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
Despite initial low ratings that caused the series' cancellation, the popularity of "Gundam" saw a boost from the introduction of Bandai's Gunpla models in 1980 and from reruns and the theatrical release of the anime, leading to the creation of a prolific and lucrative media and toy franchise. The series is famous for revolutionizing the giant robot genre due to the handling of mobile suits as weapons of war as well as the portrayal of their pilots as ordinary soldiers, as opposed to the previous style of portraying hero pilots and their giant super hero robots.