Kazumi Fujita appreciation thread

>>15300430
That Makoto Kobayashi interview with Forbes a while back implied that Bandai's producers fucked him over mid-production during Zeta Gundam, and he never returned to the Gundam franchise since until a handful of video game illustrations in the 90s.

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What a damn shame, this guy could really make some great mechanical designs. Look at this sex machine.

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Fucking Bandai

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>we live in a timeline where Katoki gets more exposure than Fujita

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>>15300475

I remember that interview. And while I didn't say anything in the thread, that comment about him bailing production mid-way strikes me as really strange because he had the most privilege of the design team, his Gundam being selected as the big MK-II upgrade, being able to re-draw Kobayashi's and Nagano's designs to make things slightly more uniform and just having the most submissions overall used in the show.

Not that I'm questioning Kobayashi's claim or anything, but wow. Just how chaotic could such a process get for someone to give up on such a major project?

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It's just not fair.

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>>15300512
Zeta Gundam's entire production was a giant shitshow that fucked everyone over. Not a single person was left unscathed; animators, designers, the director, the producers, etc.

To this day Bandai is still backpedaling about how truly terrible the production process was.

>>15300520
Man, what happened?

>>15300522
No one knows for sure. There are only bits and snippets like that pic and various interviews. Bandai treats the whole situation nowadays like how the Japanese government treats the Rape of Nanking: don't talk about it and pretend it ever existed.

Have you ever noticed how little material there is on the production of Zeta Gundam? Believe me, we're never going to get a Gundam Sousi of that anytime soon.

But you have to understand, there was a reason why Tomino wanted to kill everyone at the end of Zeta.

>>15300494

If they where to make the XS a P-Bandai alternative to the upcoming HMR VF-2SS, I'd totally buy it.

>>15300520

Wait, Nagano was fired from Zeta too? Why would Bandai hire him back for ZZ and CCA if they didn't like his designs the first time...?

>>15300536
>Wait, Nagano was fired from Zeta too? Why would Bandai hire him back for ZZ and CCA if they didn't like his designs the first time...?

Designers are freelancers, they don't actually get "fired", just kicked off the project.

In Nagano's case, that quote didn't actually say that he got fired, but the producers were trying their best to get him to quit. He was supposed to be the lead designer for Zeta because it followed up on his work with Tomino after L-Gaim and the two had a fairly good relationship.

Unfortunately, he got severely demoted because his designs weren't "Gundam" enough for them, and to a certain extent they were right. Gunota at the time of Zeta's airing hated the Rick Dias so much that Nagano almost got shafted right then and there.

Unfortunately, Nagano really got the boot after ZZ and CCA. Most of his ZZ designs were rejected, his non-mecha design credits on things like production design were revoked, and in CCA Bandai eliminated all traces of his work.

And it was not just him. Makoto Kobayashi is still very angry about how Bandai treated him and his fellow designers- just look through his Twitter. Fujita's story speaks for itself.

>>15300520
>>15300526
>>15300548

>Bandai

Bandai didn't own Sunrise in the 80s and Bandai doesn't currently own Sunrise either (they are sister companies because of the restructuring).

Only ones tweaking anything is Sunrise.

>>15300548
>Gunota at the time of Zeta's airing hated the Rick Dias
But why?

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That's weird... My posts don't seem to be bumping the thread anymore. Oh well, on with the image dump.

>>15300430
>Just where the hell did this guy go anyway?
He adopted a nome de plume and began work on hentai.

>>15301828
>But why?

Jesus fucking christ man, if you knew how the gundam fandom is (west or east it doesn't fucking matter) you wouldn't even be asking the question in the first place.
It's no secret why the UC timeline is so creatively bankrupt.

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>>15302156

... But the Rick Dias is basically just a blockier looking Rick Dom. It makes no sense at all that it would be so harshly received.

>>15301775
Bandai was still the sponsor and Sunrise had to listen to their demands to even get funding for the show.

>>15302169
Nips hated it for being a "bastardized Dom".

They loved the Hi-Zack back then though.

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>>15300548
>hating the rick dias

>>15302272
The HiZack is just a F type with binders on its back and a recolor. The fuck?

>>15302305
I mean, it's just another Zaku. Of course they liked it.

Strangely enough Rick Dias never popped up in Unicorn. I guess the old Gundam Otaku still hate it.

>>15300548
>in CCA Bandai eliminated all traces of his work.
There is no way that Sazabi, Geara Doga and Jagd Doga weren't based on his concepts. I'd bet good money that it's a similar situation to Hyaku-Shiki.

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>>15302328
>Strangely enough Rick Dias never popped up in Unicorn. I guess the old Gundam Otaku still hate it.

... Okay having just realized this, you've kinda blown my mind there. That unusual absence of one of the best MP models of the Gryps conflict could definitely be explained by its reception.

Not to mention, being harshly demoted to minor grunt status in ZZ...

>>15302270
No that's not how it works. This board had this weird overexgerated idea of how much control Bandai has while ignoring the other production commitee members that would also need to sign off.

>>15302376
Not him Bandai BOUGHT all of Sunrise back in the early 90s and you still don't think they had any control over them to begin with?

>>15300509
I actually have the plastic model of this.

It's fucking awesome.

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>>15302678

Hyper Zeta fusion custom when?! Don't let us down man!

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I love Fujita's Quo Vadis design, over-looked and forgotten by most

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According to a guy on Deviant Art who digitally colors old mecha concept art, this is a Fujita design that was made for Zeta Gundam but never showed up in the series.

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>>15302764

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>>15302764

Here's a size upgrade for ya!

Fujita did everything for Gaogaigar Final then disappeared

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>>15302796

Top left design of the bottom left page was Fujita perfection and would have been a slightly more satisfying end to his career had it been used in the show.

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>>15300430
>Just where the hell did this guy go anyway?
He became a mangaka and drew scooters.

>>15302416
Again zeta was during the 80s and bandai and sunrise are now sister companies because of corporate restructuring. The timeline doesnt match to assume that Bandai had control

>>15300548

Makoto Kobayashi is a nice guy on twitter, ping him with a compliment about the Baund Doc or similar and he usually engages pretty quickly!

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>>15302710

>>15302044
if you're the OP, well OP posts don't bump threads

>>15302348
>Not to mention, being harshly demoted to minor grunt status in ZZ...
I kinda figured that had to do more than anything due to it being an early Gryps War design and ZZ being an extreme arms race between all sides

so besides a large chunk of the designs in Zeta and Tyrant Sword of Neofalia, any other notable Gundam works and designs that he did?

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>>15306985

ATMOS and Gundam Aquarius are the last original designs he made for the franchise. He also redesigned the mobile suits for Hathaway's Flash for an SD Gundam game of all things.

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I also find it interesting to note that Moriaki's artstyle is not too out of line from Fujita's own sketchy style. Possible inspiration there?

>>15307065
I don't really think so, but maybe. Fujita's art style incorporates a lot of rounded shapes and curves, whereas Moriaki seems to prefer sharper angles. The penchant for long feet is similar, though.

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This is so damn good. Would have been perfect for Gaofighgar.

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>>15307161
>I don't really think so, but maybe. Fujita's art style incorporates a lot of rounded shapes and curves

Well, yeah, for the most part that is very true. But there are the odd few that stand out for having a bit of sharpness to them, and I find they are also quite distinctive to his art as well despite being an uncommon thing for him to draw.

I mean after all, being a sharper overall image is what helped distinguish the Zeta from its precursors.

>>15307202
True. I did think of Zeta's sharpness while typing that up, but maybe that was because it was more of a collaborative design? I don't know if images of the original Zeta exist, but the design did change quite a bit before being finalized, as your picture shows.

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>>15307207

All I know is that the Waverider was something Okawara had to come up with because only he was able to deal with the executive's unreasonable demand of making something transform into a jet while still looking 100% Gundam before transformation.

>>15304258
>>15307169
Gaofighgar is my favourite GGG design, and I get why they went with it. But I'm extremely sad that they didn't manage to work in these hot designs somehow.

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For some reason this is labelled as an Ishigaki design on MAHQ despite having Fujita's styling all over it.

>>15302348
>>15302328
The Rick DIas was an early-war design (still competitive as fuck late war though, even into NZ war) and few of them were made. Too expensive.