"By directing combat and war pieces, I could experience catharsis and successfully avoid committing a murder in real life. In this sense, I'm really grateful for that because I was conscious that I had such homicidal traits, to be honest." —Yoshiyuki Tomino, about his "Kill'Em All" reputation.

TheTrope Namer forKill'Em All, Yoshiyuki Tomino began his career in anime as a part ofOsamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions, working on the storyboards and screenplay onTetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) in 1963. From the 1970s onwards, he was one of the primary members of the Sunrise animation studio, and went on to direct theSuper Robot series Yuusha Raideen in 1975, and Zambot 3 in 1977. Two years later, he went on to directMobile Suit Gundam, the veritable progenitor of theReal Robot Genre ofHumongous Mecha. In the 1980s and 1990s, he went on to direct numerous other mecha series, along with the edited re-release of the first Gundam series, two direct sequels, two movies, and anAlternate Universe TV series for the 20th anniversary of the Gundam franchise.

Tomino is known as one of the first mecha anime directors to break out of the mold of the basic good versus evil characterizations that are especially prevalent in mecha series, and with Gundam and its sequel, established that the protagonists and antagonists are reallyNot So Different after all. Which is a one of the reasons why he earned theFan Nickname of the Bald Wizard. The other one is, obviously, thathe is bald.

However, Tomino is also known as "Kill'Em All Tomino" for a number of series where much of the main cast gets killed during theGrand Finale. Among these series wereZambot 3,Space Runaway Ideon (wherehis two expies get killed off),Zeta Gundam,Victory Gundam,Chars Counterattack, andAura Battler Dunbine. Ideon probably holds one of the highest body counts in anime, and in fact can be considered as a spiritual prequel toNeon Genesis Evangelion in both the themes the series deal with, and also in the structure of its presentation (one TV series, and two movies). Further adding to hisKill'Em All reputation are instances wherein characters were introduced merely to kill them off piecemeal within a few episodes, probably to provide instances of angst for the main character. The instances where thisworks, and when itdoesn't is best left to thejudgment of individual viewers.

It is alleged that the worst of hisKill'Em All tendencies were due tobouts with depression. While a number of his series even in the 1980sdid have happy endings, it wasn't until the mid-1990s, afterV Gundam, that he finally worked through his problems, and consistently avoided killing off entire casts ever since. The recently released compilation movies ofZeta Gundam (that he directed) even have had their plots altered to somewhat reduce the level of bloodshed.

Despite this reputation, Tomino has a habit of following a tragic series witha comedic one, followingZambot 3 withDaitarn 3,Ideon withXabungle, andZeta Gundam withZZ Gundam to name a few. He's also been shown to havePapa Bear traits, as seen when he delivered an epicReason You Suck Speech to a group of people who disparagedRomi Paku for being Korean.

Love Hurts is also prevalent in Tomino's Gundam series. In at least two instances, the hero haskilled or seen hisLove Interest killed in battle, and the love interests of supporting characters have been killed in various senseless manners, or if they're lucky, as part of aHeroic Sacrifice. This leads to the thought that being a Gundam pilotisn't the most dangerous occupation in a Tomino series; rather, it'sbeing a Gundam pilot's girlfriend. On the flip side, Characters in a comedy series seem to attract Harems, and get the implied Harem Ending. Notable examples areJiron Amos who while implied to have picked Elche is left open for the possibility of having Rag too,Gainer Sanga who despite confessing his love to Sara holds a VERY close friendship with Cynthia Lane (Which Sara didn't seem to mind in the end), andBanjou Haran, who has ARTWORK of being flanked on both sides by beautiful women in their sexy underwear (Jetpacks, too, if we count the parting shot ofDaitarn 3's first episode. EvenJudau Ashta exhibits such charisma, attracting no less than six girls across his series (Elle, Roux, Chara, Haman, and the Purus) - the only way his ending could've been happier is if enough of them survived for him to take theTenchi Solution.

Urban Legends love to claim that Tomino despises all theGundam shows he didn't make. Some say that he physically attacks anyone who dares mentionGundam Wing in his presence while others claim that whenGundam SEED's director asked for advice, Tomino responded by handing him a book aboutTurn A and slamming the door in his face. This mostly seems to be an attempt by old-school fans to frighten off perceivedNoobs by telling them "The guy who madeGundam hates your stupid kiddy rip-off!", as these legends sprang into being mostly around the timeWing was first airing in America. In actual verified interviews, Tomino has said that he was unhappy with theAlternate Universe shows at first, but mellowed out when he decided that he should be supporting his fellow directors. Of course, this is reflected inTurn a Gundam, which acknowledges the Alternate Universes as part of its grand history.

As an aside, Tomino occasionally writes lyrics for some of the songs that appear in his shows; when he does, he uses the pseudonym "Rin Iogi".

Yoshiyuki Tomino was named aPerson of Cultural Merit in 2021, and thus gets a Japanese government pension because of his creative work.

Anime directed byYoshiyuki Tomino (in rough chronological order) include:

• Yuusha Raideen
• Zambot 3
• Daitarn 3
• Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
  • Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
  • Mobile Suit Gundam F91
  • Mobile Suit Victory Gundam
  • Turn a Gundam
• Space Runaway Ideon
• Combat Mecha Xabungle
• Aura Battler Dunbine
  • Garzey's Wing
  • The Wings of Rean
• Heavy Metal L-Gaim
• Brain Powerd
• Overman King Gainer

Finally, Tomino appears as the main character inGundam Sousei, a heavily fictionalised account of the production ofMobile Suit Gundam.

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