Yoshiyuki Tomino

Tomino began working at Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Production studio in 1963, working as a storyboard artist for series that are now famous around the world, including Astro Boy. He then moved to the prestigious  Sunrise animation studio where he directed the key series of the 80s and 90s. One of the projects that has made him internationally known is Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) which gave birth to the Real Robot genre, produced by the Sunrise creative team, and which appeared under the collective name of Hajime Yatate.  This series completely changed the narrative told in the Mecha genre and also began the Real Robot genre: Humanity creates colonies in outer space, enemies are not demons or evil aliens, but humans engaged in political and power struggles who have developed the technology able to build mobile suits (humanoid fighting vehicles) equipped with deadly weapons. The series was released in Japan in ‘79 and in 1980 in Italy, causing great surprise due to its innovative nature, and meeting with resounding success over the years with millions of fans. The creative universe of Gundam continues to this day, with different series, feature films and special projects that sometimes see Tomino directly involved in directing or supervising. Naohiro Ogata, producer of the Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt series, will also speak at Romics as a special guest. Gundam has become a solid icon of the collective imagination, featuring in the  Gunpla series of collectible models that are sought after by fans around the world. In Japan, a full-scale version of the Gundam RX78-2 has even been built which is now located on the island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay where a museum dedicated to the character also stands. In his career, Tomino has directed numerous series, including Zambot 3, the beloved Daitarn 3 and other series in the Gundam universe. Tomino wrote the lyrics to many of the theme songs for the series, which is his way of remaining close to his public from the beginning to the end of the adventure. The Japanese author creates often dramatic, complex stories that place in a science fiction setting the eternal struggle between good and evil, two extremes that balance each other with difficulty as often happens in real life and in every age.