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Gundam Panel @ MCM London Comic Con
Gundam is one of Japan’s treasured anime franchises. Debuting in the country in 1979 with the series Mobile Suit Gundam the franchise has since spawned countless anime, films, OVAs, manga, novels and video-games. There’s even a Gundam café in Tokyo, that’s how hugely influential this series is.
Sunrise, the company behind Gundam, announced in 2011 that it was working on a new series of anime films focusing on Gundam: The Origin and in 2015 began to release them. Three films have been made so far – Blue-Eyed Casval, Artesia’s Sorrow and Dawn Of Rebellion – and the latest of these films had its European premiere at MCM London Comic Con.
Playing at the event on Saturday morning, the film was a great way to start off proceedings that day. Exploring the story of Casval Rem Deikun, the film focuses on the first time that Casval (now named Char after faking his death) meets Garma, the heir to the Zabi family that plotted to have him and his family killed. It also details the inception of the vicious war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. It was an intense look into the dawn of that fight, and the meeting between Char and Garma certainly didn’t disappoint. Laced with tension and exhilarating battles, the film is an excellent continuation of the series.
If that weren’t enough, Anime Limited brought along producer Osamu Taniguchi and mechanical designer Mika Akitaka to give an in-depth presentation for fans. Giving information about themselves, and the process of designing and creating the mechanical suits that the series is synonymous for, the pair also revealed details of the next two films in the series: Fateful Eve and the as-yet-untitled fifth episode focused on the Loum arc.
The next film in the series will explore Char’s “fateful encounter” with Lalah Sune, the protagonist of the original series Amuro Ray, and Dr Minovsky whose discoveries lead to the use of mobile suit warfare. The pair explained that the film will also focus on the development of the MS-04 and the RX-78 Gundam mobile suits, as well as the first mobile suit battle in the history of the franchise. The fifth film, meanwhile, will focus on the Battle of Loum. Teaser trailers for both films were presented at the panel, and it’s certainly something to keep your eye out for!
Interview with MCM London Comic Con's Anime Guest of Honour: Hidetaka Tenjin
At MCM London Comic Con May 2015 we were lucky enough to get an interview with the Anime Guest of Honour, Hidetaka Tenjin. He has worked as an artist for Hellsing Ultimate, the Macross franchise and Gundam Evolve. Check out our chat with Hidetaka Tenjin down below.
How are you doing, how are you finding London?
Hidetaka Tenjin: It’s great! I love the architecture and the people walking around.
How did you first get into art?
Hidetaka Tenjin: I wanted to be all sorts of things. I wanted to be a pilot, I wanted to make robots, but in the end art is just where I settled.
You specify in mechanical, and sci-fi illustrations, how did you get to that point?
Hidetaka Tenjin: As a child I loved mecha, sci-fi, anything enormous, so I naturally started drawing those kind of things. I’m from the generation where we had Star Wars and Star Trek in the States, and those influence a sci-fi boom in Japanese anime as well.
I understand you majored in mechanical control systems. Did that inform your artwork?
Hidetaka Tenjin: Of course, I want to draw mecha that can actually move. Anime designs tend to be all over the place, but I like making them look like they could actually work in real life.
Some of your most popular work include the Macross franchise, Gundam and Hellsing Ultimate. Explain what you loved about all of these?
Hidetaka Tenjin: With Gundam it’s so huge and there’s so many people involved, especially with the box art for the model kits, there’s a huge tradition behind them. Being allowed to draw the box art for all of those was a big honour for me.
With Hellsing I was involved with the mecha design, and I really don’t like horror or gore. But it was set in London, and I did loads of research in to London and now I am here which is really great. Although I do feel that I need to apologise to the people of London for that kind of story.
Because Hellsing was obviously so different, what was the biggest challenge?
Hidetaka Tenjin: To be honest, it was part of my London research. It was really difficult to find out about the police in London. I tried to find out what the officers from Scotland Yard would wear, what shape the helmets were, what jackets they would have. It was really difficult to find that information online. Although yesterday I actually saw real life police officers for the first time. It was very exciting.
You do cover, and box art, explain how you feel creating them?
Hidetaka Tenjin: It’s really good fun, because it’s like drawing my own art.
Are there any games, anime or manga that you really enjoy?
Hidetaka Tenjin: Sidonia, Knights of Sidonia, and I am looking really forward to the new Star Wars.
What’s next for you in the future?
Hidetaka Tenjin: My next interview (laughs). Just kidding, I am working on the new Macross TV series right now. Also I am continuing to draw the box art for the series Star Wars model kit for Bandai that looks like it’s going to carry on for a while.