Production Kickoff Meeting for the New Gundam F91

After dealing with Sony's poaching attempts, Sega entered a valuable period of stability.

The seventeen newly added game development teams are eager to submit their respective project proposals.

Nakayama Takuya was happy to have some free time, temporarily putting aside the development of new projects and focusing on waiting for the new teams' ideas to be reviewed.

However, before the game proposal could even be submitted to his desk, Sunrise sent him an invitation to the <Mobile Suit Gundam F91> production launch meeting.

The atmosphere in the conference room was lively.

Nakayama Takuya entered the room, he saw Yoshiyuki Tomino sitting in the main seat.

The bald-headed director, full of energy and high spirits, was speaking eloquently to the project proposal on the projection screen, explaining in detail the various aspects of this new Universal Century TV series to the Fangdai of the Production Committee.

That genuine confidence and passion was a stark contrast to the exhausted state he had been in just over a year ago.

Nakayama Takuya found a seat and sat down, feeling a mix of emotions.

He defied public opinion and persuaded Director Tomino to take a break. In retrospect, this may have been the best investment he ever made at Sunrise.

Healthy oversight is the cornerstone of a successful work.

However, when the meeting progressed to the mecha design stage, and the assistant posted the initial design draft of the Cosmo Babylonia MS on the whiteboard, Nakayama Takuya's smile slowly faded.

He frowned slightly.

It's not that it's ugly, it's just... too mediocre.

The commercial failure of the F91 in its previous life was largely due to the mechanical design team's fault.

The Earth Federation Forces's Heavygun is alright; his popularity is purely due to the work's lack of appeal, but at least his face is familiar, and many fans can recognize him at a glance.

The grunt mobile suits on the Cosmo Babylonia side of space are so unfamiliar that even many core Gundam fans, let alone casual viewers, can't name them.

The reason can be summed up in one word: ugly.

Moreover, it's the kind of ugliness that's completely unremarkable and easily forgotten.

Nakayama Takuya realized that Kunio Okawara, the person in charge of mecha design, clearly wanted to reference the appearance of the Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars to create a sense of oppression and inhumanity for the villains.

However, this design appears particularly strange, even somewhat comical, within the context of Eastern aesthetics, completely failing to embody the glamorous, arrogant, and yet wicked aura of the "cosmic aristocracy."

Even more critically, their weapon configuration is extremely limited, consisting almost entirely of machine guns, spears, and beam shields.

While this saves effort in animation production, it inevitably leads to viewer fatigue as it results in the same battle scenes being repeated over and over again.

After Director Tomino finished his explanation, Nakayama Takuya cleared his throat and slowly began to speak under everyone's gaze.

"Director Tomino, the script is impeccable in both depth and breadth. I have high expectations for it." He first gave the bald director plenty of face, then changed the subject and looked at the mechanical design master Kunio Okawara.

"Mr. Okawara, I have a preliminary thought regarding the mechanical design of the Cosmo Babylonia."

Kunio Okawara looked up at him. This industry giant still held considerable respect for the young man who had repeatedly created miracles.

"Please speak, Mr. Nakayama."

"Ultimately, when we make animation, we're telling stories and creating characters. Villains are characters too." Nakayama Takuya stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and pointed to one of the mechasms that resembled a pig's head wearing glasses. "This design easily leaves viewers with the stereotype of a 'distinctive grunt,' and they'll subconsciously reject it, unable to connect it with the powerful background of a 'space aristocrat.' This is probably not good news for the sales of related merchandise."

The moment he said that, the expressions of the Bandai representatives on the other side of the conference table changed.

Without pausing, Nakayama Takuya continued, "Furthermore, overly simplistic weaponry makes combat sequences quite monotonous. Think back to * Char's Counterattack *. Neo Zeon, limited by its strength, only had the Geara Doga, a single, general-purpose grunt unit, but it still had Newtype -specific mobile suits like the Jagd Doga to add variety, making the battle scenes rich and varied. In contrast, the Ronah Family in F91, far surpassing the Federation at the time, was fully capable of developing a more diverse and distinctive mobile suit force."

He paused, then said earnestly, "I suggest that we consider having the MS of the Cosmo Babylonia..."

In terms of appearance, it leans more towards "fierce" rather than "grotesque"? We could also invite Hajime Katoki to join the mecha design team. His mecha designs in <0080> and <0083> are sharp and detailed, which would be very helpful for model making. Perhaps his designs could spark new ideas with yours, Mr. Okawara."

The meeting room fell silent after these words were spoken.

Why would someone so junior be allowed to "instruct" Kunio Okawara of this school of thought, and even specifically request that someone be included by name?

That's too harsh a statement.

Yoshiyuki Tomino raised an eyebrow, about to say something, when the person in charge from Bandai suddenly stood up.

He bowed deeply to Kunio Okawara at a ninety-degree angle.

"Professor Okawara! The Director General Nakayama is absolutely right! Please help me!"

That bow left everyone speechless.

The Bandai representative, his face filled with anxiety and his voice trembling, said, "The appeal of the mobile suit directly impacts model sales. This—this is a matter of life and death for our company's financial report for the entire year!"

When he shouted that, the other Bandai employees also stood up, creating a spectacular scene.

Nakayama Takuya almost burst out laughing inside.

Divine assist!

Kunio Okawara was left speechless, both amused and exasperated by the scene.

He also recalled that he was present when <Gundam F91> was postponed.

At that time, Nakayama Takuya presented a design plan that provided Bandai with a smooth transition window for upgrading its technology.

This bought enough time for the creation of the HGUC Series, and the "Gundam 10th Anniversary" series of models used in the design scheme had excellent sales and reputation.

With such design skills and achievements, Nakayama Takuya is certainly qualified to evaluate his designs.

So he waved his hand, a look of helpless exhaustion on his face. "Alright, alright, I know. You capitalists, all you know is how to squeeze money out of my manuscripts."

He looked at Nakayama Takuya and sighed, "One Tomino wasn't enough, and now you've come along. Alright, it's good that young people have lots of ideas. Call that kid named Hajime Katoki over so I can take a look; it's good to have another person to share the burden."

A potential storm was averted by Bandai's "financial report attack" and Nakayama Takuya's high emotional intelligence.

President Ito watched with utter admiration, his gaze towards Nakayama Takuya deepening with even more respect.

This executive director not only understands animation, but also understands people's hearts.

The meeting concluded successfully, Nakayama Takuya declined President Ito's invitation to dinner, leaving the Sunrise Building alone.