Author: Lin Zijie /anitama Cover Source: "Legendary Giant God Idian"
Hello friends, the "Father of Gundam" Yuki Tomino's 50-year life essay aims to introduce the journey of Tomino Supervisor, who is still active on the front line today, a total of 5 times. Last time we mentioned Tomino's bitter days as an independent worker, but this time we would like to introduce Tomino's final success after more than 15 years.
During the decade or so between entering the industry and settling down, Tomino was exposed to many works and supervisors, and the following is a list of performers and companies that have had a particularly strong impact.
Takahata Hoon: An elite director who graduated from UTokyo University and came from Toei, he is good at constructing pictures with an incomparably accurate theory, and later co-formed Studio Ghibli with his apprentice Hayao Miyazaki, and his representative works include "The Girl of the Alps", "Tomb of the Fireflies", "The Tale of Hui Ye Hime" and so on. Takahata gave Tomino plenty of opportunities in the World Masterpiece Theater to learn the clear logic of the picture.
Dragon's Child Studio: One of the three famous doors of Japanese animation, its works are varied in style and original adaptations. The company has a special feature that stipulates that the person who draws the storyboard must also be responsible for the performance (the director of the single episode), and for Tomino, who is a freelance worker, this is a valuable experience to have access to the operation of the production site. Researchers point out that the mature and older style of Tomino's performances is actually influenced by the works of the Son of the Dragon.
Nagahama Tadao: A director from a puppet drama, he is known for his exaggerated acting skills and attention to post-production recordings, and is also a pioneer in promoting exchanges between creators and enthusiasts, such as "Giant Star", "Versailles Rose", "Super Electromagnetic Man" and so on. Nagahama actively cultivated Tomino, and has repeatedly handed over the op, ed, and first words of his own works to him, and Tomino's thinking on shaping the starkness and voice acting of characters has also been influenced by him.
Tomino later admitted that he had failed many times when working with the above-mentioned supervisors. However, Tomino's hodgepodge style of performance has undoubtedly been cultivated through these experiences.
Unfortunately, there are not many photos of Tomino in the 1970s, so here is a photo of ya from 1978 for everyone to see
In 1977, Chuangyingsha reorganized into "Nippon Sunrise Animation" and planned to release original works after leaving long-term OEM work, and the first thing they found was "Convenience House" Tomino Kiyuki. Tomino, who was fired two years ago in "Redding the Brave" for not being able to meet the demands of all parties, this time found all the relevant people to gather at the beginning, and then directly asked each one to make specific requests, such as "what weapon do you want to launch" and "want the robot to appear for a few minutes". He promised to meet all the requirements of the crowd in exchange for the freedom to create the plot in his hands. In this way, "Invincible Superman Zambo 3" was born.
"Zambo 3", known as one of the pioneers of the "real robot", is a work that pays attention to the "coolness" of robot fighting, but also portrays the goodness and ugliness of human nature, the impermanence of life, and the cruelty of war to a considerable extent. Even though the last episode scared the sponsors and TV stations, the toy sales of this game were quite good, and it can be said that Tomino finally achieved commercial success in the first work, which also made Tomino confident in his approach.
Subsequently, 1978's "Invincible Steelman Titans 3" was a reverse of the previous game, an entertainment action film presented in the route of "007+ Era Drama". Its content is not hard to reason, but to be happy and interesting. But the inadvertently dark past of the mercurial protagonist and the contrast between the sad final words are still enjoyable today, and the film's commercial success surpasses that of the previous year.
Zambo 3 has no mouth and the shape is complex, so take the real route, Titan 3 has a mouth and simple shape, so take the heroic and funny route, like this use of robot shape to determine the work route is also one of the characteristics of Tomino
Two consecutive years of success delighted the sponsor Ryushin and told him that "the third year can be done as you please", and this is the greatest opportunity of his life that Tomino has mastered. At that time, a group of people from Sunrise came to the hot spring hotel for a meeting under the pretext of planning (in fact, it was meant to let everyone take a holiday). While everyone was relaxing, Tomino was alone in his room, not knowing what to do. When it was time for the meeting, Tomino proposed dozens of ideas on the spot, and all those present at that time immediately realized that this case was none other than Tomino. This project is Tomino Kiyuki's masterpiece and the biggest marvel of Japanese animation, "Mobile Suit Gundam".
Looking back at the original gundam, mentioning the excellent production staff in its team, the popularity of science fiction and animation in the theme connotation or the popularity of the times, the promotion of peripheral goods and other elements often give us the illusion that "success is inevitable". But to be fair, whether it's yasuhiko's character, Kunio Ogawara's machinery, or Kiyuki Tomino's worldview, none of the individual elements are outstanding from today's point of view; however, when expressed in the comprehensive form of animation works, the high level of content is an indisputable fact. The main reason for this is that Kinyuki Tomino, who is the original author and supervisor, in addition to personally structuring and mastering the main project, he also uses the performance to maximize the advantages of all elements*1. When Tomino directed his previous works, he still worked in parallel with the storyboarding of other works, but during this work, he pushed away all foreign work, which can also be seen from this work.
However, as everyone knows, the route of the work at that time was different from the age group that the sponsors wanted, so that gundam ended with a poor commercial performance*2. One might think that this is due to the novelty of the game, but this is incorrect. Gundam contains many elements of existing works, and the shadow of some overseas science fiction works can be seen. So, rather than a new challenge, Mobile Suit Gundam is a masterpiece. Still, the overall level is good enough to draw a milestone.
With the increase of media exposure, Tomino has also begun to pay attention to his own dress, which can also be said to be a kind of painstaking effort to improve the status of the animation industry
Fueled by animation magazines, gundam premiered in January 1980 and was soon replayed in response to a huge response. Bandai launched a model in July and Shochiku released a cinematic release in October, which led to a wave of enthusiasm that swept across Japan.
At that time, the Japanese film industry had no trust in animation supervisors, believing that they could not make "movies", so when making animated films, they always looked for film directors to name or cut films, but Tomino directly negotiated with the top level in order to protect the rights and interests of the creation site, and refused to hand over TV film if it was not done by the original team.*3 The top management of the film company that was more than half a hundred years old was originally half suspicious, but after watching the test screening, he directly said to Tomino, "Although I don't understand the content, there is one thing I understand: this movie is different from before." Originally scheduled to sell well, only one movie was made, but under the hot sales of pre-sale tickets, it was decided to make a sequel "Mourning Warrior" and "Meet the Universe" before the first release.
Not only that, but the big sale of gundam models has developed into a social phenomenon, and at that time it was even said that "anything that comes out will be sold"; gunpla has been sold for 37 years, and the official sales have sold about 400 million sets, and in the three years from 1981 to 83 in the heyday alone, the number of sales groups exceeded 100 million*4.
However, just looking at the success of the film and the model will ignore the efforts of the production team behind it. When any media, including anime magazines, come to the interview, Tomino will accept it as much as possible, and encourages the staff not to feel inferior to doing animation, but to put forward more of their own ideas. Whether Tomino himself wrote the novel*5 or filled in the lyrics for the theme song*6, it was also based on his idea that "the animation producer should be in the dominant position". Character design and animation director Yasuhiko Ryokazu Yasuhiko originally only liked to do animation with a head on his head, but it was only with tomino's encouragement and actual introduction that he began to expand his activities to illustration and manga work*7. These dripping stones in the "media war" are also one of the reasons why Gundam can succeed.
Most importantly, however, Tomino remains true to the audience. In the 1981 film version of the first release of the "New Century Animation Declaration"*8, in the face of 15,000 young people from all over the country who far exceeded the forecast, because the organizers arranged it carefully, Tomino took the stage and shouted: "Friends who come to participate with ideals, I'm sorry, this is just a propaganda activity", directly pointing out this is a trick, and then further appealing: "However, it is necessary to have so many young people gathered together, it must have its significance, I hope the world can understand this, At the same time, I also hope that you will be able to think deeply about the meaning." This is also Tomino's consistent attitude towards anime fans.
All in all, Tomino regarded space battleship Yamato as an imaginary enemy at the beginning of the project, and similarities can be seen in the higher viewing age group and the publicity route. Although the box office of the film did not surpass the former that year, under a series of layout and development, "Gundam" completely surpassed "Yamato" in terms of fame and fortune, and the animation won the face of the world in one go, and "General Supervisor Tomino Kiyuki" also became the most famous animator in Japan at that time.
Gundam's first soundtrack cover was commissioned by a record company to produce an external company, and the deviation from the content of the work angered Tomino, so he personally asked Yasuhiko to draw the second cover, and the cover of the third chapter directly and boldly used Yasuhiko's original line drawing
During the same period, Tomino directed "Legendary Giant God Idian" in 1980. The work was also cut off on television, but in 1982, it was made into a movie "Contact" and "Launch", which was able to depict the ideal ending. Although "Idian" is not as commercially as the gundam series, it is more skilled in performance and plot, and "Launch" is known as one of Tomino's highest masterpieces, and many latecomers in the animation industry have been influenced by it. Critic Douji Okada once pointed out that the peak of the world's science fiction video works at that time was not in Hollywood, but in a small studio in the small town of Tokyo, Japan, which is almost like a miracle.
The good man does not mention the year of Yong, but "Idian" has influenced many latecomers in the animation industry, such as Hideaki Anno of "Eva", who mentioned his influence many times
After a long period of patience and waiting, Tomino was finally able to raise his eyebrows. In 1979, When He created Mobile Suit Gundam, Tomino was 39 years old, and in 1982, when He created "Meet the Universe" and "Launch", Tomino was 42 years old. Tomino's performances during this period completely transcended the level of painting and appeared prominent and eye-catching. On the other hand, years of success and stability led him to decide to settle down in Sunrise Animation, which also led to Tomino becoming an "exclusive supervisor of robot animation". Since the 1982 TV anime, Tomino changed its name to "Tomino Yuki" (pronounced to Kitshin), and has continued to use it ever since.
(To be continued)
*1 In addition to this, and the external pressure on the production site at that time was all shouldered by Tomino, when someone criticized "Tomino made gundam just lucky" later in the day, all the main production staff unanimously declared that "Tomino Yuji is undoubtedly the most important soul of gundam".
※2 Having said that, for example, vinyl records actually sold quite well, and the late king record at that time was able to rise to become a large company because of gundam records.
*3 Strictly speaking, the copyright of the work has been sold to the company, and Tomino does not actually have the right to decide on the disposal of the film. This is just to make the company pay attention to a bitter meat plan on the animation production site.
*4 Although this must also be attributed to the low-price strategy at that time, it is undeniable that the model was indeed a major contributor to the formation of today's so-called gundam generation.
*5 Tomino took his novel to Hayakawa Shobo, which was famous for science fiction at the time, but was rejected by the editor-in-chief on the spot, who said, "This is not what we want." After being released by other publishers, each episode sold more than 1.5 million copies, and the exclusion and rejection of robot animation by the Japanese science fiction community is also considered to have indirectly caused a long-term downturn in Japan.
*6 The reason why Tomino began to write lyrics was because the record company at that time managed anime songs as children's songs, and the lyrics or songs were often so far from the content of the work that they had to do it themselves.
※7 Later, Tomino was recounted, so letting Yasuhiko leave the animation industry was one of the biggest regrets of his life.
*8 An event initiated by Sunrise Animation and Animation Magazine on February 22, 1981. At the call of the local goodwill associations, the square, which was expected to gather 5,000 people, finally squeezed into nearly 20,000 people. The first sentence of its manifesto reads, "For the first time, we have acquired animation that marks our own era."
References:
"That's why I'm..." (2002) Kadokawa Shoten.
"Tomino Yuyuki All Works" (1999) Kinema Junposha
"Gundam" (2002) Kodansha
"Romantic Album 42: Mobile Suit Gundam" (1981) Tokuma Shoten
Gundam Chronology
The era of "Mobile Suit Gundam" usen music information site "encore"
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