Interviews with Yuma Uchida (Marcos) and Fuu Hirohara (Carla): "They are in different positions from Amuro and the others, but they are living their lives to the fullest, and that's what's important in this episode. That is what is important in this episode." Interview with Yuma Uchida (Marcos) and Fuu Hirohara (Kara)

The movie "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Island of Cruz Doan" is currently being screened to rave reviews.

The 15th episode of the TV animation "Mobile Suit Gundam," the milestone of Japanese robot animation and the origin of Gundam, broadcast in 1979, "The Island of Cruculus Doan. Known as a masterpiece among fans, this episode depicts the sorrows of war through the interaction between the main character Amuro Ray and Doan, a deserter from the rival Zeon army, and is still talked about to this day.

On the other hand, it was omitted from the later film trilogy, so in a sense, it is an episode "known only to those in the know.

This time, "The Island of Cruz Doan" is being made into a movie, which has been attracting a great deal of attention even before its release.

The film will be directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, character designer and animation director of the TV animation "Mobile Suit Gundam" and creator of the manga "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin" ("THE ORIGIN"), which has sold over 10 million copies of its comics.

To commemorate the release of such a remarkable movie, Akiba Research Institute conducted interviews with the film's staff and cast. This time, we interviewed Yuma Uchida (Marcos) and Fuu Hirohara (Carla), who play the two elders among the children living on the isolated island with Doan.

What was your impression of the "Island of Cruz Doan" episode?

--I heard that this is your debut as a voice actor.

Hirohara: Yes. When I received the offer, I never thought I would be involved in a "Gundam" series, so to be honest, I was very surprised.

--How much did you already know about the "Gundam" series?

Hirohara: I knew of the series and had heard of it, but I had never really watched it. So this time, I watched all of the first "Mobile Suit Gundam" episodes from the very beginning. Before I watched the first episode, I had an image of "fighters (mobile suits, etc.) fighting" and "cool," but after actually watching the movie, my impression was different. I thought the battle scenes were cool, but I also felt that the work was filled with the tragedy of war, human emotions, and what war is like. I think my impression and attitude toward this film changed before and after seeing it.

--What was your impression of the episode "The Island of Cruz Doan"?

Hirohara: Among all the episodes, I thought "The Island of Cruz Doan" was a little different from the others. Like Doan, there were many characters that only appeared in this episode, and I thought it was a mysterious story that was cut out of a part of the story. I also felt that the trauma Doan suffered in her heart and the tragedy of war were expressed more strongly in this episode.

--How did you feel about this episode?

Uchida: "Mobile Suit Gundam" is a story about the One Year War, and from Amuro's point of view, the Federation is righteous and Zeon is evil. However, I wanted to move away from the boundaries of friend and foe and ask the question, "What is it to live? What does it mean to fight? I felt that this episode picked up on these questions. I think we were taught once again what is important in life. Marcos and the others are in a different position (from Amuro and the others), but they are living their lives to the fullest. That is what is important in this episode.

--It is also unusual to make a movie by extracting only one episode from "Mobile Suit Gundam", isn't it?

Uchida Yes, it is. This time, since I was only going to do this episode, I decided to focus on what I wanted to portray in this film rather than the image I had of "Mobile Suit Gundam" as a whole. The director and the rest of the staff were in charge of what part of "Gundam" they wanted to show, so I concentrated on "What is Marcos thinking?

--By the way, which of the "Gundam" mobile suits do you both like?

Hirohara: I thought the Gundam (RX-78-02) was the coolest. Later on, many more mobile suits came out, and they came with various accessories and more weapons, but I still thought the simple, sleek Gundam of the first generation was really cool.

Uchida: I like the Guv. I like the blue one (laughs). I like the way it looks and the horns. Ramba Ral is also cool, and I like ...... Guf.

Kara with her motherly kindness, and Marcos as an ordinary boy.

--Please tell us about your impressions of each of the characters you play and how you approached their roles.

Hirohara: I felt that Carla was a little like myself. I am the eldest of seven siblings, and although I do not have as many children as Kara, I grew up in a "second mother" position. So I thought it would be better if I could give them the same feeling I had for my younger brothers and sisters. However, the fact that Kara is a war orphan is different from mine, and I wanted to bring out the darkness that is unique to this girl.

--In that sense, it was easy for you to relate to her.

Hirohara That's right. Kara's motherly gentleness really felt right to me.

--In the TV series "The Island of Cruz Doan," there was a character named Roland who was in a similar position to Kara. Did you have her in mind as well?

Hirohara: Roland also has a gentle image, which I think is similar to that of Kara. However, in the TV series "The Island of Cruz Doan," I didn't really touch on the deeper side of Roland, so this time I wanted to express Kara's strong feelings and motherly kindness.

--In the TV series "Cruz Doorn Island," I didn't touch on the deeper side of Loran, so this time I wanted to express Kara's strong feelings and her mother's big kindness.

Uchida: Marcos is an immature boy, and I think that by seeing the character from his point of view, we can feel that "life on this island is not easy" and "how big Doan's presence is. Marcos himself wants to put his energy into helping everyone, but there is a part of him that is lacking. After Amuro arrives, he realizes that there are many things he cannot do, and his emotional support that he was doing for everyone gets a little shaken. My desire to do something about it in my own way has been spinning out of control. ...... Marcos is a very normal boy, so all he can do is try his best to live his life.

-Doan stands like a father and Kara stands like a mother, and I wonder if Marcos is also the standard by which we can see how amazing his father is.

Uchida: Marcos is of the same generation as Amuro, but while Amuro has the special power to "ride the Gundam (and pilot it well)," Marcos has no such power. The only thing he can do is farm work. He is really just an ordinary boy. Many of the characters in "Gundam" are soldiers or people who had no choice but to become soldiers, but I think that an ordinary boy like Marcos has a very significant position in the story.

He and Amuro are of the same generation, so they could have been friends (had they been born in the same place). But the reality is not like that, and Marcos has no choice but to live this way. Without the support of Doan, they probably couldn't survive on their own. In that sense, I thought that Marcos is a character that symbolizes the fact that he became this way because of what he was born with and where he was born.

I felt he was even more Amuro than in the TV version.

--Did you two record the movie together?

Uchida Yes, we recorded together.

--I know you were not used to dubbing, but how was it to dubbing with your seniors?

Hirohara: It was the first time for me to work with someone in postrecording, so I think it became a personal goal for me. (Watching Mr. Uchida) I learned how to move people's hearts and grasp their minds through playacting.

--How did you feel when you heard Amuro's voice?

Uchida: I was a little excited. I'm embarrassed to say that I was like, "It's Amuro. ......" (laughs).

--(Laughs) - you are talking to Amuro, aren't you?

Uchida Of course, I couldn't do the actual performance with that kind of feeling, so that's how I felt during the test. I am glad that I was able to act out the role after having received the recording of my voice.

--I was glad that I was able to act out the role after receiving the voice of Mr. Furuya, who had already recorded it for me.

Uchida It really is amazing; it's been more than 40 years. However, when I said earlier that I was excited, that was just my own impression. However, I felt very grateful that I was able to listen to the audio recorded earlier in the difficult situation of distributed recording.

Hirohara: I also watched the TV version before recording, so I was very impressed to hear "Amuro is here! I was very moved. And I thought it was even more Amuro than the TV version (laughs). (Laughs) I thought it was a rare opportunity that I would never have in my life to be able to talk with Amuro. So, as Kara, I tried my best to express my kindness to Amuro and to interact with him in a sincere manner.

The 3DCG mobile suits give the viewer a sense of "weight.

--What are your impressions of the completed video?

Uchida: I think the reason we were able to make a theater version of a single episode is because the episode originally had a theme, or rather, a lot of things to talk about. So, once again, I really felt the potential of "Gundam".

This time, we used 3DCG for the battle scenes and many other parts that have been tuned to the current era. I was impressed by the way you were able to tell the story of the theme while making it a worthwhile entertainment even in this day and age.

HiroharaI saw the film twice, once on the DVD I received and once at the preview screening. The power of the battle scenes was the same, and the emotional growth of each character was different from the DVD, so I would like you to see it in the theater.

It is definitely interesting for those who have been watching "Mobile Suit Gundam" since that time, and even those who have never seen the first "Gundam" will be able to feel what we wanted to convey by watching this film.

--You mentioned 3DCG, and I think there are people who are looking forward to seeing how the mobile suit battles will turn out. How do you feel about that?

Uchida: I think the use of 3DCG to depict the mobile suits is very different from the past series, and I think it is an amazing technique to create the "weight" of the Gundam in 3DCG and blend it with the sound effects used in the TV version without any sense of discomfort. 3DCG is a technology that has recently become very popular, but there have been moments when I felt a sense of discomfort when I saw something that had been hand-drawn and then converted to 3DCG. But this time, it blends in very well, and even those who like the mechanics of the previous "Gundam" series will be able to enjoy the images.

Hirohara: I think it's great that the mobile suits are moving in 3DCG. At the time, "Mobile Suit Gundam" was perceived as a 2D Gundam moving on a flat surface. But with 3DCG, you could feel the weight of the Gundam moving step by step, "z-shin, z-shin. You can feel the difference even in scenes other than battle scenes, such as when the Gundam is walking. I thought it was amazing that you could feel that from the screen.

--I thought it was amazing that you could feel the difference from the screen.

Hirohara It is totally different.

Uchida You can really feel the sound in a theater. I think the sense of weight and gravity can be best experienced in a theater.

--Do you want Marcos to fight in a mobile suit?

Uchida: I don't want him to fight in a mobile suit. Mobile suits are the symbol of battle. Marcos may have a rivalry with Amuro, but he does not want to fight. If there was a world where he didn't have to ride in a mobile suit, I don't think he would ever want to.

--Is that the case with Kara and Mr. Hirohara himself?

Hirohara: Yes, that's right. Riding a mobile suit means going into battle. If I don't have to step into that kind of world, I don't want to fight, and I don't want to ride.

Uchida Why did he abandon (Doan's) Zaku at the end of the TV version? Moreover, it was the Gundam that was discarded. I think that the Gundam is not a symbol of fighting or attacking, but rather, it is the one that breaks the chain of events, and that is why he abandoned the Zaku. The question is, "How should we live? What people do changes how they see things and how they live. How are these aspects depicted in this theater version? I would be happy if you could pay attention to that as well.