The Decline of Mecha Anime
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- I decided to make a brief introspective video on the decline of a genre I have attributed to. I share my thoughts as someone who has not been enamored by the genre as well as give insight to the current trend in the decline of popularity.
I think the comment about Isekai hits the nail on the head. This is about what is seen by studios as profitable, and the nature of trends in anime. Isekai is in because a couple of series made bank, and everyone followed suit. In a few years, we'll see something else take its place. Maybe even mecha...
Gurren Lagan is a product of its time. I've been back to rewatch twice, and it for real doesn't hold up any more. It has its moments, but it suffers from being a proto-TRIGGER show, where they mostly just do spectacle.
Also, IBO is great, my favourite Gundam series, but I FR have to fight for MS 08th Team. It's set in the main Universal Century timeline, but focuses on one small area of combat, and is a lot more like a Vietnam war film than it is a space opera
I just hope whatever is in the next profit cycle isn't a genre I currently enjoy where it gets wrung dry.
Both are going on my watch list, which is less of a graveyard than most others, but nonetheless, a plan to watch list...
Because isekai is easier to make if you going to make mecha anime it has to be high budget and can sell toys
Funnily enough, Shinji from Evangelion is like an exaggerated version of the OG Gundam's first MC, Amuro Ray. Back then, Amuro Ray reluctance of piloting a giant super-robot was pretty unusual considering all the hot-blooded gung-ho MCs of Super-Robot shows that came before Gundam & ready to be pilot without much doubt & consideration (Kamina was a homage to those oldschool hotblooded mecha MCs).
Amuro was more balanced and his struggle is more understandable though. Unlike Shinji whose mission is prerty black & white (fight giant monsters to defend humanity), Amuro Ray was forced to fight a real war (people against people). He had to kill a lot of people & be a child soldier to protect his friends. That's where Amuro's reluctance came from. But unlike Shinji, Amuro gradually knows when he needs to step up & pilot the Gundam for the survival of his friends. Half-way into the show, Amuro doesn't need to be dragged around to pilot the robot anymore even when the odds are stacked against him. Amuro grew into a competent pilot unlike Shinji which gradually became the worse pilot the further he gets depressed in the show.
Agreed. The Ramba ral episodes as well as the cucruz Doan episodes(latter got a remake even tho being some of the worst in the show by animation standards) did tons of character development for Amuro. At the beginning of the ral arc he’s basically suffering from ptsd and goes Awol because of how shit White base staff treats him, meeting ral by chance, who treats him like a human being. And later he has to fight the same man that showed him kindness. There’s a Reason why Ramba ral, despite only appearing in like 4 episodes total, is one of the most beloved characters in UC.
in many ways they were similar.
However, shinji perception was quite different. He was 14, and much more fragile compare to amuro. He also had no support from his father, and was suddendly dragged into a war that erupted with no warnings.
Shinji wanted to run since the very beginning.
On the other hand, amuro knew there was a war and that his father was building something secret for the army. He was very interested in knowing about that secret.
When the battle started, amuro choosed to fight to defend himself
Later he was indeed forced to fight
And later, when he felt there was no gratitude for what he did, he escaped with the gundam.
Both have their own issues to deal with Amuro with the war against other people, including Ral who treated him better than the White Base or hell the Federation did. Shinji lost his mom, abandoned by his dad, had to grow up on his own only to be forced into combat to defend a world that hates him. Hence his breakdown during 3rd Impact as Shinji too had to kill the person that treated him with kindness more than how others did. Amuro was more a lazy kid that got forced into war while Shinji was practically an orphan after being abandoned by his dad.
I will always be of the opinion that Amuro was far whinier than Shinji.
He's given a state-of-the-art Mobile suit with top-of-the-line equipment to fight off a succession of either lesser pilots or lesser machines, mostly both. By contrast, Shinji's Eva 01, despite its' godlike potential, is barely adequate most of the time and is armed with such crowd-wowing weapons like pea-shooter and knife to fight against unknowable, semi-lovecraftian, demigods.
@@rimjobledouche5201 Like I said in my original comment, Amuro stopped whining after the first half of the show (in direct contrast with Shinji). During the first half of the story, Amuro constantly faced better pilots & seasoned Zeon soldiers. And during the second half of the story, Amuro faced superior machines compared to his Gundam. Due to his growth as a pilot, the Gundam can no longer keep up with his skills that he had to make the best out of whatever hand he was dealt with (aka. making lemonade out of lemon) to defend what he considered as family (the White Base crew) which was a great character development for him.
Your comment towards the end hit the nail on the head. "A tool for the plot, and not the plot itself." that's pretty much the Gist of Gundam. At it's heart, a good Gundam is centered around the characters of the main conflict and their responses to the struggle they're involved in. The Robots, at best, are usually just the window dressing, despite being the main merchandising.
As a mid 30s mech head, your assesment of iseikai being the current flavor is pretty apt. I remember a big upturn in the 90s when it came to the fantasy anime genre.
As with a lot of animationive seen, they tend to adapt existing material from either manga or light novels. It's a much less risky choice financially. Iseikai seems to be incredibly "easy" to write, that the term a "dime a dozen" kinda pales to how flooded the light novel market is with them. And then there is manga, mecha design is from what i hear is quite difficult, that back in the day you had dedicated mechanical designers( a subsect that is sadly declining) so i believe most mangaka don't do stories and art around mecha because of the difficulties in mecha design. So with no real stand out material to adapt we dont see much in the way of mecha. I always hope that there will be a revival, maybe with from soft releasing AC 6 there hopefully will be an uptick in interest in the mecha genre.
P.s some recommends from different flavors of mecha anime patlabor( mecha police procedural)
Macross( ace combat with aliens idols, and transforming jets)
The brave series( japanese transformers with out the transformers brand, easiest one to get is gaogaigar)
You're right, the design aspect of each mech is definitely a time consuming process that I am sure a lot of people avoid due to the complexity. I remain optimistic we see a revival soon though
Also greatly recommend Patlabor. Another good mecha series is Votoms, it takes the approach of mecha pretty realistically and is overall pretty grounded, except for a few thing (mostly related to the protagonist)
@@tezereth i agree with you , also if i'm not mistaken Votoms was the first anime that depicted a small "real robot" mecha , since if you compare the size of the scopedog against the average MS from gundam , you Will see that the difference is *h u g e*
@@ulforcemegamon3094 yeah, with the average 4 meters for an armored trooper, you’ll need around 4 of them in a trench coat to be as big as the average grunt MS (which is usually around 18 meters)
If you like witch from mercury, 86, and eva you'll LOVE the UC gundam animes. They're the original timeline of gundam that start with the 1979 mobile suit gundam series and go all the way up to the recent gundam hathaway movie. The UC tends to focus on its existential, philosophical, and political messaging and themes. It does a lot to show the real effects that war has on the people who fight it and on those who become casualties of war. It asks questions of what will happen if the earth gets overpopulated, and stripped of its resources. It also focuses heavily on the political divide between the people who live on earth and those who live in space. And it is by far the most fleshed out of any of the gundam timelines and in my opinion has the best mecha designs with mobile suits like the unicorn gundam, xi gundam, nu gundam, sazabi, and kshatriya.
Does NT count as UC series... You can skip that 😅
Watching 0079 for the first time:
Beginning: Man this kind of sucks what's the appeal
Ending: Fuck that was awesome
@@im50yearsold Yessssss! ONE OF US
@@nikolaiorelov9305 It's weird too, there isn't any moment where you start realizing that the original 0079 is awesome it just sort of blends in like a gradient.
@@im50yearsold absolutely. For me, that's what I like about it. There's always a moment where it just clicks, but it's different for everybody
leaving out the logistics ( like how hard it is to design mecha, describe them in words or draw them etc etc ), i think the appeal of isekai is in the name, "wanting to escape from the world", or more bluntly, "wanting to run from reality." and there are a LOT of people who want to run from the reality we live in, for better or for worse. to me, mecha is about running towards reality, facing it for its horrors, loving whats good about it, and showing it what you're made of. now if one combines the two genres, and does a good job of it, that could be a hella powerful story to tell.
Beautifully said.
gundam build diver re rise thats the show you are talkin about
well you do not understand sci-fi fantasy. In sci-fi fantasy you create fictional world that different than ours. Mecha is best in sci-fi fantasy world because of there large size they are impractical. Because of that Mecha do well when mix with space opera genre. Also the space opera genre has decline too. also several sub genres of mech which have transformable Mecha, combiner Mecha and then wearable Mecha. Wearable Mecha is most practical.
I cant really agree that the genre is in a decline when Gundam is Bandai's biggest franchise outside of Dragon ball, Fromsoftware are taking a break from souls at the height of their popularity to make a new mecha game and Trigger released a gridman movie this year making both feature films they released are mecha
I only say it is a decline in terms of volume of anime airing, and maybe a bit of the quality on some shows since they aren't part of the bigger studios with a lot of money and resources. The genre as a whole is still very much alive, but there is not as much happening as there used to be.
@@greatestmuffin I mean there's consistent Gundam content yearly among other classic series getting fresh releases like Getter Robo arc getting an anime in 2021 and a Grendizer game releasing at the end of this year. And Sunrise and trigger are two massive studios who regularly produce mecha anime so while not all big studios push Mecha some of the biggest do
I am glad there is still something fresh, but these are also IPs that have stood the test of time and are still rewarding those who have been tuning in since the early days. I hope I can feel that way now once I get some more Gundam under my belt for the future releases
@@bigman_jo9985Brother I would not tout the Arc anime as much of a success lmao
@@greatestmuffin I suggest you watch more UC Gundam series especially Requiem of vengeance is coming.
These days, mecha as a stand-alone or main genre has declined significantly, though it is still ever present. Besides Gundam and the occasional non-gundam anime, one can now find mecha still being inserted into different genres, either as parodies or part of its narrative. I noticed that a number of Isekai mangas and animes also have the occasional mecha parody or actual mecha inserted into the plot and I think that's an indication that mecha has declined but not dying. Personally, I'm just glad mecha isn't dead and done.
I am hoping to see more mecha anime with isekai references tbh
@@greatestmuffinno...
@@greatestmuffinwell actually, that already exists, magic knight rayearth, and knights & magic.
I wonder if the reason why mecha anime are so rare these days is due to the the fact thar very few studios animate mecha by hand. Sunrise is one of the very few big animation studios that still animates their mecha by hand, except in movies where the designs are more complex
Other shows like Macross Frontier began animating their mecha using CG, and in the Rebuild of Evangelion films I think most of the animation on the Evas were done primarily on CG as well. I know drawing a complex machine moving is complicated, but CG mech animation feels kind of cheap-looking, despite the fact that it probably was very hard to do
I don't get why Mecha is considered as it's own genre.
I always saw Mecha as an element in the story, rather than a genre.
A mecha show could be about comedy with Giant piloted Robots?
Or Mystery-Political Thriller with Giant Robots(How much the robots are used depends, and this will influence if show is remembered as a mecha show or not)?
Or hot-blooded action-battle show with Giant Robots?
There is a big crisis with the identity of the Mecha Genre.
Is not just "What is Mecha?" But more importantly "What should considered Mecha?"
With WfM, introducing elements that appeals to a more broader audience, thus attracting a new audience, can still be considered a proper Mecha? Or rather, a proper Gundam show?
Mecha seems to be considered a genre in the west because people mostly don't know anything about it and just assume it's the same as battle Shonen, where battle Shonen focus largely on fights and power systems to the detriment of characters and stories, people seem to assume the same of Mecha. However, not only is Mecha the exact opposite, one could argue that its near-exclusive use of mechas as a narrative tool and never for the sake of themselves is exactly what separates it as its own genre. I know I loved the story and characters NOT taking a backseat to the universe's power system extremely refreshing and unique when I started Gundam.
Still, as you said, they're essentially just elements of the story.
As for G Witch, it has Mecha and it explores all of Gundam's themes, better than a lot of Gundam shows I'd argue, so I don't see why it wouldn't count.
If it has Mecha (or something similar), it's Mecha
In my opinion, it's because of how frequently mechas inspire and references one another to the point that it can be boiled down into 2 subgenres of Super robot and Real robot. When everything is a derivative of Mazinger Z and Gundam, it starts feeling like a genre in it of itself.
@@to2wacze612 Exactly
TL;DR I'd recommend the original gundam or gundam the origin
It's hard to talk about why I recommend the original without spoiling it but I'm gonna try my best. I started the original gundam more then a year ago because a gundam game was coming out and thought "I'll give the original a shot." Watching the first episode, I was impressed with the detailed backstory and grounded main characters. Going into it blind and knowing it came out in the 70's my expectation was very low. Thinking I was gonna get a monster of the week with a main character that'll say things like "My friends are my power! Super Punch Attack!!!" Instead, I got Amuro Ray, a young loner who was forced into a battle for survival and taking it like a kid would. Afraid for his life and not wanting to fight at all. I was just planning on watching a few episodes for fun but now I'm gonna watch all 43 episodes. Unfortunately the show wasn't perfect. Every episode had to have a battle and when the white base got to Earth, the pacing dragged its feet. I was bored sometimes, not gonna lie. Then the last 10 episodes came. I very rarely watch more then 2 eps at a time, but this, but THIS! I watched all 10 eps at the edge of my seat. It was fantastic. I'd rave more but spoilers. Even with the it's issues, I'd highly recommend the original just for the final act alone. The Origin is a prequal series following the rival from the main series, Char Aznable. It adds a lot to the original and is great in it's own right. My recommended order is start with the 6 ep Origin, then the original 43 ep Gundam, in all of it's aged glory.
I would recommend Gundam 00 next, as it's a rather solid entry in the franchise (and it has a really well-rounded English dub), or... the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979. And yes, it has an English dub. And the main protagonist, Amuro Ray, is voiced by Brad Swaile, who voiced Light Yagami in the English dub of Death Note... and Setsuna F. Seiei, the main protagonist of Gundam 00 as well...
I will add this to the long list of good things I have heard about 00, and I have also been looking for another show that has a great dub, seems to fit he bill!
How about starting from MSG the Origin then only the classic grandaddy MSG. That's how I easily get my friend into Gundam UC timeline
@@greatestmuffin gundam 00? i dropped it, honestly i don't feel it solid at all compared to shows like code geass.
Gundam 00 is a mess of plot twists and plot armors, with a lot of nonsense.
@@giancarloga8850the only plot armor I see is the one and only Immortal Patrick Colasour. And that bastard Ali Al Saachez not dying. (Poor Lockon😢)
@@giancarloga8850 Are you sure you aren't confusing it with SEED Destiny.
Knight and magic is quite Unique mecha RnD anime is really rare
I figured I would name drop that series specifically as it was one that I actually saw and was interested in and watched star to finish
Ma mate u know the stuff heh ntgl main mech of protagonist was makin me feel nostalgic bout valvrave with its head
The best explanation is old age. Mecha anime/manga etc dates back to the 1950's. And I think that it should be viewed in terms of old age and whether it's still producing content and merch despite said age.
IMO, it's still going strong in this context. It's still getting new series from all it's subgrene, be it super, real and hybrid mecha. Old series are getting sequel/remakes etc. Just recently, in 2018, the grandfather of mecha, Mazinger Z had a movie sequel, following last Mazinger installment being 2012. There's Grendizer remake, belonging to Mazinger coming soon, new the visuals were unveiled today alongside a game tie in. There's a 2021 adaption of the Getter Robo series, despite it's author dying in 2006. Voltes V, a 70's mecha has gotten a live action remake in the Phillipines, due to the series being a cultural icon over there for influencing a revolution.
The Brave series produced a sequel to it's most popular series, GaoGaiGar, a sequel that was cancelled back in 2005 I might add. And just at the end of July, a new Brave installment has been released, with GaoGaiGar being the last entry since since 1997.
Gundam is still continuing, which to me, if Gundam dies, then yeah, you can say mecha is truly dead if it's juggernaut series halts.
Another factor is that there's a franchise in Japan called the Tomica mecha franchise that has been going since the late 2010's. It's a classical motw mecha that had an an entry, Shinkalion that while airing, dethroned Kamen Rider as the most popular boys show. As for other original series shows, Daimidaler was well regarded series back in 2014, and then there is Cross Ange which while infamous, has become a modern classic. Other series that I find are notable are Captain Earth, Planet With, Megaton Musashi, Back Arrow and Garandoll, Knights and Magic. There's Kyoukai Senki that started in 2021 which is getting a new series. Megaton Musashi got a s2 just recently.
In all honesty, if wanna talk about a genre that's truly sufferin since the 2010's following Madoka, Magic Girls are in a serious pickle. With only Madoka style tragical girls being made and only a few sequels/remakes like Sailor Moon, CardcaptoirSakura and the Tokyo Mew Mew remake and Lyrical Nanoha. It also only hasthe juggernaut Precure series to carry it really as the a pure, classic magical girl series that isn't extremely pessimistic. Mecha didn't suffer the same fate despite Evangelion's success. Another aspect is that mecha is arguably getting it's 2nd wind following the 2000's renaissance which also featured a lot of sequels/remakes to old properties like Mazinger and Getterm including the the 50's Tetsujin remake which had previously had two remakes prior, and even got a 2010's chibi remake.
This was really informative for me, you dropped at least 3 series I had previously not heard of before, and I agree that the Magical Girls genre has taken a huge hit as well (though other than madoka I haven't seen much since it really isn't for me)
@@greatestmuffin ruclips.net/video/l-IrHRj2PBk/видео.html Grendizer anime pv. Give this a go when it airs. Hotblooded like Gurren Lagann.
@@greatestmuffin If wanna get into mecha, Super Robot Wars 30 is a good way. It's an RPG crossover that features a large roster of mecha. It gives newcoemrs a chance to find series they like by being able to see the characters, story and mechs of the series included.
@@greatestmuffin Ever heard of Kuromukuro mecha? not something jaw dropping but ain't bad
@@AcTiltledVehicle Ah yes, the Samurai one.
I'll back everyone else here saying to watch the Universal Century timeline of Gundam as a great showcase of the "real robot" genre. Others that might be worth giving a look are Robotech (Or Super Dimensional Fortress Macross if you can find a copy), The King of Braves: GaoGaiGar (a series finale to a long running Super Robot series that ended up responding to Evangelion evisceration of the mecha genre by reconstructing it,) and Aura Battler Dunbine (arguably the first Isekai anime and a fantasy mecha show, where its more interesting to see how the tropes we've seen with the modern isekai genre have changed drastically 40 years ago.)
My experience and love of the genre started quite early too. From seeing reruns of shows like Robotech, Voltron and Gundam Wing, I was a fan for life. But a part of me kind of understands its decline as well. Along with a growing formula to later shows not innovating or just not being good, the real world changed around Japan enough that thinking towards science fiction as a genre became not as desired. Most mecha anime is about fighting to preserve or fight for a better tomorrow for a certain ideal. If you live in a time and country that seems in decline, that there isn't a future coming, then escaping into fantasy or into a techno-Neverland makes perfect sense.
What I find funny about the general western perception of mecha is that it's usually about the mecha and not the characters, while series like Eva are considered as being the opposite, even though, funnily enough, Evas are infinitely more of a focus of Eva's story as opposed to most mecha anime.
Though I get where they're coming from, if all anime you know is Shonen, with its focus on powers and power systems, you WOULD think that mecha focuses on the mechs over the humans.
Still, it's definitely a sentiment that needs to be challenged, I'd say.
Yeah , most mecha shows are about the characters instead of the mechas itself, i can't really recall a show which is more about the mechas rather than the characters
@@ulforcemegamon3094 I wanna say the Gundam Build shows, but even there the Mecha (rather, gunpla lol) are extensions of the characters, so you could say it is or isn't, but even then Build Divers Re:Rise doesn't count at all
the only recent mecha shows that talk about mecha i know are ssss gridman universe and bubuki buranki.
so many real robots these days i really wish there is more super robot design like megaton musashi.
@@LR-jb6zn You mean the Gridman movie? I assume so, cuz damn do both anime series not talk or focus on the mecha lol
I hate that phrase "unlike other mecha shows, this one focuses on the characters", when I was finishing high-school 10 years ago I started watching old mecha shows like Macross, Gundam 0079, Zeta, ZZ, etc. and I always cared more about the characters, I got excited when I saw the mech fights and their designs, but I also got invested in the characters' relationships
For example, one of my favorite episodes from Gundam SEED is the one that deals with the origins of the Coordinators and the origin of Kira, the Mobile Suit didn't that much in those stories
I can never really get behind this idea there used to be a golden age of mecha when your comparison to isekais is apt: for every series known as genre-defining or iconic there are many that never ended up making a splash at all or were just riding the wave. If we suddenly got back up to numbers from the 80s we'd just be getting tons of shows on par with stuff like the vending machine isekai. I'll take one Granbelm over a half-dozen Ginguisers any day.
Well my first anime was actually Gunbuster. Still proud of myself.
People keep asking this about mecha but no one does the same for monster shows, 4 girl ensemble show doing cute things or ask about card game anime. Or what about non ironic magical girls
This is a good take. I think Card Game anime is another terrific example, I was big into Yu-Gi-Oh! as a kid but once I got older I found other things more interesting, it might be the same with Magical Girl genre that the target demo has shifted in such a large way in the past 2 decades. Personally I feel that mecha was always held to a higher standard than those genres, can't really explain why other than it has a sense of more depth and complexity that can be shown in a very basic easily-digestible way.
Other non related example my bud made me swallow whole manga site one day ( i blame him for showing me beauty of reading )and i started diggin deeper P: name it reincarnation ,returne who know how many years later. ( martial arts i am getting sick of to much some are not detailed in two words MY EYES) ntgl just the title Necromance after the legendary solo leveling started poping now i have at least 7 dif mangs bout necromancers ( tho i am sure i am still missing few or forgot few titles ) zombie manga's are also pice of art example my girlfirend is a zombie started well but after a while the struggle to survive in apocalypse after 300 chapter dissapears (and no one knows why ''sus'')also lovin to watch some magic manga's they also pop like crazy thus now zombie manga's are less more appearing in new title's and mecha manga i search is like barely 5 ? damn i was very sad and deppresed ..... and yes i do read isekai'd release that witch cool one ( also one with isekai'd military enginner like guy as royal drunk waste ). So ye my points is our cool god bless mechs P: are dyd category but simplicity wins bruh me life get's sad (nah lying i enjoy equality in genre P: ... '''still hurts '' ).
My 1st Anime was Code Geass, at that time 7 y/o me never understood the story other than the " Cool Robot Fights "
After rewatching Code Geass sometime ago, I was astounded by the depth of the story (arguably) and it was the first time I realized that its NOT just about the Cool Robot Fights
Watched Iron Blood Orphans last year and I REALLY enjoyed the gritty and harsh setting the show presented, plus Robots clashing at each other without any energy/ laser weapons were refreshing (Just blood, sweat, and metal)
Now I crave for Mecha Anime with Deeper Sub plots and Characters that make you root for, only ending up as plot devices
That's pretty much all of Gundam lol
@@Peasham Gundam ? what's that ( :buddy shows me : me ''dies of cringe ) yeah not into helmet head lokking like chess pices non unique animes tho am sayin Tho i do recall one that had old style look like guren and gundams but i forgot that one (not about ange) but some being farmer not being able to do smth most can , he was only one able to pilot that mech
Well, Code Geass was made by the same studio that created Gundam, Studio Sunrise, and Code Geass itself shares many similarities with Gundam, Lelouch is very similar to Char Aznable from the original Gundam, then there's Emperor Charles' speech at Clovis' funeral which is a direct homage to Garma Zabi's "Sieg Zeon" speech from the first Gundam as well. Suzaku and Euphemia look identical to Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED
Before directing Geass, director Goro Taniguchi also directed two other shows at Sunrise, Infinite Ryvius, which does feature a mecha but is not a mecha show, and s-CRY-ed which is more of a shonen battle show, and before that he worked as an assistant in Gasaraki, which is a real-robot show by Armored Trooper VOTOMS' creator
I casually forget mecha anime, mostly gundam, was created to sell plastic models.
As opposed to now, where anime is made to sell the manga, something I think is less cool
Something interesting I found out about gundam recently, the first gundam model kit came out months after the show ended. The show itself was considered a failure until the model kits sparked more interest in it leading to its success in syndication. So in a weird way the model kits were made to sell the show.
I mean, so is all media. Don't mean much for the artistic process.
@@3ormorecharacters182Well, yes and no.
From my understanding it's the compilation movies that sparked mainstream interest in Gundam, that built off of its underground success with women and teenage girls who were mostly the people that kept it afloat during its tv run, it's the kits that rode the compilation movie wave from what I understand.
Gundam kits were always dependant on people watching and caring about the show, something we very much see nowadays.
OP should be watching Voltes V Legacy (extensive remake of the OG Voltes V anime by Toei), even if the Filipino language is more alien to him than Japanese was!
After watching Gundam WfM I watched War in the Pocket because it was a 6 episode and i waned a little more Gundam but not a whole lot.
My background as a Gundam is grew up watching Gundam Wing and G Gundam on Toonami. I loved Code Geass and TTGL but never got back into Gundam since Gundam Seed character designs rubbed me the wrong way.
I’m glad I decided to watch Witch From Mercury sparking my new hobby of building Gunpla. I basically bought the whole WfM line
I bought the Yoasobi demi trainer as soon as I saw it, mostly for my love from Yoasobi, but building the kit was also fun
G Witch is somewhat unique within the franchise while exploring the same themes, like a Gundam AUs, so finding something that's like it would be tough..
If you're looking for another Gundam show to try out, what part of G Witch did you like the most?
If you want to give Gundam a shot,I highly recommend Gundam The Origin as a starting point. Since it's a prequel there's a bigger emphasis on characters and world building than there is on the mechas.
Also as a die hard anime mecha fan, this idea that all mecha shows are just senseless robot fights has never been true.
Ever since Gigantor, all of the best mecha shows have always prioritized the pilots and human characters, and the robots served as metaphors for much grander ideas.
I mean, that implies that other Gundam shows don't also focus on the characters over the Mecha, which they very much do.
I’ve been a mecha head before I could write. The amount of shit mecha anime that got cranked out literally drove me away from the genre until very recently when I got a tip on witch from mercury. My favorite Gundam has and always will be Turn A, but as a whole I absolutely love WFM to the point that I have several gunpla kits on order. I’m now glad to hear about 86 and will give it a try.
"Gundam 08th MS team" is pretty short but you might like it. It takes place on earth towards the end of the One Year War, which the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime follows.
5:31 darling in the franxx👌👌captain earth👌👌star driver
Even if this genre die, i will still watch it because I'm addicted to Gunpla toys. Bro, they are actually "plastic drugs" I can't stop Argggggggggg!!!
No, no, no. You were doing so great at 2:12. The video was almost perfect, but you were supposed to outright say some variation of:
"I like Code Geass and EVA. Shows that, unlike most mecha anime, the focus is on the characters instead of the robots."
Jokes aside, in that regard, mecha is not that unique. Even when we talk about action-focused blockbusters like the MCU or battle shounens like Naruto and One Piece, the fights don't carry the spectacle by themselves. You need to make the characters and plot engaging for it to be entertaining.
Mecha, even old ones, are no exception. The original Gundam is dated, and I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is not used to older shows or is trying to get into the genre. However, I don't think I ever saw it being praised solely for its action. Instead, people remember it for the horrors of war and the character development. Even before Gundam, shows like Voltes V, Grendizer, and Zambot 3 were engaging because of the human side of the show. Evangelion is not that different from them, especially when you consider the "monster of the week" focused episodes that still contribute to character development. However, it's still obviously a much more refined version of the shows that came before.
I don't think there is a problem with the way mecha anime is made compared to other genres. The majority of everything is simply not good, and mecha is no exception, with the added downside that coming up with and animating good mecha designs is much more expensive than doing slice of life or isekai shows.
The design aspect is something I should have touched more upon for sure since that is one of the most important parts, and part of the reasons I love Cowboy Bebop's design. Mechs alone can't make for a story but all of the components combined together can make something that could blow up and be the next big thing, but its been so long since it was a Mech's show in the spotlight. The closest being Darling in the Franxx but that was barely for it being a mech show, and more of a trigger/waifu reason...
the original gundam is dated is a buzzword that needs to go, old things are simply better than new ones in any way, witch from mercury is a good example of how people do not understand what they are trying to do with the mecha genre, the final few episodes felt like the writers legitimately just gave up and decided they didn't want to work on it anymore, that's how much of a train wreck the ending was
Have you tried Macross? It might be the most diverse franchise in the genre, as in, every sub-franchise is wildly different from the rest (in a good way).
God I love a line graph
There was almost a bar graph too, but alas, incomplete dataset that I did not want to extrapolate as it may not have been representative of the real life...
Graphs do be lovely
2:17 mazinkaiser
Mazinkaiser haou
Mazinkaiser liger
Mazinkaiser go valiant
🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶👌👌👌👌👌👍👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️✌️👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹👑👑👑👑
History repeats! It’s coming back in a decade 😂
I'm here for it if it does 100%
@@greatestmuffin Does Cyberpunk fall in this Genre?
@@ijok3r445I don't think so
Who else waits for Bionicle return P:
honestly if you liked the witch from Mercury, you'l love Iron blooded orphans, after IBO i was hooked on the Gundam universe... just mind the rabbit hole that is the "main line" gundam shows it gets DEEP
my problem with mechas is that it doesnt feel robotic anymore and techy like suits
I wonder why SSSS.Dynazenon doesn't come up when people talk about mecha anime
I was around when SSSS.Gridman was airing, but for reasons elaborated on in the video, I never checked it out. I don't really hear talk about that franchise as much as the others though, I'm not sure if that is because my algorithm doesn't show me that or if there isn't a general discussion though
It's more Ultraman than Mecha
The genre peaked with TTGL and there was nowhere left to go from there.
1:30 Are we just gonna pretend the Gridman anime trilogy wasn't a success? Cause it's very popular in Japan at least.
mecha better not mainstream media, better to be isolated. gundam merch every year is good.
The best mecha anime is Medabots
I will not elaborate
Agreed i search'd as young boy into it for polish version now i watch'd whole thing as adult and i was happy with understandin it (also no i ain't makin mistakes in typing its just how i am usually speaking in english mode P: like a chill australian mate tho i know i might be abusin that to much sometimes heh what can i say i get sans-tastic sometimes HAH
Gurren lagann is what made me a mecha fan
Best anime to ever exist, you cannot change my mind
Love to see that the Gurren Lagann fans still represent. I am in a similar boat with (most of) Sword Art Online. Has there been any other anime that has gotten close to the level of Gurren Lagann for you?
@@greatestmuffin good question!!
In terms of mecha, I wanna say VOTOMS is a hard second. Its like if you made gundam with more of a fallout vibe.
Girls' last tour is extremely underrated. Its about these little girls trying to survive an empty post-war world.
As cliché as this is going to sound, my hero academia was another anime that got me as emotional as gurren lagann. Great characters, great story in my opinion.
A lot of anime Ive seen or checked out have been really good. The only other anime that would also be in 2nd place is yuyu hakasho. Definitely a hard hitter overall!
A fellow Girl's Last Tour Enjoyer, much respect. You might also like Kino's Journey The Beautiful World as I think it is a similar vibe with a bit more going on. And a longshot that is also a little similar is one called Sunday Without God, but I feel like nobody has ever heard of that show either lol. VOTOMS is new to me, but the premise sounds fun, might be going on the list as well
@@greatestmuffin Honestly the assembly sequence took me in and the quest of protagonist was also smth that took me in heh.
If you ever get a chance to check out anymore Gundam series I highly recommend the 08 MS team, if you want to try something for the universal century
Oh boy, gundam IBO, good luck. It hits HARD at times, but so, so well. Couldn’t recommend more.
Ive watched the non-UC gundam but ive never really got into gunpla...that might change now with Aerial lol
4:44 that's the problem with gurren lagann, even shows like Gunbuster (6 episodes) have better character development than every character in TTGL combined,
They just showed a random character in the background and like 2 episodes later said character sacrificed himself with some opera music on the background, but that didn't make the character to automatically be likable or even interesting, they were literal randoms that just showed up sometimes,
I understand that all the fans loves the songs and the animation, but it's nowhere near the level of character development that any super robot usually has, so Gurren lagann is just a copy of getter robo mixed with gunbuster that doesn't actually has the same quality or impact as those
The first mecha anime I watched was the first OVA of Gundam Unicorn, at first for me it was just big cool robots doing awesome things and then from there I just fell into the mecha rabbit hole though I did only care about Gundams at first while other mecha I see looking like a toy only starting a few years back I actually see them being incredibly awesome and all because of SRW
Mobile suit Gundam wing was my actual introduction to the mecha genre i was exposed to anime before such as dragonball, Pokemon and did see trailers for the end evangelian and macross plus. Gundam Seed, Gundam wing, Robotech/Macross and Gundam unicorn are probably my go to recommending to others. To me there hasn't yet been a newer mecha anime i that have taken interest in, sometimes there were ones that disappointed me such as Aldoneha zero and Gundam Recognista which I stopped making a effort in viewing.
Wing was boring and mediocre
Two good Gundam
shows to start with that I would recommend are Gundam 0080 and Gundam 8th MS Team
The only Gundam I've seen is Iron Blooded Orphans and I liked it. Looking forward to looking back at older ones.
To be honest I think it's rather ignorant to assume the mecha genre is dead, or dying.
Yes, sure, the series are harder to animate now, and they're less likely to get funding from merchandise companies due to them not being as popular as battle shonens or whatever.
Despite that, a lot of mecha series are still going strong even today.
Gundam is having no issues with content output, with TV animes, OVAs and movies to no end, Getter Robo got a continuation of its unfinished final manga back in 2021, and Mazinger has plenty of content including the new Grendizer game and anime.
Hell, something like Macross that can pretty much only be distributed in Japan is still going fine. The recent Zettai Live!! movie continues plot threads set up upwards of 30 years ago.
A somewhat niche anime from 15 years ago like Zegapain is still receiving content like the compilation movie in 2016, and just recently had a sequel announced.
One of the biggest game releases in recent memory is Armored Core VI, a game distinctly in the mecha aesthetic.
I could go on with more examples, but I don't really think I need to.
This assumption that mecha anime is "on the decline" is really the bane of the mecha fanbase's existence, as it usually comes from people who aren't fans of the genre, or who have only seen VERY entry-level series (typically Eva, Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, and Gundams IBO and G-Witch) and want to act like they are "above" the super robot animes of the 70's and 80's.
I'm not the first person to say that if people actually watched or even just respected older super robot shows like Mazinger, Daitarn, Jeeg, etc. then maybe we wouldn't have to hear "mecha... is DEAD" in 2023.
Hopefully we can move past this close-minded take one day, although I'm definitely not counting on it.
When you think hard enough and realized that Attack on Titan is just another form of "Mecha Anime" and that the mecha genre isn't really on decline.
Gurren Lagann is one of the best anime in history.
I enjoy watching space opera and mecha. Part of it is the fight but what I enjoy the most is human struggle for survival in the story.
About the fight, I crave for the tactical depth in each battle, thing in which Yamato, Legend of the Galactic Heroes did well.
Based Legend of the Galactic Heroes enjoyer
6:05 you made me smirk like Orga
Glad I can cause some sort of reaction, that's the whole reason I make these videos :)
The thing I miss the most about the mecha anime genre are those Super Robot Shows which were primarily made for children but they managed to capture the attention of older fans. Now, since the beginning mecha shows were made to sell toys, but many of them had a great cast of character and an engaging story to keep viewers invested. I'm talking about the Brave Series' shows like GaoGaiGar, Might Gaine, Dagwon, etc. Since the beginning of the 2000s mecha shows for older kids have been pretty rare, the only modern one I can think about is that one with bullet trains, Shinkalion I think. I think those type of shows can be a hit internationally if they distribute them to other countries. Though there's the difficulty in competing against established brands like Power Rangers and Transformers
Well Hasbro has kind of fucked over Power Rangers and they're barely promoting the latest Transformers show. The only problem with marketing something like Shinkalion is its motif. Trains. Vehicles that aren't very popular in America at least due to us having a terrible transit system. There's a reason why you don't see a lot of train transformers on the market besides Astrotrain who cheats by being a triple change. And the reason Power Rangers skipped adapting Toqger. A kids mecha show I think might work could be Earth Granner. But I've never seen it.
@@FireFury190 in terms of vehicles, I think kids in the U.S. are more interested in cars, don't know how popular is the Transformers franchise these days, but even since Hasbro and Takara decided to rebrand the Diaclone brand into their own thing they always placed a greater enphasis on the cars Transformers, alongside other types of vehicles like planes and then animals and insects, which were more prominent in the Beast Wars era. I think trains are sort of popular in Europe, though here in Latin America the Thomas the Tank Engine series was very popular, though I think there's a difference between steam locomotives vs. modern trains
In regards to a mecha show for all ages made in the West, the only "recent" ones that come to my mind are Sym-Bionic Titan and Voltron Legendary Defender. Titan was cancelled more than 10 years ago, but it felt like an awesome tribute to older mech shows from the 70s, like Grendizer and other anime like Cyborg 009. Voltron, on the other hand, it sometimes felt like the writers didn't care for the mecha aspect that much. And in both series the mecha were in CGI, which it isn't how I like to see mecha portrayed, but I know that animating mecha is very difficult and expensive, and these days it seems Sunrise is the only studio than draws mecha by hand
7:19 mazinger z
Mazinger zero
Mazinger z infinity
Mazinkaiser infinity
1:30 darling in the franxx👌👌star driver
0:29 mazinger z infinity mazinkaiser great mazinger getter robo grendizer mazinger z combattlerv voltesv daimos steel jeeg daitarn3 Zambot3 ultraman super robot wars
I'm dipping my toes to mecha genre after playing the first half of Armored Core 6. Couldn't play more because my PC broke so I have to get it from somewhere 😂
That part with Isekai boom seems to be the very good hit on what's going on. Seems like it's the nature of hyper fixation in media even though in the end everything is rooted to Mecha in the end for anime (Astro Boy is an Android, first Isekai is actually Mecha by the creator of Gundam). I suppose people have a hard time discerning a bit that everything in Mecha show is supposed to be complementary to each other because mechas there are supposed to be and are quite literally vehicles regarded as heroes or sometimes just weapons but they all stem from the basis that they're made to embody what humankind have identified like emotions, ideals, etc in the form that's mechanized and are something that's rather plausible for us to grasp but maybe due to how close they are now that people lost the "magic" of such fantasy?
That aside however, exposure is probably what desaturated anime fans form mecha with only transformers and Gundam being popular makes everything else seems like a blur and even then within them have things that are not what the title says (Gundam is but 1 of many types of Mobile Suits but many calls anything Gundam if it's from the series as example).
Guess Gundam is the only Mecha series that will live on and would outlived Transformers.
I am macross delta, evangelion, mobile suit gundam, Pacific Rim, 86, gridman, ultraman, Initial D, MF ghost, Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, mechagodzilla,
Pokemon, space battleship yamato, other mecha anime and movie, science fiction and fantasy fan.
4:54 darling in the franxx👌👌captain earth
Another "old" one I'd highly recommend: Eureka Seven. The original series, not the sequel or spin offs. It contains mechas, but it's actually a love story with good character growth and deals with themes such as environmentalism and coexistence. Great animation for its time and the music is very catchy. Eureka Seven was the first "mecha" that I've managed to finish and I can safety say thst it was the one that won me over, leading to watch others later on. 86 was my favourite thus far, alongside AOT's "meat mecha" model. Mecha is not dead, perhaps it is simply evolving with the times.
I watch it rn
its really good
Gundam Wing was the reason i love mecha anime but was introduced by Big O
We're getting a Grendizer remake next year. Here un Italy they even talked about it in the evening news on narional TV.
I'm interested in the new Grendizer since it seems Gainax is working on the project. Here in Latin America Mazinger Z is more popular, Mazinger Z Infinity even released in theaters with the same voice cast from the original series' remastered dub and then they reprised their roles in Mazinkaiser which was finally licensed in 2021 alongside Getter Robo: Armageddon
my addiction for giant robots started with the movie from 2013 Pacific Rim, a great live action movie, even to this day, it is now fully 10 years old, then i discovered the live action transformers movies, i love them, the day i started falling down the anime mecha rabbit hole is when i saw a trailer for the PG Unicorn Gundam model kit. Next, i discovered Gundam, i have not dug deep into UC series yet but i have watched most of AC Gundam series, ive been in the gunpla hobby for 4 years and have built 21 kits
Eh, honestly Witch of Mercury is one of the more lackluster Gundam shows for me. The whole point of mecha is the idea of giant robot fights. But shows often forget that these are more "machines" and need to be seen or used as such instead of just battle suits going DBZ. There has to be more to the show than just the suits because things have moved past that. Even G Gundam with it being more super robo than real robo has plenty of moments to remind the viewer that these are machines that help enhance the skill of the martial artist pilot rather than being super on their own. And that there are actual LASTING consequences, which is arguably what kickstarted the plot to begin with.
I have no idea how you think G Witch failed in any of these regards, it's easily one of the most in-depth looks at in-universe tech any Gundam show ever gave.
Mazinger Z was also my start in the mecha genre, before i even learned english lmfao
Great video and here's my two cents on the topic.
Mecha, like all genres are plagued by dogwater, ultra mega booty juice, terrible shows that solely exist to sell merch. Couple this with the anime cultural climate where 'mecha is bad lulz' among youth and adults with the brain of a youth and you will slowly get a decline in that genre. Say for example, somebody stubles upon Kyoukai Senki and suffer a painful viewing experience yea they would think the whole genre is bad (same as the experience you had with gurren legann). As well is the idea among most anime simpletons that watching anything outside the norm or old is bad (telling you from experience when i question some colleagues in high school back in the day and overall just general observation).
Yes I'm aware not all follow these trends but that's the status quo rn.
On the topic of why isekais are more popular among youth or adults with the brain of a youth, it boils down to this (tho they are more factors but for simplicity sake). Isekais plots, art, characters and overall concept is extremely easy to understand and very appealing to a younger audience. Characters are the most generic blanks slates or simplistic template characters designed to be digestible for a kid to comprehend. The art style...... there is no style to it whatsoever as they all more or less look the same. And the concept of isekai is what draws them in. The idea of escaping into a fantasy world where you're 'special' and all the conflict and damage suffered in said world has, most of the time, no consequences in reality. So in a nutshell, its the Marvel phase 4 of anime.
Contrast this with a lot of mecha shows that goes goes deep with political commentary and conflict etc. You would see why someone with little to no life experience or just want to see "cool and funny' stuff on screen would start having a seizure if they watch shows like this (because conplex shows arent isolated to mecha alone).
ANYHOW pardon my long af essay 😅. I mostly got into mecha from gundam wing. I always liked tractors and stuff when I was a brainlet so yeah it clicked. I never understood the shows when I was younger but as I grew up they were hella interesting to watch. Some ain't perfect (perfection isnt a thing) but the ideas and core concept along with at least 'good' writing gets me through anything.
Btw if you want to see some baller mecha action, check out Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim. That movie is a much watch for basically anyone, especially mecha lovers. Just don't watch the sequel that wasn't made by guillermo.
What you say makes a lot of sense, and I will have to check out Pacific Rim, I haven't seen a lot of films so I can culture myself a bit further
@@greatestmuffin trust me you'll enjoy it a lot. Guillermo somehow managed to make a live action, original mecha IP that is a love letter to the genre as a whole and just oozes testosterone and realism. No wonder why it was successful.
Tbh you should see the sequel to see why it didn't work 😅.
I do agree with your opinion here also Pacifc was bonker's
@@albertwesker295 western created media is horrible though, and so is pacific rim, they ruined it with the sequel
@@AcTiltledVehicle yea its a certified hood classic. I kinda hope thy pull a zack snyder and let guillermo release his take on it but eh I think I'm content with one alone.
The only Gundam anime I have ever sen all the episodes is Gundam build drivers the one were the protagonist are 2 kids that play a program called the gbn battle simulation program that is like a multiplier videogame
As a big fan of Mecha I can say that Gundam is terrible at onboarding people. My honest advice if you want to get into Gundam is start by watching standalone timelines, probably IBO or 00, maybe Wing or Seed if you like 2000s edge. UC timeline is best started with Gundam the Origin since the original series doesn't hold up well to modern standards. Once you're invested in the series it would be worth watching the older entries. And good luck finding the older series anywhere, they're really hard to find. If you want to get into something that's not Gundam, I would recommend the Patlabor series since you didn't bring that up in the video. Godspeed to you.
IBO and 00 seem to be the consensus of my next steps. This is the first time I have heard of Patlabor but I will check it out o7
@@greatestmuffinPatlabor movies, the first and especially the second one, are well regarded.
Weirdly bakugan in new vestroia '' sry for lack of rememberin correctly the title here'' made me love mechs after that was total eclipse sidonia lagan darling in the franx guilty crown tho it was short on mech's (and my very first anime was pokemon tho its more of a cartoon so if we talkin business it was Angel beats)
Do you even watch Gurren Lagann ep 8?
They should just continued the gundam IBO line like urdr hunt and gekko or calamity war.
Might i suggest the brave sub franchise(noteworthy mention: brave police j decker, and the king of braves gaogaigar), however in regards to gaogaigar, youll have to read a manga for its conclusion, qnd it involves another series too, also i would not say that mecha/super robot anime is in decline, you just aint lookin for anything in it that hard, weve been eatin good since getter robo returned back in 2019, even before that, mazinger Z's movie in 2017.
6:28 mazinkaiser
Great mazinkaiser
Mazinkaiser skl
I also came from a transformers background but I wasn't really a fan of the mecha genre as a teenager. I've watched darling in the franxx but didn't really have a strong opinion about it, it was popular nack then. Fast forward to 2023, several of my friends recommended the hell out of wfm to me. Then, I watched it. As a young adult, I found the story to be incredibly interesting. Like as cool as gundams are, they are weapons. This point is even more apparent in IBO, which I'm currently watching, episode 43 to be exact. Shit's becoming bleak in that series. These 2 shows also got me into gunpla, which is another cool aspect of the mecha genre.
80's & 90's was the golden age of mecha anime especially super robot anime
A show you might consider watching, if you enjoyed Eva is Rahxephon. It came out right in the post Eva bubble. Some even call it a rip-off, but once you look beyond the superficial similarities, you will find a good show in it's own right.
'Star Driver' is underrated ...would say to try it, they do completely different scenarios with robots like 'Miru' and 'Metallic Rouge' of supposed current time. Would recommend those for fans of mecha though I enjoy the spiral you mention of this sort of anime as is only slowing these years you say instead of being out fully. So it may not be without existence further on. Hope you are right.
Sorry what anime did you watch as a "baby anime viewer"?
I started watching Anime in 2015. My first shows in order are: Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Death Note, Ouran High School Host Club, then like 180 or so episodes of Fairy Tale before I dropped it.
@@greatestmuffin okay, sorry, I was confused that you said AoT seemed like a mecha vs mecha type show. I can understand it, but the background footage through me off
Oh no lol it is just a meme that some people call AoT a mecha because the titan is just a suit that eren controls, don't take that at face value
@@greatestmuffin I don't, but I'm also an Ultraman fan so Kyodai hero was always the phrase going through my head when the show started.
Still Z Gundam was a good entry to the real robot genere after see "chars counter attack".
Of Super Robots, still Gaogaigar have the own scense, sorry i dont see new animes since the 2005, Evangelion isnt a mech anime for me (humanoids), and The new universes of gundams are very poor in story, i prefer continue watching the old animes of mech, the reason for see new animes is for the super robot wars games.
Nice video recapping mecha anime, but I am curious what you think signaled the downfall of mecha anime - did the story quality change, or did fans just fall out of love with the genre? And what does the latest Gundam do that others have not?
Personally I feel the shift in anime studios focusing on what seems any genre that is not mecha has been a major element. I don't think any part of it is the fans becoming estranged, but rather it does not seem to be gaining a lot of traction, especially in the mainstream. The lack of growth and the overshadowing of other titles/genres has not been good for mecha, but that could change any season. As I have not seen any recent Gundam shows have the similar success, it definitely benefits from modern animation, and to be honest the biggest reason I watched it in the first place was not because I was interested, but because YOASOBI did the opening and I absolutely adore their music, and I know all other Gundam do no have that ;)
@@greatestmuffin I do think the biggest role was the amount of time animatros took to animate whole battle sequence + add to it backgronds sound effects music as well and just the cool effect of Boom .Thus consuming lots of money and time it became non worth the effort / risk if not popin calculated number of viewers watching so called mecha anime story itself probably wouldn't be problem but searching for voice actors ( same money bruh ) big investing= high risk of losing after anime's like overlord i think dungeon and basically isekai's / harem like action echhi our genre got pretty dyd (sad day :( ).
It’s sad to see barely anyone cos as mecha anime characters during events 😢
mecha is my favorite anime genre
I believe my first mecha anime was Gundam SEED. And it was all down hill from there. My life I mean, not the quality of the shows.
3:59 ssss gridman👌👌ultraman
It was left open to interpretation. #IYKYK. 😂😂😂
Long live Dendrobium.
My favorite genres of manga/anime are mecha Shonen and ecchi
damn. your first anime was aot? thats fucking wild to me.
Attack on titan is considered a mechanic anime?
Some would say the Titans they control are closer to mechs than fursuits
my first Mecha anime was Gall Force: Eternal Story (1986) then macross then gundam, i do agree with the whole isekai, so many that arent really all that good. lots of flavor mechas
Muv luv and some others are recently getting popular
If you want to try out more Gundam I would like to suggest watching the Universal Century series first. Starts with Gundam 0079,08th ms team,0080,0083,Zeta,Double ZZ,Chars counter attack and Unicorn 0096.
I started watching mecha anime in 1989 with Zeta Gundam, then after that I was hooked on mecha series to this day.
Considering that you still loved The Witch From Mercury despite it's disrespectfully rushed ending, I highly recommend you watch Turn A Gundam instead of Iron Blooded Orphans. Turn A was originally ment to be a 2 year project that was cut short due to the lack of sales from merchandise, yet dispite this I consider it the best Gundam Show I have watched due to it's incredible world building, amazing artwork and soundtrack, as well as it's ability to use the mobile suits as a way not to only move the plot forward, but to further build the characters, and the world around them.
IBO as a show is more or less a writing mess after Season 1. Turn A on the other hand keeps it's eyes on the main story, it's characters, and does one thing that is still very unique in Gundam, having Humans resolve the conflict and not some space wizard chosen one.
I really disagree with the sentiment that IBO is a writing mess. I hated IBO the first time I watched it. I eventually revisited it after watching a short YT video digging a little deeper into why IBO is written the way it is. The summary of that video is this: the characters we follow in IBO are not the protagonists of the Gundam show. They aren't the ones launching the final attack and gutting hundreds of zakus to face down Char. Mikazuki, and McGillis, are the villains. They made unethical decisions in pursuit of power, and had their lives ended in inauspicious ways because of that. When viewed through this lens, all of IBO makes a lot more sense. It's not a show about protagonists, it's showing us the antagonists in someone else's hero story, and that they are still just people with lives, purpose and hopes. When viewed this way, IBO is one of the more interesting and meaningful of the entire Gundam series and the writing, while not perfect, calls into question how we think about heroes and villains, protagonist and antagonist.
@@bocatt9202 bro the protagonist is the general term for the main character. And while I understand what you're saying what is unethical about what Mikazuki did, bro just traded his body for power under his own will. If anyone should be blamed for that it should be Orga.
I am a mecha head and i am torn on this subject
To be honest, this is the first time I thought about the mecha genre this much, and was kind of torn making the video as well. It seemed like there was something great that has been forgotten about but for not the few devout followers as time passes on with the rest of the world oblivious to what once was.
Ore wa Gundamu!
the problem i have with gundam anime is the princess syndrome and mc being nice and everyone likes or look up to them is soo annoying, when you actually look at the story the enemy has more flaws and a reasons for there action compare to the protagonist
Nice job. I'd only differ in the ratings as i would give 86 a 10/10 and WFM a 9/10, but otherwise very with your take on the genre. BTW absolutely love Full Metal Panic and hope they finish the anime.
Uc Gundam is all you need
Augmented human c4--621 has awaken