Yoshiyuki Tomino’s military science fiction media franchise, Gundam, has been reigning as one of the greatest mecha anime series since its inception in 1979 with Mobile Suit Gundam. The franchise has grown immensely and now has a fan following that many franchises can only dream of. However, the assumption is that most of the supporters of the franchise are male fans.
The assumption comes from the fact that a majority of the series fans fell in love with it because of the Gundam plastic models, also known as Gunpla. These plastic models are model kits that make up a big chunk of the profit made by the franchise on a financial level. And because stereotypically these models attract a male demographic, they are assumed to be the fans of the series as well.
But this assumption was proved by Tomino himself way back when he made the disclosure that 90% of Gundam fans are female. Not only that, he even reflected on the craze that the Gundam franchise had among its female fans and their love for the different series that were released following Mobile Suit Gundam.
When the Gundam franchise first began, 90% of its fans were female
In 1998, Tomino appeared in a special interview which was later shared by u/ThreeTimesPlaster on Reddit. During the discussion, the Gundam creator revealed that the very first fans of the original series were female and they accounted for almost 90% of the entire fanbase. He even pointed out that Gundam was initially a series that had no connection to the popularity of Gunpla models.
Tomino stated:
The very first fans of the original Gundam were young women. Definitely not the PlaModel enthusiasts. With both Gundam and Raideen, of the first fans to be active, 90% were girls. Among a gathering of 1000 fans, about 100 were boys. Around when the first cour ended, young women began to gather to the after recording studio. It took until much later for male fans make an uproar, around the time series got canceled. I thought: You’re late to the party!
According to the Japanese creator, the female fans were so in love with the series that they started gathering at the recording studio in support of the series. Not only that, he even pointed out that the male came much later and most of them were Gunpla enthusiasts.
Tomino went on to say that he wants fans to understand that Gundam’s popularity didn’t come from the plastic models. And thus he wanted to create a story that would attract the female fans who are a part of the franchise solely because of the story of the series.
Gundam’s male fans came from Gunpla’s popularity
Further talking about the popularity of the Gundam franchise when it started, Yoshiyuki Tomino revealed that when the series were being released and the movies were being screened, most of the male fans who came to these events were because of the Gundam plastic models.
Tomino stated:
When the movies were screening, we had many male fans who got into Gundam via Gunpla come to see it. Meanwhile, the girls who had been fans since the TV series aired got together to create their own world via fanzines. The fans, never interacting with each other, existed on separate planes.
The two fanbases of the series had two different reasons and Tomino preferred the female fans because they admired Gundam for the story and the narrative, rather than merchandise. And because they never interacted, they always existed on separate planes.
There is no doubt Gundam plastic models ruled the market and brought in huge profits and fans that helped in the growth of the franchise. However, the series and the movies were the first step of the franchise and Tomino would have much rather preferred them as they fell in love with the art.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
