– tetsu-san, let’s talk about Gundam. Do you remember when you first watched Mobile Suit Gundam?(1)
[I think it was a rerun, or a re-rerun. Around fifth year of elementary school, I think? I was a bit late. In my class, they’d already been talking about Gundam for a month or two. At first, I made fun of them. “You know, it’s a childish anime,” and stuff like that (laughs). Actually, seeing the Gundam’s colours left me cold. White, or blue, or yellow. How can that be a weapon? If it was, it wouldn’t have those colours.]

– That’s putting quite a lot of thought into it, for someone in 5th grade.
[I’ve always hated that sort of thing. Until that point, I hated robot anime. I made fun of it a lot. It’s meant for kids, right? All the clanging while they piloted and stuff. And the cockpit was always where the robot’s head was. There’s absolutely no reason to put the cockpit there. It’s childish.]

– You were quite the cold kid.
[I’ve always been cold, ever since I was little. Saying things like “Yeah, right. That’s impossible.” I wanted chogokin (2) too, but I kept pointing out that it was a toy. I wanted stuff that was closer to reality. At first, I thought I’d never get into Gundam. But everyone kept going on and on about it, and I eventually heard enough that it started to sound interesting.]

– Anyway, the series is highly realistic. For example, at first Amuro(3) had to read the manual while piloting the Gundam.
[It is kinda surprising that there would be a manual, isn’t it? I said “Wow.” Until then, anime had incomprehensible villains, like monsters and ghosts, right? And the characters all seemed to be Japanese. “How come it’s full of Japanese people, except for that one random monster?” I thought, and I didn’t like it at all. That was cold of me, wasn’t it? But in Gundam, the villains were human, too. It was war. I thought it was completely different from any other anime before it. I got into it instantly. And then, running down the school hallways, there would be lots of “Jet Stream Attack, go!” going on. From me and two friends. “Jet Stream Attack!” then “Go! Ortega and Mash!” or something (laughs). Gundam has a lot of quotable lines, you know? There were lots of catch phrases, so we used them. “Gotcha!” or “You won’t get away!” and so on (laughs)]

– “That’s something I won’t accept,” too (laughs). tetsu-san, if you had a Gundam, you would want Char’s (4), right?
[Yeah, Char’s. I liked him from the start. At first, I liked his voice. Later, his way of thinking. Everything, I guess. About Char.]

– Once, when you talked with Yasuhiko Yoshikazu-san, (he was in charge of character design for Mobile Suit Gundam), you said “I look up to Char, he’s my model,” correct?
[Yeah. I said a lot to him. For instance, when I was lost, I asked myself “If Char were in this situation, what would he do?” My lucky colour is red, too. But I liked red even before I heard it was his lucky colour.]

– That still covers the “Red Comet.” You picked a colour you liked, and it was already lucky for you. Like it’s luck was already taking effect.
[I admired Char. But lately, I’m finding out that more and more musicians also like Char, and I’ve got mixed feelings. “Not you, too?” (laughs)]

– Yet after continuing to love Gundam so long, you finally have your own original figures, tetsu-san! (5)
[Isn’t it awesome? I never would have thought it possible, back in grade 5. What would my old self think of this, what with Jet Stream Attack and Ortega and Mash and all? (laughs)]

– Originally, was it Bandai that approached you about producing these figures?
[Bandai came to me. A fan of mine had talked to Bandai about me. I’ve sent out lots of postcards about it, so they can see. It’s all thanks to my fans.]

– That’s a wonderful story. How did you react when you first heard about this?
[“Hooray! Finally!” and so on. But, it took about a year to complete. That was awful. Also, it was the first time I had to work with people who weren’t in the music business, so it took time to make myself understood, because there were a lot of things that Bandai’s staff couldn’t really grasp. I get the feeling there are some things I tried to communicate to them that they still haven’t grasped (laughs).]

– That must have made the work difficult.
[Yeah, it did. I wanted them to use more matted colours. They made the Gundam’s blue parts and red parts a bit lighter, but I wanted the colours to be more muted. And make the markings silkier. But Bandai did do that. Hmm, I think I’m the only musician they’ve done a collaboration with. Just me. Linkin Park has a Gundam figure in one of their promotional videos, but Linkin Park hasn’t done a collaboration. It’s only me!]

-Interviewer : Kikuchi Keisuke
Translated by Natalie Arnold.

1. Kidou Senshi Gundam, known in English as Mobile Suit Gundam, was an anime released in 1979 by Bandai. It was so popular that it spawned many sequel series and movies, as well as numerous model kits representing the giant robots featured in each instalment. See GundamOfficial for more info. Go back.

2. Chogokin are metallic versions of model kits. Typically, the lower priced model kits will be made of plastic, but the higher priced ones are die-cast metal. These are the only ones referred to as chogokin, whereas the more common plastic model kits are called puramoderu (plastic model). Go back.

3. Amuro Ray, the main character of the series. Go back.

4. Char Aznable, Amuro’s greatest enemy. Easily recognized by his trademark mask and red uniform. He was nicknamed “Red Comet” because his mobile suit is red. Go back.

5. The figures in question can be seen here. They come with a stand marked “tetsu toys” and were sold in big-name music stores. Go back.