Director Kazuya Tsurumaki (Gunbuster 2, FLCL) is certainly no stranger to anime fans. With a body of work spanning decades from TV to OVAs to feature films, his directorial works are especially beloved by fans all around the world for their unique and unmistakably youthful energy, as well as for having a strong and stylish sense of “cool”. His most recent work, Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, is currently streaming on Prime Video. GQuuuuuuX is the latest entry to the Mobile Suit Gundam series, a cultural giant which just celebrated its 45th anniversary last year.
KAORI Nusantara had the rare opportunity talk with director Tsurumaki on his work for GQuuuuuuX, a “crossing of dreams” between studio khara (Rebuild of Evangelion) and SUNRISE (Mobile Suit Gundam). What kind of in-universe secrets does he have to share, what do the show’s “Clan Battles” have in common with downhill street racing, and why does he believe that mecha anime will return to the forefront of Japanese animation one day? Interview as follows:
Kazuya Tsurumaki
Animation film director and animator. Born in 1966, Niigata Prefecture. Currently works at “khara”. After debuting as an animator at Studio Giants, he moved to GAINAX. He participated as a key animator in the TV series The Secret of Blue Water and directed The Nadia Extra Show, a special featurette included in the laserdisc box set of The Secret of Blue Water. Afterward, he made his directorial debut with New Gunbuster Science Class, a special featurette included in the Gunbuster laserdisc box set. In the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion, Tsurumaki contributed as assistant director and was involved in design and setting development. His first fully original works as a director were the OVAs FLCL and Gunbuster 2, which gained a large following due to their unique characters and worlds. He participated as director, storyboard artist, and character designer in the web animation series Japan Anima(tor)’s Exhibition (khara/Dwango) and also directed The Dragon Dentist, which aired on NHK BS Premium in February 2017. Tsurumaki continued his role as a director for the Rebuild of Evangelion series, including the latest installment, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021), while also contributing to the storyboard and design work.
About Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX
Synopsis
Amate Yuzuriha, a high school girl who lives a peaceful life in a space colony floating in space, meets Nyaan, a refugee girl, and gets caught up in the illegal mobile suit dueling competition ‘Clan Battle.’ Using the entry name ‘MACHU’ Amate pilots a GQuuuuuuX and throws herself into fierce battles every day. At the same time, an unidentified Mobile Suit ‘Gundam,’ pursued by both the space army and the police, and its pilot, a boy named Shuuji, appears before her. And the world is about to enter a new era.
Interview
The theatrical version and episode 2 featured the music of 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam a.k.a. “First Gundam” by composer Takeo Watanabe. How has the music of “First Gundam” influenced you for GQuuuuuuX?
Actually, the music for the One Year War section was chosen by Hideaki Anno. Even as a director, he’s very particular with his music choices. Though he’s credited as the scriptwriter for the theatrical version, he himself proposed to be the one to choose the music for the One Year War scenes.
Did you choose the music for the U.C.0085 part?
Yes, I chose the music for the U.C.0085 part. I wanted to make sure the music didn’t sound dated and old, as the soundtrack for the U.C.0079 parts is music from 40 years ago used as is, and has a nostalgic feel. For the U.C.0085 part, I wanted to give it a modern and contemporary feel.
It seems that you intentionally chose to contrast between the two eras of the setting. Did you also take into account how the real world has changed since “First Gundam” aired in 1979 and now? For example, the addition of smartphones and live streaming, not to mention something similar to Wikipedia.
In the world of GQuuuuuuX, even in the time of U.C.0079, even though it was not shown, I believe smartphones, streaming, and something like Wikipedia already existed. It’s there, just not depicted in the movie. It’s not a case that all of these things came out in the five or so years after U.C.0079 and just appeared all of a sudden.
Next page: What do Clan Battles have in common with street racing?
