To live is to fight.
ーHow do you feel now that SEED has come to an end?
Morosawa: It doesn’t feel like it’s over. To me, it feels like Kira, Athrun and everyone are still alive in the Cosmic Era. The only thing I feel like has been cut off is our broadcast of the drama of that era. So I think about what they would be doing after that all the time.
ーThe last episode didn’t exactly have a happy ending, is there something you wanted to convey to the audience with that?
Morosawa: I think it’s difficult to define what a happy ending even is. This was a drama set in the middle of a war, and I think First was like that too, but war and life just doesn’t always end so easily. The title of the last episode is “To a Future that Never Ends,” the world that we live in doesn’t end as long as we’re still alive. In that last episode, Cagalli says to Athrun “Stop running away! It’s more of a battle to continue living!” because for Athrun, dying there would’ve been easier for him, in a way. He fought in that war, but people would still be living in the world when it was over. I think living in a world like that would be incredibly difficult. Cagalli lost her father, Uzumi, when he blew himself up in taking responsibility. I think it’s another way of living, but Cagalli would hate to lose another person that way. Of course, she had the option of dying with him, but I didn’t think it would be right for her.
I wanted Flay and Kira to meet.
ーI’m curious about the direction you went with Flay in the last episode…
Morosawa: Flay and Kira hadn’t seen each other since before they went to Alaska. So I wanted them to meet again. But despite everything, it was Flay who was watching Kira the whole time, that’s why she said “You’re the one who’s suffered the most, right?” Their relationship started when Kira took the brunt of Flay’s rage when he didn’t tell her about her father. Kira was certainly influenced by her, but I think they really tried to face each other after that. Flay says “Because I had no idea. I had no clue about anything. I can see you clearly now.” I really wanted her to see Kira and properly tell him that…
ーRau exists, but what is his position…?
Morosawa: Rau has a lonely existence, things turned out that way, or they had to turn out that way. Of everyone, Kira is the person closest to him. From Rau’s perspective, Kira is saying “You are a person who could come over to our side.” When he says “You’re something that shouldn’t be allowed to exist.” he’s saying “You too.” He’s saying that he’s just like him. Rau was a created being and he only got worse over time, but Kira was surrounded by people who were good for him. He was raised by a mother and father without knowing he was created. In Phase 45 (Phase 43 in the Remaster), Rau says “If you knew, you wouldn’t have turned out the way you did. You wouldn’t have turned out so normal, with no sign of a tainted past.” Since he was told that he was a clone since he was born, he was already living in a state without his own ego. Even Rau would have wanted a normal family and friends like Mu had (from his perspective, haha). But as a clone, he aged rapidly, he was “cursed.” He couldn’t shake off the resentment he felt toward himself, so he directed it at all of mankind. He says “Who do you suppose has continued to lead things to this conclusion!?” I suppose he wanted to believe in a brighter world, but he was swallowed up by all the hate.
Those with and those without.
Morosawa: I exaggerated it when writing the Coordinators and Naturals, but this is an issue we often face in the real world. Being different from the way we were born, I mean. To put it another way, Flay is a person who puts a lot of effort into her beauty, she wears it back and curls it and tries hard to keep it that way. It’s class to be able to be that way without needing to do any of that, I think (haha). In the real world, everyone is different by nature, and coming to terms with the feeling of envy that comes with that can be tough for some, but in the world of Coordinators, those differences are added artificially. I think that would be a tough world to live in. But everyone is born the way they are without any decision of their own, and people envy other people, not knowing that other people also envy them. I think that’s the way it really is.
ーI think SEED’s audience base ended up being younger, why do you think that is?
Morosawa: Our aim was to target the younger age group from the start. Gundam is a giant series that everyone seems to know about, but in reality, many elementary, middle and high school students probably don’t know that much about it, and if they do, it’s probably just the robots. I think there aren’t that many children who have seen the Gundam anime, and I wanted to keep that in mind. We wanted to make sure that the current generation of teens would watch the show, so we focused on the kinds of stories that they would find the most interesting. With that in mind, we considered the three pillars of the story that the director had in mind, “a Gundam will appear,” “it will be a war story,” and “humanity will innovate.” Also, there are lots of people who say “Gundam is confusing, isn’t it?” and to get those people to take interest, I focused my writing on human relationships and friendships, I think that’s why they still watched it?
ーAre there any characters you have a strong emotional attachment to?
Morosawa: Speaking simply about my own tastes, I like Mu (haha). Isn’t he cool? (haha). There are other characters I like, though. Like the earnest Athrun. I also like Natarle… For me, when I think of Natarle, the word clumsy comes to mind.
ーDo you think Natarle had feelings for Mu?
Morosawa: I think there was an implied warm side to her. She shook his hand and stared at him blankly, but I think she was sad when she had to let go. I don’t know if she ever considered him as a romantic interest, but…
ーI get the impression that the women in SEED are mentally strong.
Morosawa: This gets said a lot, but I feel that Flay is actually very weak. She’s scared and she doesn’t like it, so she goes on the offensive. The strongest type is someone like Lacus who doesn’t need to say very much. Kira is also said to be weak and easily influenced (haha), but I think he’s stronger than Athrun is.
ーWhat did the final shot of Birdy symbolize?
Morosawa: To me, Birdy represents a time you can’t return to. Kira and Athrun can be friends again, but they can never return to the way things were in the past. Even if it seems like their relationship had returned to the way it was, they can’t erase the memory of when they tried to kill one another. Birdy is also said to be proof of their friendship, but I don’t think that’s quite right. Kira lives among the Naturals, and Birdy is always there with him, he still holds on to a sign of his time with Athrun. That’s what I think the implication is. With all that said, he’s a pretty important character.
ーPlease give your final message to our readers.
Morosawa: I am very grateful to all of you who have watched SEED this past year. I am sure you all have your own thoughts and feelings about the show right now, but if the time you spent watching SEED, which you can never experience over again, has left a lasting impression on you, that alone would make me very happy to hear. Thank you very much for your support.
TrafalgarScans 