Last week Anime Maru had the chance to sit down with famed director Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Anime Maru: We here at Anime Maru have always been big fans of your work. We actually have a Brain Powered poster hanging up in our office!

Yoshiyuki Tomino: Thanks… I think? It’s good to be here, I never thought your office would have quite so many stains on the floor.

AM: We’re pretty sure that’s Tabasco sauce, but it’s not important. Lets talk about your newest series Gundam Recanjuista in G.

YT: It’s Reconguista.

AM: Well maybe next time you shouldn’t make up words for your titles.

YT: Work on Reconguista has been very stressful, but I think the results came out well.

AM: Is that what you really think?

YT: …no.

AM: That’s what I thought. What made you want to direct another Gundam television show?

YT: Well that’s the funny thing, I didn’t. Reconguista in G was originally going to be a new series completely unrelated to Gundam. I wanted to start the next big mecha franchise.

AM: So why make the switch to Gundam?

YT: The producers over at Sunrise took one look at the script and they said “The only way we can make money off of this is to slap Gundam on it”. I wanted the series to be fifty episodes, but I could only get 26.

AM: So does that mean we could get a sequel sometime in the future?

YT: Definitely not. Reconguista was what I consider to be my first ever failure as a director.

AM: Then what about directing a new Gundam series?

YT: If I say no now then Sunrise will probably make me direct another one. [resigned sigh] I just can’t seem to escape the white devil.

AM: Can you elaborate on that?

YT: When I was starting as an anime director I wanted to be known for great things. I wanted to be known as the man who crafted thought provoking tales like Xabungle, Ideon, or Daitarn 3. When people look at me they don’t think “Look it’s the director of Aura Battler Dunbine!”, instead they see my bald head and say “Oh it’s that Gundam guy”. I never wanted to be known for some overblown toy commercial. When Gundam got big, I thought that this might be my chance to finally fulfill my dreams. But each series after the first just got worse and worse. Don’t get me started on Victory.

[At this point Tomino starts weeping openly. The interview concluded at this point.]

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