Mobile Fighter G Gundam
"Mobile Fighter G Gundam" was produced by Sunrise in association with advertising agencies Sotsu and Dentsu, and toy company Bandai. The series was created to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the "Gundam" franchise, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979. "G Gundam" was directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, known for his work on the "Giant Robo" and "Getter Robo Armageddon" original video animations (OVAs). "G Gundam" was chiefly written and supervised by Fuyunori Gobu, a veteran screenwriter for various Sunrise properties such as "Shippū! Iron Leaguer" and "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar". Many of the principal production crew members for "G Gundam" were carried over the previous season's "Mobile Suit Victory Gundam", including character designer Hiroshi Ōsaka and mechanical designers Kunio Okawara and Hajime Katoki. Manga artist Kazuhiko Shimamoto collaborated on the show's character designs. Kimitoshi Yamane acted as a back-up mechanical designer and has since worked on Sunrise's acclaimed series "Cowboy Bebop" and "The Vision of Escaflowne". Hirotoshi Sano, previously credited for "Tekkaman Blade", was responsible for directing the mechanical animation in "G Gundam", but also produced much of show's promotional artwork seen on home media covers. The musical score for "G Gundam" was composed by Kohei Tanaka. The opening theme song "Flying in the Sky" performed by Hitofumi Ushima and the closing theme by Etsuko Sai are played for the first 25 episodes of the series. The opening theme "Trust You Forever" by Ushima and the closing theme by Takehide Inoue are played for the remaining episodes.
Gundam Reconguista in G
The reaction to the series was mixed. Toshio Okada, a co-founder and former president of Gainax, has voiced concerns regarding the show's comprehensibility. He stated that "Ordinary people watch this and don't know what's happening," and "It's fine to make it for today's kids, but who does he think kids today are? Who does he think the kids that watch "Yo-kai Watch" are?" Lauren Orsini of Anime News Network criticized it in her review of the Gundam series as a whole. Stating "The storytelling is so confusing, it may take the entire series for you to figure out what's going on." She recommended against watching it entirely. Meanwhile, Japanese social critic and editor-in-chief of the "PLANETS" magazine, Uno Tsunehiro, gave it a highly positive critical response, stating that "[It is] in my humble opinion, this disorientation is somewhat intended... What we see here may be an intense message that goes against the times." He went on to state that it reflects the dilemmas that humanity faced in the 20th century, and how technology and digital age culture has made us lose our ability to perceive and understand these detached realities. Likewise, writer Gen Urobuchi wrote a highly positive critical response to it, stating "If there are infinite possibilities in writing, is it possible to write a story about the potential danger of stories? A story that renounces stories? Yes it is. Reconguista of G did it", and "When I saw the end credits I was just moved, and exclaimed " they did it!". I had been worried about the limits of storytelling, and was just thankful for this slap from a veteran creator to me. Reconguista of G made me genki."