The following is a compilation of what Fukuda said at the talk show before and after the screening. It was quite difficult piecing together things from 2ch and blogs, but further assistance was provided via CharBlog.

GUNDAM SEED FREEDOM PREMIERE – Initial Staff Talk Screening (Before the Screening)

FUKUDA: We’ve tried our best to make works that don’t betray everyone’s expectations. We don’t care about making a “good work” or “something that will go down in history” or anything like that. We just wanted to make something that people would have fun watching.

FUKUDA: I have just one comment before the screening. We used a lot of on-screen text captions in this film. If you focus too much on reading the captions, you may miss what’s happening on screen. It’s probably better to watch the captions on your second viewing or so.

GUNDAM SEED FREEDOM PREMIERE – Initial Staff Talk Screening

* Discussion of spoilers was prohibited until after the screening.
* After the screening, there was applause from the audience.
FUKUDA: Did you enjoy it? (More applause from the audience) I was worried that I didn’t hear much laughter at the funny parts, so I thought maybe some of the jokes didn’t land…

PRODUCER NAKA: The audience’s reactions were a relief.
PRODUCER NAKA: By the time I joined, the script was already completed. This time, we had a focus on incorporating a lot of 3D MS (Mobile Suit) sequences. Over 700 cuts are 3D battle scenes, which is quite a significant amount of content.

PRODUCER NAKA: This amount of 3D battle animation is a first for Sunrise. Representations like this will likely continue to increase going forward. The 3D motion might have been a lot different from what you were expecting, right?

FUKUDA: I’m totally fine with spoilers, but given how long it’s been, I want people to still be able to experience the emotional impact for themselves. Unlike a movie franchise that gets new installments annually, it’s been “how many years” since the last one – there’s a whole order of magnitude difference. So, I thought that we needed dramatic and impactful storytelling to make up for that.

FUKUDA: At first, they showed me a promotional video saying, “We made it like this, what do you think?” and “We made it SEED-like.” Shigeta and I were like, “This isn’t SEED at all.” We had them go back and redo it.

YOSHIDA: What exactly is SEED-like?
FUKUDA: I have no idea what that is. The very notion of something being ‘SEED-like’ is where it ends for me. If someone says, “This is SEED,” I can easily respond with, ‘I didn’t create anything like that.”

FUKUDA: Shigeta also disliked the idea of forcing it into a certain mold or formula from the start, where it seemed like there was no room for growth.

FUKUDA: Many of the junior staff joined the team excitedly, sharing, “We grew up on SEED.” There were lots of passionate meetings. Everyone would leave, then Hirai and Shigeta, and I would stay back like, “Phew…”

PRODUCER NAKA: There was also the process of aligning our creative approaches. It took quite some time to reach the point where, through direction and back-and-forth exchanges, we could see the visuals progressively improving.
FUKUDA: Around a year, I’d say.

PRODUCER NAKA: Things like aligning on artistic direction and deepening each other’s understanding. Building communication, I suppose?
FUKUDA: (Referring to the transformation cuts in the PV) There was conflict over cuts like that, where I’d say, “If this is what we’re getting, I’d rather have it hand drawn.” “The movements don’t look like SEED,” I’d say over and over, emphasizing that it’s not just about looking cool.
PRODUCER NAKA: We were honest with the staff there and asked them to do their best.

FUKUDA: The staff (from the first) are used to it already. They worked under Tomino, after all (audience laughs). They’ve been exposed to even scarier demands and criticisms than what I have to deal with, and they’ve made it to today. The staff don’t get worn out that easily.

PRODUCER NAKA: Shigeta contributed a lot by being hands-on beyond just reviewing feedback. Any time things came up.

FUKUDA: What happened up to the end of the movie has been finalized. Beyond that, I don’t know anything for now. I have some ideas, but nothing definite has been decided yet.

FUKUDA: The screenplay was fully fleshed out after the pandemic started. Before the pandemic, we would meet in person to discuss things. Even during the tough times, we kept working on the character designs. Mr. Okawara had finished all of that by that point.

FUKUDA: Nishikawa has really been supporting us behind the scenes in ways people don’t see. He has truly been supportive of Gundam SEED, both professionally and personally. I’d say around 20 percent of the credit for its success is thanks to him.

FUKUDA: When the movie was announced, no one said you’d be doing the theme song (audience laughs). The camaraderie among the staff is incredible. Their passion and dedication know no bounds. I’m deeply grateful to you.

FUKUDA: In our meetings, Komuro was weirdly excited. Then, a few days later, he said, “I want to write the song for Lacus,” even before FREEDOM came along. Talk about scary. He composed it without even being commissioned, saying, “You don’t have to use it, but here’s what I envisioned for it right now.”

FUKUDA: Komuro is extremely friendly, asking us all kinds of questions. He has a lot of respect for the work as well. No matter what requests we had, he listened with an open mind. He was very easy to work with. I’m truly grateful.

FUKUDA: Komuro’s first collaborator was the worst. It was Yoshiyuki Tomino! (laughs) (audience laughs) Having so many kinds of extreme demands put on him made him unusually humble.

FUKUDA: Having See-Saw come on board was my idea. Ishikawa and I really got into an impassioned discussion about Lacus’s storyline, and it seemed to strike a chord. I heard that it led to an “ah-ha” moment of inspiration when she created the song.

FUKUDA: What an incredible sense for impactful phrasing, right? “sarigiwa no romantics” – what does that even mean in Japanese? It’s amazingly memorable, even if your mind can’t grasp the meaning.

FUKUDA: Watching it, I noticed several lines that don’t seem quite right. You may not pick up on it, but a lot of Morosawa’s essence has been lost.

FUKUDA: My own style ends up coming through more, so rather than feeling like I’m watching SEED, there’s a sense of my other works Cyber Formula or Cross Ange (audience laughs and applauds). This is giving me a lot to think about going forward.

FUKUDA: It’s too straightforward. The original approach in SEED and DESTINY was to take plot points from the (Morosawa’s) outlines and convert them into everyday conversational dialogue. I feel like we couldn’t quite achieve that this time, and that’s something I regret.

FUKUDA: As long as it was entertaining, that’s what matters. Personally, I prefer more straightforward stories. But with SEED, I felt it should be something different, so I was constantly grappling with that contradiction throughout the production.

FUKUDA: We make these shows so that everyone will enjoy and laugh (audience laughs). Bandai may see it differently, though. Maybe for them, it’s about this (money gesture) (audience laughs again). Our work doesn’t really translate directly for us, so we’ve kind of given up on that. It is more rewarding when we hear people say they thought it was funny.

FUKUDA: (Regarding the flashback scene in FREEDOM that doesn’t make sense as a standalone) There’s a whole story that comes before that. We don’t know if we’ll ever produce it though (audience yells “Make it!”)
PRODUCER NAKA: You wouldn’t understand that scene just by watching FREEDOM.

FUKUDA: There was a project 10 years ago. There was talk of it being released as an OVA, and talk of a theatrical version. Over the years, the OVA got cut. While Morosawa was still alive, Morita and I finished writing the script, but…

FUKUDA: (Audience: We want to see it!) I’m not telling.
YOSHIDA: There is a very convincing way to persuade them. If it’s a huge hit, there’s no way they wouldn’t make it, right? (Audience applauds)
FUKUDA: Well, that’s how these things tend to happen.

FUKUDA: I didn’t want to just pretend it never happened, so I forcefully worked it in there. I was hoping someone would notice and ask about it.