- Two of Supervising Directors in Golden Age of Gundam Join After-screening Talk Shows -

The 28th Tokyo International Film Festival saw a special screening of "Gundam Reconguista in G" (G-Reco), part of the Mobile Suit Gundam 35th Anniversary Project, at Shinjuku Piccadilly in Tokyo on October 23. After the screening, director Yoshiyuki Tomino, who was involved in the production of the series for the first time in 15 years since "Turn A Gundam," and Yoichi Ochiai, who participated as media artist, presented a talk show.

The animation industry is now in a golden age of CG. However, this work consists of mostly hand-drawn pictures. Tomino said "it's said that hand-drawn anime looks really 'different', and in light of this, I want this culture to remain as a separate genre."

Furthermore, he revealed, "I made the universe of G-Reco because I wanted the next generation to think about the problem of consumption of resources on earth." Ochiai agreed with the importance of receiving a strong message through G-Reco. Tomino added, "I made it for planting the seeds of new thought in 10- to 15-year-olds."

Additionally, director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko served as character designer and animation director of "Mobile Suit Gundam" and voice actress Mayumi Tanaka attended another talk show on October 25. Tanaka previously worked with Yasuhiko on 3 projects, and did the voice for the main character, Casval Rem Deikun. About her casting, he recalled he told casting supervisor director Fujino "Casval has to be Tanaka." However, Fujino showed his disapproval on her mental picture from her previous famous voice role of "ONE PIECE." Tanaka was disappointed to hear that, but the audience gave her a huge round of applause.

Reminiscing about the period being at the forefront of animation production, he said, "I didn't have any good memories in anime because I don't think I have any talent, but now I'm fulfilled to the point where I can finally feel as though I'm working in anime. Thanks to my wonderful staff and cast, I can say I'm satisfied with the current and next films." He revealed this in a deeply emotional way.