{"id":74177,"date":"2026-10-23T19:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T10:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=74177"},"modified":"2026-10-23T19:11:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T10:11:17","slug":"gundams-longevity-comes-from-embracing-change-over-fundamentalism-says-bandai-namco-filmworks-chairman-as-long-as-its-entertaining-why-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/gundams-longevity-comes-from-embracing-change-over-fundamentalism-says-bandai-namco-filmworks-chairman-as-long-as-its-entertaining-why-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Gundam&#8217;s longevity comes from embracing change over &#8220;fundamentalism,&#8221; says Bandai Namco Filmworks chairman. &#8220;As long as it&#8217;s entertaining, why not?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Makoto Asanuma, chairman and CEO of Bandai Namco Filmworks, recently discussed the company&#8217;s numerous popular IPs in a three-way discussion with MIXI president Hiroki Kimura (via <a href=\"https:\/\/mediamixi.jp\/column\/14863\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MEDIAMIXI<\/a>). Notably, Asanuma talked about the longevity of the <strong>Gundam<\/strong> series, which is seeing record-high revenue even as it approaches its 50-year anniversary in 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When asked about the secret behind Gundam&#8217;s long-term success, Asanuma suggests it&#8217;s important for a franchise to have a culture that embraces different approaches. &#8220;The original Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ were all made by largely the same core team,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Typically, things would have continued that way. However, all sorts of different creators started getting involved, leading to new works like Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, which approach Gundam from a completely different angle than before.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asanuma goes on to explain that taking a &#8220;fundamentalist&#8221; approach and insisting that a series must be a certain way can lead to the content gradually exhausting itself. He cites Mobile Fighter G Gundam as an example, which suddenly put a martial-arts-focused spin on the mecha franchise. &#8220;It left fans of the original Mobile Suit Gundam wondering, &#8216;Where are they going with this?&#8217;, and I feel that this attitude of &#8216;Well, as long as it&#8217;s entertaining, why not?&#8217; is what matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1302\" height=\"732\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1302px) 100vw, 1302px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-001.jpg 1302w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-001-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-001-767x431.jpg 767w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MIXI&#8217;s Kimura chimed in to mention Turn A Gundam, which once again shook things up with a &#8220;mustached&#8221; Gundam and a pastoral setting, created by original series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino after many years of absence. Commenting on the anime&#8217;s reception, Asanuma says this was another title where at first, fans had no idea what was happening and weren&#8217;t sure how to react, only for the anime to later be re-evaluated by many as one of the series&#8217; best entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at Gundam&#8217;s most recent offerings, this pattern seems to be continuing. Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX \u2013 the 2025 anime created through a collaboration between Bandai Namco Filmworks and Evangelion Studio Khara \u2013 likewise saw conflicted reactions due to the liberties it took with the source material. Nonetheless, the anime ended up <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/despite-mixed-reactions-gundam-gquuuuuux-was-a-huge-commercial-success-according-to-bandai-namco\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contributing to one of Gundam&#8217;s most successful years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1529\" height=\"863\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1529px) 100vw, 1529px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-002.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-002.jpg 1529w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-002-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261023-74177-002-767x433.jpg 767w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Going forward, Gundam will receive a brand-new entry led by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama. Titled Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-Zero, the anime has already garnered a dose of skepticism even before its airing, due to the <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/the-elements-a-gundam-needs-in-order-to-be-a-gundam-interview-with-mobile-suit-gundam-rg-xarx-zero-director-kenji-kamiyama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">premise centering on an alien threat<\/a> \u2013 an uncommon theme for the series. It remains to be seen whether this entry will dispel fans&#8217; reservations like its predecessors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/mobile-suit-gundam-original-creator-on-modeling-the-story-after-the-american-civil-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mobile Suit Gundam original creator on\u00a0modeling the story after the American Civil War\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/gundam-seed-freedom-zero-director-says-the-upcoming-film-brings-late-wife-and-seed-writer-chiaki-morosawas-final-screenplay-to-life-after-nearly-being-shelved\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Gundam SEED FREEDOM ZERO director says the upcoming film brings late wife and SEED writer Chiaki Morosawa\u2019s final screenplay to life after nearly being shelved<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bandai Namco Filmworks chairman and CEO Makoto Asanuma recently talked about the Gundam series&#8217; enduring success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":74181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[73,17],"class_list":["post-74177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anime","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gundam&#039;s longevity comes from embracing change over &quot;fundamentalism,&quot; says Bandai Namco Filmworks chairman. &quot;As long as it&#039;s entertaining, why not?&quot; - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/gundams-longevity-comes-from-embracing-change-over-fundamentalism-says-bandai-namco-filmworks-chairman-as-long-as-its-entertaining-why-not\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gundam&#039;s longevity comes from embracing change over &quot;fundamentalism,&quot; 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She grew up playing Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein with her dad, and is now enamored with obscure Japanese video games and internet culture. Currently devoted to growing Automaton West to the size of its Japanese sister-site, while making sure to keep news concise and developer stories deep and stimulating.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/amber-vjestica\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74177"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74187,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74177\/revisions\/74187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}