As part of a larger feature on the currently airing Mobile Suit Gundam in the December 1979 issue of Animage, Director Yoshiyuki Tomino answers 67 questions sent in by fans.
Questions are numbered as they appear in the article and Director Tomino’s answers follow, with section titles in between. I’ve added a few of my own translator’s notes in [brackets].
67 questions fans want to ask about Gundam
Director Yoshiyuki Tomino answers these strange and difficult questions
Amuro finds a new lover!
Q1: What is the relationship between Bright and Mirai?
It feels like they might get together after a while, but I think Bright will move on from her by the end of the final episode.
Q2: Is there something between Amuro and Fraw?
That’s completely out of the question. Please watch the show to find out why. (laughs)
Q3: Will Amuro find a new lover?
He will, but she’ll die soon after. Her name is Lalah. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to find one after that.
[This is a pretty big early spoiler to drop as episode where Lalah dies (“A Cosmic Glow”) would not air until January 1980)]
Q4: Does Fraw have a new lover?
I’m sure one of the regular members will become her future husband.
Q5: What are the origins of the names Amuro Ray, Fraw Bow, Kai Shiden, and Bright Noa?
The names were chosen based on my hobbies. Kai Shiden comes from the Shiden Kai fighter plane. Fraw Bow comes from Mrs. Frau, since Bow means Mrs. in German. Amuro Ray is a play on words that I spent a month coming up with. Bright Noa means the brilliance of Noah’s Ark.
Kai is a character with charm as a man
Q6: Aren’t characters like Kai rare in anime?
I don’t think he’s unusual. In fact, I think he’s typical of this type of program. If he is perceived as unusual, it’s surely because he is depicted as a character that changes over time.
Q7: Do you like characters like Kai?
He’s my favorite type of character. I think he’s manly in the sense that he doesn’t reveal much of himself to others. And he holds back when he knows he should. There are times when he’s stubborn, and he’s not the ideal type, but I think I can sympathize with how he carries himself as a man.
Q8: Amuro Ray (アムロ・レイ) or Amuro Ray (アムロ・嶺), which one is it?
It’s actually the kanji 嶺 (rei), but it’s written phonetically in katakana.
Q9: Will there be any nude scenes of Sayla?
Yes. There are two cuts, about six seconds in total. The first four seconds are planned to be a bathing scene.
Fraw’s hobby is playing mother!!
Q10: What is Amuro’s favorite food?
Hamburgers.
Q11: What are everyone’s hobbies?
Amuro tinkers with machines. Hayato does judo. Ryu is someone with no hobbies and could only become a soldier. Bright makes plastic models in his room. Sayla originally wanted to be a doctor, so her hobby is studying for that I suppose. Fraw plays mother. Kai likes to operate things like cars and planes. Mirai does sewing.
Q12: What color is Bright’s hair really?
In the cel animation, it is dark green, but due to the relationship between the coloring of the film and the coloring of the CRT, it always turns out black.
[Here’s an example of a Bright cel]
Q13: Was Bright meant to be the main character?
No, he wasn’t. There was an initial suggestion to make the main character Amuro about the same age as Bright, but nothing more.
Q14: What do they do for their hair in the weightless environment of the White Base?
Both the Zeon and the Federation Army have a special cream called ○○ cream that holds their hair in place. As for their hair growing, I initially planned to have the characters act as “barbers” to each other, but that hasn’t been in the show yet.
Amuro’s father is alive!!
Q15: Tell us about the supporting characters such as Job John, Omur, and Maximillian.
Job John is a Gunperry pilot. Omur is a bomb disposal unit member and a general mechanic. Maximillian’s whereabouts are unknown, but he is on main engine maintenance.
Q16: What kind of family is the Yashima family?
Her father is a very powerful politician, a cabinet minister in the Earth Federation, and their family home is in Europe.
Q17: Is Amuro’s father dead?
No, he’s not dead. He’ll appear again. And he doesn’t die when the story ends.
Q18: So how many people are on board the White Base?
I’m not sure, but there are about 35 or 36 people on board.
Q19: What are the BWH [Bust, Waist, Hip] sizes of Sayla, Mirai, Matilda, and Fraw?
Sayla is 84, 60, 88. Mirai is 85, 62, 90. Matilda is 84, 59, 86. Fraw is 80, 60, 86.
Q20: What is the staple food of the White Base?
Basically, I think the way people eat would be the same as it is now. In terms of human physiology, I can’t imagine that people’s eating habits would become more standardized as long as they have personal tastes.
Q21: With how food supplies are now, wouldn’t having all that be pretty bulky?
Previous test cases have already been done, but you can assume that food solidification has not progressed any further.
Char and Garma are not gay!!
Q22: Why is Char wearing a mask?
He uses it as a protective mask because he has poor eyesight, and another reason is that he uses it to hide his face because Gihren and Kycilia know what he looked like when he was little.
Q23: What is the mystery behind the scar on Char’s forehead?
He gave it to himself when he decided to take revenge on the Zabi family, so that he would never forget his goal.
[Char is depicted with a scar already on his forehead in some early promotional artwork, such as this poster from the October 1979 issue of Monthly OUT magazine]
Q24: How did Char and Garma meet?
They were classmates at the Zeon military academy. Char was at the top of his class, and Garma was third or fourth.
Q25: What was the relationship between Char and Garma like at that time?
Garma recognized Char’s power during his time at the military academy and decided he would make him his confidant in the future.
Q26: Are Char and Garma gay?
That’s not true. Not at all. They’re still young. (laughs)
Q27: Is the sound effect that comes before and after the commercial “Shaa” or “Shoo”!?
I don’t really know. I asked them to make an eye catch using scat-singing, and that’s just how that sound came out.
Q28: Who are Char’s parents?
His father was a man like Cuba’s Prime Minister Guevara. It seems like his real mother was a mistress(?)
Q29: Will the day come when Char and Sayla can truly reunite?
I definitely intend for Char to leave Sayla and end up becoming a person in a completely different world, so that’s not going to happen.
It seems Char is going to die after all!!
Q30: Are Char and Sayla really brother and sister?
They are siblings related by blood. However, they may have different mothers.
Q31: Will Char have a lover?
Lalah is like a lover to him, but I don’t think she’s like a typical lover.
Q32: Why is only the performance of Char’s Zaku different?
The performance is the same. It just seems that way because the pilot’s skill is different. Well, it’s been tuned up to some extent…
Q33: Why is Char’s Zaku the only one that’s red?
Because Char wanted to stand out. In reality, it was to make his presence known as the squadron commander’s unit. So it didn’t necessarily have to be red.
Q34: Will Char be able to survive until the end?
For now, all I can say is that in the end, he will probably die.
Q35: Why did you kill Garma so quickly?
In the midst of the war between the Federation and the Principality of Zeon, when considering the combinations of people, Garma being killed was one possibility. In other words, it was for dramatic reasons.
Garma’s mother died of an illness!!
Q36: Why does Garma play with his hair?
Because he’s neurotic.
Q37: Was Garma planning to abandon his country for Icelina?
I’ll leave it to your imagination.
Q38: What kind of person is Garma’s mother, Mrs. Degwin Zabi?
Degwin’s wife was a very wise and beautiful woman, but she died of an illness. After all, she had been giving birth to one demon child after another, and she became pessimistic about life… (laughs).
Q39: Why is Dozle the only one who is ugly, even though he comes from a lineage of beautiful people?
Obviously, he has a different mother. Stories like that often appear in historical novels (laughs).
Q40: Why are people on the Zeon side dying one after the other?
In the events of the story, the only Zeon people who died were those unfortunate enough to get involved with the White Base. Of course, many other people died too. Well, that’s why I showed Ryu and Matilda’s deaths in the way that I did, as a phenomenon of war. People killing each other can be portrayed in a dramatic way, but I didn’t do that because I wanted to express that the deaths of Ryu and Matilda are on the same level as the deaths of Zeon soldiers in the context of the war.
Even Gihren had a proper wife!!
Q41: What is Miharu Zabi up to?
She doesn’t exist. She existed until the planning meeting for episode 22. But because of that, she was featured in Animage (August 1979 issue).
[Miharu Zabi appears in the Zeon command structure flow chart on page 47. She is listed as 17 years old, which would have made her the youngest Zabi child]
Q42: Why does Kycilia wear a mask?
It’s to prevent her skin from becoming rough on the battlefield.
Q43: Why is Kycilia trying to betray her allies?
It’s not that she’s trying to betray anyone, but she realizes that she will become a political enemy of Gihren in the future.
Q44: How exactly did Ramba Ral and Hamon meet?
Ral rescued Hamon, who was a war casualty from the Battle of Loum.
Q45: I heard that the script included Char saying “beauty boy” near the end of episode 12, but why was it cut?
Because I hated the term beauty boy.
Q46: Is Gihren Zabi single?
Of course he is married, but she doesn’t make an appearance because no one is as averse to having their wife appear at formal events as he is.
Q47: The animation has been a bit off lately…
It’s worrying me. I have to do something about it…
White Base is stronger than Yamato
Q48: Why is the Gundam so strong?
Because he’s a hero.
Q49: I often see words on the computer explanatory diagrams, but are they genuine?
They’re not. There is no one on the Gundam production team who knows that much about computers.
Q50: Which is stronger, the White Base or Yamato [from Space Battleship Yamato]?)
That’s a stupid question, as long as the White Base can dodge the Wave Motion Gun, it’s obvious that it’s stronger.
Q51: What is the Battle of Loum?
This was the largest battle between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation Forces, which took place exactly eight months before the fight between the Principality of Zeon and the Gundam. This was fought at Side 5 (nicknamed Loum).
Q52: What is the One Week Battle?
This was the first battle between Zeon and the Federation Forces before the Battle of Loum. It is named as such because it lasted for a week.
Q53: Does the Federation have any other mobile suits besides the ones on the White Base?
Yes, they do. There are mass-produced GMs and more simply constructed ones like Ball-san (nickname).
White Base does not transform!!
Q54: What is a learning computer?
I think it was a mistake to specifically describe it as a learning computer. Computers inherently have a bank system, so in general, all computers are learning computers.
Q55: What are Minovsky particles?
All you have to understand is that they simply cause radio interference.
Q56: What is the Antarctic Treaty?
An agreement was signed between the Federation Forces and Zeon eight months prior. It included provisions prohibiting the use of poison gas and nuclear weapons, and determining how prisoners of war would be treated during the course of the war.
Q57: Do the Guntank and Guncannon have learning computers?
Basically, you can think of them as having the same type of thing as the Gundam.
Q58: Can the core fighter fly even when folded?
There’s no way it can fly if it’s folded up. It’ll be just like any other rock tumbling around (laughs).
Q59: White Base doesn’t transform?
Hahaha!!! If the White Base transforms, I’d love to see it.
Q60: Well, there’s talk that the White Base might become a giant robot…
You must be joking. You watch too much TV and read too much manga. Don’t watch anything other than Gundam (laughs).
Q61: What’s the difference between a mobile suit and the giant robots we’ve had up until now?
In terms of the concept of giant robots, I think the Gundam is small, and I can’t imagine giant robots being controlled by humans. I want people to think of them as something completely different.
Mobile suits depend on the pilot!!
Q62: What is the mega particle cannon?
It heats heavy metal particles to high temperatures and sends them flying, and unlike lasers, it glows even in a vacuum.
Q63: What is Zeon’s strongest mobile suit?
Ultimately it all depends on the pilot, but in terms of capabilities, the strongest mobile suit has yet to appear.
Q64: How can the Dom move so nimbly even though it’s a heavy mobile suit?
It basically works on the same principle as a hovercraft, so it can move swiftly.
Q65: Why is Amuro’s outfit blue in the opening?
If I made Amuro’s clothes white, the title would be hidden, so I made them blue.
Q66: Gundam’s bazookas and hammers break and are lost quickly, but why do new ones appear right away in the next episode?
They are the most consumable items. If they don’t have enough substitutes, they’d be too scared of war to do anything.
Q67: Finally, what do you think is the secret behind Gundam‘s popularity?
If something becomes popular, it must be because the work has a certain message, even if it is prejudiced or based on one’s own judgements. If that’s the case, then I’m happy. However, whether the current fans will remain fans when Gundam ends is another matter.