Humongous mecha

[Fynn]

So I've recently let myself enter the TVTropes void again, and I've been reminded of Eva and how much it has influenced me creatively. Then one thought led to another and I remembered Xenogears and I just kinda started reminiscing about humongous mecha. As you do.

So what are your favorite humongous mecha shows/comics/games?

Personally, I have not had a lot of experience with them, but what I've seen/played, I feel very strongly about. Eva was my first foray into the genre, and while the film left some scars in me, overall, I look back on the series fondly for being incredibly ambitious instead of being just another simple, dumb '90s anime. I am also very smitten by the Rebuild continuity and I can't wait for the fourth movie to come out. So far it's been an incredible improvement over the main series, the third movie especially.

The other mecha anime that I've seen was Gurren Lagann. Now that was very dumb, but also very fun, and watching that in my rebelious teenage phase, what with all the messages of just fighting even if the odds are overwhelmingly not in your favor, was just incredibly uplifting. The characters were stupid caricatures of humans, but they were so diverse and expressive and I loved them so much. The show didn't treat itself too seriously, but still managed to be epic and meaningful on some level, which is really no small feat.

Xenogears is probably the last mecha piece I've been exposed to last (???). I have no idea why I've only tried these three, because they're all great. So yeah, Xenogears is another incredible influence and I just can't get over how much research went into this game and how incredibly thought-provoking it is. Makes me wanna replay it again and again, which is a shame because my gaming backlog is just stupefying.

[Freya]

The Gundams naturally. My first "job" (babysitting) I spent my money on the Gundam Wing Boxset.

I remember being obsessed with Zoids as a kid. There was a short anime I liked when Adult Swim first came out, Pilot Candidate.

But then I found Evangelion and bam, world was twisty then.

Pacific Rim is one my favorite movies cause it's just giant mechs taking on giant monsters and I want a sequel soooooo badly.

[Aerith's Knight]

The first mecha anime I saw was Gundam W way back in the day. But the one I enjoyed the most would be After War Gundam X. Not the best known, but I liked it much better.

[Wolf Kanno]

I grew up on the genre, which is why it has always been near and dear to my heart. I watched Voltron and Robotech as a kid and my dad got me into Battletech/Mechwarrior on the PC when I started gaming. When I finally got into anime seriously (instead of just watching it without realizing what it was) Evangelion was just starting to come out and I got hooked hardcore into that. Macross Plus, Gigantor Robot Carnival and finally Gundam Wing came afterwards. With Gundam, I dabbled in the franchise loving G Gundam, 0080: War in the Pocket, and 0083: Stardust Memory. I couldn't get into classic Mobile Suit Gundam though, I don't really know why. I didn't like Gundam Seed either.

I remember Pilot Candidate for Goddess, which was a slow if interesting anime that was just getting good before the series got cancelled. Dual! Parallel World is also a great parody series of Eva and the genre (created by the guy who did Tenchi Muyo! and a better parody than Nadesico) and Full Metal Panic was interesting even if Fumoffu was a better series. Gasaraki was also pretty cool for people who want something like Eva but in the Real Robot genre. I didn't care for Gurren Lagaan but I blame how much my friends had hyped the series. I've recently been checking out the the Rebuild of Evangelion, and Like Fynn, I'm enjoying it immensely.

I also really loved Pacific Rim as well. I need more giant Robot movies.

There are reasons why two of my favorite games from the PS1 era are Xenogears and Front Mission 3, both exceptional titles that do some cool things with the genre. I was also super happy when Robotech finally got a game on the PS2 and the inner fanboy within rejoiced. I can honestly say it's easy to get me to play a game if you mention there is a giant robot to pilot in it. Armored Core was another major fan favorite for me in the PS2 era. My favorite RTS is still Mech Commander as well, in fact, my first RPG was Battletech the Crescent Hawk's Inception for the PC back in the day.

In the last few months, I've gotten back into a mecha mood and got back into Gundam proper. Decided to give the U.C. Timeline another go, and I ended up liking the original MSG better than when I was younger. I'm currently halfway through Zeta Gundam as we speak and kind of waiting to check out Turn A Gundam. Hell this Gundam mood got me to foray into the Dynasty Warrior series of games, which are not exactly my favorite type of games but the fan service is fantastic.

[krissy]

y'all should watch gundam unicorn

is macross a big enough mecha?

[blackmage_nuke]

I'm a big fan of Evangelion but I liked the Manga and End of Eva more than the series, Rebuild was going some interesting places at 2.22 but 3.33 left me somewhat confused (I guess that's the point). Hopefully the fourth installment will tie it all together.

I didn't love the Gurren Laggan series but the movies (epsecially the second) were great, I highly recommend them to anyone who was underwhelmed by the series. They don't really change the theme but the execution (especially the final battle) is 10x better I really appreciate what they were going for in the series after seeing the movies. Infact I'd recommend it to anyone who just doesn't want to sit through the whole series. The only important part I feel theyre missing is the Rossieu intro episode.

Basquash had an amazing sountrack and was quite enjoyable to watch though it started meandering towards the end but was still enjoyable

Code Geass had some pretty good twists and turns.

Gargantia was pretty good but I feel it couldve been condensed a bit more

Aldnoah Zero started out great, then became kind of typical

I didn't really get into Full Metal Panic but I did like Fumoffu

Voices from a Distant Star was an enjoyable way to spend half an hour

[Forsaken Lover]

I would recommend Zeta Gundam but you can't just watch Zeta Gundam. You gotta go through the UC Timeline, which is a lot of material. But Zeta Gundam is frickin' amazing.

Gundam Wing works, though. Great show and movie.

Gundam SEED is...okay. It has a very bad start but man it gets really good.
Don't watch Destiny.

Zoids: Chaotic Century/Guardian Force is a lot more awesome than it has any right to be.

I prefer the Neon Genesis Evangelion manga to any of the animated works.

I watched this show called Vandread years and years ago. Big boobs everywhere and also robots.

[blackmage_nuke]

Ah Vandread, I saw the one interesting episode being shown at an anime convention a few years back and decided to check it out only to discover the rest was the usual generic robots fighting each other anime.

[Karifean]

Gotta give it to Muv-Luv Alternative. It's like... it's not the kind of story I usually like but it's still damn good and I respect it a lot.

[Wolf Kanno]

Vandread always felt more like a harem anime to me, probably because the mecha was always an afterthought to the main character trying to deal with all of the girls in the series.

While not a traditional mecha series, Bubblegum Crisis was also pretty badass back in the day.

[gau]

Gundam is a must watch, obviously. Try the 0079 movie to save time trying to get into UC (Personally I've never even finished watching the original series).

Star Driver has awesome fight scenes and a story that feels surreal, kinda like Utena.

I watched New Getter Robo many years ago. I tried reading the manga but the beginning was much more boring compared to New Getter's awesome first episode. Haven't read past that.

Top wo Nerae is so awesome, the story and the action scene is top notch.

Macross is famous for the missile circus, but the focus of the story isn't the mech, so while I do enjoy it, I'll scratch it from the mecha anime recommendation.

For a bit of change to those classic super robo lovers, try Robot Girls Z :lol:

[sinuosity]

So I've recently let myself enter the TVTropes void again, and I've been reminded of Eva and how much it has influenced me creatively. Then one thought led to another and I remembered Xenogears and I just kinda started reminiscing about humongous mecha. As you do.

So what are your favorite humongous mecha shows/comics/games?

Personally, I have not had a lot of experience with them, but what I've seen/played, I feel very strongly about. Eva was my first foray into the genre, and while the film left some scars in me, overall, I look back on the series fondly for being incredibly ambitious instead of being just another simple, dumb '90s anime. I am also very smitten by the Rebuild continuity and I can't wait for the fourth movie to come out. So far it's been an incredible improvement over the main series, the third movie especially.

The other mecha anime that I've seen was Gurren Lagann. Now that was very dumb, but also very fun, and watching that in my rebelious teenage phase, what with all the messages of just fighting even if the odds are overwhelmingly not in your favor, was just incredibly uplifting. The characters were stupid caricatures of humans, but they were so diverse and expressive and I loved them so much. The show didn't treat itself too seriously, but still managed to be epic and meaningful on some level, which is really no small feat.

Xenogears is probably the last mecha piece I've been exposed to last (???). I have no idea why I've only tried these three, because they're all great. So yeah, Xenogears is another incredible influence and I just can't get over how much research went into this game and how incredibly thought-provoking it is. Makes me wanna replay it again and again, which is a shame because my gaming backlog is just stupefying.


I actually quite like the Rebuild movies for what they are, but this is an outrage. The original series + EOE are on another level. Rebuild movies are much more typical anime.

[Fynn]

Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that ;) I'm just glad that you can tell the director is visibly in a happier place as he's making them, and even at the movies' darkest moments, there's still an underlying subtle hint of hope. I love the brave new direction the third movie went in, and I just love that movie in general for the incredibly stylized visuals (honestly, probably the most original and eerily beautiful post-apocalypse that I've ever seen), the amazing music, the oppressive atmosphere and the relationship between Kaworu and Shinji, which is finally given the proper treatment after that one measly episode in the tv series. Overall I think the Rebuilds are just a much more complete, polished package that still has a lot of ways to surprise longtime fans, and I'm glad Anna came back to breathe new life into this story.

[sinuosity]

Haha fair enough. Visually, the movies are unquestionably fantastic. I also agree that the direction the third movie went in was quite novel. Yet I think you may have forgotten how transcendentally different the original series + EOE were. The character focus was also much, much stronger. A lot of things are missing in the Rebuilds - Misato's relationship with her father, for one, which naturally changes her relationship with Shinji. It has all become rather shallow in the Rebuilds. The central aspect of NGE - the peculiar character psychoanalysis - is also completely absent. And in many ways that was what truly made NGE special - without that it's just a show about cool-looking robots fighting cool-looking Angels in an amazing visual spectacle.

I guess to take a solitary example - episode 16 is a great case. Visually, this episode is amazing (particularly the end, damn), but what makes it so special is the absurdly long trippy dialogue that occurs between Shinji and the Angel (represented by his younger self). That kind of sequence could just never happen in Rebuild, but sequences of that kind are what fundamentally elevate NGE above other genre works.

Edit: Also there are too many damn Evangelions in Rebuild, for real.

[Fynn]

I think the things you mentioned are actually still there, but subtle, on top of many characterizations being just downright altered (Asuka is much more stable because this time around she doesn't have all those mommy issues, as she plays with a doll a lot, so I assume her mother didn't kill herself this time around). In the third movie especially, Misato struggles with fear and guilt for driving Shinji to cause Third Impact and becomes cold, unfeeling, even cruel towards him, but still cares too much to actually kill him, while Asuka clearly wants to let him know she's glad he's alive but is just too hardened, jaded, broken even after all the events before and during the timeskip. Then we have Rei Q getting an existential crisis after what Shinji and Asuka tell her, and of course, Kaworu, who so wants to save the world for Shinji but fails. And there's also an interesting parallel between Kaworu and Shinji - they both want to save the world, but while Kaworu wants to change it into something now that's a place where humans can live, Shinji wants to go back to the world that was, so that he can be with Rei again. The only main character who hasn't really had any psychological development so far is Mari, but that may still change in the fourth film, whenever it happens.

So in general, the psychological element is still there, but this time around, the characters are significantly less fucked up and are a bit closer to what regular people are, and it's handled in a less direct manner, which I actually find very refreshing.

[sinuosity]

I suppose the issue is it's all rather shallow and comes across as very perfunctory. Particularly when contrasted with its predecessor. I still like the Rebuilds a lot, though, and I do enjoy that it's more of a re-imagining rather than a direct reproduction. So, points for taking a different direction, but it's certainly a much more conventional direction than the original series, which was a very unique creature.

I am very much looking forward to the fourth movie. Hopefully that comes out by 2017 :/

Edit: A lot of my thoughts are actually in this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfM3WjyCt8s

[Shauna]

All this chat over a terrible show. x} I jest, Eva has just never clicked with me. I appreciate all it has done, but it was just supremely eh in my books.

I think the first mech show I watched was Gundam Wing, and that was alright. That was followed up by Eva, Macross Plus and RahXephon. Around this time I also watched Escaflowne. I enjoyed them well enough - some more than others. My exposure to mecha things was limited after this until I was in university, when I started watching things again.

Code Geass was great. My friend who likes more... "obscure" anime, I suppose recommended a whole bunch of little mecha series. Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (fantastic), Gunbuster/Diebuster (also fantastic) and Bokurano (many tears, but really good too).

As of recently, Matt and I finished up Gurren Lagann, which I really enjoyed. Recent seasons have been mixed with Gargantia being an enjoyable romp, and Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut being an atrocity.

I have some more Macross to watch in future (Macross F, I think) and I'll probably pick up mecha shows here and there. Not my favourite genre, but as with many things, I like some and don't like others!

[Fynn]

All this chat over a terrible show. x} I jest, Eva has just never clicked with me. I appreciate all it has done, but it was just supremely eh in my books.


See, I get that. My wife thought the show was mediocre, while EoE nearly traumatized her :p I still think Rebuild does things a lot better and it might be enjoyed by people who disliked the original, but yeah, like you said, it's pretty important for anime as a whole, but that doesn't mean it will be enjoyed by everybody

[Forsaken Lover]

I really hate the End of Evangelion movie. The anime's ending was infinitely better as it lacked Shinji masturbating and a whole ton of entirely pointless character deaths.

[Fynn]

Well, it was intended as a big middle finger to the fanbase, so

[Vasher]

I've haven't watched NGE. A buddy of mine tried to get me to, but there wasn't time for it.


When I was little a watched all of the usual;

Robotech
Voltron
Mazinger Z


About Mazinger (the show with the "girl" robot that could fire "rocket boobs"), I don't think the Wiki page is correct. I was in kindergarten when I started watching it. I had the huge toy that fired "rockets" and had the removable ship from his head. I remember a had drawn one of Mazinger's enemies that gave him a really hard time (winged, a tale, "Cyclops"). That would mean I was already a fan two years before the Wiki page claims it reached the States. Doesn't add up.