Hailed as the "Father of Gundam," Yoshiyuki Tomino holds an incredibly revered status in the anime industry. At 83 years old, he still hasn't announced his retirement, and while he's hinted that his time for active creation might be limited, he remains deeply invested in the "Mobile Suit Gundam" franchise.
Yesterday (July 8), Tomino made an appearance at "SPACETIDE 2025," a space industry forum held in Tokyo. What nobody expected was for him to drop a bombshell right from the start: "Humans absolutely cannot live in space." This statement directly contradicted the very cosmic visions he once depicted in "Mobile Suit Gundam" and went on to criticize current "off-world migration" aspirations, sparking immediate outrage among netizens.
▼ The news quickly shot to the top of Japan's X (formerly Twitter) trends.
During the event, Tomino engaged in a discussion with Yoshifumi Inatani, an honorary professor at JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). The host kicked things off by remarking, "Many guests here today were inspired by director Tomino's 'Mobile Suit Gundam' as children, igniting their passion for space. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them 'Tomino's Kids.'" The atmosphere was initially buzzing with excitement.
But Director Tomino immediately threw a bucket of cold water on the crowd. In a stern tone, he declared, "Those who talk about migrating to Mars simply don't understand how harsh space truly is. They can't even begin to grasp the real sense of distance involved." The room, filled with space industry professionals, was stunned into silence. He continued, "After your rocket flies to Mars, where do you get the return fuel? There are no gas stations on Mars, yet you dream of sending people? Anyone who says that is an amateur!"
In the world of Gundam, overpopulation leads a portion of humanity to relocate from Earth to "space colonies." However, Tomino revealed that he spent 20 years contemplating how to realistically portray characters' movement and lives in space, ultimately concluding: "Humans cannot survive in space." He added, "Back when I was making 'Mobile Suit Gundam,' I couldn't say a word about any of this."
This perspective, however, drew significant backlash from online users. Many argued that Yoshiyuki Tomino, never a space professional, completely misunderstands current developments and yet chose such a platform to air his views, effectively dismissing the goals of space exploration. This led to accusations of "non-experts guiding experts" or "armchair theorizing."
For an anime director to pass judgment on the future of space exploration certainly comes across as unprofessional. Of course, this isn't the first time Tomino has faced scrutiny for commenting on current affairs, and perhaps this was an outcome the organizers hadn't anticipated when they invited him.
via： 產經新聞