Gundam Reconguista in G

Plot summary

In Regild Century 1014, 1,014 years after the end of the Universal Century, a young member of the Capital Guard named Bellri Zenam (ベルリ・ゼナム, Beruri Zenamu), charged with protecting the orbital elevator Capital Tower, encounters and helps capture a highly advanced mobile suit, the G-Self and its pilot, Aida Surgan (アイーダ・スルガン, Aida Surugan), while defending the tower from space pirates called the Pirate Corps. Feeling a connection with both the G-Self and its pilot, Bellri is able to control the mobile suit, operable only by a select few, subsequently becoming involved in a plot with consequences for the Regild Century.

Capital Army / Capital Guard / Capital Territory

Amerian Army / Pirate Corps

Towasanga

Venus Globe

G-IT Laboratory

Background

The series began development prior to 2009, when Yoshiyuki Tomino approached character designer Kenichi Yoshida to perform preliminary design work.

The announcement was first publicized in September 2011 under the codename G-Reco. Previously, in November 2010, Tomino had previewed an unfinished novel in the 100th issue of Gundam Ace called Hajimetai Capital G no Monogatari (はじめたいキャピタルGの物語), which revolved around a space elevator with similar characters and settings. The scenario for the show was completed and the anime began full production in 2012.

Reconguista in G was officially unveiled at the Gundam 35th Anniversary event on March 20, 2014. During the unveiling, Tomino explained the "G" stands for "Gundam", but primarily means "ground". He also explained the word "reconguista" is based on the Spanish word reconquista; however, the Japanese audience prefers a voiced "g" in the title which necessitated the change.

In an official livestream occurred after the anime's airing, Tomino stated that the timeline of the series is set 500 years after the events of Turn A Gundam (while confirming that it takes place 1,000 years after UC), to the surprise of producer Naohiro Ogata and others who were with him at the time. This directly contradicted what most published material claim, as Turn A Gundam had been said to take place thousands of years after UC, and not 500 years. The presence of the Moonlight Butterfly in was cited by Tomino as evidence of the revised timeline.

Staff

Gundam Reconguista in G is Yoshiyuki Tomino's first major original animated work since The Wings of Rean in 2004, though he had directed a CGI short for Gundam's 30th anniversary in 2009 called Ring of Gundam. The character designs of the series are by Kenichi Yoshida, who had his first character designs credit in Tomino's Overman King Gainer. The mechanical designs are by Akira Yasuda, who previously worked with Tomino as character designer in Turn A Gundam and mecha designer in Overman King Gainer, Kimitoshi Yamane, who also worked with Tomino in Overman King Gainer, and Ippei Gyōbu, an advertising illustrator who was working on his first mechanical designs. Yuugo Kanno is the composer of the music.

Short film

A short film with 3D CGI mecha scenes was released on May 21, 2015, featuring a battle between G-Self and G-Arcane, and the RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 03 Phenex from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. The film was released at Gundam Front Tokyo's Wall-G Theater in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan.

Release

The first three episodes were compiled for preview screenings in limited Japanese theaters starting August 23, 2014. This film was made available on the Japanese streaming website Docomo Anime Store in September 2014. The series started broadcast in the Animeism block on October 2, 2014 with a one-hour special of the first two episodes.

Sunrise will be releasing the series on home video (via Right Stuf Inc.) in 2016 while Anime Limited acquired the rights to release the series in Europe.

Music

The first opening theme is "BLAZING" by Garnidelia, and the first ending theme is "G no Senkō" by Daisuke Hasegawa.

The second opening theme is "Magic of Futari (ふたりのまほう)" by May J. While the ending theme remains the same.

Manga adaptation

A manga adaptation of the show by Tamon Ōta is serialized in Gundam Ace magazine.

Video games

In Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Force PlayStation Vita game, the G-Self is a playable unit. The Mack Knife was later included as DLC. Both of the units also appear on the Arcade Game Mobile Suit Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost ON and later supplant by the G-Arcane with the full dress.

Reception

The reaction to the series was mixed. Toshio Okada, a co-founder and former president of Gainax, has voiced concerns regarding the show's comprehensibility. He stated that "Ordinary people watch this and don't know what's happening," and "It's fine to make it for today's kids, but who does he think kids today are? Who does he think the kids that watch Yo-kai Watch are?" Lauren Orsini of Anime News Network criticized it in her review of the Gundam series as a whole. Stating "The storytelling is so confusing, it may take the entire series for you to figure out what's going" she recommended against watching it entirely. Meanwhile, Japanese social critic and editor-in-chief of the PLANETS magazine, Uno Tsunehiro, gave it a highly positive critical response, stating that "[It is] in my humble opinion, this disorientation is somewhat intended... What we see here may be an intense message that goes against the times." He went on to state that it reflects the dilemmas that humanity faced in the 20th century, and how technology and digital age culture has made us lose our ability to perceive and understand these detached realities. Likewise, writer Gen Urobuchi wrote a highly positive critical response to it, stating "If there are infinite possibilities in writing, is it possible to write a story about the potential danger of stories? A story that renounces stories? Yes it is. Reconguista of G did it", and "When I saw the end credits I was just moved, and exlaimed " they did it!". I had been worried about the limits of storytelling, and was just thankful for this slap from a veteran creator to me. Reconguista of G made me genki."

In April 2015, Tomino responding to criticisms offered an apology to those who did not comprehend the story, stating "If I was told that it wasn't understandable because I was bad, all I could say is, 'I'm sorry,'".

Commercially the series was a success. The limited edition Blu-ray debuted 15th on the Oricon chart, with 3,864 units sold during the first week. The second volume of the Blu-ray debuted 4th on the Oricon chart, with 7,322 units sold in the first week. According to the Oricon chart, Gundam Reconguista in G ranked as the 22nd best selling anime of 2015 with 76,419 units sold in total.