Manga 156296 Gundam Wo Tsukutta Otokotachi

It's hard not to recommend if you love Gundam. This manga was essentially made for Gundam freaks like me, so if that describes you too, do not hesitate to read this!

On the surface, the manga is a retelling of the history of Mobile Suit Gundam's creation, but it comes out to more than that as it goes on. Rather than seeing production and its hassles, you also see the growth of its fanbase, the fervor of the crew working on it, and the union Gundam created between the two groups. This isn't just a historical retelling, it's a love story between Gundam and everyone ... that made it possible. Included in the tankobon are various historical inserts, pictures, and interviews that really flesh out the history of Gundam and makes it clear that some of the things you think were jokes actually happened. For that, I have to recommend this to anyone who saw either the original 0079 series or its film remakes, regardless of if you enjoyed them or not.

Unfortunately, this is not a perfect work. Even though it is a historical retelling, it is primarily a gag manga. "Dramatization" puts it too lightly. "Over-dramatization" is still too light! Tomino is this bold and bald (he was not bald in real life) visionary that committed frequent sexual harassment in this manga. I do not know if he really did this but regardless of if it's true or not, that seems like a bad thing to include as a joke. Voice actors are depicted looking and acting like their character, which sometimes is a fun joke and other times feels like misrepresentation. On a similar vein, the initial Gundam fans are depicted as creepy guys and Freddie Mercury, you know, the stereotypical otaku. While I'm sure there were Gundam fans like that (not sure about Freddie), something Tomino has said in the past is that women fans of Mobile Suit Gundam were instrumental to its success in its early days. He has stated before much of their fanmail was from women, and while the fanmail is depicted here they never say who sent it. Strangely, this manga does not even hint at women being fans of Gundam until the show finished airing. That is a huge misstep, even for a gag manga. Other such dramatizations with a humor-over-accuracy makes a pattern where it gets hard to tell what really happened and what was a joke. Was the "Troubled Artesia Incident" real? I had a hard time finding the issue this allegedly happened in, lemme know if you can find it. Was the comments Tomino made about it a joke for the manga's sake? The authors never say.

Despite the flaws and tendency to ignore accuracy, I still think this is a must-read. Gundam's historical importance may be lost on many fans of the series, especially westerners, and this sheds light on just how big of a deal Mobile Suit Gundam was when it released... It may need to be read alongside some interviews and documentaries though, just to counterbalance the absurdity of the jokes.