This interview with Mobile Suit Gundam chief director Yoshiyuki Tomino appeared in the March 1980 issue of Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine, published on February 10 of that year. Here, mere weeks after the end of Gundam's broadcast run, Tomino first raised the idea of a multi-part theatrical film adaptation.

 

"I'm planning to make it ten hours and 30 minutes long."
From Animage, March 1980

Chief director Yoshiyuki Tomino discusses his full plan for the Gundam movie

"The time has finally come to discuss this blueprint."

We've shown you the first draft of the "movie" structural plan at a glance in the eight color pages. However, many of the fans who've looked at this structural plan will surely be wondering, "Isn't this the whole thing?" To address these questions, Animage conducted an unprecedented "comprehensive" interview with chief director Yoshiyuki Tomino.
(By the way, the first-draft movie plan was compiled by Animage based on this interview.)

"I don't want to make a movie in a compilation format."

AM: First, if you turned Gundam into a movie, how long would it be?

Tomino: Let's see... Roughly three hours or so.

AM: You'd sum it all up in three hours?!

Tomino: Part 1 would be three hours.

AM: Part 1...?

Tomino: Right. I'd like to give Gundam a four-part structure. The first part would be three hours, and parts 2, 3, and 4 would each be two hours and 30 minutes. That means the whole thing will be ten hours and 30 minutes.

AM: T-ten hours and 30 minutes?!

Tomino: Yes. Perhaps it's ultimately nothing more than a pipe dream, but I think Gundam has that much content.

AM: That's comparable to The Human Condition. (1)

Tomino: Even if we had that much time, we'd still have to omit the combination scenes and the parts where new enemy mecha appear. We'll also need to leave out some extra bonus stories. Then it'll probably be close to its ideal form.

AM: Ten hours and 30 minutes, though...

Tomino: I don't want to make a simple compilation. (2) It would be unacceptable to just select highlight scenes from all the episodes, then cut-and-paste them into two or three hours.

AM: How about summarizing it in the same way as the (Sonorama Bunko) novel you wrote?

Tomino: That would certainly be one way of doing it. But novels are purely a print medium, and they can only approximate Gundam's idealism. Simply transferring that to film wouldn't communicate the story of Gundam. I'd like to make a movie that retains the atmosphere of all 43 episodes of the TV series. Perhaps I'm being stubborn, but it'll take ten hours and 30 minutes!! (laughs)

Of course, that's almost impossible in commercial terms, but I'd be really happy if they can give us that much time. I don't know if anyone would be willing to sit in a hard chair watching it for ten and a half hours, though. (laughs) I wouldn't go and see that myself. (laughs)

AM: What if they won't give you ten hours and 30 minutes?

Tomino: In that case, I'll just have to be practical about it. For example, if it's only two or three hours, then I'll sum up a single storyline from Gundam.

AM: So you'd narrow down the theme?

Tomino: That's right. In extreme terms, I'd just do the story of Amuro and Matilda, or the story of Ramba Ral. After making two of those, I'd do a story about Lalah and Newtypes. So in the end, it would still add up to ten and a half hours!! (laughs) Anyway, the actual story and structure of the TV version can't be changed.

AM: Then it definitely wouldn't be a compilation?

Tomino: Compilations are something that shouldn't exist at all. With Future Boy Conan, they turned it into a theatrical movie by cutting it up and stitching it together. As a fan of Conan, I couldn't go and watch that movie. Compressing the overall story of Conan into two hours is a ridiculous idea in itself. Rather than watching a completely altered version of Conan, it's better to devotedly wait for NHK to rebroadcast it.

"A lot of newly created material will be added to the fourth part."

AM: Exactly how will it work?

Tomino: In terms of the TV episodes, the first part will be episodes 1 to 12, the second part will be episodes 16 to 25, the third part will be episodes 26 to 36, and the fourth part will cover episode 37 to the final episode 43.

AM: So episodes 13 to 15 are missing.

Tomino: Due to issues with the production rotation, we designed those three episodes so they'd work no matter where they were inserted. Since they were extra bonus episodes, it does seem like a shame to cut them.

AM: But episode 13, "Reunion With Mother," is a popular one.

Tomino: We made it too well. (laughs) I don't think it's really that important. Episodes 8, 11, and 30 will be cut for the same reason. Episode 22 will probably be trimmed down as well. A lot of things that you'd probably want to keep from a fan's perspective will disappear. For example, we're losing Ms. Mirai's and Ms. Sayla's nude scenes. I'm really sorry about that. (laughs) I guess the fans will be furious. (laughs)

AM: How will each part be structured?

Tomino: In the first part, we introduce the characters, then the White Base travels from Side 7 to Luna II, and descends to Earth to battle Garma. This gives us a bird's-eye view of the conflict between Earth and Zeon that serves as Gundam's background. Because it summarizes ten episodes, it'll be longer than the others, about three hours.

AM: And the second part?

Tomino: Here we depict the actual war situation. Amuro escapes, he meets Ramba Ral and Hamon, and then we see guerilla warfare and the deaths of Ryu Jose and Matilda. It showcases the human stories of friend and foe on the battlefield.

AM: And part three?

Tomino: This one is the toughest. Char reappears, and we cover the departure from Earth to space, so it'll get quite long. But that's basically unavoidable. Thus there's a possibility that Kai Shiden's story will get lost.

AM: The storyline with him and Miharu? (3)

Tomino: That was just supposed to be an ordinary storyline, but if we cut it then the third part becomes quite lightweight. On the other hand, it's not so interesting if that episode gets crammed in abruptly. Ah, it's a dilemma. (laughs) Anyway, Amuro starts displaying his power in the battlefield, and shows signs of being a Newtype.

AM: Then the fourth part focuses on Newtypes?

Tomino: Naturally. But we we can get it down to two hours without really cutting that much from the TV version. We'll probably add a lot of newly created material.

AM: Do you mean corrections?

Tomino: Not just corrections. The truth is that, in the seven episodes starting with episode 37, there are some parts that were in many ways overly rushed. I'd like it if we could make them less hastily and really put our hearts into it. We want to make it in a way that expresses things we couldn't do on TV—that's the desire of the entire staff. Thus, in order to enrich the content, the fourth part will also be two hours and 30 minutes. Using a four-part structure also gives us a rough kishōtenketsu form. (4)

AM: Are there any problems that result from dividing it into four parts?

Tomino: There are. Naturally, there are character issues. For example, Lalah appears in the second half of part three, but she doesn't really take flight until part four. I don't know whether the viewers will accept that. But if we can manage that part, I don't think there'll be any other problems.

AM: How will you go about doing it?

Tomino: First I'll compile a post-recording script. That's going to be tough. When I actually do it, I expect it'll take a really long time. Oh, so scary, so scary. (laughs) But once that's done, everything else should go smoothly.

"My first priority for the work will be having Mr. Yasuhiko recheck it."

AM: If it's going to be more than ten hours, that's an unprecedented format.

Tomino: It is. I'd probably die if I watched it. (laughs) I gather some people have compiled every episode of Gundam on video and watched them all, but I don't have that kind of determination. (laughs) In any case, I'd be delighted if this structure of four parts totaling more than ten hours received outside recognition.

AM: What do you mean?

Tomino: I don't think this is an issue for Gundam alone. If we can produce a Gundam work in this format, then they'll no longer be able to take other works and condense two or four cours into two hours.

AM: So this is something that applies to all anime movies?

Tomino: I think you could say that from the viewpoint of the fans, too. For example, if we can deliver a work with a feeling close to the TV series to people in areas where Gundam wasn't broadcast, or people who couldn't catch all the episodes because of the time slot, that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

AM: I see.

Tomino: Of course, it should be a format that didn't change the fundamentals of the work. Even if we couldn't retain all the fine details of Gundam, I think it would be a fine thing if viewers who watched all four parts of the movie were able to understand it.

AM: In that case, even if it's a compilation, you can create a new format.

Tomino: That's right. Even if at first glance, it just looks like robots running amuck, it actually includes some big themes. Gundam isn't the only animation like that. If you watch all the episodes, there's something about the content that can't be summed up in such a brief time.

AM: And you want to show that?

Tomino: That's right. The approach of "This is what I wanted to show you" is the same one we're already using on TV. Animation has aspects that can be classified as clearly aimed at children, and at the same time, there are aspects that aren't like that. In other words, the creators' beliefs. An animation that maintains that through its entirety can't be turned into a brief digest. I'd like people to understand that before they say things like "Just do it in two hours."

AM: Naturally, with Gundam, they'd be your beliefs.

Tomino: In my case, I'm also involved in the scripting. Unless I did that much, we couldn't maintain a consistent tone. I check all the dialogue and put it in my own language. The writers probably hate me. (laughs) I doubt we'll ever work together again. (laughs)

AM: Surely not. The teamwork on Gundam was great.

Tomino: Yes, it was really good. With a team structure like that, you'd normally end up being short-staffed, but everyone did their very best no matter how they had to stretch.

AM: The animation director Mr. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko even ruined his health.

Tomino: Because he was so murderously busy. So I'd like him to check and redo all the animation that was done after his collapse. That's my first priority for this movie production, and it's Mr. Yasuhiko's wish as well. In that sense, his frustration has been building up the whole time he's been in the hospital. (5) I'd like to set up the movie production so that he can vent that to his heart's content.

AM: If that came to pass, the content would be amazing.

Tomino: It would. Such a format would be unprecedented in Japan, and I think it would satisfy both us and the fans. The only problem is that it's too long. If it were possible, I'd like to get it down to six hours.

AM: Six hours?

Tomino: Because that would perfectly fit a six-hour VHS video. (laughs) It would be impossible with Gundam, though, since there's too much content.

AM: But there are other works nowadays with a lot of content, and they still manage to turn it into a short digest.

Tomino: About that... We really have to recognize that we've been putting out anime culture through TV for almost 20 years, and I think it's now time to reap the rewards. Even in this new era, I believe we're still approaching many aspects of animation with the same ideas as when Mighty Atom was broadcast. Those of us who are putting it out need to recognize that. I'd like Gundam to be the first example of it.

 

Translator's Notes

(1) The Human Condition (人間の條件, Ningen no Jōken) was a trilogy of war movies directed by Masaki Kobayashi, based on a six-part novel by Junpei Gomikawa. The three movies have a total running time of more than nine and a half hours.

(2) The Japanese term sōshūhen (総集編) means a summary or a compilation of highlights.

(3) The original text uses the English loanword "episode" (エピソード), but this risks confusion with individual TV episodes.

(4) Kishōtenketsu (起承転結), or "introduction, development, turn, conclusion," is a classic narrative structure widely used in Japanese storytelling.

(5) Since Yasuhiko collapsed at the beginning of October 1979 and was hospitalized for five months, I assume he was still in the hospital at the time of this interview.

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