#yoshiyuki tomino

[bozemane]

[omercifulheaves]

Space Runaway Ideon (1982)

[burgers-in-anime]

The lack of burgers in Witch from Mercury is giving credence to my theory that burgers are not so much a calling card for Gundam as they are a calling card for Yoshiyuki Tomino. Stay with me here.

Burgers most prominently feature in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, in Zeta Gundam and in Gundam ZZ. Each of them have multiple episodes with burgers, and in many cases, those burgers are explicitly addressed — not incidental details. Zeta Gundam, famously, has Bright chowing down on a burger while Emma drops some psychoanalysis of Kamille on him, but it also has Bright being told off for eating a burger on the bridge. Burgers are all over ZZ, including a scene where Judau hands them out to the crew from a basket. And MSG has a burger as Sleggar Law's death flag, but also an entire episode dedicated to Bright trying to procure salt to make the ship's burgers taste better — both of which were iconic enough to become meals in the Gundam cafe.

And one thing these three shows have in common is that they were all written and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Four examples of burgers in early Gundam works. The top two are from MSG; the bottom two are (L-R) Zeta and ZZ

Tomino doesn't feature them as prominently in other works, but they do still appear. For example, Victory Gundam still includes a scene of characters eating burgers, and Gundam F91 has a burger on a sign in the background. That second example doesn't seem like much until you remember that F91 was originally planned as a full TV series before being compressed into a movie, and has little opportunity for characters to have downtime — so that one appears at all feels very intentional.

You can also see burgers on display in another Tomino work from the period, Space Runaway Ideon.

L-R: Victory Gundam, Gundam F91, Space Runaway Ideon

Meanwhile, when Tomino was kicked off the franchise, the burgers went with him. In G Gundam, Domon is offered a pizza, and there is no sign of burgers. In Unicorn, Banagher takes Mineva to get some fast food, but they visit a hot dog stand. In Gundam Hathaway, Hathaway and friends get fried chicken. And in Witch from Mercury, the only food on display — aside from the tomatoes — is cafeteria grub and, uh, slabs of ham.

Really, the only instances I know of burgers appearing in a non-Tomino Gundam are in Wing, and all that has is a burger on a billboard and a Wacdonald's sign — both blink-and-you'll-miss-it background details. While on the surface, this may seem comparable to F91, it really isn't: when you have forty-nine episodes and a movie to work with, you can do a lot more than a sign.

Gundam characters pointedly eating something other than a burger

And what happened when Tomino returned to the franchise with Reconguista in G?

The burgers came back too!

Reconguista in G

There is a single exception here: War in the Pocket, not directed by Tomino, does prominently feature burgers (and I don't mean the meme). But that, itself, may be telling. War in the Pocket was the first Gundam series to be made without Tomino's involvement; were the creative leads perhaps inspired to add a gratuitous burger scene to evoke the spirit of Tomino?

All that said, the reason this is still only a theory, and not a master's thesis, is that I don't have all the data yet. I haven't seen every post-Tomino Gundam series (though, frankly, I have no real drive to see what I've missed), and the only one of Tomino's non-Gundam works I've seen is the aforementioned Ideon. If burgers show up in Xabungle, L-Gaim or King Gainer… then I'll really know I've cracked the code.

[roseillith]

TURN A GUNDAM #50 THE GOLDEN AUTUMN (2000)

Directed By: YOSHIYUKI TOMINO

[selketshaula]

Char Aznable and Zeong (Kido Senshi Gundam) by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

[lagrange-one]

Ｇｕｎｄａｍ　７ Ｅ－４２１

[slowlysointernet]

Here's 'Char' not thinking or caring about his sister🙄.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (Episode 8):

Mobile Suit Zeta Define(Chapter 15);

Mobile Suit Z-Gundam Game:

Illustration by Hiroyuki Kitazume:

Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack Beltorchika's Children:

Mobile Suit Gundam High-Streamer:

If you have any media literacy you would have noticed that these moments are put in deliberately and not by accident. 'Char' doesn't have a photo in his keep of anyone else other than his sister. Why do you think that is?

'Char' seldom mentions either of his parents, yet their shadows loom over him and just because a character doesn't outright state something to the audience in an obvious way doesn't mean that said character doesn't care about X,Y and Z.

If Gundam fans actually read/ watched the source material with their eyes and brains open and not with their own narcissistic self projections or endless memes then we wouldn't have this problem of media literacy being so dogshit.

[rhade-zapan]

Space Runaway Ideon / The Ideon: A Contact ~ Yoshiyuki Tomino ~ 1982

Follow Rhade-Zapan for more visual treats

[drawingquest21]

[bozemane]

[fostersffff]

[mikyapixie]

Gundam × Miku Collab Project Announced!!!

[selketshaula]

Muteki Kyojin Daitarn 3 by Kunio Okawara

[c0simo9]

Sirbine from Aura Battler Dunbine

[sundanceritz]

Space Runaway Ideon (1980)