Sunrise at Otakon 2018—A Double 00 Helping of Iron-Blooded Gundams

When I was planning industry panels to attend at Otakon I was surprised to see Sunrise on the list. I haven’t seen an industry panel from Sunrise in over half a decade. I last wrote about that company at Otakon 2011, and with the exception of Otakon 2015 (which I didn’t attend) I’ve not seen a panel from them since. To be fair, there have been panels related to their franchises such as Gundam, but they’re not the same as a panel from the company itself.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I was locked out of the Aniplex of America panel because it was full, so I made sure to arrive early at the Sunrise panel. I didn’t really need to bother because the room wasn’t completely filled. At the door raffle tickets were being handed out to the attendees. After making sure that everyone had a ticket for upcoming drawing, the panel began.

Koshiro Fujiwara (his name wasn’t listed with the panel, so I’m going by ear. If I’m wrong, let me know), a member of Sunrise’s international sales department introduced himself to the audience. He noted that it was his first time at Otakon. A young woman sitting at his side introduced herself as only the interpreter. Fujiwara then mentioned that a special guest would be joining the panel later. Without any further delay, Fujiwara kicked off the panel with Sunrise’s upcoming releases. The list had a very different feel compared to 2011 because of the shuttering of Bandai Entertainment. It still feels surreal to see some of these series now being licensed by FUNimation and Sunrise urging fans to check out that company for more details. Ah, but I’m getting sidetracked by nostalgia here.

Every upcoming release was revealed before the actual title and further details were given. While it was enough to appreciate the show and cheer for it, the pace of each reveal was fairly quick.

In order we have:

• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Movie Trilogy. Directed by Goro Taniguchi and composed by Ichiro Okochi. FUNimation is the licensor.
• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection. Directed by Goro Taniguchi and composed by Ichiro Okochi. The movie is set for a Japanese theatrical release in February 2019. No details for a North American release were given.
• Double Decker! Doug & Kirill. Directed by Joji Furuta with character designs by Masakazu Katsura. The series is coming to Crunchyroll for the fall 2018 season. This series is from the same team that created Tiger & Bunny. It has nothing to do with that universe, and instead of superheroes we have a police drama.
• City Hunter. Original story by Tsukasa Hojo, directed by Kenji Kodama. It has a Japanese theatrical release date of February 8, 2019. Again, no North American details were given.

Fujiwara then steered into the Gundam portion of the panel aptly titled “The World of Gundam.” First up, a mention of and pictures from the Tokyo Gundam Project 2017. The life-sized RX-0 Unicorn Gundam statue was established over the Tokyo waterfront city. The statue can transform between modes. He noted any visitors to Japan should definitely check out the statue. Another attraction of interest was The Gundam Base store in Tokyo. It is the official Gunpla store and has over 2000 Gundam-related products, making it the world’s largest store for Mobile Suit merchandise.

It was time to move into available Gundam titles from Sunrise via RightStuf. We have the Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy, Gundam Wing, Gundam UC, and Gundam AGE for all your current mobile suit needs. Of course it wouldn’t be “The World of Gundam” without a deeper look into current tiles.

• Mobile Suit Gundam the Original VI: Rise of the Red Comet. The series is directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, and he penned the comic story as well. Episodes one through six are streaming on Hulu. Episodes one through four are available on blu-ray and DVD via Rightstuf. The Gundam the Origin manga is available from Vertical.
• Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative. Directed by Toshikazu Yoshizawa with the script being handled by Harutoshi Fuku. It’s a movie set after Gundam Unicorn, and will premier in Japanese theaters in November 2018.

Once the World of Gundam segment ended, it was time for the promised special guest, Kanetake Ebikawa. He is a mechanical designer responsible for the look of various mecha in Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Full Metal Panic!, and a variety of other series. Ebikawa did not speak English, so the translator went to work as Fujiwara asked him questions and she translated for the audience.

This was actually his first time at a convention in North America. Ebikawa enjoyed how everyone seemed to be having so much fun and was in awe of how many people were cosplaying. In fact, he was envious, which got a chuckle from the room. He clarified by stating that in Japan there are a lot more fans who want to cosplay, but don’t because they’re a little shy and you don’t see too many of them. He then talked about how he originally began to work on Gundam. His first title was Gundam 00, but he worked with the director, Seiji Mizushima, on other titles. The director then called him one day and asked “There’s this Gundam project I’m working on, would you like to join the team?” There had been a competition for designs and the winning design was for the Exia (Gundam 00). The audience cheered at the reveal. Ebikawa stayed for the remainder of the panel as Fujiwara returned to showing clips from various Gundam series to the audience.

First up was Gundam 00, directed by Seiji Mizushima. Fans can purchase entire series (this includes the series, a special edition, and the movie) on blu-ray and DVD. The Collector’s Ultra Edition will be available on September 4, 2018 via Right Stuf. It includes the entire series, a special box to place everything in, a hardcover art book, postcards, an Exia sticker, and a Haro keychain. (As of this writing the collector’s edition is sold out at Right Stuf.) Whew! For a moment it felt like I was writing up a Treasure Hunter column.

Fujiwara then asked Ebikawa about the concept behind the mobile suits from Gundam 00. First he talked exclusively about the designs of the Exia. He wanted the mobile suit to look similar to a wrestler wearing trunks. For the Gundam Exia Repair he wanted a look similar to a runner in track and field. As for Exia with its twin drives, he had to design them and discover a way to make the drives stand out. Ebikawa then talked about how he created the logo for the Gundam 00 series. Its creation first started by taking the best parts of the Exia and 00, and combining them both for a touch of originality.

Next up was a clip from Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans, directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai and composed by Mari Okada. Both seasons are available from FUNimation in a regular edition and limited editions. The limited edition of season two comes with a Gunpla figure. Fujiwara asked the audience to please buy IBO.

Ebikawa then took over as he talked about designing Flauros and Barbatos. (Note the Gundams in IBO are named after the Ars Goetia demons, just in case any Shin Megami Tensei fans recognize the names.) Before we could get further into the mecha designs, he went into a little backstory. Right after Gundam 00 ended the next Gundam series was being planned. Ebikawa was brought on to pre-production meetings with Nagai. In terms of actual production immediately after 00, production for Gundam AGE happened first. Once that show ended, old discussions were revisited and that eventually became IBO. It took five years from IBO’s original conception to getting started on pre-production.

When series production was started, Ebikawa asked the director if he could design the enemy mobile suits before the Gundams. Fujiwara followed up with a question about the mecha frames being designed, namely Flauros. First Barbatos was designed, then Flauros as something that could stand up to and rival the series’ main Gundam. Also, Ebikawa kept in mind that there weren’t any other mobile suits in IBO that could transform.

Fujiwara noted that in IBO there were a lot of designers that worked together to create the different frames and wanted Ebikawa’s thoughts. The guest panelist obliged by noting that in his view IBO is its own series, so he couldn’t start by designing mobile suits based on 00. In terms of designing Barbatos, he kept the general outline of the mobile suit in mind.

Moving on, Ebikawa was asked about his design process for mobile suits belonging to Gjallarhorn, and which were the most memorable to him. The process started by wanting to design mass produced Graze (the enemy’s mobile suits) that had a double identity. On one hand they had to be “good robots” that protected justice. On the other hand, they have masks that literally open up, giving them a threatening look. This new look was something akin to a scary monster. He played a lot on the duality of the Graze units. As for the Schwalbe Graze, they had cool characters piloting them (Gaelio Bauduin and McGillis Fareed), so he made the mobile suits look more stylish.

The next enemy mobile suit was the Graze Ein. (If you watched IBO you know that this mobile suit is special because Ein Dalton was a human whose broken body was wired to his MS.) For this mobile suit, Ebikawa took the frame of a regular Graze and extended the limits to give it a more intimidating look. The look was purposely threatening because it was a mecha belonging to the bad guys.

Fujiwara noted that in season two we see improved Graze in the form of the Reginlaze. Ebikawa admitted that he struggled to come up with the designs for the new Graze. If the original Graze were earthbound and operated on the ground, then the Reginlaze Graze were designed to be operated and piloted in space.

The Iron-Blooded Orphans section ended with a note that there was an upcoming panel for the series, and another panel featuring voice actors from the series.

A clip was then played from Mobile Suit Gundam Build Divers. Build Divers is directed by Shinya Watada. The series is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Gundam.info every Tuesday at 6AM (EST). The prologue series is available from Gundam.info. Build Divers takes a dramatic turn from the dark and heavy IBO, as it is a series that features fights in models of Gunpla Gundams. In other words, the characters in the show fight in mecha based on the model kits of Gundams, not the actual Gundams from corresponding series.

Or as Ebikawa put it, these will never fight in space, nor are they designed to. Instead, they are based on plastic model kits. Essentially you have merchandise appearing on screen—it is product placement. This line elicited a polite laugh from the audience.

Furthermore, he noted that there are lots of restrictions put on the designs by Bandai. For example, with a Gunpla you have multiple sheets containing various parts. Sometimes Bandai requests that parts from one Gunpla are switched out for another. This concept has to be visualized on paper then made to work on-screen. Other times, Bandai asks for a Gunpla to appear and doesn’t want ANYTHING to be changed.

The first mobile suit to be discussed was the Gundam 00 Diver. This diver is obviously based on the Exia from 00. When director Watada came to Ebikawa, he had a complicated request. He didn’t want to stray too much from the original 00 design, but the mech had to look “new and fresh.” So he kindly asked the designer to “come up with something.”

The next mech up was the Gundam AGE II Magnum piloted by Kyoya Kujo, which of course is based on its Gunpla. Ebikawa explained that as with the Gundam 00 Diver, the AGE II Magnum was designed, but it was uncertain which mecha would be the main one used for the series. So he put a lot of energy and creativity into both mobile suit designs. Both of these mecha were based on the foundation mobile suits which he had designed. Having his work come back to life for a new show was gratifying.

He also designed the Beargguy III, Beargguy F, and the Petit’gguy for Build Divers. The director wanted mecha designs that would be original to the show and to serve as a mascot. They were originally going to go with a different mecha as the mascot, but decided Beargguy would work because there were female pilots in this series. Ebikawa then talked about designing cute mecha, versus robotic mecha. The process involves mentally switching gears (no pun intended?), but drawing both are equally as fun.

Fujiwara thanked the designer for his time and with a short note about the upcoming Build Divers panel, the Sunrise panel was closed out with a short Q&A and a raffle.

(Pro-tip: if you’re going to have a raffle make sure you shake the bucket filled with tickets. It was amazing how many back to back numbers were called out.)

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