Yoshiyuki Tomino
In 1979, Tomino directed and wrote "Mobile Suit Gundam", which was highly influential in transforming the Super Robot mecha genre into the Real Robot genre. Mark Simmons discusses the impact of "Gundam" in his book, "Gundam Official Guide":
In an interview published in "Animerica" magazine, Tomino discusses what he was trying to accomplish with "Mobile Suit Gundam":
Although the last quarter of the show's original script was canceled and it had to be completed in 43 episodes, its popularity grew after three compilation movies were released in 1981 and 1982. "Mobile Suit Gundam" was followed by numerous sequels, spin-offs and merchandising franchises, becoming one of the longest-running and most influential, popular anime series in history, being chosen as No. 1 on TV Asahi's "Top 100 Anime" listing in 2005.
Kunihiro Abe
Abe was known for his mechanical animation, in particular his animation for various projects in Sunrise's Gundam franchise, including Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Operation Meteor, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed C.E.73: Stargazer, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Mobile Suit Gundam UC, Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam: Reconguista in G, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt. He was also a notable animator in various AIC projects, such as Bubblegum Crisis, Dangaioh, Vampire Princess Miyu, Dragon Century, Megazone 23 Part III, Sol Bianca, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, Armitage III, El Hazard - The Magnificent World, and Blue Gender, among numerous other credits.