New York Convention Weekend - Koji Sugara and Atsushi
Takeuchi
Since giant robots are among the most appealing characters in science
fiction anime, mecha designers Koji Sugara and Atsushi Takeuchi are very
important people. THe fantastic machines they draw sell posters and toys,
but the designs also put pressure on the designers. Sugara and Takeuchi
must produce fictional machines which look impressive, can be built in
three dimensions and animated in two dimensions. In the days of Iron Man
No. 28, mecha were round and tubby, but they've been sleek and angular
in the post-Gundam era (and both designers pay homage to the designer of
the original Gundam mechas). "That's more for the merchandising reasons,"
Sugara said. "It makes the toy companies sell more toys if they are more
angular - that's why the shapes are changing. Added Takeuchi, "It's because
before, mechas were just mechas. Now the purpose of the mechas is more
diversified. It could be a weapon or a truck - that's why the designs are
changing. It accommodates those purposes."
Sugara, who designed mecha for Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vision of
Escaflowne, also is a human character designer. "Mecha designs are easy.
The (human) characters are considered more important than mecha designs
because they're shown more often on screen than the mechas, so I put more
effort into the human characters than I would for the mechas". Sugara got
to recently exercise his human design skills when he created the characters
for a forthcoming boxing anime. Was he worried about Japanese viewers comparing
the boxing show to the classic "Joe" series? "We were worried that everyone
would compare it to that series, but it's not a copy or a clone or similar
to that series."
While animated mecha look complex, Takeuchi said he removes detail
from his designs so they can be animated. "If you were to design something
from an existing real life machine, a live action film could portray it
more vividly. Most animated mechas are simplified, and I'm designing mechas
for animation, not for live action. You have to use your imagination to
create a new mecha. I get inspiration from everything I see when I design
vehicles. I look at other things from animals to landscapes. I store it
in my brain and I retrieve that to make that vehicle."
