Gundam Character Designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Talks Venus Wars, New Projects, and AI Art

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2026Photo by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government

After the recent theatrical screening of the 1989 classic anime Venus Wars at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2026, its writer and director, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, gave a lengthy talk about not only the movie but his work on Gundam and his thoughts on AI art.

While Venus Wars has long been available in the West (even airing on Sci Fi Channel's “Saturday Anime” block back in the '90s), the same is not true for Japan. “I sulked and said I had 'sealed it away,' refusing to release it,” Yasuhiko said of the film's lack of DVD release in Japan. “About three years ago, they held a theatrical screening of it. Watching it again after such a long time, I felt it wasn't so bad after all."

“Back then, there was no digital technology, so it was all hand-drawn. You can really appreciate the charm of hand-drawn animation when you watch it now.” Yasuhiko relayed to the audience. “Actually, this was made on a very low budget by my own company. Even though it's called a company, it was just me, my wife, my son, and a friend—four people in total. A large company would have had to pay 'production management fees.' To put it bluntly, those are expenses to feed the people wearing ties. I thought that if I made it with my own company, I could use the entire budget for production—and make it even with a low budget."

But beyond the hand-drawn animation, the anime uses a noticeable amount of live-action in its motorcycle action scenes. “The live-action footage was shot in the Arizona desert. It was a U.S. location shoot, but we didn't have much money, so we attached a video camera to a car and did it that way,” Yasuhiko explained. “I wanted something that would generate buzz.”

Speaking on animation, Yasuhiko also gave his thoughts about the emergence of AI and how it relates to the animation process. “I like drawing by hand. I draw manga by hand, too. Filming [animation digitally] has become convenient, and corrections can be made right up until the last minute. It's like a dream,” he began. “If AI can help with anime production, then we should use it. If it doesn't work, we can always fix it by hand later.”

Despite getting the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Tokyo Anime Award Festival, Yasuhiko had little to do with anime for decades. “I'm not a person of the anime world. I'm a manga artist. So I feel like it's not really appropriate," he said to the packed theater of people who had just watched his film.

However, it's a fact that he has spent more than a bit of the last decade focusing on Gundam—specifically taking his Gundam: The Origin manga and working in a directorial role on its anime adaptations. “You could say I've come back to retrieve something I left behind with Gundam,” Yasuhiko explained. “I had some lingering regrets, and I wanted to settle them myself rather than rely on others.”

While he was quick to clarify that working on Gundam was not really a return to making anime in his own mind, such a return was not out of the question. “Even though I'm past my 77th birthday, my mind and hands are still working. I want to do something without the Gundam limitation within the next two or three years.” He told the room. “If I can do that, it might truly be a 'return to the anime world.' I have a feeling I might be given a chance to do something, so I need to stay healthy. I want to get it off the ground as soon as possible and show it to everyone.”