MITSUO FUKUDA
A NEW DISCUSSION ON MECHA SECRETS:
Why So Many Older Units Make an Appearance

――In the film, we see a remarkably large number of mobile suits packed into a relatively short runtime. Could you walk us through the thought process behind selecting which units to include?

Fukuda: Considering that each of our three main factions presumably has its own brand-new mobile suits, and on top of that our protagonist switches suits partway through, we’re already looking at around six different machines just from those straightforward plot needs. Beyond that, though, we also had to figure out how to incorporate the existing resources of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT from earlier installments. When we first made a master list around 2006, we had a roster of about a hundred different suits. From there, we had to steadily pare it down.

Originally, for the Black Knight Squad, the idea was to give each member an entirely different machine—so more than three variants—before we ultimately combined everything into two main types plus the Cal-re.A, making three in total. Even the Destroy was originally conceived as a new model. At one point, I even considered cutting it from the film altogether due to runtime concerns. But I realized if we went ahead and created the CG assets for the Destroy, we might be able to use it down the line. Everyone on staff agreed it would be better to include it in that opening battle sequence, so in the end, we kept it. We did have a version of the script where it never appears at all, so things could have gone either way.

――Fans must have been thrilled to see all those MSV show up.

Fukuda: The 105 Dagger, for instance, is an MSV model. Instead of flooding the screen with nothing but new machines, I wanted to feature a fair number of older ones. I find it unconvincing when a new mech suddenly appears and is inexplicably powerful. In this era, technology is always undergoing incremental upgrades. Replacing the OS or control systems, for instance, might still require additional development before a machine can realize even its theoretical specs. That’s simply how actual weapons tend to evolve. With that in mind, you’d trust the unit that’s battle-tested, right? A mobile suit that’s seen real combat is more reliable and valuable. Budget is also a key factor. This is, after all, a world worn down by ongoing conflict.

NEW STANDARDS: RISING AND IMMORTAL

――How would you contextualize the Rising Freedom Gundam and Immortal Justice Gundam within the universe’s framework?

Fukuda: I suspect those two will become the core machines for orbital travel between Earth and space from now on. It may not be on a huge scale, but I imagine Orb and the Atlantic Federation will both want to build an Earth–Space task force centered around the Rising and Immortal.

Their capabilities essentially surpass those of the original Freedom and Justice. In essence, I wanted to take those two new machines back to something closer to the classic designs. Then I thought, “But if they’re traveling through the atmosphere, we should add some sort of transformation for flight.” We decided it would be best if they can go back and forth between Earth and space without external boosters and reenter without needing a parachute-like “ballute,” just transformation alone. For escape back into orbit, they’d either rely on the Lohengrin launcher the Archangel used or a dedicated booster. As for the Type II, it’s only been given simple modifications. There’s no major overhaul on that one.

――The Strike Freedom Gundam Type II, as we see it, gains a higher level of performance when it docks with the Proud Defender, almost like it steps up another tier.

Fukuda: Essentially, we started with the idea that Lacus would ride in with a wing unit that could dock onto the main Gundam. It wasn’t initially meant to strengthen the Freedom. Also, it’s only a two-hour film. We simply can’t pack in everything we’d do over the span of a TV series.

THE MIGHTY’S SURPRISING INSPIRATION: MOTHRA?!

――The Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam’s weapons and action sequences feel dramatically different from the traditional Freedom. How did that come about?

Fukuda: At first, I was thinking of using something like an EMP, a potent electromagnetic pulse. In the SEED universe, we do see weapons of mass destruction like gamma-ray lasers and microwave-based arms. I planned to equip the new machine with something along those lines, and that ultimately took shape as we see in the final version. Miniaturizing such a device would be outrageously dangerous in reality, but in the story we went ahead with it.

Early on, I had a notion to do something akin to the Moonlight Butterfly, a nod to a certain past Gundam concept, but realized it was too much of a direct copy, and that wouldn’t work (laughs). Then I wondered, “What if we took inspiration from Mothra’s scales, generating lightning from within those scales, or firing a beam from the forehead?” Those images led us to the current design after we adjusted everything to fit the setting.

――Its silhouette does have a vaguely butterfly-like aspect. And there’s that scene where Lacus grants her approval, what exactly was that?

Fukuda: While drawing the storyboards, I thought, “This is too powerful to use freely. There needs to be some kind of mechanism preventing it from firing at will.” That’s where the authorization sequence came in. All the staff teased me about it (laughs). In principle, you’d need authorization from both the commanding officer on the field and the overall leader. Which means if Shinn wanted to fire it, he’d need approvals from both Kira and Lacus. But since Kira and Lacus themselves are onboard, they can handle it instantly. Kira puts in the request, a document is generated, Lacus signs off, and the system goes live.

Please think of it as a collaborative move between them (laughs).

――Does that mean the Mighty Strike Freedom Gundam ultimately returns as the top-tier machine in the finale?

Fukuda: I’m not sure if it’ll continue to appear beyond this. The Disruptor system, too, is just a test-bed weapon. It’s probably not yet fit for formal deployment, so I doubt they’d keep using a pure prototype. In reality, we have all sorts of weapon concepts that exist only as theory and never make it into active service. This might be the same: it’s a bit “warped” for actual battlefield use. And if the public ever found out about a weapon like that, there’d be a huge outcry. Maybe they’ll declassify the EMP part, but I bet they’d keep the Disruptor classified.

――Let’s talk about the Black Knight Squad. How did you approach their design?

Fukuda: I had an image of those iron-masked dark knights from the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, where a sinister group fights as one. There’s a deliberate fantasy vibe. Gundams are often associated with samurai imagery, while Zakus are more German in style, so I thought it’d be interesting to deviate a little from those established lineages. Each member of the Black Knight Squad actually designed their own mobile suit. They also created technologies like Femto Tech armor. For all their rowdy bravado (laughs), they’re part of the Accord, so they’re brilliant.

Their overall concept is “super high & low,” a select few extremely high-performance units, supported by a large number of simpler machines carrying out guided bombing runs. That mass force could be anything, maybe old missile launchers or leftover GINNs from the previous war that they bought cheaply and converted to either unmanned or manned systems, just to bolster their numbers. It’s a very cost-effective force in a way. Their tactic is to penetrate deep into enemy territory and get close to the opposing command center, then guide long-range, precision strikes. Even if the enemy jams their communications, they can simply talk via telepathy.

――They can guide weapons by telepathy, too?

Fukuda: That, they cannot do. But if the jamming device is somewhere on the field, they just find it and destroy it first, that’s all. The Black Knight Squad only carries beam rifles and swords, so on their own they lack big firepower. But they clearly trust those weapons implicitly; they believe that alone is enough to handle anything. And in fact, they did manage to take down all of COMPs cutting-edge units with just that.

WARSHIPS: BEYOND DETAILS TO COMBAT CHOREOGRAPHY

――As for battleships, the level of detail seemed highly refined—likely to look good on the big screen. How did you approach that?

Fukuda: We used CG, so I wanted to draw out the advantages of computer graphics. In space, however, it can be tricky to convey scale, so we went out of our way to give battleships extra detailing, much more than any mobile suit, so viewers sense these vessels are far larger. Of course, generating that sense of scale isn’t just about CG assets. Storyboards and direction play a major role, too. If the camera moves too quickly, ships can seem small and light. We really thought carefully about the type of motion that would convey heft.

Relative speeds in space aren’t easy to grasp visually. At the start, for instance, we have a confrontation between the Millennium and the Foundation fleet. The Millennium rushes straight through them head-on, likely traveling at more than 10 kilometers per second. Then it flips, decelerates en route to the Moon, while the Foundation fleet pivots and goes after it. So, you end up with a situation in which both are reorienting their bows at each other while maneuvering in different directions. Is that scientifically perfect? Probably not. But we didn’t want to spell it out too blatantly in the dialogue either. We did give it a lot of thought, so hopefully it looks a bit different from what people are used to.

――The final product felt vibrant and intricate, both the design and the movements.

Fukuda: That’s really the fruit of each staff member’s dedication. No one person can do it all, and it isn’t something a single individual’s obsession alone could produce. We benefited tremendously from everyone on the CG team giving it their all. I’ll admit, when I saw the first cut of the nighttime battle near the beginning, my initial reaction was, “Where is this going to end up?” But the team collaborated closely, kept refining shots, and discovered solutions. We wouldn’t have gotten that result without everyone’s hard work, and I’m sure there were some “bloody” moments (figuratively speaking) along the way. Great results never come without challenges. I’m thankful our staff managed to push through and bring those visuals to life the way they did.

[What Exactly Is the Millennium’s Crystal Armor?]

Let me start with the Millennium’s “crystal armor.” In the dialogue, I call it crystal armor, but the impression I’m going for is a crystalline, almost transparent substance enveloping the entire hull. In my mind, if there were a Millennium model kit, it would look like the ship had been sealed inside a block of photonic resin, then covered by sharp-edged, crackling panels—something like a prismatic barrier. For the actual visual expression, I based it on the gel effect previously used with the Archangel, only dialed up to suggest a crystal-like texture. That’s what we were aiming for in the finished version.

[Z’Gok’s Role as Armor]

As for the Z’Gok, I approached it purely as a defensive measure against Shi-ve.A’s Stinger—plus the bonus effect of hiding the Justice’s silhouette. Shi-ve.A’s needle can’t be fired twice in quick succession, so if you can block it even once, you effectively cancel that danger. VPS armor, Femto Tech plating, Akatsuki’s coating… in the world of SEED, no type of armor can withstand Shi-ve.A’s Stinger without taking damage, so I concluded that the only practical solution was to shield against it directly.

[Behind the Scenes of the Mecha: Lieutenant Heinlein’s Challenges]

Regarding Lieutenant Heinlein, people occasionally draw parallels between him and Sanada from Space Battleship Yamato, but I’m not entirely sure that comparison holds. Heinlein’s more of a straightforward, no-nonsense type who simply states facts as he sees them. He demands that others meet the same standards he holds himself to, which can be intimidating. He respects those who perform their duties properly, but his intensity toward everyone else explains why he hasn’t advanced in rank as much as his abilities would suggest. We designed him as someone who’s vulnerable to undermining when he lets his guard down and has made many enemies along the way.

Source: Great Mechanics G Winter 2024