INTERVIEW SUMMARY WITH OHTAGAKI
GUNDAMISM: THE POWER TO DESTROY THE STATUS QUO
While the first three volumes of Gundam Thunderbolt were essentially the same focused narrative, from volume four onwards, it shifted into a Gundam work that was even more socially conscious. Ohtagaki says that since he’s publishing Thunderbolt in a youth magazine, it’s necessary to add a worldview and a depth that most readers would find interesting, so the most significant difference is that he’s drawing for “magazine readers” rather than “Gundam users.” This is presumably why the parts he delves into change.
The explosive popularity of the One Year War arc was more than Ohtagaki, and the publisher had anticipated. So while he originally intended to end the series with the third volume, he inevitably had to press on with more. Now that he had to continue something that was originally intended to end, he’s at a loss as to how to make it all work, claiming that he knows how filmmakers feel when they have to make a part two. When he’s pressed on why he chose to depict the postwar period as opposed to something like “Sean the Sand Rat,” he says that a lot of attention was focused on the series. People were telling him that it was something truly authentic, so when it came time to think about the rest of the story, he felt he shouldn’t betray that reputation.
He goes on to say that we’re told that the history of the Gundam world is a progression from MSG to Z, ZZ, and then CCA, but he’s wondered why this was acknowledged as history. The story he sees is different, so the world he wants to depict is also different, so he took on the challenge of crafting a story from a completely different worldview. He says that his fans will likely be angry with him for saying so, though.
As Gundam was originally a work that challenged the state of anime production, it has somehow become more conservative. Ohtagaki says that while he doesn’t want to ignore Gundam, he wants to inherit its impact and the spirit he got from watching it when he was in junior high school. He wants that rebellious spirit and destructive energy that Gundam exuded when it first came out. The beauty of Gundam, he tells us, is that at the depths of its thematic core, it subverts the stereotype that “this is how war is” by portraying juvenile soldiers as the main characters. This is what makes it so appealing. There was nothing like that in robot anime of the past, which is why he firmly believes that what he took from Gundam is the spirit to destroy.
Interestingly, he mentions that as content continues onward for many years, there is a natural tendency to protect it. Either way, he wanted to go back to his roots in the spirit of destroying. Part of this started by bringing the modern war of ideology and religion to Gundam, which was something that surprised a lot of readers. Religion is often treated as a taboo subject matter in the manga industry because people believe or feel there are issues or it’s uncouth if you depict whatever they follow in a negative light. He doesn’t feel this is quite true because you’re drawing a comic. He says that people who are cautious or suspicious of religion are indicative of Japan today.
If you depict people who believe in Buddhism in a manga, people call that a cult. He points out that that way of thinking is already biased and feels that it points out people’s ignorance towards religion. He laments that if you look at it from a global perspective or even consider the history of humanity, the lack of religious beliefs among Japanese people today is quite unusual. He says that it’s a significant problem for Japan today to accept and tolerate other people’s beliefs, so much so that just because someone appears chanting sutras, they’re branded a cult.
He says that assumptions like that are far more dangerous. He’s not out to portray the South Seas Alliance as an ally of justice, nor their religious beliefs as righteous, it’s just that Japanese people close their eyes and try not to see them. He’s illustrating all this because he wants people to realize that it’s strange to think there is no such thing, that it’s more than a little unnatural that there were no religions in the world of Gundam in the first place.
In the 20th century, ideology was born in place of faith, and everyone was enamored by that and believed in it to fight wars. In the world of Gundam, the ideology of both the Federation and Zeon sides is a direct representation of the 20th century. Since he is drawing manga in the 21st century, things get complicated if you toss in religion. But, he wants to illustrate the reality of the situation, the fact that you cannot simply divide the world into right and left, that there are believers on both sides. He wanted to portray a reality that cannot be solved by one side winning. Had he used Islam in the context of the story, it would’ve been too direct yet too distant for most readers to resonate with, and something he couldn’t just half-heartedly depict: Buddhism is a religion that Japanese people are familiar with.
As many readers of the manga know, the first three volumes translate into a movie quite easily, which was intentional based on Ohtagaki’s original structuring of the manga. That’s not to say he intended it to be animated, but that he envisioned it as though he were making a movie in his head. When it came time to continue, that thought process became inherently challenging to follow, so he set out to depict each volume as though it were an episode of an American TV drama. He highlights Naoki Urasawa as the first to adopt this storytelling style with the manga MONSTER.
As the story grew longer, the mecha action also changed. In the beginning, it was all about using battle scenes to depict the tragedies and reality of war. Still, once that war ended, it became a tool to express the relationships between the characters and their emotions. He also says that if he continued to depict tragic event after tragic event, it would force a disconnect with the readers; thus, the story is far more calculated in the post-war era. In terms of characters, Ohtagaki draws on a bit more military realism, citing the fact that you cannot create a story without properly depicting the military. For example, one of the hallmarks of Gundam is that superiors are always talked down to, and orders get violated. While this, as we all know, is surely not allowed in the military, Io is someone who does so freely, but Ohtagaki depicts the terrible consequences of him doing just that.
He feels that there is more of a fear of being eliminated in the military by fighting against the organization versus fighting against an enemy. Daryl is aware of this, which is why he follows his orders to the extent that he does. If he says no, he’ll be killed. Io, who has no other choice other than to say yes, knows he’ll get special treatment because of where he comes from and the funding he provides to the military.
Ohtagaki closes out the interview by saying that he didn’t make any revisions to the script since the start of the second season. He does, however, state that he wishes there was a little more they’d do. At this point, he hasn’t seen the final compilation of the episodes that were up for distribution at the time. However, he does state that he hopes they turn it into a television series in the future. That way, the digest-like parts that he mentioned earlier can be depicted appropriately, and you’ll see something with a lot more substance. He says making a television series is a high hurdle to clear at the moment, but if a high-quality television series can be made in the future little by little, it’d be great for the manga and great for him as the original author as well.
MECHANICAL COMMENTS:
Guncannon Aqua: The Principality made a lot of amphibious suits, so it would only be natural for the Federation to make a variety of them to try and compete. Most would be based on the GM, but he felt that he may as well make a Guncannon.
Aqua GM: Spherical joints are used to depict a suit that has no water resistance (to an extent) since it is underwater. Other staff attributed to the design.
Spartan: While the details compared to the White Base are different, the design impression he was going for was a literal wooden horse. Where the mega particle cannon is located, it’s assumed to have a tubular Minovsky craft unit running through it.
Gundam Head: He feels that is people knew that just making the head of a Gundam would intimidate the enemy, there would be a lot of them. The Gundam head was around since the Battle of A Baoa Qu, but the body of the GM changed into the Ground Type, so the Gundam head changed slightly to match it. It was planned to pilot a GM Kai Ground Type, so he made it look a bit more like a main character’s suit.
Atlas Gundam: As the Federation Forces had almost zero mobile suits for underwater use, he imagined that if they’d managed to acquire a suit, they’d absorb the know-how, thus this setting made use of amphibious tech in the design of this suit. He notes that he had to think about how to avoid over-technology as recent Gundam has considerable amounts of armor and equipment and is far removed from the “moving” Gundam that Yasuhiko drew in the first TV series. So, the concept was to create the “moving Gundam” that everyone knew. He says that adding a spine to a mecha gives the impression that it will move and that EVA was the first mecha designed following Gundam to do this.
Acguy: After consulting with Sunrise about the size, he was given permission to use it as a manga original. Real-world diving suits made him aware of the form when designing. While the Acguy is considered a “cute” mobile suit today, that annoyed him, so he made it look macho and stronger.
Zock: Citing a recent trend among modelers to make the Zock look better, he decided to add to that by converting the legs into hangar, which was made possible by the height reduction of the Acguy (they’re only 12m) and by making the Zock itself larger. He now puts it into the mobile fortress category.
Z’Gok: Originally planned to be something Daryl would pilot, so he fleshed out the design and gimmicks on the legs and other parts. But, Daryl wouldn’t pilot it long as more drama could be created by him in the Acguy!
Gogg: He had difficulty with the color scheme as too much brown would cause it to lose its characteristics of an underwater mobile suit. He also set out to improve its mobility when walking on land, something it suffered from in the original series. It now looks more like a weapon.
Grublo: Similar trends in modeling led to improvements in its design. Ohtagaki drew up the concept and rough sketches while a guest mecha designer worked on the details.
Gouf: It can hover, but doesn’t have enough thrust to fly, so it’s designed to run forward with the thrust of the back unit, using its feet like a hovercraft. Sizing of the back unit was important, otherwise it would have fell over.
Zanny: Since it’s already a secondhand suit that is older than the GM, it was the perfect suit to show the vulnerability of the South Seas Alliance.
Core Booster: Its role is a recon aircraft, but he had to give it a name that would be familiar for fans of the past.
Core Fighter: Considered how to make it look like an active craft, so he elected not to use the tricolors we’re all familiar with. Modified the wings to illustrate how it generates lift.
Geta: While there’s the Dodai YS in the Principality, the Federation had to use something to stay in the game. The wings are larger so it showcases that it can carry mobile suits on it.
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
Publisher: Futabasha
Released: 2017.03.18
Price: 1100 yen
Size: —
