8 ms·

A Beginner's Guide to Mecha (2019)

66 points by rustoo 6y ago

Animats 6y ago
Mecha have almost disappeared from anime. Now, anime seems to be all about high school. Or even middle school.
- bsanr2 6y ago
  There was a small boom this past decade that seems to be over atm. Nothing groundbreaking, but some decent entertainment (and also some I would never, ever recommend, either due to quality or objectionable content). Off the top of my head: several Gundam entries - including AGE, IBO, Reconguista, Unicorn, Thunderbolt, the OO movie, and the Build Fighters and Build Divers series - Rideback, Star Driver, Valvrave, Suisei no Gargantia, Majestic Prince, Cross Ange, Buddy Complex, Aldnoah.Zero, Darling in the Franxx, Heroman, SSSS Gridman, the Evangelion Rebuild series, several mecha musume series, Macross Delta, Muv-Luv Alternative, several Code Geass sequels... I'm sure there are more. One might even consider Attack On Titan a sort of mecha series (it certainly has more in common with Gundam than, say, Godzilla). I think it's only been in the past year that we haven't seen multiple concurrent releases. (I want to reiterate that these are not in any way recommendations or endorsements. I watched and enjoyed many of these shows, but also dropped or never began several because of the questionable nature of one or more of their aspects.) Edit: Bubuki Buranki. Everyone always forgets Bubuki Buranki.
  - wodenokoto 6y ago
    > either due to quality or objectionable content You kinda piqued my interest here: Which one has what objectionable content?
    - bsanr2 6y ago
      Depending on who you ask, pretty much everything but the Gundam Builds. I jest. But, to be specific: Valvrave and Cross Ange were criticized for their depictions of rape; several series feature racy imagery, sometimes of underage characters (including the otherwise fantastic Gargantia - skip the dance scene); AoT, IBO, and a few others skirt some politically-sensitive material. And, frankly, a good number of the shows mentioned end up being offensively mediocre, squandering some quite strong openings (Rideback and Aldnoah.Zero especially). Probably the most objectionable thing of all.
      - Animats 6y ago
        Hadn't thought of Rideback as mecha, but I suppose you could see it that way.
      - busterarm 6y ago
        Objectionable content aside, I would agree that outside of the Gundam Build shows, the quality of that list is pretty poor and there was absolutely _nothing_ in the market for Super Robot fans. TTGL set a really high bar.
        bsanr2 6y ago
        Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed quite a few of the others - Valvrave was a glorious trainwreck, IBO finally committed to and even doubled-down on subverting the expectations of gunota, and Majestic Prince was a solid action dramedy that proved CG mecha was viable and beautifully prefaced Orange's work on Houseki no Kuni and Beastars. (I mean, I can't fault any series that can do this to a Hiraiface. https://imgur.com/a/Eey0x31 https://imgur.com/a/Eey0x31) I dunno where we go after TTGL as far as Super Robot goes. It finally defined and crystallized the essence of that genre - the GAR - and in its thorough reconstruction didn't leave much room. You basically have to introduce real elements to not be a retread. I am glad we got Pacific Rim, that was close. If Super Robot gets its character from emotional directness and intensity, you might have to follow TTGL with something more Ideon or Bokurano-like, turned up to 11.
        busterarm 6y ago
        Thing is, after GaoGaiGar, I was saying that series would be impossible to top. It took a decade, but TTGL did happen. I think leaning into super robot tropes might be the thing, rather than some mix of real robot shows. It's not like those are doing any better in the market right now.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - ASalazarMX 6y ago
    > One might even consider Attack On Titan a sort of mecha series My take on it as well. The titans are not robots, but they're mecha-size creatures, and their pilots have a designated cockpit, which they open occasionally to interact with others. The other classic mecha scene is the take from inside the cockpit, so you can see the pilot's reactions. It's a weird mix of mecha and gore.
    - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
      They're mecha- only biological in origin. There is precedence also, in the Tager faction from the RPG Cthulutech: Factions include the "Tagers," a group of warriors who work for the mysterious Eldritch Society and bond with alien symbionts that produce alien-like suits of flesh over their bodies, giving them enhanced strength and other abilities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CthulhuTech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CthulhuTech These are basically flesh mecha, though it's been a while since I read the rulebook and I don't remember if they're large or small. Anycase I wonder if they could have been an inspiration for the titans. [SPOILER SPOILER] There is a hint of alien provenance of the titans on the AoT world. That thing that looks like a slug? Edit: Oops. It's really been a while since I read the Cthulutech manual. The bio-mecha are the New Earth Government's Engels, which are Evangelion-big, with pilots always on the cusp of insanity: Engels are giant monstrous creatures fused with human and Nazzadi DNA, encased in locking mecha armour, and controlled by a pilot sitting inside a uterine-like control chamber within the Engel. They are essentially organic mecha. The pilot controls the Engel via the Engel Synthesis Interface, or ESI, and often bonds emotionally with it during their service lifetime. Engels have been known to go on rampages provoked by bloodlust or strong emotions, and consequently are considered very dangerous battlefield weapons. http://cthulhutech.wikidot.com/engels http://cthulhutech.wikidot.com/engels
    - bsanr2 6y ago
      I've always thought that one sadly unexamined aspect of mecha is how incredibly vulnerable pilots are outside their machines, and how incredibly dangerous they become once they manage to get in. AOT did make some strides there, by spending a lot of time focusing on how crucial to the shifters' effectiveness their ability to actually shift in a given circumstance is (and how much damage they do once their containment, both physical and strategic, is inevitably breached).
  - k_sze 6y ago
    Unicorn was seriously epic. The opening battle between the Stark Jegan and Kshatriya has to be one of the most blood-boiling battles in the Gundam universe. Hiroyuki Sawano’s music also really helped.
- busterarm 6y ago
  New Super Robot show with a brand new IP this summer, for the first time in more than a decade: Megaton Musashi. Sadly Mecha is indeed mostly dead. I'm not sure where you can take the Super Robot genre after TTGL, GaoGaiGar and Getter Robo: Armageddon. The most popular Gundam shows as of late have been the Build shows and honestly I don't mind in the slightest. They're so fun. The suggestions in the link are really weird though. It's like a real surface understanding targeted at people who only have been watching Anime for a decade or less. There's tons more good stuff worth watching and mostly from the 80s.
  - matheusmoreira 6y ago
    > I'm not sure where you can take the Super Robot genre after TTGL, GaoGaiGar and Getter Robo: Armageddon. What about the real robot genre? Gundam shows are great because they seem to be grounded in reality despite all the futuristic technology. It's so fun just observing the immense attention to detail the creators put into their work.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      I don't know how much attention you've been paying to Gundam series, but they're pretty much all trending towards being direct-to-video now and sales are in significant decline. The Build shows buck this trend and are a huge success. And model kits are selling more than ever. The apetite for those stories just isn't there anymore.
      - matheusmoreira 6y ago
        What a shame...
- Something1234 6y ago
  I'm a fan of heavy object. It's a reversal from the traditional human looking robot to giant tanks. It has some great comedy too.
- inasio 6y ago
  Coincidentally I recently started watching the Pacific Rim anime series (on Netflix). I found it surprisingly great; much darker than any of the movies, real character archs, great Kaiju, highly recommend.
rtx 6y ago
Ninja Robots was the pinnacle.
mwkaufma 6y ago
Pet peeve: the primer includes Robotech/Harmony Gold (ip squatters) rather than Macross/Studio Nue (actual pioneers). The Macross Design Works series are much better artbooks, and actually contains production notes because they _actually produced Macross_.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  Also, there has been a bunch of follow-on Macross media that shows gradual development of the same mecha model series in-universe, with changes to control schemes, production models of machines that were prototypes in previous series, weird offshoots as an explicit result of the complications of military vehicle development, and so on.
- busterarm 6y ago
  Ugh. Harmony Gold. This IP battle has been a major hurdle for Battetech as well and probably stifled the success of the game significantly.
  - mwkaufma 6y ago
    FASA is as shameful about never crediting creators as HG. Kawamori stated in an interview that they overextended the "package illustration" rights that they bought to Studio Nue mecha: https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/12/10/shoji-kawamori-the-creator-hollywood-copies-but-never-credits/?sh=d9f9ede3a0f9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/12/10/shoji-ka...
    - busterarm 6y ago
      I'm not saying FASA is in the right here, but it's HG that sued FASA and continues to do so (harebrained, piranha...) post settlement. In fact, HG claims rights to designs that aren't from anything they licensed, including original FASA designs. HG seems to operate like they own "Mecha" outside of Japan.
      - rl3 6y ago
matheusmoreira 6y ago
Several of these titles are on Netflix. Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, at least two Gundams. Gundam Unicorn is beautifully animated and very detailed. I notice something new every time I watch it. Very fun and a great introduction to the genre.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
  [I moved this comment; it was accidentally under the wrong parent.] Netflix sometimes(?) carries "Knights of Sidonia". I only ever saw season 1, but I was really surprised by how bad (IMO, obviously) the animation was [0]. It reinforced my perception that "Netflix Original" was a mark of poor quality. [0] And my standards are probably lower than most of this crowd. I barely noticed the animation quality of Arifureta, because of how much I liked that series' other aspects.
  - matheusmoreira 6y ago
    I wasn't too impressed with the animation of Netflix original anime either. Netflix Originals in general seem to be very low quality shows these days. It appears competition with other copyright holders drove them to pump out large quantities of shows with less focus on quality.
    - azernik 6y ago
      "Netflix Original" anime (and many other foreign media, e.g. K-Dramas) aren't produced by Netflix; Netflix just throws money at them to get exclusive US distribution rights. There's competition here, but it's with other US anime distributors to get rights to Japanese-produced content aimed at a Japanese audience.
  - BiosElement 6y ago
    Honestly loved the style of Sidonia. I can see why you might not like it, but that's an art style choice more than anything else.
  - hashhar 6y ago
busterarm 6y ago
Tiger & Bunny is kind of mecha-adjacent. Kind of along the blurred lines betweeen Mecha and Tokusatsu...
JKCalhoun 6y ago
I'm not really into either "mecha" (or anime for that matter). But man I loved "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" in the U.S. in the 1970's. (I know, I know — it was "Giant Robo" in Japan.) Like "B movies" this was "B television". Easy to dismiss — but having seen the series again (with horrible dubbing) as an adult, I can see now why young me was attracted to it: there was an attempt at a story arc across the series with the robot becoming more human and less machine-like by the end (in fact, disobeying a direct order in the final episode). There was something kind of weird and wild about the times when small, independent television stations across the midwest would try to go toe to toe with the "Big Three" by importing "Speed Racer", "Ultraman", and other bargain television from overseas for the after-school time slot.
- busterarm 6y ago
  https://tokusatsu.fandom.com/wiki/Tokusatsu https://tokusatsu.fandom.com/wiki/Tokusatsu This may be the genre for you. I too love Giant Robo and Ultraman. Kamen Rider is still worth getting into, in my opinion. Also, you may enjoy watching this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo:_The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo:_The_Day_the_Earth_...
- mixmastamyk 6y ago
  And Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman).
- thornygreb 6y ago
  Similar, I didn't get any anime exposure really in the 70's. My intro to mecha was through Space Giants (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/) after school on TBS.
rl3 6y ago
Of note is Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.[0][1] It's probably one of the best PC games I've ever played, and at the time was magical. The game was very well done; stylistic and atmospheric excellence. Monolith knocked it out of the park. To my knowledge there's been nothing like it since. It's a shame, because the market would eat it right up. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogo:_Mobile_Armor_Division https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogo:_Mobile_Armor_Division [1] https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/videogame-helped-popularize-japanese-mecha-west/ https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/videogame-helped-...
- throwaway6734 6y ago
  Ditto! Shogo was great and is still fun to play
huffmsa 6y ago
Mecha Mania by Christopher Hart was my jam back in the day. Had a bunch of his how to draw books. Totally forgot about it til I saw it on that list.
JoeDaDude 6y ago
Missing from the list, and one of the best SF animes I've seen: Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster, or just Gunbuster. Mecha play a big role, but not the only role: there are alien invaders, spaceships approaching lightspeed, giant space battles, etc. etc. but all draped in hard SF: https://myanimelist.net/anime/949/Top_wo_Nerae_Gunbuster https://myanimelist.net/anime/949/Top_wo_Nerae_Gunbuster PS: Pay no attention to its sequel Gunbuster 2
_peeley 6y ago
Word of warning to anyone that might give Neon Genesis Evangelion a watch after seeing this - a lot of people include it in the "mecha" genre but if you're looking for a light-hearted, Saturday-morning, big-robots-punching-each-other kind of experience that's definitely not what Evangelion is. It certainly includes big robots as a plot point, but that's really just a backdrop for the character drama and deeper (and pretty heavy at times) emotional themes of the story. Things get very avant-garde towards the end, and the studio producing the series basically ran out of money to animate the last few episodes so you'll have to jump between the movie adaptations if you want a complete experience. I'd still probably recommend at least giving it a try sometime, as it's personally one of my favorite anime series and a landmark work in the medium as a whole.
- blake1 6y ago
  To be very specific: if you’re not comfortable with implied teenage suicide and incest, give the show a pass. Also, it’s very confusing at the end, for the reasons mentioned above.
  - bigger_cheese 6y ago
    Confusing isn't really the term I'd use, I think complex probably fits better. It is incredibly dense and there is a lot to take in. I can understand why its reputation is controversial. Among friends I know who I've recommended it to there's roughly a 50/50 split between people who love it and people who can't stand it so it is a fairly divisive work. I saw the series when I was a teenager it first aired on Australian television (SBS) in late 90's it had a profound impact on me growing up. I'd never seen anything like it before then and it absolutely blew me away. I personally think the whole series in an absolute masterwork. I do agree with the original commenter though it is kind of an outlier amongst mecha genre.
    - psychomugs 6y ago
      Looking at Anno's influences, it really draws upon a hodgepodge of non-mecha media like tokusatsu and sci-fi to the point where the inclusion of robots seems like a marketing pull. Interestingly, the Evas are are rarely, if ever, referred to as "robots." They're officially classified as 人造人間, "artificial humanoids," which is apparently what robot-like things were called before Čapek invented the word. In an odd way, it's the same lightning-in-a-bottle formula that made the Golden Era of The Simpsons so endearing: a deconstruction of a worn-out formula coupled with shameless-yet-tasteful references to other media.
psychomugs 6y ago
Mecha holds a really special place in my heart. From watching Filipino localizations of Voltes V, to watching Gundam and building Gunpla as a kid, to experiencing Evangelion for the first time as a teenager, I owe a lot of my interests and identity to mecha. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that my current pursuit of a PhD in robotics stems from my love of the genre. While I don't think mecha will ever be on its way out, it is concerning that many of the recent works keeping the genre afloat are from established properties like Gundam and Evangelion. I can't think of any original series after TTGL (and, by extension, Pacific Rim) that really piqued my interest. It's a shame considering how dominant it used to be; Astro Boy was a prototype not just for the mecha genre, but for anime as a medium.
sinstein 6y ago
Can someone guide me to a shorter synopsis so that I can justify purchasing Gunpla to my family? I bought a very tiny one (SD) with a friend when we were in Taiwan based off of his knowledge and I love how they look. I want to convince myself (and my wife) that I should be getting a bigger MG piece.
- HelloNurse 6y ago
  > so that I can justify purchasing Gunpla to my family I don't think you need cultural significance as a supporting argument: the better Gunpla kits are good toys, with more accessories and better poseability than most dolls, a fun introduction to model kits, and a nice presence to stand guard on a shelf.
_ZeD_ 6y ago
a post on mecha... without go nagai and the others superobots???? Mazinger (Great and Z), Grendizer, Daitarn 3, the various Getter Robo, but also Vultus V, Balatack, Daltanious, Gordian, Trider G7, Zambot 3, Albegas and some other thousand...

66 points by rustoo 6y ago

Animats 6y ago

Mecha have almost disappeared from anime. Now, anime seems to be all about high school. Or even middle school.

bsanr2 6y ago
There was a small boom this past decade that seems to be over atm. Nothing groundbreaking, but some decent entertainment (and also some I would never, ever recommend, either due to quality or objectionable content). Off the top of my head: several Gundam entries - including AGE, IBO, Reconguista, Unicorn, Thunderbolt, the OO movie, and the Build Fighters and Build Divers series - Rideback, Star Driver, Valvrave, Suisei no Gargantia, Majestic Prince, Cross Ange, Buddy Complex, Aldnoah.Zero, Darling in the Franxx, Heroman, SSSS Gridman, the Evangelion Rebuild series, several mecha musume series, Macross Delta, Muv-Luv Alternative, several Code Geass sequels... I'm sure there are more. One might even consider Attack On Titan a sort of mecha series (it certainly has more in common with Gundam than, say, Godzilla). I think it's only been in the past year that we haven't seen multiple concurrent releases. (I want to reiterate that these are not in any way recommendations or endorsements. I watched and enjoyed many of these shows, but also dropped or never began several because of the questionable nature of one or more of their aspects.) Edit: Bubuki Buranki. Everyone always forgets Bubuki Buranki.
- wodenokoto 6y ago
  > either due to quality or objectionable content You kinda piqued my interest here: Which one has what objectionable content?
  - bsanr2 6y ago
    Depending on who you ask, pretty much everything but the Gundam Builds. I jest. But, to be specific: Valvrave and Cross Ange were criticized for their depictions of rape; several series feature racy imagery, sometimes of underage characters (including the otherwise fantastic Gargantia - skip the dance scene); AoT, IBO, and a few others skirt some politically-sensitive material. And, frankly, a good number of the shows mentioned end up being offensively mediocre, squandering some quite strong openings (Rideback and Aldnoah.Zero especially). Probably the most objectionable thing of all.
    - Animats 6y ago
      Hadn't thought of Rideback as mecha, but I suppose you could see it that way.
    - busterarm 6y ago
      Objectionable content aside, I would agree that outside of the Gundam Build shows, the quality of that list is pretty poor and there was absolutely _nothing_ in the market for Super Robot fans. TTGL set a really high bar.
      - bsanr2 6y ago
        Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed quite a few of the others - Valvrave was a glorious trainwreck, IBO finally committed to and even doubled-down on subverting the expectations of gunota, and Majestic Prince was a solid action dramedy that proved CG mecha was viable and beautifully prefaced Orange's work on Houseki no Kuni and Beastars. (I mean, I can't fault any series that can do this to a Hiraiface. https://imgur.com/a/Eey0x31 https://imgur.com/a/Eey0x31) I dunno where we go after TTGL as far as Super Robot goes. It finally defined and crystallized the essence of that genre - the GAR - and in its thorough reconstruction didn't leave much room. You basically have to introduce real elements to not be a retread. I am glad we got Pacific Rim, that was close. If Super Robot gets its character from emotional directness and intensity, you might have to follow TTGL with something more Ideon or Bokurano-like, turned up to 11.
        busterarm 6y ago
        Thing is, after GaoGaiGar, I was saying that series would be impossible to top. It took a decade, but TTGL did happen. I think leaning into super robot tropes might be the thing, rather than some mix of real robot shows. It's not like those are doing any better in the market right now.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- ASalazarMX 6y ago
  > One might even consider Attack On Titan a sort of mecha series My take on it as well. The titans are not robots, but they're mecha-size creatures, and their pilots have a designated cockpit, which they open occasionally to interact with others. The other classic mecha scene is the take from inside the cockpit, so you can see the pilot's reactions. It's a weird mix of mecha and gore.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 6y ago
    They're mecha- only biological in origin. There is precedence also, in the Tager faction from the RPG Cthulutech: Factions include the "Tagers," a group of warriors who work for the mysterious Eldritch Society and bond with alien symbionts that produce alien-like suits of flesh over their bodies, giving them enhanced strength and other abilities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CthulhuTech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CthulhuTech These are basically flesh mecha, though it's been a while since I read the rulebook and I don't remember if they're large or small. Anycase I wonder if they could have been an inspiration for the titans. [SPOILER SPOILER] There is a hint of alien provenance of the titans on the AoT world. That thing that looks like a slug? Edit: Oops. It's really been a while since I read the Cthulutech manual. The bio-mecha are the New Earth Government's Engels, which are Evangelion-big, with pilots always on the cusp of insanity: Engels are giant monstrous creatures fused with human and Nazzadi DNA, encased in locking mecha armour, and controlled by a pilot sitting inside a uterine-like control chamber within the Engel. They are essentially organic mecha. The pilot controls the Engel via the Engel Synthesis Interface, or ESI, and often bonds emotionally with it during their service lifetime. Engels have been known to go on rampages provoked by bloodlust or strong emotions, and consequently are considered very dangerous battlefield weapons. http://cthulhutech.wikidot.com/engels http://cthulhutech.wikidot.com/engels
  - bsanr2 6y ago
    I've always thought that one sadly unexamined aspect of mecha is how incredibly vulnerable pilots are outside their machines, and how incredibly dangerous they become once they manage to get in. AOT did make some strides there, by spending a lot of time focusing on how crucial to the shifters' effectiveness their ability to actually shift in a given circumstance is (and how much damage they do once their containment, both physical and strategic, is inevitably breached).
- k_sze 6y ago
  Unicorn was seriously epic. The opening battle between the Stark Jegan and Kshatriya has to be one of the most blood-boiling battles in the Gundam universe. Hiroyuki Sawano’s music also really helped.
busterarm 6y ago
New Super Robot show with a brand new IP this summer, for the first time in more than a decade: Megaton Musashi. Sadly Mecha is indeed mostly dead. I'm not sure where you can take the Super Robot genre after TTGL, GaoGaiGar and Getter Robo: Armageddon. The most popular Gundam shows as of late have been the Build shows and honestly I don't mind in the slightest. They're so fun. The suggestions in the link are really weird though. It's like a real surface understanding targeted at people who only have been watching Anime for a decade or less. There's tons more good stuff worth watching and mostly from the 80s.
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  > I'm not sure where you can take the Super Robot genre after TTGL, GaoGaiGar and Getter Robo: Armageddon. What about the real robot genre? Gundam shows are great because they seem to be grounded in reality despite all the futuristic technology. It's so fun just observing the immense attention to detail the creators put into their work.
  - busterarm 6y ago
    I don't know how much attention you've been paying to Gundam series, but they're pretty much all trending towards being direct-to-video now and sales are in significant decline. The Build shows buck this trend and are a huge success. And model kits are selling more than ever. The apetite for those stories just isn't there anymore.
    - matheusmoreira 6y ago
      What a shame...
Something1234 6y ago
I'm a fan of heavy object. It's a reversal from the traditional human looking robot to giant tanks. It has some great comedy too.
inasio 6y ago
Coincidentally I recently started watching the Pacific Rim anime series (on Netflix). I found it surprisingly great; much darker than any of the movies, real character archs, great Kaiju, highly recommend.

rtx 6y ago

Ninja Robots was the pinnacle.

mwkaufma 6y ago

Pet peeve: the primer includes Robotech/Harmony Gold (ip squatters) rather than Macross/Studio Nue (actual pioneers). The Macross Design Works series are much better artbooks, and actually contains production notes because they _actually produced Macross_.

crooked-v 6y ago
Also, there has been a bunch of follow-on Macross media that shows gradual development of the same mecha model series in-universe, with changes to control schemes, production models of machines that were prototypes in previous series, weird offshoots as an explicit result of the complications of military vehicle development, and so on.
busterarm 6y ago
Ugh. Harmony Gold. This IP battle has been a major hurdle for Battetech as well and probably stifled the success of the game significantly.
- mwkaufma 6y ago
  FASA is as shameful about never crediting creators as HG. Kawamori stated in an interview that they overextended the "package illustration" rights that they bought to Studio Nue mecha: https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/12/10/shoji-kawamori-the-creator-hollywood-copies-but-never-credits/?sh=d9f9ede3a0f9 https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/12/10/shoji-ka...
  - busterarm 6y ago
    I'm not saying FASA is in the right here, but it's HG that sued FASA and continues to do so (harebrained, piranha...) post settlement. In fact, HG claims rights to designs that aren't from anything they licensed, including original FASA designs. HG seems to operate like they own "Mecha" outside of Japan.
    - rl3 6y ago

matheusmoreira 6y ago

Several of these titles are on Netflix. Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, at least two Gundams. Gundam Unicorn is beautifully animated and very detailed. I notice something new every time I watch it. Very fun and a great introduction to the genre.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
[I moved this comment; it was accidentally under the wrong parent.] Netflix sometimes(?) carries "Knights of Sidonia". I only ever saw season 1, but I was really surprised by how bad (IMO, obviously) the animation was [0]. It reinforced my perception that "Netflix Original" was a mark of poor quality. [0] And my standards are probably lower than most of this crowd. I barely noticed the animation quality of Arifureta, because of how much I liked that series' other aspects.
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  I wasn't too impressed with the animation of Netflix original anime either. Netflix Originals in general seem to be very low quality shows these days. It appears competition with other copyright holders drove them to pump out large quantities of shows with less focus on quality.
  - azernik 6y ago
    "Netflix Original" anime (and many other foreign media, e.g. K-Dramas) aren't produced by Netflix; Netflix just throws money at them to get exclusive US distribution rights. There's competition here, but it's with other US anime distributors to get rights to Japanese-produced content aimed at a Japanese audience.
- BiosElement 6y ago
  Honestly loved the style of Sidonia. I can see why you might not like it, but that's an art style choice more than anything else.
- hashhar 6y ago

busterarm 6y ago

Tiger & Bunny is kind of mecha-adjacent. Kind of along the blurred lines betweeen Mecha and Tokusatsu...

JKCalhoun 6y ago

I'm not really into either "mecha" (or anime for that matter). But man I loved "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" in the U.S. in the 1970's. (I know, I know — it was "Giant Robo" in Japan.) Like "B movies" this was "B television". Easy to dismiss — but having seen the series again (with horrible dubbing) as an adult, I can see now why young me was attracted to it: there was an attempt at a story arc across the series with the robot becoming more human and less machine-like by the end (in fact, disobeying a direct order in the final episode). There was something kind of weird and wild about the times when small, independent television stations across the midwest would try to go toe to toe with the "Big Three" by importing "Speed Racer", "Ultraman", and other bargain television from overseas for the after-school time slot.

busterarm 6y ago
https://tokusatsu.fandom.com/wiki/Tokusatsu https://tokusatsu.fandom.com/wiki/Tokusatsu This may be the genre for you. I too love Giant Robo and Ultraman. Kamen Rider is still worth getting into, in my opinion. Also, you may enjoy watching this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo:_The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo:_The_Day_the_Earth_...
mixmastamyk 6y ago
And Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman).
thornygreb 6y ago
Similar, I didn't get any anime exposure really in the 70's. My intro to mecha was through Space Giants (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/) after school on TBS.

rl3 6y ago

Of note is Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.[0][1] It's probably one of the best PC games I've ever played, and at the time was magical. The game was very well done; stylistic and atmospheric excellence. Monolith knocked it out of the park. To my knowledge there's been nothing like it since. It's a shame, because the market would eat it right up. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogo:_Mobile_Armor_Division https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogo:_Mobile_Armor_Division [1] https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/videogame-helped-popularize-japanese-mecha-west/ https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/videogame-helped-...

throwaway6734 6y ago
Ditto! Shogo was great and is still fun to play

huffmsa 6y ago

Mecha Mania by Christopher Hart was my jam back in the day. Had a bunch of his how to draw books. Totally forgot about it til I saw it on that list.

JoeDaDude 6y ago

Missing from the list, and one of the best SF animes I've seen: Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster, or just Gunbuster. Mecha play a big role, but not the only role: there are alien invaders, spaceships approaching lightspeed, giant space battles, etc. etc. but all draped in hard SF: https://myanimelist.net/anime/949/Top_wo_Nerae_Gunbuster https://myanimelist.net/anime/949/Top_wo_Nerae_Gunbuster PS: Pay no attention to its sequel Gunbuster 2

_peeley 6y ago

Word of warning to anyone that might give Neon Genesis Evangelion a watch after seeing this - a lot of people include it in the "mecha" genre but if you're looking for a light-hearted, Saturday-morning, big-robots-punching-each-other kind of experience that's definitely not what Evangelion is. It certainly includes big robots as a plot point, but that's really just a backdrop for the character drama and deeper (and pretty heavy at times) emotional themes of the story. Things get very avant-garde towards the end, and the studio producing the series basically ran out of money to animate the last few episodes so you'll have to jump between the movie adaptations if you want a complete experience. I'd still probably recommend at least giving it a try sometime, as it's personally one of my favorite anime series and a landmark work in the medium as a whole.

blake1 6y ago
To be very specific: if you’re not comfortable with implied teenage suicide and incest, give the show a pass. Also, it’s very confusing at the end, for the reasons mentioned above.
- bigger_cheese 6y ago
  Confusing isn't really the term I'd use, I think complex probably fits better. It is incredibly dense and there is a lot to take in. I can understand why its reputation is controversial. Among friends I know who I've recommended it to there's roughly a 50/50 split between people who love it and people who can't stand it so it is a fairly divisive work. I saw the series when I was a teenager it first aired on Australian television (SBS) in late 90's it had a profound impact on me growing up. I'd never seen anything like it before then and it absolutely blew me away. I personally think the whole series in an absolute masterwork. I do agree with the original commenter though it is kind of an outlier amongst mecha genre.
  - psychomugs 6y ago
    Looking at Anno's influences, it really draws upon a hodgepodge of non-mecha media like tokusatsu and sci-fi to the point where the inclusion of robots seems like a marketing pull. Interestingly, the Evas are are rarely, if ever, referred to as "robots." They're officially classified as 人造人間, "artificial humanoids," which is apparently what robot-like things were called before Čapek invented the word. In an odd way, it's the same lightning-in-a-bottle formula that made the Golden Era of The Simpsons so endearing: a deconstruction of a worn-out formula coupled with shameless-yet-tasteful references to other media.

psychomugs 6y ago

Mecha holds a really special place in my heart. From watching Filipino localizations of Voltes V, to watching Gundam and building Gunpla as a kid, to experiencing Evangelion for the first time as a teenager, I owe a lot of my interests and identity to mecha. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that my current pursuit of a PhD in robotics stems from my love of the genre. While I don't think mecha will ever be on its way out, it is concerning that many of the recent works keeping the genre afloat are from established properties like Gundam and Evangelion. I can't think of any original series after TTGL (and, by extension, Pacific Rim) that really piqued my interest. It's a shame considering how dominant it used to be; Astro Boy was a prototype not just for the mecha genre, but for anime as a medium.

sinstein 6y ago

Can someone guide me to a shorter synopsis so that I can justify purchasing Gunpla to my family? I bought a very tiny one (SD) with a friend when we were in Taiwan based off of his knowledge and I love how they look. I want to convince myself (and my wife) that I should be getting a bigger MG piece.

HelloNurse 6y ago
> so that I can justify purchasing Gunpla to my family I don't think you need cultural significance as a supporting argument: the better Gunpla kits are good toys, with more accessories and better poseability than most dolls, a fun introduction to model kits, and a nice presence to stand guard on a shelf.

_ZeD_ 6y ago

a post on mecha... without go nagai and the others superobots???? Mazinger (Great and Z), Grendizer, Daitarn 3, the various Getter Robo, but also Vultus V, Balatack, Daltanious, Gordian, Trider G7, Zambot 3, Albegas and some other thousand...