Mobile Suit Gundam NT, which premiered in theaters in November 2018, was produced as a completely original film set in the Universal Century timeline. While depicting the events one year after Mobile Suit Gundam UC, this work also serves as the first installment in the UC NexT 0100 project. In this first interview to commemorate the Blu-ray & DVD release on May 24th, 2019 (Friday), we had the pleasure of speaking with Harutoshi Fukui, the scriptwriter of the film.

From Mobile Suit Gundam UC to Mobile Suit Gundam NT. What is the fate of the Newtype myth and Universal Century?

I just focused on barreling through it all.

――Mobile Suit Gundam NT (hereafter NT) takes place in U.C.0097, one year after Mobile Suit Gundam UC (hereafter UC). Can you tell us why you chose to start the story immediately after the previous work?

Fukui: Well, U.C. 0096 is an era fans are already familiar with, so kicking off the next chapter in the following year, U.C. 0097, just seemed like the clearest approach. It also worked out nicely when figuring out the ages for the main character Jona and the other new faces. If we jumped any later than U.C.0097, the characters in the opening scene wouldn’t have been kids during the One Year War anymore. So when you factor in stuff like the character ages and how it links to the previous story, this timing made the most sense. There was also the added bonus that setting it only one year later meant we could reuse Banagher and the gang’s designs instead of starting from scratch (laughs).

――The novel Phoenix Hunting and this work have quite a few elements that were changed. Was that intentional?

Fukui: Right, so Phoenix Hunting, the novel, was all about the behind-the-scenes events going on during UC. The whole NT project actually got its start from the idea of “Hey, they’re putting up a Unicorn Gundam statue; let’s create a new installment.” That’s when they pitched doing an adaptation of Phoenix Hunting to me. And sure, a good chunk of the setting was already locked in and it was never going to be a super long story, but turning it into an anime would mean establishing it as part of the “official” storyline. At a time when we were gearing up to lay the groundwork for the next big thing, I had said, “We can’t be messing around with side stories right now!” So, I made the call to do a sequel based on Phoenix Hunting instead. And as we kept folding in different elements – cameos from older characters, the identity of the mastermind, all that good stuff – we ended up with NT evolving from a novel adaptation into an entirely new work.

――It must have been extremely difficult to fit that much content into a 90-minute package.

Fukui: Absolutely, in the midst of writing it, I certainly had my doubts about fitting it all into 90 minutes. The only reason we managed to compress a story of that scale into that timeframe is thanks to director Toshikazu Yoshizawa’s brisk pacing. I had already baked in the whole multiple-plotlines-happening-at-once deal at the script stage, but giving each story thread enough emphasis takes precious minutes. But I figured, hey, as long as the core ideas land, the audience can fill in the blanks themselves, we’ll make it work. Sure, it might be hard to process everything on the first watch, but I knew it would all come together on a second watch. So I focused on pushing forward at full throttle, determined to get through it all in one go. And that’s likely why we were able to keep it to 90 minutes. I had that approach in mind from the beginning, which I believe is why the final product has a roller coaster-like intensity. Of course, I had that sense of rapid pacing and tempo in mind when crafting the script as well. But even so, I still felt that 90 minutes was a rather ambitious target, so I’m honestly surprised we pulled it off. Compared to UC, the accelerated pace wasn’t something I had planned for specifically but rather something I had little choice but to embrace. In retrospect, though, if we had taken our time with NT, it might have become a rather heavy and somber story, so perhaps this turned out for the best. The upcoming Blu-ray release has undergone some significant enhancements, so you have something to look forward to!

――What was your interaction with director Yoshizawa like during production?

Fukui: Basically, I told him, “Here’s what I’m thinking,” and he pretty much let me run with it. Yoshizawa’s big concern was that when familiar faces from the last story popped up, they might overshadow our new main trio, so I made sure to watch out for that. Even when Banagher shows up, I took real care to build up Jona and friends’ story enough that it wouldn’t get overshadowed, and I kept the camera glued to those three.

――What about your collaboration with Hajime Katoki?

Fukui: Funny you mention him. Katoki and I didn’t actually go back and forth all that much. He did seem to push back on the Narrative Gundam looking like a “scarecrow Gundam,” though. So we put our heads together on how to make it look badass, and we landed on the whole “dress-up Gundam” idea. Initially, the plan for the C Equipment (also known as the psycho package) that appears at the end was to have it be just a bare frame. But the way I envisioned it, the Narrative Gundam was meant to be the Unicorn Gundam’s younger sibling, so I wanted that familial connection to be clearly conveyed visually. Katoki’s solution was to create a mock-up by taking the psycho-frame from the Master Grade Unicorn Gundam and attaching it as an exterior. This fits nicely with the idea of it being “constructed from spare parts” and had both visual credibility and impact. As for the color of the psycho-frame, I couldn’t picture it as anything other than red, so that’s what we went with.

At that point, I thought the Universal Century story was over

――Where do you see this work fitting into the Universal Century timeline leading up to the UC NexT 0100 project?

Fukui: It’s the first installment, no question about it. If you consider UC as the starting point, it’s a bit different, but NT is undoubtedly the inaugural chapter of this new project. That’s why I put a lot of effort into making sure the content was worthy of being the first entry. Funnily enough, the term “UC NexT 0100” actually came up while we were in the middle of creating NT. So the opening sequence that reflects on the One Year War wasn’t something I planned intentionally. But in the end, don’t you think it turned out to be one of the few Gundam stories that can be fully appreciated just by watching it? I believe UC is crafted with more attention to detail in terms of story progression and such, but for someone who’s completely new to Gundam, NT might be easier to grasp than UC. UC has a bit more breathing room, something that’s perhaps more rewarding if you’re already well-versed in the Gundam universe.

――Much like UC, this work delves deeper into the concept of “Newtypes”. What is it about Newtypes that captivates you so much?

Fukui: We didn’t just dip our toes in; we took a full-on dive (laughs). Once we depicted the ending of UC the way we did, there was no way we could just brush it aside and start a sequel. In a world with electricity and nuclear energy, you have this technology that can convert the energy of the human psyche into a physical force – the psycho-frame was accidentally created while developing the psycommu system. Just by placing it around the cockpit, it exhibited enough power to push back Axis, and when they tried building a mobile suit with it, the results were unbelievable. With a single swing of its arm, the Unicorn Gundam could dismantle an engine or turn back time, demonstrating a power beyond human comprehension. Thankfully, Banagher managed to come back in the end, but if he had remained merged with the Unicorn Gundam, I believe the Universal Century story would have likely concluded right then and there. It could disable all weapons in the Earth Sphere, and even go back in time to erase conflicts altogether. But if something like that were to happen, the world would be thrown into complete chaos. There’s even a chance that our current understanding of three-dimensional space and time itself might not hold up. It would have posed an even greater threat to the people of that era than the Axis Shock, and everyone would have frantically searched for its source. I let my imagination run wild with that idea, combined it with the Phoenix Hunting novel, and that’s how this story came to be. The psycho-frame and the Unicorn Gundam are entities that could potentially collapse dimensions themselves if misused. That’s why the Phenex is used to seal it away, and ultimately, to ensure the Phenex can unleash its full potential, we went back in time and planted the seeds with Jona and Michele as well. That’s the essence of NT. When you look at it from that perspective, it’s actually an incredibly ambitious science fiction tale. It may have an occult-like feel to it, but ever since the original Mobile Suit Gundam, the existence of the soul in the Gundam universe has been a recurring theme. Taking that concept a step further, I carefully considered the setting and attempted to portray the idea of “intervention from the other side” in this installment.

Thanks to the psycho-frame, physical intervention from the other side became possible

Fukui: Until now, I think the science fiction aspect of Gundam has often been conflated with militarism. But when you really look at it as a sci-fi series set in space, it’s a bonafide science fiction story, isn’t it? We’ve had scenes where the deceased communicate with the living, but the fact that this concept was never fully explored before means it was left in a more fantastical state. Seeing visions of the dead and being encouraged by them got mixed up with techniques from manga and drama, leading to the attitude of “Anything goes.” What sets First Gundam apart is that thanks to Amuro hearing Lalah’s voice, he was able to evacuate the entire crew of the White Base. And, in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, the Zeta Gundam generates a beam output beyond its original specs to defeat the enemy. In other words, the idea of “physical intervention from the other side” has been present since the very first series. The existence of the Phenex in this story is a natural progression from that concept. The psycho-frame made it possible for the other world to intervene, using it as a conduit. Despite being crafted as true science fiction, that aspect has been hidden since the days of the original series.

――In UC and NT, the concept of Newtypes has been pushed to its limits. How do you think it will be portrayed going forward?

Fukui: With Zoltan’s II Neo Zeong sealed away, it should have been a neat and tidy happy ending. But the revelation at the end that the supposedly dismantled Unit 1 still exists throws a wrench into that. What to do with Unit 1 will likely be a major plot point in the future. The Vist Foundation and the Earth Federation had an agreement to seal away and dismantle Unit 1 and Unit 2 – the Banshee. They even claimed it was done under supervision, but in reality, that wasn’t the case at all. So naturally, the Banshee is probably still out there, too. It’s like they said they would dismantle it but decided to keep it on the down-low instead (laughs). The thing is, even the bigwigs in the Federation government probably don’t know about this. We’re including a drama CD with the deluxe Blu-ray edition this time around, and it even depicts how Ronan Marcenas (Riddhe’s dad) doesn’t seem to be fully in the loop. So don’t be surprised if what really happened to the Unicorn Gundam and the Banshee comes to light somewhere down the road.

I think something must have happened within 10 years after NT

――As the Universal Century enters its second century, the term “Newtype” falls out of use. Will there be some kind of resolution to that as well?

Fukui: The term “Zeon” is no longer being used. Three years after the events of this story, in U.C. 0100, it’s decided that the Republic of Zeon will be giving up their autonomy. With that on the horizon, Monaghan Bakharov, who made his debut in this installment, must be itching to seize the initiative. There’s a high chance he’ll try to exploit the psycho-frame to do it. Mineva must be racking her brain trying to prevent that, so there’s bound to be some major friction and power struggles on that front. Just like how “Zeon” got buried in the annals of history, the very concept of “Newtypes” got twisted and watered down to just mean people with an aptitude for piloting. I’m not sure why it ended up that way, but it’s become impossible to trace it back to its original essence. For that to happen, you’d need some seriously heavy-handed authority and a straight-up ideological witch hunt. But the Federation government, which can’t even keep tabs on the people who’ve ventured out into space, isn’t capable of pulling that off. In that case, maybe there was some terrifying event that made people not even want to utter or hear that word anymore. Looking at it from that angle, I can’t help but wonder if something went down within a decade after NT. It was probably right around the time Zeon gave up their autonomy. So this story might seem like the first chapter of a new saga, but just when you think it’s over… it’s not.

Something that makes you instinctively want to shut it out… might be on the horizon

――So, using this work as a starting point, are you suggesting that within the next “10 years”, Newtypes will once again play a central role in the story in some way?

Fukui: The name “NT (Narrative)” itself is a double entendre for “narrating Newtypes,” and it’s unique to this installment. The question of what ripple effects the now-confirmed existence of Newtypes and the psycho-frame will have is sure to be a central theme moving forward. Up until now, “Newtypes” were, at least nominally, part of Zeon Deikun’s ideology, a foundation for Spacenoid independence, the core tenet of Zeonism. The fact that people stopped even mentioning the term suggests that when folks witness something truly frightening or horrific, it gets shunned and pushed away without the need for any active information suppression. We’ve seen real-world examples of this. It’s an instinctive response to just shut it down and block it out… I wonder what’s going to happen (laughs).