‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ Creator Pushes Back Against Mars Colonization, Says Proponents “Lack The Imagination To Grasp The Vastness Of Space”
Despite his seminal mecha series being arguably one of the biggest contributors to its adoption into the public consciousness, Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino not only vehemently disagrees with the idea that humanity will someday colonize Mars, but also believes that those who genuinely believe we will are completely ignorant to the realities of interstellar migration.
The veteran anime director weighed in on the idea of Mars colonization while making a speaking appearance at the recently held 2025 edition of SPACETIDE, an annual Tokyo-based astronomical conference centered on “the practical applications of space technology in specific sectors such as agriculture, urban planning, and national security.”
Discussing the general topic of space travel alongside Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Senior Advisor Dr. Yoshifumi, Tomino told the crowd of aerospace professionals that, after spending roughly 20 years pondering the ins and outs of a potential space-based human expansion, he had come to the stark conclusion that “humans cannot live in space.”
“The people cheerfully talking about migrating to Mars don’t understand how harsh space really is,” said Tomino, per a recap of his talk provided by Japanese news outlet The Sankei Shimbun. “They lack the ability to even imagine the distance between Earth and space. If you send a rocket to Mars, how will you refuel it for the return trip? There are no supply bases over there. Anyone talking about sending humans to Mars without considering this is an amateur.”
“I never said any of this while making Gundam,” he added.
From there, Tomino presented his audience with a possible solution to this logistical issue in the form a ‘space elevator’, a clip of the Orbital Elevator from Mobile Suit Gundam 00 serving as his visual example.
“This elevator isn’t a single-car unit—it’s made up of five cars,” he concluded. “Without something on this scale, logistics wouldn’t work. And if logistics don’t work, then neither can any kind of social life.”
Unfortunately for that not-insignificant-demographic of space-hopeful, futurist Gundam fans, this is not the first time Tomino has voiced his lack of confidence in interstellar human migration.
Asked about the impact Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack had on the trajectory of his career during a July 2024 interview with Japanese news outlet Aera Dot, the director admitted, “There is one thing that became clear to me after making films for about 10 years, from Mobile Suit Gundam to Char’s Counterattack. I realized that I was simulating what would happen if humans went out into space to live. My conclusion from this is that it is absolutely impossible for humans to leave the earth and live in space. However, if I denied this, I would not be able to create ‘space battle stories,’ so I continued to create the Gundam series.”
“Because of this, some people seem to think that I have a positive view of human life in space, but it is quite the opposite,” he explained. “Humanity must continue to live on this Earth, and that is why we must take care of the Earth’s environment. There is no way out for humanity in space. I have been making a series called Gundam Reconguista in G since 2014, and in my recent works, I have brought aspects of my true feelings more to the forefront.”
“Private space development has started worldwide, and some people, like Elon Musk, are advocating space immigration,” Tomino continued. “However, I am skeptical about how serious they are.”
“Perhaps they know that it is impossible, but I think they are just advocating a theme to make space development a business,” he opined. “Even if there is no space immigration, the space business will continue to move forward in areas such as launching more satellites and procuring resources from space. In the sense that space development is actually gaining momentum, one might say that humanity is obsessed with ‘capitalism of the 21st century’.”
“But again, I do not think that space is the way out for the human race,” he noted. “We have to think about how we can continue to live on the earth forever. And I believe that the theoretical struggle over how to confront the ‘capitalism of the 21st century,’ which is trying to find a way out of the universe, will continue for about 200 years.”
