Ask John: Has Evangelion Influenced Contemporary Gundam Anime?

Question:
Do modern Gundam shows owe anything to the success of Evangelion?

Answer:
The staff of Tokyo’s Sunrise animation studio probably knows better than anyone what, if any, influence or benefit contemporary Gundam anime has received from the success of Evangelion. In the absence of a statement from them, I’ll have to speculate. I can’t say for certain that Evangelion and Gundam have remained entirely distinct, but from an outside observer’s perspective I can say that I don’t see any evidence that contemporary Gundam anime is indebted to Evangelion.

There have been seven Gundam anime franchises launched since the 1995 premier of the Evangelion television series: Gundam X (1996), 08th MS Team (1996), Turn A Gundam (1999), Gundam Seed (2002), SD Gundam Force (2004), Gundam MS IGLOO (2004), and Gundam 00 (2007). The Gundam Wing television series premiered six months ahead of Evangelion and aired its final episode three days after Evangelion’s final episode. From a creative perspective, Evangelion is characterized by its religious iconography, emotional angst, the speed and human-like fluidity of its robot movements, and the spindly, almost skeleton-like design of the Evangelion robots. In terms of influence, Evangelion re-energized mecha anime, which had been waning in prominence since the Sunrise robot anime dominance of the previous decade. There’s no debate that Evangelion influenced decendant robot anime including Dual, Dinagiga, Devadasy, Brain Powerd, Rahxephon, Fafner, Heroic Age, Giniro no Olynsis, and Souko no Strain, just to name a few. But the impact Evangelion has had on the Gundam franchise isn’t readily apparent.

The Gundam franchise has never extensively employed religious themes, and while examples like the Christlike introduction of the Gundam OO robot may be cited, it’s just as easy to cite similar examples like the martyrdom of Amuro Rei in the Char’s Counterattack motion picture that pre-date Evangelion. Philosophy and the nuances of linguistic exchange introduced by Evangelion have figured prominently in anime like Rahxephon and Fafner, but haven’t ever appeared prominently in Gundam anime. The teen angst and adaptation to interpersonal relationships popularized by Evangelion have been especially prominent in Gundam anime since Zeta Gundam’s Camille Vidan, and Double Zeta’s Jude Ashita in the 1980s. Evangelion certainly deserves credit for its brilliant depictions of giant robots that move swiftly and gracefully, but the 1988 Char’s Counterattack film, for instance, similarly illustrated swift and dynamic giant robot movement years before Evangelion. On a side note, the 1989 Five Star Stories movie also depicted giant robots that moved so swiftly their duels had to be depicted in slow motion for viewers to comprehend what was happening. Finally, from an artistic standpoint, the bio-organic mecha depicted in 80s anime like Five Star Stories, Saigard, and Hagane no Oni, and refined in Evangelion – along with the tall and lanky design of the Evangelion robots – have never been prevalent in Gundam anime. While it may seem as though the visual design of the Evangelion units is echoed in the look of the tall and skinny Turn A Gundam, I think the Turn A’s design owes much more to the original ideas of mecha designer Syd Mead than Evangelion’s influence.

It’s difficult, if not impossible to say that contemporary Gundam anime hasn’t somewhat ridden the coat tails of resurgent interest in mecha anime caused by Evangelion. However, it would also be wrong to say that contemporary Gundam anime wouldn’t be as popular as it is without the help of Evangelion. Even before Evangelion premiered, the Gundam W series had already taken steps to expand its audience beyond just male viewers and Gundam otaku. And Gundam was already a well established and beloved franchise with multiple TV series, OVA series, and motion pictures prior to Evangelion. The success of Evangelion may have encouraged some viewers to investigate Gundam, but it seems obvious that Gundam would, and does continue to attract an audience on its own strengths alone.

I don’t want to create the impression that modern robot anime series like Rahxephon and Fafner are inherently inferior to Gundam or Evangelion just because they exhibit obvious influence from Evangelion and Gundam. To varying degrees, all modern robot anime are influenced by, and indebted to the conventions introduced and established by the robot anime of the 1960s and 70s. Being influenced or not influenced by Evangelion doesn’t automatically make a robot anime good or not good. I have no doubt that the degree of influence and help modern Gundam anime has gotten from Evangelion is arguable. I think that there’s enough precedent evident in pre-1995 Gundam, and enough difference from Evangelion in post-1995 Gundam anime to make a strong case that modern Gundam anime owes rather little to Evangelion.