To commemorate the 44th anniversary of the legendary event "Anime New Century Declaration" held on February 22, 1981, just before the release of the theatrical version of the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, a screening of selected works from Mobile Suit Gundam with a talk show was held at Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku, Tokyo) on February 22. Appearances included Hideaki Anno, known for the Evangelion series, Yutaka Izubuchi, who has participated in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, and Ryusuke Hikawa, an anime and special effects researcher. Anno and others spoke about their thoughts on the first film in the series, Mobile Suit Gundam.
The screening included episodes 1 "Gundam Rises on the Earth!!", 2 "Order to Destroy Gundam", and 14 "Time, Stop" from the TV series "Mobile Suit Gundam", as well as the "Yasuhiko Yoshikazu and Itano Ichiro Original Photography Collection", which was streamed at the Japan Animator Expo in December 2014.
Izubuchi said, "Episode 1 is well made. The first episodes of Yamato and Gundam have perfect structures," and then asked about the screening of Episode 14, "I like it, but why?" To which Anno replied, "After much deliberation, I decided on Episode 14. Episodes 1 and 2 were essential. Episode 3 is probably average, right? When you watch Episode 14 by itself, it has just the right amount of Tomino (Yoshiyuki)-ness and Gundam-ness. I tried to include something that is very Gundam-like. It's a classic plot. The dialogue is good. It still has some of the old robot anime feel, which is good. It's rare to see that on a big screen. So I tried to pick up on it. The detailed depictions are typical of Tomino, and that's great."
When Hikawa asked, "It's not Sharia Bull (Episode 39, "Newtype, Sharia Bull")...", Anno revealed, "I made the mistake."
Anno spoke of his thoughts on Mobile Suit Gundam, saying, "I was greatly influenced by Space Battleship Yamato, but after that, there was nothing quite like Yamato. At the time, I was a ronin and was wondering if I might have retired from anime, but then I saw the trailer for Gundam. I was blown away by that scene. My hunch at the time was right. If I had missed the first episode, my life might have been different. This was the show that brought me back to anime."
