Toshikazu: Hello everyone. I’m Toshikazu Naka, Producer at BANDAI NAMCO Filmworks Sunrise Studio 1. Today for our U.C. CREATORS Interview series, we have Harutoshi Fukui, who’s in charge of the Mobile Suit Moon Gundam story. We’ve invited him to discuss the behind-the-scenes process of implementing Moon Gundam into U.C. ENGAGE. Mr. Fukui, thank you for being here.

Fukui: Hello. I’m Harutoshi Fukui, responsible for the Moon Gundam story. Looking forward to our discussion today.

Toshikazu: Thank you for being here.

Fukui: The pleasure’s mine.

Toshikazu: Before we delve into Moon Gundam, I’d like to review the expanding Universal Century timeline, especially with recent works like Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom and Requiem for Vengeance.

Fukui: Sure.

Toshikazu: The Universal Century began with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, depicting the One Year War in U.C. 0079. Since then, numerous works have chronicled this era: The Delaz Conflict in U.C. 0083 with Gundam 0083, the Gryps War in 0087 with Zeta Gundam, the First Neo Zeon War in 0088 with Gundam ZZ, the Second Neo Zeon War in 0093 with Char’s Counterattack, the Laplace Incident in 0096 with Gundam UC, the Phoenix Hunt in 0097 with Gundam NT, the Mafty Uprising in 0105 with Hathaway’s Flash, the Cosmo Babylonia War in 0123 with Gundam F91, and the Zanscare War in 0153 with Victory Gundam. Even this brief overview shows how rich the history is. We also have works set further in the timeline like G-Reconguista and Turn A Gundam.

Fukui: Is G-Reco really set after?

Toshikazu: Yes, according to recent official sources, it’s considered part of the Universal Century timeline.

Fukui: So G-Reco comes first, then Turn A after that?

Toshikazu: That’s correct.

Fukui: Oh, I see.

Toshikazu: There’s been much discussion about this. The Universal Century has grown too vast to be considered a single entity, with numerous works produced to this day. Now, Moon Gundam, which has been serialized in Gundam Ace since 2017, takes place between Gundam ZZ in 0088 and Char’s Counterattack in 0093. Could you tell us about the positioning of Moon Gundam within this timeline?

Fukui: Actually, before pitching Gundam Unicorn, I had first proposed Moon Gundam. The proposal was almost identical to what’s being depicted in the manga now. However, we felt we needed something that could better encompass the entire Universal Century narrative, something like Unicorn that could trace back to the very beginning of the Universal Century. So we went back to the drawing board, and Moon Gundam remained dormant while we worked on Unicorn. Then one day, while organizing my files, I happened to read through the Moon Gundam proposal, which by then was nearly a decade old, and found it fascinating. It seemed too good to just leave it buried. Sure, there was significant overlap with Unicorn, which was natural since it had been Unicorn’s prototype in a way. But I thought with some adjustments to align the stories, we might have something worth pursuing. When I brought this up, it was suggested we try it first as a manga, and that’s how the project got started.

Toshikazu: I see. So that’s how the project came to fruition. Could you refresh us on the story details?

Fukui: Well, there’s this colony called Moon Moon, which I’m sure is common knowledge to Universal Century fans watching this program. It’s a colony that had been forgotten by the Federation government for years. Its inhabitants don’t even know what’s happening around their colony, it’s like an ancient agricultural society preserved in time. During this project’s development, I came across some of Director Tomino’s old notes and sketches about Moon Moon, and interestingly, they were quite similar to what would later become Turn A Gundam. There’s something fascinating about connecting Gundam with agricultural and primitive societies. But unlike Turn A, Moon Gundam exists right in the middle of the Universal Century, in the same era when Amuro and Char are alive. This means we can tell a story that starts from Moon Moon and naturally introduces newcomers to the complex Universal Century timeline we just discussed. Through the protagonist’s journey, viewers can rediscover this intricate Gundam world. It’s a way for new audiences to experience these events firsthand.

REGARDING MOON GUNDAM’S IMPLEMENTATION

Toshikazu: I see. Now, Moon Gundam, which started as a manga project as you’ve explained, was implemented into U.C. ENGAGE twice, in March 2022 with “The Moon Rising Over Moon Moon” and in June with “THE FIRST NEWTYPE.” How did you feel when you first heard about the implementation into UC ENGAGE?

Fukui: Well, I hadn’t had much involvement with games before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But, when I learned that UC ENGAGE would feature carefully crafted anime segments and that Sunrise was fully involved in the production, I became quite enthusiastic about the opportunity.

Toshikazu: It’s more than just a typical game, isn’t it? There are three distinct parts – the game segments, anime segments, and battle segments. I imagine the work must have been more challenging than writing either a standard anime or game scenario.

Fukui: Oh, sure. The adventure part, which is the game portion with fixed character poses during dialogue interactions – I wasn’t sure if I could handle it at first, but surprisingly, I adapted quite well. As for Moon Gundam, when I write the scenarios for the manga, I actually write them as if they’re for anime first, then pass them to Kosai (the manga artist) to adapt. He transforms these anime-style scenarios into manga format. So for this project, it was relatively straightforward, I could essentially take those existing scenarios and make some adjustments for the anime segments.

Toshikazu: Yes. One of the most memorable aspects for me was our discussion about which scenes to adapt. You were particularly adamant about starting from the beginning to make it accessible for new audiences. We ended up adding a digest-style introduction at the start, which I found quite impactful.

Fukui: Right, we didn’t just rely on the standard adventure-style interactions. We incorporated specially animated storyboard segments between scenes. That was actually a special arrangement unique to UC ENGAGE.

Toshikazu: And that’s not all – when we decided to implement it, we were limited by how far the published manga volumes had progressed, but you wanted to include episodes beyond that point.

Fukui: The request came around the time when we were approaching the Jutta versus Amuro confrontation in the story. I felt that this scene was absolutely essential for the anime adaptation, so we specifically wrote that scenario ahead of the manga.

Toshikazu: That was quite a demanding request we made.

Fukui: Well, ultimately, everything we developed could be incorporated back into the manga, so I feel we’ve managed to maintain a good balance throughout this process.

WRITING THE BLANK PERIODS OF THE UNIVERSAL CENTURY

Toshikazu: I’d like to ask about something else now. Both Unicorn and Moon Gundam depict previously unexplored periods in the Universal Century timeline. Could you share what you keep in mind when writing these blank periods?

Fukui: Yes, it’s interesting how Moon Gundam and Unicorn now sandwich Char’s Counterattack. When I think about why I’m drawn to these periods, it really comes down to the psycho-frame technology. I mean, it was powerful enough to somehow prevent Axis from falling to Earth. That’s extraordinary, moving an entire asteroid. Yet somehow, this technology seemingly disappears without any military applications afterward, which felt odd when watching F91. Something must have happened in between to lead to the F91 era. That thought had always lingered in my mind, so I really wanted to explore the psycho-frame concept. That’s why in Moon Gundam, we introduce the psycho-plate as a precursor technology to the psycho-frame. The psycho-frame technology could potentially destroy the Universal Century world both physically and metaphorically. When dealing with psycho-frames, there’s this tension, both for creators and viewers, because anything could happen. That’s what makes it fascinating, and Moon Gundam is about to really dive into that aspect.

ABOUT MOON GUNDAM #3

Toshikazu: After this retrospective, let’s talk about what’s coming next. The next UC ENGAGE implementation will cover volume 8 of the manga, featuring Captain Genaro’s flashback about the Core 3 rescue operation. Could you tell us why you chose this particular scene?

Fukui: Recently, in Universal Century works, we’ve seen lots of mobile suit battles, especially in ENGAGE’s…

Toshikazu: Crossover.

Fukui: Yes, crossover events. But we haven’t really done many large-scale battles within the historical timeline lately. Though we knew it would be challenging, we decided to tackle this.

Toshikazu: You’ve mentioned the animation part, but what about the adventure segments and battle partner aspects?

Fukui: In the previous implementation, we reviewed Moon Gundam’s story through Jutta and Mineva’s perspective. But viewing it from a different angle reveals an entirely different picture. Since we’re starting with Genaro’s flashback, we decided to retrace the Moon Gundam story from Neo Zeon’s perspective. When combined with #1 and #2, viewers will finally get a complete picture of what Moon Gundam’s story is about. That’s what we aimed for.

Toshikazu: True, fans probably won’t expect Captain Genaro to be the focus of the third installment. Even the voice actor for Captain Genaro…

Fukui: They’ll be surprised.

Toshikazu: Of course, so please look forward to it.

ABOUT MOON GUNDAM #3

Toshikazu: We’ve discussed #3, but there’s one more Gundam implementation coming. Could you share what you can about #4?

Fukui: This is… this right here.

Toshikazu: Yes, there it is.

Fukui: Wonder if it shows up on camera? This is a crucial point. For those who’ve read the original work, the moment they realize this (Aggujin) is the focus, they’ll probably think “Ah, that part!” We want to showcase that as much as possible. Please really look forward to it. (Note: Fukui holds up the cover to volume eight)

Toshikazu: Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground with Mr. Fukui, but we’re running out of time. Could you share some final words for those looking forward to Moon Gundam #3 and #4’s implementation in UC ENGAGE?

Fukui: Sure. Mobile Suit Moon Gundam currently has about 14 volumes published, and honestly, I never expected it to become such a long series. Through the upcoming implementations of #3 and #4, we’re now at the point where Jutta has descended to Antarctica and is finally meeting Char. The narrative style is becoming something unprecedented in Gundam storytelling. While I can’t reveal everything here, the truth about Moon Moon is gradually being unveiled, merging with classic Universal Century Gundam developments. I have a feeling it’s going to explode in ways we didn’t anticipate. The manga will continue for a while longer, but I hope everyone will start following it now and enjoy the game as well. Thank you for your support.

Toshikazu: Well then, everyone, let’s meet again when we have the opportunity. Thank you for today.

Fukui: Thank you very much.