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
Bandai, "Gundam" primary licensee, produces a variety of products. Other companies produce unofficial merchandise, such as toys, models and T-shirts. Products include Mobile Suit In Action (MSiA) action figures and Gundam model kits in several scales and design complexities. Each series generally has its own set of products, MSiA and model lines such as Master Grade and High Grade Universal Century may extend across series. The most popular action-figure line has been the Gundam Fix series, which includes the mecha in the animated series, manga and novels and accessories to create an updated version. In addition to Master Grade and High Grade Gundams, Bandai released a 30th-anniversary series of Gundam models in 2010. The Real Grade (RG) Gundam series combined the Master Grade's detailed inner structure with additional colour separation, making the 1:144-scale series complex in design and compact in size. After the introduction of the RG Gundam series, Bandai released the Metal Build series in March 2011 (beginning with the 00 Gundam).