Interest
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Discusses Zeon Zum Deikun as Gundam's Jesus
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Manga creator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, The Venus Wars, Jesus) recently appeared at a signing and talk event for his new autobiographical book Genten the Origin-Sensō wo Kaku, Ningen wo Kaku (Origin the Origin: Drawing War, Drawing Humans). Iwanami Shoten released the book on March 11, and Horindo book store held the publicity event at its Takadanobaba location in Tokyo on April 11. The The Animate Times website interviewed Yasuhiko at the event.
In response to a question about representing the philosopher and politician character Zeon Zum Deikun as a Christ-like figure in Gundam, Yasuhiko mentioned that his Jesus manga features a complete depiction of Jesus Christ as a human. He said Deikun exists as a character very similar to a god in the television anime version of Gundam, and Deikun's proclamations were seen as absolutely correct. Yasuhiko thought that "with that way of thinking, that world will become poor." With that in mind, Yasuhiko decided to depict Deikun as a human in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin before he became a god.
The manga creator continued, "[Deikun] falls into a state of confusion where he projects himself like Jesus, but I think Jesus himself might have had that kind of state of mind in Gethsemane." Yasuhiko said that Jesus was later unified with God, according to Paul the Apostle. However, Yasuhiko noted, "Because I am not Christan, I feel that Jesus as a human before becoming God has more appeal than Jesus after becoming God."
Inspired by the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime, Yasuhiko launched Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin in 2001. The series ran in Kadokawa Shoten's Gundam Ace magazine until 2011. Viz Media and Vertical released the manga in North America. There series inspired an original video anime adaptation in 2015, which Right Stuf released in North America.
Yasuhiko's Jesus manga debuted in 1997. The Japan-based mobile comics company NTT Solmare released the first twelve chapters of both Jesus and Yasuhiko's Joan manga in 2010. ComicsOne had previously licensed both historical manga for release in North American, but they had limited retail availability.
Source: Animate Times
