Forum - View topicMecha anime, the most popular genre?
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Nerv1
 Posts: 601 |
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Why does it seem like the best and most popular anime out there are all of the mecha genre such as Evangelion, Escaflowne and Gundam? I'm not bashingthem or anything, most of the anime I watch are mecha related series and happened to be considered the best anime out there. So what is it that makes mecha anime so popular?
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Kurashima
 Posts: 45 Location: A place amongst trees |
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The way people can relate to some of the main characters and/or the idea of pilotin a mecha to save the world...
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Animefreak6969
 Posts: 587 |
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although i like ALL genres equally, when people asked what my LEAST favorite genre is i used to automatically say Mecha, but thats never the case because i can name off my favorite mecha's easier than the others and i tend to love em along with the rest of anime......so i dunno i guess they're easily relatable or maybe we just like Giant Mecha suits
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Hisdon
 Posts: 411 Location: Poquoson, VA |
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calling evangelion and escaflowne mecha is kinda vague since the mecha arn't the main focus of those shows. Most the really famus mecha shows focus more on teh character's and their relationships, like Escaflowne, Evangelion, Rah-Xephon and more recently Eureka 7. It's no different than another series that is driven by characters more than the other themes, just stands out more here. |
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beezis
 Posts: 76 Location: BC Canada Eh? |
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I don't think mecha anime's are the most popular or considered the best. Something less specific than that.Comedy and sci-fi are probably more popular because they often include many other genres in them such as mecha. To answer your question though, I think it is a simple fascination of technology and a giant robot is technologically advanced. Same thing can be said with comedy though... comedy is popular because people like to laugh. No real complex answer, it just is.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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I wouldn't think Mecha is the most popular genre at all. Just look at the ANN Top 10 List, not one of them are mecha.
That aside, I suppose people enjoy watching Mecha series because it melds together a bunch of atmospheres and genres together. You can split the scenery between mecha fights and what's going on at the "base" or whatnot. You can have a series play out like any other series back at the base; you can have drama, comedy, romance, angst, pretty much anything go on outside of the big mechanical suits. Plus, mecha rather than protagonists with superpowers enables the viewer to feel closer to the characters, since it would be really difficult to relate to someone who possessed powers and did things that are barely conceivable, while mecha pilots are not far from normal, everyday people. Plus, the "base" provides for easy excuses for "bonding" and "chance meetings". Although not all mecha series have the main base (both Eva and Rahxephon do though). Disclaimer: I haven't watched many mecha series at all. I'm typing out this big unproofread rant with Rahxephon in my mind. |
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Enjeru
 Posts: 221 |
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first off, I agree above ^. NEG and Rahxephon are not really mech anime series. Yes there are mechs involved, but they are used more for symbolism than anything else.
also, I really wouldn't say that mech anime is the most popular. From what has been coming out over the past few years, I would have to say the romance-comedy genre is more popular. Only over the past two years or so have most of the US distribution companies started to take a chance with other genres, and for good reasons too. Obtaining the rights for a series is very expensive, and mech and action series were more of a sure sell. Most slice of life and comedies use a lot of jokes dealing with culture that unless one is familiar with Japanese culture, the punchline would go over ones head. However, lately some of the american companies have started to take a chance and pick up some of the other genres. A perfect example is Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien, a very popular "underground(well not mainstream)" series, but it lacked action, comedy, or the harem aspects that has been a staple for anime in the US. Of course we all know that it has finally been picked up. Another example is Genshiken. A series with a lot of dry humor and again, jokes dealing with Japanese culture. It's a lot like hearing an inside joke. Unless you are in the circle, you just won't get the punchline. So getting back to the subject of the thread, I believe that mecha anime was and is still popular(though not as much as before) is because it translates well for the average american viewer. |
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11441 Location: Frisco, TX |
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I agree. If you look at the category "Top 10 Most Viewed" you'll notice 6 of those 10 are shounen series. I believe shounen is by far the most popular genre because most of the audience consists of that desired demographic (older children to early teens and mostly boys) and the plot/characters are usually very simplistic/easy to understand (easy plot + lots of boys = high accumulation of ratings). EDIT: Changed a word. Last edited by Tony K. on Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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If you mean 'popular' as in 'highest rated'.... then obviously not. Just look at our top 10 here, and while there are some highly rated mechas like Gundam SEED (though it's not so highly rated here), there's not much of a case to be made for it being the highest rated.
If you're talking about 'most prolific' genre, or the genre that has the largest percentage of all the shows out there... again it fails... by a LOT. Romance anime... absolutely no comparison, the romance comedy genre has easily 3 to 5 times (maybe more) as many shows being produced for it as mechas. Not all of them are brought over (thank god) and many of them aren't even fansubbed as there's just so many of them. Most of the comedy romance shows are pretty bland though... so you don't really hear a lot of hype about most of them, with good reason. Mecha is one of the larger genres... but more than anything, it's the most common theme for shounen shows. Considering how big shounens are, and how much you hear about them, I think that's why it seems like there's a lot more of them than there are. Last edited by selenta on Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I don't think mecha is that popular to be honest. In addition to not being on the Top 10 (Eva isn't really mecha, genre-wise), Mecha makes up a small portion of the market. This season, only 3 or 4 series were "mecha" out of the 30+ shows released. On the other hand, how many new harem/h-game conversions did we get? 10?
Shonen fighting series like Naruto and Bleach are almost always going to be the most popular, I think. They have a big audience, both in the anime fandom and with more general audiences. |
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suna_suna
 Posts: 550 Location: Ohio |
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i think that mech series are generally well accepted because they make us want to pilot a gigantic robot humanoid. plus, again, the best ones make us feel the pilots inside the mechs, instead of just the mechs. now, an interesting idea would be a series about "human mechs". you know, ones with enough intelligence to feel human emotions and go through human issues, while kicking ass and taking names of course.
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LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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I can think of one reason that Mecha anime is a popular genre, if you watch, lots of things go......BOOM
Mecha automatically make you bigger and stronger than everybody who doesn't have a Mecha. And, like I said, with Mecha, you can blow things up to your hearts content and NO ONE YELLS AT YOU! If we made things go BOOM! in "real life", we would definitely get yelled at, and other things too! |
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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Um, no. There is much yelling (and slapping) to be had by mecha pilots over the years. |
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LydiaDianne
Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
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open mouth/insert foot 
I was thinking of parents yelling at the time. Goes to show that you shouldn't get on forums late at night after working all day. |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Indeed. Obviously you have never seen the Gundam 'genius' known as 'Shinn' at work. It truly is a sight to behold. |
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