The second chapter of the Gundam series' theatrical anime, "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash" (directed by Shuko Murase), titled "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash: The Witch of Circe," opened on January 30th. "Hathaway's Flash" is largely appealing for its tense battle scenes featuring mechs, including mobile suits. The mechanical designs are credited to four people: Hajime Katoki, Kimitoshi Yamane, Seiichi Nakatani, and Genma Genma. A distinguished group of staff members came together to build the foundation that supports the realism of the story and to realize the visual beauty through extremely meticulous collaborative work. We spoke to one of the mechanical designers, Mr. Yamane, about the behind-the-scenes aspects of the production.
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First of all, I wasn't involved in the design of the mobile suits themselves in "Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash," so I'm not sure if there's anything to write about in this article, but I'll talk about the parts I was in charge of.
The artwork is so complex that it's difficult to say exactly "who designed what." To give an example from something I newly drew for "Circe's Witch," the basic layout of the bridge of Mafty's escort ship, Valiant, was completed through the hands of CG and animation staff, and the amount of information in the video is far greater than in the setting drawings. My job this time is to create the basic foundation before the CG modeling and animation work. The main work procedure is as follows: design drawings, CG rough modeling, drawing on the CG model, reflecting the drawings on the CG model, creating layouts using the completed model, and then the animation and art staff drawing on and finishing the layouts.
While recent anime mecha designs increasingly utilize CG for visual representation, the basic size and proportions must be decided from the outset. In Chapter 1, I spent the most time working with the CG staff to finalize the structure of the Valiant's hangar and the arrangement of the mobile suit storage. It's impractical to operate a cargo ship in the 200-meter range carrying multiple large mobile suits and Galcezon (sub-flight systems), but the desire to make the movement of the Mafty inconspicuous was a consensus among director Murase and the staff. It's just an image, but a size like an aircraft carrier or large tanker exceeding 300 meters just didn't feel right.
The boxy, irregular hull, designed to increase cargo capacity on a short vessel, is completely different from the sleek, modern hull shapes that consider water resistance. There's no space for an engine or steering gear, so when considering what to do, they came up with the idea of using the electromagnetic induction propulsion system of the submarine hull, made famous by Tom Clancy's novel "The Hunt for Red October," along with a system that covers the hull shape and creates a water flow that reduces vortex resistance, and added that detail to the stern. You can catch a glimpse of it when the XI Gundam is submerged in water for a watertightness test before the opening of this film. I also imagined that the mobile suit's power supply might be used to charge the battery for its cruising.
The pallet on which Galseison is placed also serves to reinforce the otherwise flimsy, box-like hull, and is cleverly designed to feel like a structural beam. Even fictional things become more convincing when you incorporate some real-world functional elements. These kinds of details are unconsciously conveyed to the viewers, so they shouldn't be underestimated. In futuristic settings like Gundam, where everything is a fictional design, it's important to come up with such ideas.
We also need ideas for connections to the characters. There's a steering wheel-shaped decorative clock on the wall behind the captain's chair on the bridge, and I added it because I remembered when director Yoshiyuki Tomino said he wanted to draw a picture of a woman in the captain's chair on the Megafauna (the mothership of the pirate fleet) in "Gundam Reconguista in G" to express the captain's character and the personality of the ship.
Other than that, I helped with drawing items for mobile suit maintenance, the flying machine called Let that Gauman used to travel between the Valiant and the support ship Sealack, and the exterior and interior of aircraft.
My acquaintance with Director Murase goes back a long way, to "Argentosoma," and I was once again impressed by the refined and beautiful visuals.
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The dedication to "incorporating real-world functional elements into fictional things," and the accumulation of such details, is what gives it the weight of "authenticity." It's clear that the skills and passions of the craftsmen are intricately intertwined, culminating in a refined visual beauty. (Manami Anima/MANTANWEB)
