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Yoshiyuki Tomino Press Conference


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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:35 pm Reply with quote
Wow, there's quite a bit of insight into Tomino's thought process and creative decisions.

I like what he said about not hiding, not deceiving the audience, even children. To be as sincere as possible. His admiration for Hannah Arendt (who coined the phrase "the banality of evil") was something I didn't expect. The development of Gundam's concepts (having battles in space because of gravity's effect on large objects, adding space governments because the battles required big government funding) was quite eye-opening, too, as was his desire for "newtypes" in real life society, people who he says will have to have more complex skills than Amuro Ray. His ideas on "toy colors" and how they express, "Don't give up." About how Japan is too used to Gundam and there seems to be more passion overseas for Gundam now is also interesting.

Frankly, I can't recall "skin to skin communication" being said in any Gundam series, but it probably translated to something different.

Tomino is an interesting man.

Edit: And, oh, this is before ANN's talk with him, right? I think some of what we wanted to ask is already answered! But with Tomino, you might end up getting a different answer each time.
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zetsuie



Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 12:54 am Reply with quote
woooo new gundam.... about totalitarianism... yay i guess
i hope tomino tells the origin of the turn a gundam in a full anime series someday
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RedTail



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Posts: 176
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:23 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:

Frankly, I can't recall "skin to skin communication" being said in any Gundam series, but it probably translated to something different.


It's usually translated as "skin-talk." If interference from Minovsky particles is too great, one suit can make physical contact with another to establish a line of communication. Works with normal suit helmets as well.
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captainbanana



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:26 am Reply with quote
For every Spirited Away that Miyazaki pulls out of his hat, there is a Ponyo not that far behind. The same could be said for Tomino, who has also had his hits and misses throughout his career. I consider them both to be in a realm far above most of the other animators, and I think both of them deserve the praise that is showered on them.

I hope Tomino gets a chance to create his new vision in anime form. Gundam already dealt with totalitarianism, but I'd love to see that theme expanded on.

It's a shame that I didn't get to go to that con he attended. Meeting him would have been amazing.

Edit: aaah I just noticed that there was a page 2. I love it when Tomino starts talking about the future, or about the state of Japan, or other things like that. I was also glad to see Tomino defend Gundam as something more than an anime that originally aired 30 years ago. It's interesting that he mentions the positive reaction for his new Gundam project coming from overseas. I was certainly excited, and it's odd to think that the Japanese fans weren't equally as excited.

Anyone care to venture a guess as to what Tomino meant by (to paraphrase) "I don't have the ability to read a novel, or even science fiction"? Does he mean that he gets bored reading them? Surely he doesn't literally mean that he can't read, so it would be interesting to ask him what turns him off from works of science fiction.

It's funny to me that neither Tomino or Miyazaki watch any anime (from what I've heard). Miyazaki from a "why watch other anime when mine is the best" perspective (that is my impression anyway), and Tomino from a "watching anime doesn't lead to making good anime" perspective. If I were an animator, I'd be watching all the anime I could in hopes of absorbing some new and better technique that I didn't know about.


Last edited by captainbanana on Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:28 am Reply with quote
Quote:
if you have a story to tell, tell it straight to your audience. Put everything you have in it. Don't lie, don't hide anything dumb, don't hesitate, just put all your passion and your sincerity into it.”

“Don’t be a hack”. Right-o.

Quote:
I feel a sense of danger in that, as wonderful as manga and anime are, if you only are immersed in these two genres, you are not going to be able to create the work yourself.
I see many people in my field who come into this field because they love anime and they LOVe manga, but that's really the extent of their interest, and the kinds of works they produce are very stereotypical.

You know, I think someone said something similar about American superhero comics once; a generation of fan-creators have come in, and they’re not really any good at storytelling. That's also why there's so much self-referential nonsense.

I see he got hit with a filtered link.

Quote:
I would also like to point out that Mr. Miyazaki is talking about completed works. However, Gundam is not a finished work; it is simply a concept.

I’m not sure what he means by this…

Quote:
I have been fortunate enough to have lived a very long life. I am now old enough to be able to say I feel free to be able to use any means of expression available to me. I want to be able to express all these ideas I feel very strongly about. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed to use any tools at my disposal. I am eager and very full of ambition wanting to use the robot anime genre, and even cute characters. I want to use all these things that are available in this field to tell the kinds of stories that I want. I am full of ambition. This is the Tomino you see before you today.

Ooh, interesting. I think I'd like to see this series he wants to make.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:49 am Reply with quote
RedTail wrote:
penguintruth wrote:

Frankly, I can't recall "skin to skin communication" being said in any Gundam series, but it probably translated to something different.


It's usually translated as "skin-talk." If interference from Minovsky particles is too great, one suit can make physical contact with another to establish a line of communication. Works with normal suit helmets as well.


Ah. This was mostly used in Zeta Gundam, I believe.


Oh, and Fronzel, I think he means that Gundam, being a franchise built on reusable tropes isn't a "complete work", because it continues. Something like, say, Spirited Away, is complete. There doesn't need to be anything more told about those characters or that world. It's run its course, it's a complete story.
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:05 am Reply with quote
Very interesting, although we should take into consideration that these are the views of what could be considered the "mature" Tomino and his own retrospective might not be a very accurate representation of his original thoughts when he first worked on Gundam, but how he remembers them now. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's probably inevitable when looking back into the past after so long. His recollections are tied to the person he has become.

In that regard, his comments about the present and future of anime as an industry and what he would like to work on are much more intriguing. I wouldn't want to make too much of his "political" views though, but I do wonder how he'd approach those issues in anime. Considering how UC Gundam has dealt with totalitarianism, what would be new?

Perhaps something closer to Legend of the Galactic Heroes, on a much smaller scale and with a different message?

Quote:

Oh, and Fronzel, I think he means that Gundam, being a franchise built on reusable tropes isn't a "complete work", because it continues. Something like, say, Spirited Away, is complete. There doesn't need to be anything more told about those characters or that world. It's run its course, it's a complete story.


That's what I could understand from his statement, but the obvious response would be that the franchise does have specific stories that have run their course, including his own more than any of the others, even if the general concept will naturally continue to be reproduced for decades as long as it remains profitable.
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cetriya



Joined: 20 Sep 2008
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:30 am Reply with quote
captainbanana wrote:


It's funny to me that neither Tomino or Miyazaki watch any anime (from what I've heard). Miyazaki from a "why watch other anime when mine is the best" perspective (that is my impression anyway), and Tomino from a "watching anime doesn't lead to making good anime" perspective. If I were an animator, I'd be watching all the anime I could in hopes of absorbing some new and better technique that I didn't know about.


Its actually a norm. Many professors, pros and other workers will tell you to not only spend time in consuming the same time or your work will be boring and repetitious. Its very true, more and more I"m seeing some badly drawn animes, and same old story lines...

thing is though, the living conditions doesnt really incourage talented people to come.


As for the group work thing, it was something that was bound to happen when people stop needing to share resources. Once a person feels they can go it their own, they're less likely to with others. Printing doesnt cost that much, toning (or completing a whole page) digitally cuts time, and you can find a lot of tutorials online. Its a lot less stress to just do it then wait for some one to do it (like what genshiken portrayed, lots of wanna be's few doers)
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 2:47 am Reply with quote
Quote:
In other words, there is a tremendous difference between our abilities and I cannot deny that is true.


Very humble of the guy.

Quote:
So, if in the future I am allowed the opportunity to create another series like Gundam, I have a concept in mind that I'd like to realize.


What's stopping you, man? You got tons of royalties off the games alone.

Quote:

and the answer is that I do not have the ability to read novels, or even works of science fiction.


Um, ok...I guess he must love wikipedia, then. Laughing

banana: Sorry, but Spirited Away is derivative, and Ponyo is brilliant.
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Blaaat



Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 3:35 am Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
Ah. This was mostly used in Zeta Gundam, I believe.
It was also used in F91 and Victory.
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kaito2198



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:42 am Reply with quote
Quote:
What's stopping you, man? You got tons of royalties off the games alone.

People who don't leave in Japan may have a misunderstanding that Tomino-san earn much money, but in fact he doesn't.

First, he is a hired director and doesn't have copyright of most of his works, so he can only get salary every time when he make a new work.
Second, about lyrics, because he made almost 80 lyrics in Anime OP/ED/IN/IM, so he can earn the royalties from songs as a usual lyric writer.
Third, not like lyrics, because his novels are usually based from Anime, so royalty of every book he should get will be taken half by Sunrise & Soutsu.
However, after his effort to negotiating for Sunrise, finally he can also get royalties from other Gundams by the ratio of 0.00x(according to Tomino-san himself). Sure, he is rich than a normal animator much more, but he is not rich as what people see since Gundam business looks like.

So, when you want to make a new animation, it costs more than one man can afford. So that's why if Sunrise doesn't want to use Tomino, he can't do anything. Sad story.
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captainbanana



Joined: 20 Feb 2009
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:57 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:

banana: Sorry, but Spirited Away is derivative, and Ponyo is brilliant.


Ponyo is brilliant...if you are five. I'm sorry, I had to do it.

I can't describe the depths of my loathing for Ponyo and its horrible cop-out ending. Instead of trying, I just write the whole movie off as Miyazaki's attempt at entertaining children, and I move on.
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darksharingan



Joined: 16 Jul 2009
Posts: 113
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:08 am Reply with quote
Spirited Away, was pretty nice, but come on guys, Ponyo is a CHILDREN'S movie, only children's stuff win Oscars in animation which is kind of crap. There is no way Ponyo even compares to Akira, Metropolis, Steamboy, Princess Mononoke and Afro Samurai movies.

As far as I'm concerened, while the 1st Gundam series revolutionized mecha, Gundam Wing perfected it. But overall, the whole concept of Gundam is genius.
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Moomintroll



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1600
Location: Nottingham (UK)
PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 8:17 am Reply with quote
captainbanana wrote:
Ponyo is brilliant...if you are five. I'm sorry, I had to do it.

I can't describe the depths of my loathing for Ponyo and its horrible cop-out ending. Instead of trying, I just write the whole movie off as Miyazaki's attempt at entertaining children, and I move on.


Ponyo is clearly designed to be primarily for young children. Criticising it for being too childish is like criticising a porn movie for having too much sex in it.

"It's aimed at five year olds and I'm not five" is not a valid criticism of a movie.

If you went into the movie expecting to be blown away by the artistry, technical proficiency and inventiveness and weren't, that's fair enough. However, if you went into it without having bothered to check who it's aimed at and were then disappointed it wasn't adult enough for your tastes...well that's your screw up rather than Miyazaki's.

Also, "I just write the whole movie off as Miyazaki's attempt at entertaining children" makes it sound like Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away (amongst others) weren't also aimed at entertaining children. Which is nonsense. The fact that adult film buffs - myself included - laud Miyazaki's films doesn't mean that children weren't always the primary intended audience for most of them.
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Ktimene's Lover



Joined: 23 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:52 am Reply with quote
He is among one of the most important mecha pioneers. He also was important for helping pioneer anime in general.
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