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Why Are Gundam Seed FREEDOM's Cockpits Full of Buttons? Blame the Designer's Touch-Screen Car
posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM mechanical designer Takuya Io revealed on March 10 why the cockpits in the film were laden with physical buttons. On social media, the designer said he felt inconvenienced after purchasing a vehicle with a touch-screen air-conditioning unit. He further stated to operate the system he would have to look at the screen (presumably away from the road while driving).
↓ ガンダムSEEDFREEDOMで全天コックピットをデザインした時に物理ボタンだらけにしたのは買った車がエアコン等の操作がタッチパネル式で目視しないと操作できなくてとても不便なのを実体験したからです
— 射尾卓弥🟦illustrator🇯🇵 (@io_takuya) March 10, 2025
（ #SEEDFREEDOM メカニック＆ワールドにも記載）
↓When I designed the panoramic-screen cockpit for Gundam SEED FREEDOM, I filled it with physical buttons, because the controls for the air conditioner and other things were touch-screen in a car I bought. The [touch screen] was really inconvenient because I had to look at the screen to operate it (also mentioned in #SEEDFREEDOM Mechanic & World).
In a follow-up, Io noted he likes the look of the touch screen controls in the earlier Mobile Suit Gundam UC anime, but implied the functionality is not the best.
ガンダムUCのタッチパネル操作は画的にはとってもカッコ良くて大好きなんですが！・・・自分で体感するとちょっと
— 射尾卓弥🟦illustrator🇯🇵 (@io_takuya) March 10, 2025
I really like the touch screen controls in Gundam UC because they look cool! But after trying a touch screen …
Sources: Amazon Prime Japan,Takuya Io's X/Twitter account (link 2) via Otakomu
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history