News
Gundam's Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Launches 'Final New' Manga Series
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The October issue of Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine revealed on Saturday that manga creator and anime director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko will launch his "final new series" in the next issue on September 25. The new historical manga's title will be Inui to Tatsumi: Siberia Shuppei Hishi- (Inui and Tatsumi: Secret History of the Siberian Intervention). Misaki Takamatsu launched the Skip to Loafer manga in the same issue.
Yasuhiko's new series will center on the artillery bombardment expert Inui and the newspaper reporter Tatsumi during the events of the Siberian Intervention. The Siberian Intervention was a military expedition by the Allied Powers from 1918 to 1922. Troops from various countries including Japan were dispatched to intervene in the Russia Civil War. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Siberian Intervention.
Yasuhiko stated in an interview in April that the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin anime is his last anime "whatever happens." He said last September that "there will be more" of the anime series. However, the anime's staff confirmed in March that the sixth episode concluded the anime project.
Yasuhiko began his career as an animator at Mushi Productions in 1970, and worked as a character designer on the studio's Nozomi in the Sun 1971 series, where he would first collaborate with Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino, who worked on the show's storyboards. The pair also worked together on storyboards for Space Battleship Yamato, before Tomino launched the Mobile Suit Gundam series in 1979, and Yasuhiko designed the show's characters. Since then, Yasuhiko worked on character designs for other installments in the Gundam franchise, including Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Mobile Suit Gundam F91, and Mobile Suit Gundam UC.
In 2001, Yasuhiko launched his Gundam: The Origin manga, a retelling of the original 1979 series' story. That manga served as the inspiration for the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin anime, which serves as a prequel to the original series. Yasuhiko works as chief director, character designer, and storyboarder for the anime.
Yasuhiko has also worked on other projects, such as Arion, Crusher Joe: The Movie, and Venus Wars.
Sources: Monthly Afternoon October issue, Comic Natalie
