Except from Tomino August 2020 interview
"Declaration of Defeat" from Gundam director https://koken-publication.com/archives/706 

──Do you like to draw, Mr Tomino?
Tomino: I’ve realized this recently but no, I don’t like it. The reason why is because I can’t draw the art that I like. When I was a child I was serious about learning to do pen drawings but I just can’t do it.

Once I went through the process of realizing I can’t draw, I realized something else. I don’t know what kind of art I like. If you are can't to draw that unique thing, you can’t become an artist.

Tomino: To tell you the truth, I have a natural disgust towards drawings. It’s probably jealousy.
Especially these recent years, meaning as I became 70 years old, I suddenly thought, all the animators working at my current studio are so good at drawing.

Their lines are so pretty and the characters are good. It’s good, but I felt something was wrong with that skillfulness. It’s because everyone was similar. Everyone has a base. Everyone. The modern times is all a copy. That’s what I’ve clearly begun to understand.

You are not a painter unless you can draw a unique image. When I started thinking that I want to work with said new talent, I thought about what to make the basis for judging “good art” and fell into my current hell of not knowing what kind of art I like.

This is a rude thing to say but there’s people who are decently good at drawing and character design but somewhere in my heart I think, “was this truly what I was aiming for? Probably not.”

Tomino: However, if I start saying this out loud─to put it in live action terms─your actors start leaving. So I have to contain myself but I am unable to, which is why I am troubled.

──Do you have lingering attachment towards live action movies?
Tomino: Those feelings went completely away when I hit 70. One of the reasons is physical strength. When you direct a live action movie you need stamina. If I started at age 70, I will immediately die (laughs).

Tomino: But until I was 70, I still had a strong desire to do live action.
As I said before, live action is physical labor. In Japan, you must become a technician before you are an artist. When I ask myself whether I could put up with being a craftsman, I’d say I definitely cant

Directors from Kurosawa Akira’s era would “wait for the clouds” meaning that with a simple word from the director, “we won’t film until the cloud covers that mountain,” an entire crew would have to be fed pointless meals for a month. I thought I would be the type to do that (lol)

Tomino: That’s why when I see movies, I always think “good job filming.” I’d think, it's amazing you filmed in that environment or under those weather conditions or in this kind of year.

──Your brand is “the big robot anime” but how do you feel about the future of robot anime.
Tomino: Robots were simply one genre. There are different things to talk about. And when you ask whether robots are the best way to express these things, I think, no it's not.

Tomino: With robots, people who like it should make what they want to and I don’t have any more interest in it so I’d say that I am not thinking about making simply robot anime.

I currently have two scenarios. Both of them are mecha-like. The reason why is because the filmmaker Tomino doesn’t have many pawns so essentially he became a human who can only make Gundam-like things. This is my “declaration of defeat.”

Tomino: Even so, I think there are ways to not be confined to the boundaries of the mecha genre so I am writing a new script to explore the possibility of not having human shaped robots.

What I felt with my newest work (G-Reco Movies) is that a Tomino wearing the Gundam structure will not bring anything new to the table. The reason is because it is not possible for humans to have different sets of skills and taste.

Even if I want to start a new project, I can’t write romance or tragedy. It’s not that I don’t want to, I simply am not able to. There is no way to expand one’s colors─is what I’ve learned.

Tomino: For those who make any kind of video work, their talent is important, but aptitude cannot be ignored. Don’t think that you can do it just because you like something a little, is what I’ve come to understand.