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Brightslap Recommends: The Men Who Created Gundam

▲ 550+ Pages!
Hideki Ohwada’s “The Men Who Created Gundam” is an amazing, fictionalized account of legendary anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam’s real life development.  Originally serialized as far back as 2009, this collected edition weighs in at over 550 pages and covers the early history of the franchise, including the creation of the original 1979 anime series and its impact on the anime industry. It also delves into the creation of the various spin-off series and movies that have been produced over the years.
 
Being a huge fan of the original Gundam and a fan of nerd history in general, I read this years ago back when it was only available through fan translations.  I actually read it twice in that format and am stoked to get my hands on Denpa’s 2022 officially licensed and translated version.  
 
Should you read this?  I dunno, do you want to know why a Gundam is White, Blue, Red and Yellow?   Do you want to find out from the man himself what colour Sayla’s nipples are? What if Char was drunk?  What if Tomino was drunk?  Do you want to see see Tomino punch Amuro’s voice actor in the face to goad a better performance out of him?  I certainly did.  I mean, I named this website after that slap.  DrunkChar.com might have been okay now that I think about it.
 
▲ Even my own father never hit me!
Back to the review at hand, this book starts off hot and doesn’t let up.  I love it.
 
After the punching Amuro in the recording booth prelude, the manga begins with the story of Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino struggling to get his ideas greenlit by studios.  That is, unless the anime’s main focus was solely to sell toys that is, as was typical of most TV anime at the time.  
 
Tomino’s idea for the series was to create a new type of science fiction story that was different from the traditional space operas that were popular at the time. He wanted to focus on the characters and their struggles, rather than just the action and special effects. He also wanted to use the series as a way to explore social and political issues, such as the dangers of war and the importance of cooperation and understanding.  Serious sci-fi drama, not toy commercials.  If he only knew…
▲ Manga Freddy Mercury needs that Gunpla.
 
To help bring his vision to life, Tomino assembles a team of talented artists and writers, including character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and mechanical designer Kunio Okawara. Together, they work to develop the concept for the series and create what we now know as Mobile Suit Gundam, premiering on April 7, 1979.
 
▲ A red flask gets you drunk 3 times as fast.
 
From there the story follows the challenges and struggles that Tomino and his team faced to bring Gundam to life and keep it on the air.  Being “10 years too early” for audiences of the time, pulling the wool over the eyes of sponsors and the network alike while facing cancellation as well as the impact that it had on the anime industry and pop culture.   Keep in mind, most of the story of more or less true events is told like this…
 
▲ Did I mention Tomino himself worked on and approved of this manga? We salute you sir.
As a bonus, many chapters have short essays about the real-life events depicted in the book as well as several interviews with anime luminaries about Gundam’s impact and on The Men Who Created Gundam itself.
 
▲ Some background essays presented in less exciting, non-screaming format.
From cover to cover there is so much behind-the-scenes information packed in The Men Who Created Gundam, and the exaggerated, over the top way of delivering said information just does it for me.   It works on its own as a simple gag manga but it’s also so much more than that delivering both the story of Gundam’s Genesis and depicting the passion of its creators.
 
I can’t recommend this book enough.  If you are a Gundam fan, especially of the Universal Century this is must-read.  In general, any fans of anime history should be super entertained while learning a bit about how one of the biggest franchises of all time got its start.
 
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Dan has a Goth-Adjacent Post-Punk Synthesizer Industrial Rock solo album under the moniker "SLASHDANCE" as well as a small but fun Youtube channel under the same name. Dan also loves old anime, new anime, old video games, new video games, building gunpla, scotch, Coca-Cola, Pocari Sweat, Punk Rock, spending money on things he doesn't need, Pomeranian dogs, chaos, naps, putting too much time into frivolous projects and his wife.

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