Gundam, Voltes V may get live-action movie as mangaka Tomino goes Hollywood

The Escapist and Anime News Network report that Yoshiyuki Tomino, the man behind the immensely popular Gundam anime and manga franchise, will work with Hollywood special effects studio Legacy Effects on a new film project. Tomino will be collaborating with the Hollywood studio through his production company, Ookaze no Okorusama.

_{A static full-size Gundam RX-78 on display in Japan in 2010. (Source)}
 

Shining finger (of creativity)!

 

A prolific mangaka (cartoonist), Tomino left an indelible mark on the mecha anime genre thanks to his futuristic Gundam series, which began with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979. 

 

Often described as a "space opera anime," the various entries in the Gundam franchise feature gigantic, bipedal, human-piloted robots called "Mobile Suits".

The name "Gundam" was supposedly intended to be a portmanteau of the words "gun" - the type of weaponry that the Mobile Suits are usually equipped with - and "freedom." At the last minute, however, Tomino allegedly changed the second syllable to "dam," comparing the intense firepower of the mechs to a hydroelectric dam capable of holding back floods.

 

Voltes V and other mechs

 

Tomino is also known for works such as Garzey’s Wing, Brain Powered, Turn A Gundam, Overman King Gainer, and The Wings of Rean.

 

Fans of Voltes V – the second part of the Romantic Robot anime trilogy that enjoyed tremendous levels of popularity and success here in the Philippines – might be interested to know that Tomino also served as its producer in 1977.

 

Furthermore, Tomino has been working with Bandai on an upcoming anime, codenamed “G-Reko,” just in time for the 35th anniversary of the Gundam franchise.

Interestingly, Tomino confirmed in an earlier interview that the “G” in the title stood for “gravity,” and that he opted to do away with the word “Gundam” because he felt it was “a total nuisance when trying to develop a new kind of robot story."

 

 

'We’re jumping on to White Base!'

 

The other half of the partnership, Legacy Effects, has worked on the hit films Avatar, The Avengers, The Hunger Games, Iron Man 3, and Pacific Rim. Originally named Stan Winston Studio after its founder (who had lent his special effects expertise to such movies as Aliens, Terminator, and Jurassic Park), the company was renamed after Winston died in 2008.

 

While the specific details of his first film project with Legacy Effects have yet to be revealed, Tomino is supposedly planning to create “movies based on Japanese manga and animation from Hollywood to the world.”

 

Fans and online news sites are speculating - or hoping - that it would be a live-action adaptation of either a particular Gundam series or one of the other anime he had previously worked on.

 

The official announcement is scheduled to be made on January 21.—TJD, GMA News