"GUNDAM.INFO BOX GLOBAL"
Special interview with Kimitoshi Yamane. Mechanical supervisor of "Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance"

When a production company, such as SUNRISE (which is now called Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc.) gives us a production plan, mechanical designers usually start by imagining the world in which the story is set. We then design the main and supporting mechas.
Different designers have different approaches, though. Some always design mechas that are unique to themselves, while others including me tailor the designs to fit the story setting.

I started working in the anime industry in around 1986. I joined a company that mainly produces OVAs, where I got the opportunity to work on "G Gundam."
I continued working with SUNRISE even after leaving the company.
At first, "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" was going to be more sci-fi-oriented, but eventually, it turned out to be the battle-oriented series we know today. Since then, I have been involved in the production of "Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team," "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED," and so on.

"Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" was the first Gundam series of the 21st century. I was going to design Archangel and other mechas from scratch. Since the name Archangel had already been decided, I was thinking of something inspired by angel wings. But then the production team asked me to make it look like the White Base haha. In the end, I combined the two ideas and came up with a very 21st-century-like design. I think it was well executed. I'm happy with how it turned out.

I would say military-inspired design like Gundam Ez-8 is my strong suit… But as for the Shuffle Alliance’s mobile suits, Director Imagawa had already decided that they would transform into their respective-crest-shaped mobile armors haha. So when designing their humanoid forms, I started by breaking down the spade, diamond, and club-shaped mobile armors.
Before working on Gundam series, I had never really designed giant robots. For other OVAs, I had been mainly drawing more realistic stuff, for example, powered exoskeletons and tanks. At first, I struggled to come up with design ideas for hero-looking mechas.
And that’s why when I was offered to work on "Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team," I was excited thinking it was the job for me. Incorporating my military-inspired style into Gundam Ez-8 was really fun.

In the beginning, I was provided with the production plan,and I read that,along with the script.
In terms of taste,it felt a bit like a horror story. In one scene,the Gundam emerges like a demon from the forest and attacks. It's scary.
The script had a lot of horror elements like that,so I tried to incorporate them into the designs a bit.

When it comes to mechanical design,usually the designer will produce a full line drawing first.Then the animators will draw individual keyframes that are made into moving animations.
But with CG animation,the final design is in the form of a CG model.For that reason, I focused on how the new Gundam and Zaku would be seen.Giving them details that fit well with the new series was the most important task.
Once I finished the initial design,it was sent to SAFEHOUSE,and they created the CG models.Those would come back to me,along with feedback,and as supervisor, I would check their overall form and appearance.

Mobile suits created in CG are wonderful for the way they move and how substantial they feel.
At SAFEHOUSE, the Gundam models were all supervised by Takuya Suzuki.
He has a great instinctive sense for modeling,and as he modeled the surfaces of the mobile suits,he took into account how light and shadow would reflect off of them.
We did that for the Gundam and Zaku.
When they move,pay attention to their texture and dynamism.
The nighttime battle scenes are especially dynamic.The Gundam gives off an unusual light which is quite scary.
The texture and elements like that are particular to CG,and I think viewers will find them both cool and fascinating to look at.

When the designs are rendered in CG,the images look more realistic,and if they're left the same as for 2D anime or as plastic models,the moving parts will look a bit unnatural,so we concentrated on making them more realistic.
For example, one part that changed a lot was what we call the "skirt" here.

In plastic models,this area will move a lot,but if they were real,these parts will have a huge mass,it's not natural for something so big and heavy to move back and forth.
We tried to make part a little smaller. With the Gundam too,we made the joints more complex,so that they would look realistic during movement."
I was mindful of those things while designing.Take the Zaku's power-supply pipe. Apparently, it's very difficult to make it move in CG.
Either way, unlike previous Zaku,where the joints were at the calves or the thighs,we connected the parts at the knees.
By doing that, it's easier to make them move using CG.That was part of our thinking.

It's a demon-like Gundam,a real grim reaper. We used skeletonsand giants as inspirations.

You can see that in the white parts like the legs, it's designed to look like bones.That was something that we emphasized in the design. We made the coloring appear as if the internal organs could be seen through the ribs.

It's true that there were conscious choices like that to make things more scary. Another aspect can be traced back to when I saw the original Gundam series. I felt that as robots,Gundam were incredibly humanoid.
For that reason,I tried to make the design even more humanoid this time. For example,I added a mold for the big toe,which is what humans use for balance.

The big toe plays an important role in walking. In traditional animation,those details were omitted. But if we made these robots for real,maybe those parts would really exist. I imagined things that way as I developed.
You can see that approach in various places throughout the design.
Like the Zaku I showed you earlier,things like the hip armor were made smaller to achieve lighter movement. If there are big parts jerking around everywhere,that makes it more difficult to animate too. Those CG-based considerations can be seen throughout for both the Zaku and Gundam. Gundams have large armor plates on their shoulders,and that creates a lot of extra space that seemed unnatural in terms of mass.
When I began to think of them as real weapons,I wondered what those plates were protecting.
They just seemed artificial.I think you could divide and allocate that space among the other parts and say,this Gundam is different. So I omitted the shoulder plating and other things,while also emphasizing that this Gundam should look scary.
If the shoulder plates jut out broadly,the design inevitably ends up looking really heroic.
But since this series is a bit heavier in tone, almost like a war movie,I wanted the overall impression to be something you would fear.
So in that sense,it differs from the Gundam in the animated TV series. I showed some restraint in that way.

If you look… There are three cameras attached here,and the machine's expression changes. We wanted it to have that kind of effect.
I think we were able to do that well. When the Gundamfaces off against Solari,there are many embellishments that make it seem like it's changing facial expressions.
I was really happy that the animators were able to use those details effectively.

While this applies to the Gundam too,the GM's head actually has a rotating visor which allows it to be expressive.
These are actually substitute eyelids. It may be a robot,but when expressing the pilot's emotions during battle,the movement of the eyes can be very useful.

The emotions that the eyes reflect are important,so the rotation is like an actor performing.
It only happens in one scene,but I hope you'll look out for it. You might find it interesting. This is a laser homing device.
For example, when a fighter plane drops its bombs,laser homing devices are used to make sure bombs reaches its target.It has a round shape like thisthat can move freely. In the same way, the GM's head has sensors and laser homing devices that rotate and move. The head is equivalent to a sensor.The design emphasizes that point.
It's designed both as weaponry and a way of expressing the characters' emotions.

For the Zaku Tank,I asked Takuhito Kusanagi, who is actually more of a character designer and a manga author.He was asked to do the design,and the CG was supervised on our end.
I had the vast archive of past Gundam designs at my disposal,so I tried to make good use of them.

As I mentioned earlier,we received the production plan and then thought about the design.
I try to take that plan and add two or three ideas that I think of myself.
When those ideas fit well with the intent of the original plan, it feels… when the design turns out well in that way, it's very gratifying.
This new series, "Gundam:Requiem for Vengeance",has a slightly different atmosphere from the previous Gundam series.
In the future, I'm sure more Gundam works will be made worldwide.
I hope that this title will serve as a touchstone that hints at what is possible.I think it's a series that will expand the range of Gundam's artistic potential.I hope many Gundam fans will give it a chance and watch.That would make me happy.