Forum - View topicInterview: Gundam Wing Executive Producer Hideyuki Tomioka
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mandisaw
 Posts: 140 |
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First, thanks to ANN for the interview, and thanks to @LightningCount for that insightful breakdown of the latter series.
I still very much consider myself a Gundam fan, but I feel like somewhere in the 00s-10s the franchise veered away from what I'm looking for out of a mecha series. I don't want the exposition-dump/nostalgia-fest of the modern UC entries, and I am not terribly excited for the melodrama-fests that younger-me could stomach. The new kid-friendly series look like something I could theoretically introduce my future-kids to Gundam with, except that there is a commercialism to them that is hard to shake. Wing is not the best Gundam in terms of plot or character development, but I think it definitely deserves credit for condensing and reorganizing much of the OG/Z/ZZ/CCC part of the UC timeline into a more palatable, accessible format for its then-younger contemporary audience. It had bold mech designs, plenty of action, and a rockin' soundtrack that was like catnip to fans at the time. I got my kid brother (and by extension, his friends) into Gundam by way of Wing-era model kits and Toonami. I still remember the *hordes* of new fans at cons running around dressed as Duo (always Duo, guys & girls alike LOL), and the stacks and stacks of model kits. Even Eva, ever-popular Gundam-deconstruction that it is, didn't do as much for bringing "modern" mecha into the mainstream - and the toystore - like Gundam Wing did. So Tomioka, and those Bandai & Sunrise execs, definitely have something to be proud of, in my book. |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 6030 |
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I don't know by what metric since a lot of the second season's writing felt blantantly lazy to justify a lot of the darker/depressing elements of it's 2nd half (not that season 1 didn't have these elements but it came off less worse overall) which pretty much made season 1 meaningless.
Damn straight. |
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Cynthia Finnegan
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Can I repost this on my Gundam Wing site, with appropriate citations?
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Wrangler
 Posts: 1346 |
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I'm glad Hideyuki Tomioka took the time out his schedule to talk.
I grew up with UC Gundam, but i like variety too. Yoshiyuki Tomino's stuff kept getting darker, so having something other than doom and gloom was refreshing. I can't say i'm huge fan of G-Gundam, but it was amusing. The drive try sell models i think is really hurting Gundam franchise in general. As much i think the Build Fighters i have mix feelings about. I enjoy some of the stories / social stuff and think their amusing and i enjoy battles. However, its feels like their pushing too hard sell Gunpla, and it's models fighting...nothing to get wounded up about. Driver is even worse than previous Gundam Build shows, this thing like Virtual Fantasy with Gundams in it. Gundam AGE was interesting story. Initially i thought it was dumpdown Gundam show, but it wasn't as time progressed. Span over 60 years maybe? How all characters evolved and changed, but it was paraphrasing the original Gundam show to a point. AGE device of being auto-engineering upgrading the Mobile Suit was interesting gimmick. I think the grandson at end being so anti-war was bit over the top and predictable. I still enjoyed the show. Gundam Thunderbolt was throw back series, it's too bad it was so darn compressed. It animation was amazing, but everything was so rushed. Manga had more leg room than this brief episodes. Music being in there made it even more interesting. Gundam has alot to offer to different fans. Problem is sometimes, when you get people who care so much one particular aspect, they get defensive about protecting it. |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 899 |
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Well, maybe not X, but for me Wing and Turn A are the quintessential Gundam.
And yeah, I, too, have mostly been underwhelmed by the newer stuff. At its best, Gundam was primarily a science fiction drama that also served as a vehicle to sell toys, but these days it feels like the reverse: the writing revolves around toy sales with any fun s I-if drama being largely incidental. Though I’ve heard good things about Reconguista and IBO that make them sound like exceptions, I’ve only seen a few episodes of either. |
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noblesse oblige
 Posts: 280 Location: Florida |
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It's surprising to hear how much creative freedom the Gundam Wing staff were given by the financiers.
The end result is a show where actions often don't make sense because its characters have poorly defined motivations, sometimes seeming to be motivated solely by a need to create drama. Nevertheless, it got 10 year old me to buy all the toys because those mecha designs were just too damn cool! So you could say it accomplished exactly what it set out to do. |
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