Thanks, I appreciate you sympathizing with my problems. Life was never really easy for me ever since my early childhood. Things got really rough in July and August, so I was pretty much in a bad mood for a while. But thankfully I'm recovering from that crap. I did thought of telling you more of my past. But, I scraped it because 1 it was too damn long and 2 it’s probably best I don't talk about it anyways, after all my childhood…….well, let's just say it wasn’t a great one.
Even altho life ain't that easy for everybody, in the end we all have to deal with it and find at least some way of relief from the hardships we face. I recently started to get back on anime (thanks to Votoms) after a long period of stagnation. While watching Votoms, it did gave me a sense of nostalgia from a time when the only anime I watched were Mecha. Ha, makes me wish I could go back.
I suppose we really do share the same qualities of Machine Robo, lol. When it comes to super robot anime, they tend to lean more in line with the ‘’rule of cool’’ trope than real robot anime. Which obviously can lead to some of the most craziness and nonsense stuff out there. It’s quite unfortunate that not many mecha fans watch Machine Robo and I personally think more people should check it out. Plus that 2nd op is what really got me into watching it. The 1st op is good, but the 2nd op sounds waaaaay better (srw MX ver is pretty good as well).
I did knew it had a connection with GoBots prior of watching it. I remember hearing that Machine Robo was made in response to the growing popularity of transformers in the 80s. Oh, also the anime was brought overseas to France and they changed it as a sequel to the hanna-barbera Gobots cartoon. Makes me wonder how they react over there lol.
Just as I said it in the last post and i’ll say it, i’m glad that you decided to watch the series (thanks to me), and i’m always happy when people watch the same shows I like and even have the same opinion! There’s a lot of things to look forward to in Machine Robo, you might even discover a certain image which had been surfing around the web for some time.
For your question about Gaiking, well it doesn’t really matter which series you start with. Other than sharing the same title and mechs, they’re two completely different shows. While I haven't watched the 70s series, I assume it's a similar case with Kotetsushin Jeeg, where at first glance it seems like a sequel to the original Kotetsu Jeeg. However, due to certain characters being alive in Kotetsushin, it should be treated as an alternate continuity rather than a direct sequel (also you can just watch it without seeing the original just like i did). So don’t worry about it, just take my word and pick whatever series you feel like watching first! (obviously it’s going to the 2005 anime, hahaha!)
That aside, Gaiking is one of the best 2000s super robot anime out there (you might get a little more interested if I told you that the MC shares the same seiyuu as Luffy) . I definitely recommend checking it out, when you have the time. Also I originally planned to show you the clip of that fight in my last post. It's not really a spoiler thing nor does it really affect your enjoyment of the show, even if you somehow knew the context it doesn’t really change anything. You’ll get what I mean once you start watching Gaiking. I did discover the anime through that clip from an old forum and damn the animation was so good that i had to watch Gaiking lol!
Anyways unless you're the type that goes in series 100% bilnd, I'll just leave this here if you're curious.
There are a few other mecha anime I just recently remember that focus on martial arts. Gear Fighter Dendoh and Godannar are series that might be up your alley. Dendoh shares the same staff as Gundam Seed and it does have a similar vibe to Gaiking and also it’s one of the last few anime that uses cel animation. Dendoh is a pretty enjoyable series that you’ll like. Godannar on the other hand…is something else alright lol. Aside from the large amount of fanservice, it’s actually a pretty good show that references old 70s tokusatsu and mecha series (not to mention it’s op sound like it came from the 70s). its plot is basically just Pacific Rim, like Godannar and Pacific Rim have a loooot of similarities between each other. The main mechs of both anime primarily use hand to hand combat rather than the traditional super robot attacks. Both of these anime are really good, so I advise you to check them out.
I always red fanfic since I was in middle school, while I don't really read a lot of fanfic as I used to. It did sort of inspire me to do a fanfic of my own. Unfortunately my writing skills are mediocre at best, but I guess with a lot of practice, I probably will eventually make a good story. Fan comics is something I always want to try, buuut i don’t really draw that often unfortunately.
Anyways one of my most developed fanfic ideas is an Elfen Lied/Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans cross. I’m not sure if it's something that would peak your interest (especially since Elfen Lied isn't exactly a good series despite it being one of my favorite anime) and I could share some details if you're curious. The details were mostly worldbuilding, where I reimagined the setting and characters of Elfen Lied in the world of Ibo. This idea had many changes and at some point it originally was going to be a Gundam Seed cross, but felt like Ibo was the better fit. The idea was inspired by a Code Geass/Elfen Lied fanfic called Galton’s Children. The story of my fanfic would primarily focus on infantry battles and primarily focus on the psychological horror than Mecha fights (altho they would appear later in the story, Plus Galton's Children didn't focus on Mechs either) and it would be closer to Votoms, M.D. Geist, and Blue Gender than IBO.
Now there were a few ideas I had, such as a Getter Robo/Puella magi madoka magica where it focuses on the cosmic horror that both series are known for. Especially since in my story, the Getter Emperor is the true antagonist that our heroes would try to stop (at the cost of their lives and sanity). This and the other fanfic I probably go full ‘’kill em all tomino’’ route lol.
There's not a lot of ideas I have, but it's kinda fun to brainstorm your favorite story and write it how you picture it. I’m curious about your ideas you had in mind?
When I first asked you last week, I originally wasn't going to discuss anything at all. Due to some problems I'm currently dealing with (stuff, like depression, existential crisis, social anxiety problems, etc). But seeing that you placed Machine Robo as one of your favorite anime. I couldn't help but wonder what your thoughts were on the series.
But it seems I got my answer! And I'm pretty happy about it. I consider Machine Robo as my top 10 favorite 80s mecha series alongside Macross and Dancouga. It's overtopped action and cheesiness, combined with elements of martial arts and mecha (Plus Rom being a Fucking Badass) is why i loved the anime.
I first discover this series through Super Robot Wars MX alongside with many mecha anime's i would later watch (Rahxephon, Gear Fighter Denoh, and Zeorymer). Rom's Mecha form design, the Baikanfu caught my attention and wanted to know more about the anime he come from. I do like the idea the Baikanfu, rather than being a piloted mecha, it's like a giant power armor being worn by a smaller power armor. Kinda like how the Gurren Lagann Arc is piloted by an even smaller mecha, lol!
A few things i wanna mention, while i did watch it's OVA sequel Leina Stoll in Wolf Sword Legend (i'm aware that you place it in your PTW list) i never got to watch it's TV sequel Battle Hackers, which takes place before the OVA. The reason being that I couldn't find an English translation anywhere online, it was the same case with the OVA. it wasn't till a few months later (around 2022 i think?), that the OVA was translated. Battle Hackers might have been translated as well, but I'll have to check and see if I ever decided to rewatch Machine Robo again.
Although it's not like you need to watch Battle Hackers before the OVA, since characters from that anime appear in the OVA for like one scene before POOF!! They're never to be seen again….
I sometimes jokingly refer Machine Robo as the mecha equivalent to North of the Fist Star, like how G Gundam is like the DBZ of Mecha. Obviously because of the focus of martial arts as mentioned above, but there are a few other mecha series I know that use martial arts as well. Gaiking Legend of Daiku-Maryu is one of those series and I would say it's pretty good, and I would note that one of its best fight scenes looks more like a DBZ fight rather than a typical super robot fight.
Besides all of that I'm glad that you're looking forward to seeing more of it, which naturally makes me 😊. Hopefully I’ll recover from my problems since Real Life isn’t exactly too kind to me unfortunately.
One last thing, if I...say wrote a fanfic, would you read it?
Yes I did mean Gundam sorry for my stupid dumb brain fart lol. I honestly don’t mind dated animation because the style is always so charming. For the contents itself, it’s more than just a mecha right? I know it’s like the quintessential mecha anime but isn’t there political fighting and stuff too? I mainly got interested because I was looking for old school anime ops and I think the one for Zeta was a banger. Thanks for the watch order and telling me how it’s impacted you, I’m very interested to start now. Probably gonna stick to the main timeline and then wfm
Ohh I see. Yeah I like to be active in many boards. I see that you have on your list. I was planning to watch the OG and the recent Yuri one. Would you recommend? And at what entry should I stop bc I know the quality eventually falls.
Piccolo has so much character development and swag it’s unreal. I’m going through the series since my first time watching Kai when i was younger and I agree DKP arc was such a high point, it should be up there with the shonen greats. Namek is also a ton of fun so far I love the mind games.
Oh for sure! And I totally agree actually almost exactly as you said. Always preferred reading physically but been away from my manga collection and it's a lot more accessible to me right now, even tho it doesn't always translate the best especially with full/2 page spreads or clever paneling. Constantly zooming in and out can be cumbersome haha. And funnily enough what I'm reading rn, some of the pages were scanned super degraded, but I guess you work with what you have when it's old titles. All that said it's allowed me to get back into actively reading again so it's pros defo outweigh it's flaws!
yeah the main reason I decided to do it was in hoping it'd make me finish some manga and watch some anime I might not have for a long time if I didn't do the challenge!
For Manga, I've been reading digitally recently and it does feel like I get through the chapters quicker than I'd expect. Historically I've mostly stuck to reading physical, and just read a lil online, but lately I've been using the Shonen Jump app again and also getting into reading a lot on Mangadex!
I also added a bunch of your other picks to my PTW lol, how did you pick yours? I honestly mostly fit in stuff I was gonna watch anyway lol, but it has made me pick up a manhua, and I'm still trying to pick out my 6+ volume manga, although I'm still only 3 chapters into the 2 vol manhua so I'm a bit of a slow manga reader I guess, the 6+ vols one was the only one I thought I might struggle with!
I saw in the rec challenge you're gonna watch escaflowne for it, it's good I liked it, I think you would too! I was actually thinking of picking you for the "friends favourites" since we're mal friends and watching Monster Musume as I'd also already been meaning to watch it for quite a while!
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Even altho life ain't that easy for everybody, in the end we all have to deal with it and find at least some way of relief from the hardships we face. I recently started to get back on anime (thanks to Votoms) after a long period of stagnation. While watching Votoms, it did gave me a sense of nostalgia from a time when the only anime I watched were Mecha. Ha, makes me wish I could go back.
I suppose we really do share the same qualities of Machine Robo, lol. When it comes to super robot anime, they tend to lean more in line with the ‘’rule of cool’’ trope than real robot anime. Which obviously can lead to some of the most craziness and nonsense stuff out there. It’s quite unfortunate that not many mecha fans watch Machine Robo and I personally think more people should check it out. Plus that 2nd op is what really got me into watching it. The 1st op is good, but the 2nd op sounds waaaaay better (srw MX ver is pretty good as well).
I did knew it had a connection with GoBots prior of watching it. I remember hearing that Machine Robo was made in response to the growing popularity of transformers in the 80s. Oh, also the anime was brought overseas to France and they changed it as a sequel to the hanna-barbera Gobots cartoon. Makes me wonder how they react over there lol.
Just as I said it in the last post and i’ll say it, i’m glad that you decided to watch the series (thanks to me), and i’m always happy when people watch the same shows I like and even have the same opinion! There’s a lot of things to look forward to in Machine Robo, you might even discover a certain image which had been surfing around the web for some time.
For your question about Gaiking, well it doesn’t really matter which series you start with. Other than sharing the same title and mechs, they’re two completely different shows. While I haven't watched the 70s series, I assume it's a similar case with Kotetsushin Jeeg, where at first glance it seems like a sequel to the original Kotetsu Jeeg. However, due to certain characters being alive in Kotetsushin, it should be treated as an alternate continuity rather than a direct sequel (also you can just watch it without seeing the original just like i did). So don’t worry about it, just take my word and pick whatever series you feel like watching first! (obviously it’s going to the 2005 anime, hahaha!)
That aside, Gaiking is one of the best 2000s super robot anime out there (you might get a little more interested if I told you that the MC shares the same seiyuu as Luffy) . I definitely recommend checking it out, when you have the time. Also I originally planned to show you the clip of that fight in my last post. It's not really a spoiler thing nor does it really affect your enjoyment of the show, even if you somehow knew the context it doesn’t really change anything. You’ll get what I mean once you start watching Gaiking. I did discover the anime through that clip from an old forum and damn the animation was so good that i had to watch Gaiking lol!
Anyways unless you're the type that goes in series 100% bilnd, I'll just leave this here if you're curious.
There are a few other mecha anime I just recently remember that focus on martial arts. Gear Fighter Dendoh and Godannar are series that might be up your alley. Dendoh shares the same staff as Gundam Seed and it does have a similar vibe to Gaiking and also it’s one of the last few anime that uses cel animation. Dendoh is a pretty enjoyable series that you’ll like. Godannar on the other hand…is something else alright lol. Aside from the large amount of fanservice, it’s actually a pretty good show that references old 70s tokusatsu and mecha series (not to mention it’s op sound like it came from the 70s). its plot is basically just Pacific Rim, like Godannar and Pacific Rim have a loooot of similarities between each other. The main mechs of both anime primarily use hand to hand combat rather than the traditional super robot attacks. Both of these anime are really good, so I advise you to check them out.
I always red fanfic since I was in middle school, while I don't really read a lot of fanfic as I used to. It did sort of inspire me to do a fanfic of my own. Unfortunately my writing skills are mediocre at best, but I guess with a lot of practice, I probably will eventually make a good story. Fan comics is something I always want to try, buuut i don’t really draw that often unfortunately.
Anyways one of my most developed fanfic ideas is an Elfen Lied/Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans cross. I’m not sure if it's something that would peak your interest (especially since Elfen Lied isn't exactly a good series despite it being one of my favorite anime) and I could share some details if you're curious. The details were mostly worldbuilding, where I reimagined the setting and characters of Elfen Lied in the world of Ibo. This idea had many changes and at some point it originally was going to be a Gundam Seed cross, but felt like Ibo was the better fit. The idea was inspired by a Code Geass/Elfen Lied fanfic called Galton’s Children. The story of my fanfic would primarily focus on infantry battles and primarily focus on the psychological horror than Mecha fights (altho they would appear later in the story, Plus Galton's Children didn't focus on Mechs either) and it would be closer to Votoms, M.D. Geist, and Blue Gender than IBO.
Now there were a few ideas I had, such as a Getter Robo/Puella magi madoka magica where it focuses on the cosmic horror that both series are known for. Especially since in my story, the Getter Emperor is the true antagonist that our heroes would try to stop (at the cost of their lives and sanity). This and the other fanfic I probably go full ‘’kill em all tomino’’ route lol.
There's not a lot of ideas I have, but it's kinda fun to brainstorm your favorite story and write it how you picture it. I’m curious about your ideas you had in mind?
When I first asked you last week, I originally wasn't going to discuss anything at all. Due to some problems I'm currently dealing with (stuff, like depression, existential crisis, social anxiety problems, etc). But seeing that you placed Machine Robo as one of your favorite anime. I couldn't help but wonder what your thoughts were on the series.
But it seems I got my answer! And I'm pretty happy about it. I consider Machine Robo as my top 10 favorite 80s mecha series alongside Macross and Dancouga. It's overtopped action and cheesiness, combined with elements of martial arts and mecha (Plus Rom being a Fucking Badass) is why i loved the anime.
I first discover this series through Super Robot Wars MX alongside with many mecha anime's i would later watch (Rahxephon, Gear Fighter Denoh, and Zeorymer). Rom's Mecha form design, the Baikanfu caught my attention and wanted to know more about the anime he come from. I do like the idea the Baikanfu, rather than being a piloted mecha, it's like a giant power armor being worn by a smaller power armor. Kinda like how the Gurren Lagann Arc is piloted by an even smaller mecha, lol!
A few things i wanna mention, while i did watch it's OVA sequel Leina Stoll in Wolf Sword Legend (i'm aware that you place it in your PTW list) i never got to watch it's TV sequel Battle Hackers, which takes place before the OVA. The reason being that I couldn't find an English translation anywhere online, it was the same case with the OVA. it wasn't till a few months later (around 2022 i think?), that the OVA was translated. Battle Hackers might have been translated as well, but I'll have to check and see if I ever decided to rewatch Machine Robo again.
Although it's not like you need to watch Battle Hackers before the OVA, since characters from that anime appear in the OVA for like one scene before POOF!! They're never to be seen again….
I sometimes jokingly refer Machine Robo as the mecha equivalent to North of the Fist Star, like how G Gundam is like the DBZ of Mecha. Obviously because of the focus of martial arts as mentioned above, but there are a few other mecha series I know that use martial arts as well. Gaiking Legend of Daiku-Maryu is one of those series and I would say it's pretty good, and I would note that one of its best fight scenes looks more like a DBZ fight rather than a typical super robot fight.
Besides all of that I'm glad that you're looking forward to seeing more of it, which naturally makes me 😊. Hopefully I’ll recover from my problems since Real Life isn’t exactly too kind to me unfortunately.
One last thing, if I...say wrote a fanfic, would you read it?
Piccolo has so much character development and swag it’s unreal. I’m going through the series since my first time watching Kai when i was younger and I agree DKP arc was such a high point, it should be up there with the shonen greats. Namek is also a ton of fun so far I love the mind games.
For Manga, I've been reading digitally recently and it does feel like I get through the chapters quicker than I'd expect. Historically I've mostly stuck to reading physical, and just read a lil online, but lately I've been using the Shonen Jump app again and also getting into reading a lot on Mangadex!