Forum - View topicIs There No Love For Mecha?
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TranceLimit174
 Posts: 960 |
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Recently I just finished GEAR Fighter Dendoh, and I have to say it was a really great show that deserves more recognition than it gets. Also this topic stems from my recent mecha binge as of late. Anyway, I was curious. What is it about mecha anime that US fans don't like? Are they viewed as "cheesy?" Is it the over the top kind of storytelling? Is it the lack of depth? I was just wondering, especially since when I visit my local Best Buy and see what graces the shelves, it makes me wonder why some older mecha shows don't really get that (at least what I think is) much more deserved shelf space. The only two mecha shows that seem to have any level of popularity here are Eva and RahXephon (up to episode 9 and so far it seems like it basks in Eva's shadow). For some reason, I haven't ODed on mecha anime yet because it seems that each title I look into have qualities that I just don't seem to find in a lot of more recent anime (a happy closure ending is nice once in a while to name one). So my question is what is it about this genre that doesn't really appeal to US fans?
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PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Full Metal Panic! also. Personally I don't like mecha. Full Metal Panic's really the only one I like. But it isn't because of the mechs, I like it because of the characters and the fact that it does a great job at mixing genres. I also kind of like Eva. Other then that, I've never really liked mecha though. I just never really found the idea of people piloting giant robots to be interesting. Gundam is especially boring to me. |
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Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
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Mecha anime probably isn't popular in the U.S. because part of the appeal of mecha anime is the mechas themselves and collecting model kits is just out of style in this day and age of Pokemon clones, TCGs, video games, and ninjas. Kids and teens are just more interested in playing TCGs and video games with their friends than collecting things like Gundam model kits. Many kids and teens may also just not care about the deep, philosphical, and political themes that are common in most mecha anime and care more about getting straight to the action like in Shounen Jump titles.
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Vortextk
 Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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I like mecha quite a lot. I enjoyed Gundam Wing and am looking forward to getting Gundam Seed.
Full Metal Panic is one of my new favorite shows and I'm looking forward to Second Raid being dubbed. As far as Eva goes...I don't know. I liked the beginning better than the end. I liked the characters, enjoyed the intrigue and mystery but am kind of dumbfounded by the end. I don't really know how I feel about. As of right now, I'm watching RahXephon and really enjoy it. I'll most likely end up rating RahXephon higher than Eva for myself, if things keep going like this. I want to see some of the old Gundam stuff sometime, a lot of it is rated pretty high with people interested in mech stuff. Overall, I do agree that I find more people not really interested in mecha than I do otherwise. |
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Digital Dreamer
 Posts: 287 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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Most of the mecha shows that are coming out of the japan are geared for a much younger age bracket where they are more interested in purchasing a toy as appose to a DVD. Face it. These 23 minutes shows that we call Anime are nothing more that an 23 minute comercial break. Watch Transformers or He-Man some time. I remember growing up when He-Man was first coming out. The weapon that was featured in that week's episode would be showing up on the store shelves that week. Same thing again with transformers where the toys are released in "waves" as the characters appear in the show. Transformers Armada was really guilty of this where there MiniCon. Transformers Armada I nick named "Poki-Former" as it had a very strong "You Gotta Collect Them All" theme to it. Most of these shows driven by toy sales as appose to driven. By the time the kids start getting into that age bracket for Gundam, you are hitting the age group where the the viewer would be more interested in watching the show, and maybe picking up a model kit along the way. Gundam is where the mecha show starts moving more some thing that is plot driven. By the time you get up to shows like Gasuragi, Overman King Gainer, FMP, it's mainly just model kits for those people that enjoy putting them together. However most of the sales outside of japan are made on DVD sales instead. To sum this up, The reason why we don't see these shows coming out in the west that the primary target market for show would be more interested in buying a toy as appose to a DVD. |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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Oh by the way, Gear Fighter Dendoh...has an AWESOME ps1 side scroller =P You'd have to import it but...it really is fun. The mech you control can pickup/throw basically anything, including enemies, you have a good list of fun moves and in a Megaman-esque way you get special moves from bosses of each stage. The boss fights aren't that good, being changed into a 3d fighter, but the levels are extremely fun.
Just letting you know 
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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It also has to be mentioned that mecha anime did hit a peak in the states alongside of the cyberpunk boom of the early to mid-90's.
Patlabor and Macross both have had time in the spotlight - and in fact Macross Plus was one of the first "masterpiece" anime to come stateside to widespread acclaim. I still believe it should be watched more frequently, but these days it's getting too difficult to convince fans to watch anything truly dramatic and impressive. You see, the angst/shoujo boom has effectively killed the old anime standbys of Girls, Guns, and Robots. Used to be you could count on the distributors to bring us goodies like Dominion Tank Police, Bubblegum Crisis (NOT 2040), Project A-ko, and many others. Those days, along with the days of Ninja Scroll/Fist of the North Star beat-em ups and other classic testosterone pandering, are long gone as women more and more dictate the ebb and flow of the anime market. Seriously, consider that Fruits Basket is frequently the top rated manga title (a position that used to belong to either Gunsmith Cats or Oh! My Goddess) and Inu Yasha still chalked up the high spot on Adult Swim in re-runs. The gender shift in the market has driven the distributors away from titles that have typically done poorly amongst female fans. Macross, Patlabor, early Gundam, and practically the entiriety of Masamune Shirow's catalog falls into that category. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7992 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I love mecha shows personally as well and have seen about 59 of them. Some most worthy of note are the Gundam series which are almost always good, RahXephon which I enjoyed a lot more than Evangellion personally, and Full Metal Panic as well as it's as-of-yet unliscesed sequel Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, which feature a great balance of comedy and cool mecha action. Ultimately though, even as a fan of the genre there've been shows I've seen and not really liked a whole lot or those that didn't catch my interest very easily such as Gad Guard or Geneshaft. This being the case I can see why some people wouldn't find the genre interesting. Not everyone likes Science Fiction as a genre either.
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Efan
 Posts: 340 |
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If you like interesting story plot and good characters.. don't look forward to it, you'll be VERY dissapointed. It was boring (other then the fighting), the storyline got confusing as hell, and the characters get annoying after the 4th time you've seen them. If you're like my friend and just fast forward to the mecha fights, you'll probly enjoy this, other then that it's a waste of your time. |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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You think so? I heard good things about Seed and heard Destiny was the anime equivalent of a train wreck. Well, I'll just see, I guess.
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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Are you...talking about Wing or SEED here? Because I find all of that 110% true of Wing, and almost none of it applicable to SEED, from where I stand. The plot is very clear and well-laid out in SEED with some rather nice twists, and much of the cast was quite thoughtfully conceived (especially in the development and growth of the central protagonists). And whether you liked SEED or didn't, you have to admit that a person going from Wing to SEED is still taking a massive step up on the quality scale all the same. |
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jousha
 Posts: 205 Location: the floating world |
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Fighting robots is just not "muh thang." I enjoyed Neon Genesis Evangelion enough, but not to the point where I'm like "I need to see another Mecha anime!" I'm more of a ninja/action/adventure (Bleach, Naruto, HxH) or drama/psychological (Beck, Elfen Lied, Monster) or semi-scifi (Trigun, Gungrave, Cowboy Bebop) type of guy. I guess I'm just not into the concept (or maybe believeability?) of people controlling robots from the inside to fight huge beast/robots/etc. Maybe Power Rangers ruined it for me. |
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Vortextk
Posts: 892 Location: Orlando, Fl |
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After finally watching Eva, I do have to say it was a very weak "mech" anime. Maybe it was the budget, but the mech battles were only nice a handful of times and towards the end, didn't even matter anymore. The mech's were pushed far from center stage, which might be the reason you could watch it and still not be into mechs Jousha.
And I'm sure he was talking about Seed, Nagisa. Though I've heard exactly what you've stated, it's a solid standing show. I might like Wing more than I should because it was one of my first anime. DBZ at like 7 am and then eventually Ronin Warriors on god knows what channel. This leading up to Sailor Moon/Gundam Wing/DBZ on Toonami. However, even after viewing some of the masterpieces, FMA/GiTS:SAC/Eva and more I don't need to name, I still like Wing .
Itching to see Seed though. As I said, Eva is hardly a hardcore Mech show. The best battle isn't even in the series. Sometimes I just like watching big robots beat eachother up. To me, it's the same kind of "cool" that you get with ninjas or alchemists or shinigami from any other popular action show. |
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