"Gundam G: Restoration Campaign" has been officially airing since October this year. This is the second time since "Inverted A Gundam" that Yuki Tomino has directed the TV series. November 5 is director Tomino's 73rd birthday, and on this occasion, some Japanese media interviewed him again to learn more about the secrets of this work.

Q: We have learned that the "G Restoration Movement" expresses your expectations for the future. So on the other hand, I would like to ask a question: if you don't look at the part about "seeds", just from the perspective of "silly machine animation", what do you think is the highlight of this work?

Tomino: In this regard, my answer is, "If there are too many types of characters, then it will be fun." I think this is a feeling from the perspective of the expression xiàn technique.

Q: For example, what kind of plot will this be reflected in?

Tomino: It's the plot of the cheerleading girl in the first episode. I'm ashamed that I didn't imagine that the picture would be so lively when I drew the storyboard. We use the plot to drive the work, so I started to think that as long as I can express the meaning with the least amount of brushstrokes.

But the power of painting has allowed me to see things that are beyond my expectations. At this point, I realized the fact that "cheerleading girls don't look like vases" and "it's like a regular festival that takes place every year." And the hard work of the cheerleading girls brought me such a sense of survival, so when De Lanson was chirping there, if he was asked, "Then don't do this kind of activity next year", then he would definitely not agree, right? This is a fact that I find very interesting.

Q: In response to Noredo's voice, Deransen just responded with his hand, which also shows that he is not as angry as he says.

Tomino: As long as cute girls can show their sense of existence, then they will also be deeply impressed in other plots. It makes me feel very sorry that when I realized that there would be such an effect in the first episode, the production process had already passed the voice actor recording stage, and it had reached the copy stage.

However, in today's animation, the deliberate pursuit of "doing this will make the girl look cute" doesn't actually make the character cute. If you can't make cuteness seem more ordinary, you can't make people feel like they always care about that girl. And if you can make a lot of people think that girls are very cute, then it will be a success from a business point of view...... (laughs)

Q: (laughs) Speaking of the meaning of the sense of zài, Instructor Krubes also released his unique sense of zài from the second episode.

Tomino: Krubes or something is just a very typical example, and I didn't mention in the script how active the character would be. In the second episode, Berulli comes into contact with the imprisoned Ada and soon gets on board the G-SELF. That's the situation in that episode. In the script, when considering the art setting, it was natural to keep a certain distance between the place where the Beluli were located and the place where the G-SELF was housed. Once this setting is in place, the performer must consider how to fill this sense of distance. Although it can also be set to allow anyone to bring the G-SELF to where Beiruli is, the G-SELF is a choice for the driver. In this way, only Krubes can play. Once he appears, it's up to the character's own personality to act. And it's gradually showing its personality. As a result, he naturally occupies the position of the main character.

Q: Do the characters present their own ideas?

Tomino: Yes. From my point of view, along with the development of the "plot", it is natural for the characters to have their own action thoughts.

Q: Could you please be more detailed?

Tomino: When creating a story, I need the author to be there, but for someone of my level, I can't imagine how all the characters will behave. Either way, I can only focus on the characters who play a role in the development of the plot, but after making the mirror, there are many characters standing behind them in addition to the characters who are responsible for driving the plot. In this case, it would be too boring for them to just stand there, and I hope to add some "story" to them. And if you associate this idea with acting, the characters will start acting on their own. If it were a character like Yuki Mitani, I might have been able to imagine the role of the characters from the beginning, but personally, I could only enrich the characters after the storyboard.

Q: In Tomino's work, many of the supporting characters are impressive. So it's also based on this reason.

Tomino: Well, if the performer wants the character standing there to show a certain character, he will definitely do something like this. But because of this, "G Restoration Movement" has added too many characters...... A few days ago, when I was dubbing, I asked the staff, "Why are there so many characters!?" The other party complained in turn: "It's because of you." (laughs)

Q: Originally, there would have been a lot of characters in director Tomino's works.

Tomino: This time there are more than ever. However, if you want to animate the machine qì people to such a point, it will be difficult for the plot to develop just by describing the machine qì people. From an acting point of view, it is not tenable.

Q: However, director Tomino still incorporates a variety of dialogues even during the battle, and describes the images of the people as a kind of "story".

Tomino: No, it's just that it looks like a story. If you talk about the machine qì human screen, then you can ask the character to say "G-SELF forward". But we can't let him repeat it two or three times.

So, in order to promote the "story", this kind of repetitive lines is not advisable, then you need to think about how to do it. In some cases, we need to consider whether it is appropriate for the character to sit in the seat all the time, whether it is appropriate for only one person to be in the picture, and the lines have to be changed. If you think about it from the perspective of acting, you have to connect it with the point of view as a "story". The "story" first needs the actions of the characters, and then we take this into account and then revise the storyboard, which may lead to a situation where there is a battle plot in the storyboard submitted in the morning, but now it is not.

Q: Was it deleted?

Tomino: At the end of the day, we just thought it would be more interesting to change the plot to "just rely on the activities of the characters." However, since we have decided that there is no need for the plot of the machine qì here, and we have made changes, we have to bear a very important responsibility. Because if you don't have a chance, we have to make sure that this plot is very interesting. In this way, we will always stop and consider as we revise the storyboard. And you need to mobilize your brain to squeeze out the little inspiration you have, so as to carry out the storyboard work of building a "story".

Q: In other words, you have enriched the plot by injecting a story that reflects human nature into the original plot through guò?

Tomino: Yes. The same technique is used to create the story of the main characters. This time we set up CapitalTower, and set up Berulli and Ada as two sides. Then, Laraia also appeared as a character related to the setting. After creating such a framework, not even the slightest plot can be changed to our liking.

If Ida wants to go home, then Berulli will follow, and even Norredo will accompany her. I think that letting the characters generate a "story" to drive the plot will make "G Restoration Movement" a more realistic and immersive work.

Q: In other words, if you summarize what you mean, you can coexist with the entertainment element of "a lively atmosphere with a variety of characters" and the "seed" of anticipation for the children's future. This is the "G Restoration Movement".

Tomino: The two are absolutely inseparable. The composition of the world of the work and the psychological state of the characters should be closely linked. I recently read a book called "やまとなでしこの性愛史古から近へへ", and found that this is clearly reflected in the book. In the Edo period, in the events surrounding marriage, both the common people and the shogunes were governed by this state of mind when it came to sex.

The reason why they are controlled by this habit that seems very peculiar to us today is not so much a matter of the system, but rather a state of mind formed in the process of adapting to this system. And by following this state, it constitutes reality. But one cannot live on reality alone. Dreams can also arise from reality. If it was the Edo period, such as Kabuki and Human-shaped Joruri, this kind of dream could be embodied.

Q: There are two elements in people's hearts: "reality" and "dreams".

Tomino: In the case of the G Restoration, the fashion and technical aspects are reduced to reality, and on this basis, the stories of the characters constitute "dreams". And I hope that the "seed" can play such a role: the "dream" that I portray now can be turned into reality in the distant future. This kind of thing can't be done in Inverted A Gundam. It is precisely because of the "G Restoration Movement" that this can be done.

…… Maybe I'm talking a little too obscurely, but I'm very excited about the fact that we've created a lot of interesting plots in the current "G Restoration Movement". And episodes 13 and 14 will have quite interesting plots, and I would feel very honored if you could watch the work all the time.