The appearance of the TX-FF104 Alyzeus in the second chapter of the Gundam anime film series "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash" (directed by Murase Osamu), "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash 's Witch," has been generating buzz. The Alyzeus is an original mobile suit (MS) for the film that does not appear in the original novel. It was a hastily constructed training aircraft until Lane Aim's Penelope was officially deployed, and its core is a modified RX-94 Mass-Produced Nu (New) Gundam. The Mass-Produced Nu Gundam was developed as part of the series' "M-MSV" project, and its first appearance in the anime has excited fans. We spoke with director Murase Osamu about how the Alyzeus and the Mass-Produced Nu Gundam came to be featured.
◇Shelf nozzle designed to bring the silhouette closer
" Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack: Hathaway's Flash Counterattack," a 1988 animated film, tells the story of Hathaway, the son of Bright Noa, who experienced a bitter separation during the Second Neo Zeon War, piloting a new mobile suit, the XI Gundam, in a rebellion against the Earth Federation government.
The Alyzeus's main form is its flight form. Its exterior is made from parts from a prototype built for testing during the development of the Penelope. As a replacement for the Minovsky flight unit, which was incomplete at the time of production, a total of 20 shelf nozzles, which utilize a plasma jet engine propulsion system based on older engine technology that does not utilize I-field technology, are placed throughout the aircraft and operated in parallel, enabling high-speed flight comparable to that of the Penelope.
The Alyzeus engages in a fierce battle with the Ξ Gundam piloted by Hathaway Noah. When the exterior comes off and the mass-produced Nu Gundam appears, Hathaway is tormented by a vision of the Nu Gundam and Amuro Ray. The Nu Gundam is the mobile suit Amuro piloted in the Second Neo Zeon War in "Char's Counterattack." This scene clearly shows that Hathaway's anguish is rooted in his experiences in "Char's Counterattack."
"The scenario decided that Hathaway would have a vision of Amuro, reminisce about the past, confront the Amuro that has taken root inside him, and reexamine himself. Also, while the final battle in the novel is with Gustav Karl, there was talk from the beginning of introducing a new mobile suit as a new element to the work. (Executive Producer) Naohiro Ogata and (Mechanical Designer) Katoki Hajime had said that they wanted to introduce a new mobile suit in Chapter 2, and I told them that I wanted the new mobile suit that appears after the battle with Gustav Karl to have a design that connects to the Nu Gundam. Combining all of these elements resulted in the final battle scene of this work. However, the design work ran into difficulties. Mr. Katoki and I had slightly different images of the Nu Gundam. The Nu Gundam that I imagined was only possible because of the silhouette of the fin funnels."
In the original "M-MSV," the mass-produced Nu Gundam is depicted equipped with fin funnels, but there is no reason for it to be equipped with fin funnels that cannot be used in the atmosphere. Therefore, in the film, Hathaway is confronted with a vision of the Nu Gundam when part of the Ally Zeus' shelf nozzle looks like a fin funnel.
"We started by adding something like a jet nozzle to create a silhouette resembling fin funnels, and in discussions with Katoki and (fellow mechanical designer) Genma Nobuhiko, we came up with the idea of incorporating elements of the shelf nozzles that appear in Mobile Suit Gundam F91. From there, we decided to make it a training or practice machine for Penelope, and we went in the direction of roughly creating a silhouette similar to Penelope's. As we progressed with the design, we talked about size, and I thought it would be fine if it was smaller than Penelope, but there was also the opinion that if there was a difference in size with the Xi Gundam, it wouldn't look good when placed next to it. However, it didn't seem right for the mass-produced Nu Gundam to be so big. We considered extending the joints, but that would require major modifications. So we thought it would be better to add legs as exterior armor... and as we worked on it, we came up with a design that had a monstrous feel. Since it was decided from the beginning that it would be drawn entirely in CG, we believed that it would be able to move even with such a complex design."
◇The "real face" was decided from the beginning
The reveal of the "true face" of the Ξ Gundam at the end also attracted attention. The Ξ Gundam's face mask shatters, revealing its "Gundam Face" with a slit in the shape of a bell.
"Actually, I had decided from the time I was designing Chapter 1 that the Gundam face would be hidden under the face mask. That's why the head of the Ξ Gundam is a little big. I kept it hidden so that it wouldn't be noticed in Chapter 1, and then revealed it at the end of Chapter 2, which felt good. However, when I was thinking about the structure, I did worry that it might be better to reveal it in Chapter 3."
One might be tempted to read too much into the idea that there must be some reason why the Gundam face is hidden, but Director Murase says, "It's not that secret, but there is a reason."
Just as the appearance of the Alysseus and the mass-produced Nu Gundam connected the past and the present, the "true face" of the Ξ Gundam may also lead to the core of the story. It will be interesting to see if its true meaning is revealed in Chapter 3. (Anima Mitsuru/MANTANWEB)
