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Gundam SEED Director Mitsuo Fukuda Confirms Cyber Formula, Dendoh Anime Were Cut Short
posted on by Ken Iikura-Gross
When anime series face the chopping block, fans don't always find out why. Creators often don't go on the record to even confirm the anime was cut short, at least not right away. The topic came up this past weekend, when a discussion on whether the After War Gundam X anime was cancelled started trending in Japan on X (formerly Twitter).
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM director Mitsuo Fukuda took the moment to speak up on October 20 about two of his past anime:
『打ち切り』という不穏なワードがおすすめに来て思わず見てしまった。ちなみに昔のおもちゃ企画は1年やってなければ大抵打ち切りね。サイバーフォーミュラや電童もみんな打ち切りだったよ。
— 福田 己津央 (@fukuda320) October 20, 2024
The ominous word "cancellation" was trending and I couldn't help but look at it. By the way, toy anime projects back then were usually canceled if they didn't run for a year. Cyber Formula and Dendoh were similarly canceled.
In a followup post, Fukuda noted that series like the first Mobile Suit Gundam anime and Space Runaway Ideon were also toy anime productions.
ガンダムやイデオンも昔の作品は大抵おもちゃ企画ね。
— 福田 己津央 (@fukuda320) October 20, 2024
Most of the older works like Gundam and Ideon were developed for toys.
What is a bit unclear about Fukuda's initial post, though, is if the director is referring to toy sales or viewership numbers when speaking about cancelation. However, when fellow director Taiki Nishimura asked Fukuda if the OVA series of Cyber Formula was created because of its cancelation, Fukuda noted it was partially due to high sales of home media and albums.
メインスポンサーと局の数字は取れなかったけれど、音楽とビデオは買ってくれるファンが多かったので、クライアントがついたというわけで。
— 福田 己津央 (@fukuda320) October 20, 2024
Nishimura: So Cyber_____ was indeed canceled. It didn't feel that way when I was a high school student watching it…but was that the reason it was later expanded into OVAs?
Fukuda: Although we didn't get the numbers from the main sponsors or the stations, we had a lot of fans buying the music and home video releases, so we got clients.
Fukuda concluded his thoughts about anime cancellation in a post on October 21:
打ち切られたと言っても、作品が面白かったから時代を超えて残ってるわけで。私らは打ち切り上等、くらいの感じ方だけど、表むき子供向けアニメが細々やってた時代と今は、捉え方が全然違うと思う。
— 福田 己津央 (@fukuda320) October 20, 2024
Even though it was "canceled," it persisted over time because it was interesting. I feel cancellation is fine, but the way it is perceived now is completely different than it was back when anime aimed at children was unimportant.
Sources: Mitsuo Fukuda's X/Twitter account (link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5), Taoki Nishimua's X/Twitter account via Hachima Kikō
