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.
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
According to Hiroomi Iketani, one of the Gundam 00 producers, planning for Gundam 00 started in 2005, under the tentative name "Next". Iketani approached Seiji Mizushima, who previously had worked in the first "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime series, for the first time at the end of 2005 to be director. Mizushima was initially reluctant about accepting the job due to his lack of knowledge regarding the Gundam series.