistance than Putin expected. He’s a completely different breed compared to previous politicians. These differences in people’s qualities are crucial when considering the perspective of a Newtype.”

―――Do you think President Zelenskyy is a Newtype?

“That’s not exactly what I’m saying. What I mean is that today’s children, from about seven or eight to twelve or thirteen, are witnessing this ridiculous reality of Putin’s war at their age. That is, I think there’s a chance that these children could become a new level of Newtype when they reach their thirties.”

―――So you’re saying that the potential for change comes precisely because this reality is so different from before?

“People up to around thirty these days still hold onto theories of war that are essentially from the 20th century. But this war of Putin’s is different from the wars of the past. There’s no model of large troops advancing and attacking somewhere, and even though drones should theoretically play a decisive role in the war, they haven’t really been effective. The whole situation and pattern of war have completely changed. The ten-year-olds witnessing this peculiar scenario will be the ones to shoulder the next era.”

■ “I believe it’s time for the media to ‘change.'”

“What struck me recently is how much the United States is profiting from this ongoing conflict. With Russia cutting off natural gas, the U.S. is shipping it to the EU at four, five times the price. They’re financing the entire military industry, and Ukraine is left to fight the war.

From an article in this week’s Newsweek, I came to understand that Putin is troubled by the boomerang effect, tormented by private military organizations like Wagner (Note: the interview took place 10 days before Wagner’s armed uprising). The right-wing is gaining formidable power, and it is said that Putin is increasingly losing his voice. The real problem is that once Putin is dead, real bandits might spring up from Russia.”

Director Tomino, who has incorporated issues such as global environmental challenges, political situations, and religion into his works, rings an alarm bell about the need for media transformation in light of the current war.

“It’s irresponsible to ignore this, yet the media casually writes that ‘this war will continue for another ten years.’ It’s old-fashioned without truly engaging in critical thinking. The ‘stage’ that this Russian war holds is meeting something new, and you inevitably have to change. I believe it’s time for the media to ‘change.’ Focusing only on the antics of celebrities or frivolous talk of sweets isn’t enough.

My generation can only speak about such things, which is why I am talking about it. That’s all!”

Mobile Suit Gundam will celebrate its 45th anniversary in 2024. Despite the harsh words, fans eagerly await what he will create with his next work as he looks at current issues and keeps his sights on the future generation of children.