| I wouldn't call myself casual, but I wouldn't say I enjoy mecha anime. I did watch Code:Geass/Gurren Lagann, but only found myself enjoying them halfway. The reason those are so loved is that they aren't just mecha anime, Code:Geass has elements of drama to it and Gurren Lagann has elements of shonen to it, so even those who don't like mecha can enjoy it. The action itself isn't fun to watch, to me. There's not much room to grow when fighting in a mech beyond getting a better mech. The structure/system of mechas is pretty much set in stone, not allowing for much room to move or innovate. And overall I don't like gunfights, they're showy in a way that I just can't enjoy and feel skippable. Mecha fights to me are just bigger gunfights. |
Tenth said: i'm replying at the 'silly' part at your post by showing my personal thought toward robots. your father and i were a different person. just sayingNurlela said: not going to deny what you thought. but when you too obsessed with the same thing for a long time, there's a chance for you to get bored at it. same goes to me when i'm too obsessed with giant robot fight when i was kid Who said anything about obsessed? your comment came off as mecha are just childish to me and so mentioned how even my father like seeing giant robots fights and he doesn't even watch anime but just in general. |
Nurlela said: Tenth said: i'm replying at the 'silly' part at your post by showing my personal thought toward robots. your father and i were a different person. just sayingWho said anything about obsessed? your comment came off as mecha are just childish to me and so mentioned how even my father like seeing giant robots fights and he doesn't even watch anime but just in general. You still answered nothing but alright. |
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| A lot if not most mechas (at least the one's I watched) can be boiled down to the evils of colonialism. And it can get somewhat repetitive. Plus there's usually a lot of fanservice integrated. |
| Before I even address the topic, I think it's worth noting that this is something more specific to MAL than it is the general anime community. Either that, or for whatever reason mecha fans don't mingle with your typical anime fans. It illustrate, the currently-airing Gundam IBO's MAL stats show that there are just under 19,000 people on MAL currently watching it. This would initially make it seem niche, but the picture becomes much more clear as soon as you look at GundamInfo's youtube channel. The English-subbed episodes regularly garner over 100,000 views, and occasionally get some crazy near-300k views (such as this episode). That is nothing to scoff at. If you look to the past on sites like someanithing, you'll notice that the highest-grossing opening week for BD sales on record sits with Gundam SEED and its sequel (over $45 million and over $53 million respectively), even beating opening weeks for behemoths like the Monogatari franchise and Attack on Titan. The point is, mecha is huge and very popular both in the East and in the West. Don't let someone delude you. It is MAL that isn't very fond of mecha. MAL's community is the oddball. With all of that out of the way, why doesn't MAL's community like mecha? I would point to closed-mindedness. They make a lot of false assumptions about the genre without actually trying much of it. So, let's clear the air a bit with some of the biggest ones and compare to reality. Rumor 1: Mecha is about robots fighting each other. Reality: Well, no, but yes. Mecha are generally not all about whose robot is best at smashing other robots up save for in the uncommon sports-esque robot battle style shows. In most mecha, battles are a backdrop to the actual focus of the plot, such as a war story, adventure story, romance, or even a mystery. There are titles where mecha battles are quite sparse and/or short, at that. Rumor 2: Mecha are all dry and boring and its identical twin, Mecha are all stupid and boring Reality: These two thoughts are opposite to each other, but both stem from the same type of assumption. In essense, the person saying this either thinks that all mecha are like Gundam, or that all mecha are like TTGL. They're each very different types of shows. For those who enjoyed TTGL, there's an entire "super robot" subgenre for them to explore. For those who don't, the "real robot" subgenre may be of more interest to them, where mecha are less superhero-like and treated more along the lines of tanks and fighter jets-- useful but expendable. For the inverse with those who have tried and disliked the "real robot" subgenre (e.g. most Gundam titles), the over-the-top zaniness of the "super robot" subgenre (with titles like TTGL) may appeal to you. Rumor 3: If I try the real robot subgenre, I have to go aaaall the way back to the beginning with the original Mobile Suit Gundam. That's too long/old/boring-looking/the-franchise-is-too-big/other-reason. Reality: Absolutely not. For one, Gundam is far from the only mecha in this category. There's Knights of Sidonia, Patlabor, VOTOMS, etc. plus franchises like Macross, Full Metal Panic!, and even NGE that straddle the line between real and super. For two, even if you do want to start with Gundam, you don't need to start with the old stuff. There are many newer, shorter, and flashier Gundams that don't require starting from the original MSG. You could start with Gundam SEED, Gundam IBO, Turn-A Gundam, etc. and go from there. Rumor 4: TTGL is the best mecha eveeeeer!! Reality: Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. As I touched on in the answer to rumor 2, TTGL is just one of many anime in the super robot subgenre. Although TTGL is pretty over-the-top even for a super robot show, if you liked/loved TTGL, watch some of the others before you say that! Aside from hybrids like Full Metal Panic!/Macross/NGE, there's Eureka Seven, Suisei no Gargantia, Infinite Ryvius, Gunbuster, Mazinger Z, etc. I'm sure there are people on MAL who legitimately don't like mecha, but most fall into the category of someone who believes one or multiple of the above. |
TripleSRankFeb 21, 2017 10:16 AM
| I would assume that it is because of the similar themes that almost every mecha has. Of course there are many exceptions, but in general you would expect the handling of these themes to be too specific, and not catered towards a less 'seasoned' viewer. |
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| Probably because they're all the same. It's either a kid finds a robot and starts to fuck shit up and becomes the Ace in a war. Or it's about an adult Ace who is already fucking shit up in a war. |
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| Probably because most of the acclaimed mecha series and old and people don't like watching old. |
 Anime is good, fucking deal with it. |
Maneki-Mew said: Either you like mechas or you don't. I also hate that whole transformer and pacific rim-nonsense. It's just not my cup of tea. ^^" Good for you, if you like it. But that's the thing. I don't like mecha fights very much at all, they tend to be boring pew pew with boring black space in the backgrounds and the better model or newtype wins. I don't even care about the designs and whatnot either. But still some mecha shows are among my favorites because at the end of the day the choice of 'weapon' in a series has no impact on the story and characters and writing and emotions. Whether people fight with swords, mechas, guns, superpowers, spaceships or armies, it's always just a tool to achieve certain goals in the story, in their universe. As long as you like politics or war dramas or great character development mecha shows can still be an extremely rewarding watch even if you don't get anything out of the mecha aspect itself. Some shows won't even spend that much time on it. IBO regularly has 2 or 3 episodes after another without any mecha fights and it has some of the best writing I've seen in anime recently. I think it's a shame how many people miss out on great shows just because of the faux hate-or-love mentality. Many mecha shows ARE not mecha, they just HAVE some mechas in them just like other anime have cars or tanks or spaceships. I used to avoid them too, until some of the Gundams became top 10 favorite material. But I still don't care for the mecha aspect itself. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| Probably because they think its a poor version of Power Rangers, which is true. |
nicemikkel10 said: If I need to be convinved to watch a mecha anime, it needs to advertise itself as a real show, rather than "Hey guys look this show is a mecha show we put a robot in the cover, while mentioning robots 23 times in the synopsis" like 99% of mecha shows out there. Just out of curiosity, would this count? Because while I do agree with you (mecha selfwank shows are the worst), I feel like often it is also the other way around, people seeing nothing but the mecha in a show that happens to be mecha. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| I like Sci-fi, and mecha is usually sci-fi, so I have seen a number of them due to this crossover. I guess when it all comes down to it, I think the "mechs" too often get in the way of what otherwise might be a good sci-fi series. I completely understand the group of people that like to nerd-out over mechs/designs/specs/etc, but I don't; so if a mech series relies too hard on mech porn and combat it can be pretty boring to me. |
| The giant robot represents man using a tool to combat a problem. A large portion of western anime audiences believe that their problems can be solved by divine intervention and prefer "the superhero" or 'magical being" or believing they can conjure a miracle if the 'believe" in something or themselves to save the world. Its that subconscious belief that makes them reject mecha and its protagonist that needs help and relies on a technology and others to overcome obstacles. |
GangsterCat said: everyone should watch CROSS ANGE, the BEST MECHA ANIME EVER MADE I just knew that you would mention that anime :3 |
"No matter what painful things happens, even when it looks like you'll lose... when no one else in the world believes in you... when you don't even believe in yourself... I will believe in you!" |
Pullman said: Many mecha shows ARE not mecha, they just HAVE some mechas in them just like other anime have cars or tanks or spaceships. I used to avoid them too, until some of the Gundams became top 10 favorite material. But I still don't care for the mecha aspect itself. Mecha is more like an umbrella term than a "real" genre compared to say action or comedy. Having robots or other types of sophisticated manual/automated or sentient mechanization shouldn't imply anything about what the setting or it's execution will be like. The only "issue" is how tied the traditional execution is to some tropes, for example super robots usually being related to the monster of the week formula, or the association of real robots to a politicial war drama or space opera. So the predominant notion is how these tropes and the traditional execution make for key points of what constitutes the entire genre, which barely holds any water. If it were so, we wouldn't have "oddball" entries even within flagship franchises like Gundam (comparison of Gundam 79, G Gundam, SD Battle Warriors and Build Fighters for example) where robots are just devices that progress the story. |
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| I don't hate them but i guess maybe cause they prefere to see character with their own power, not inside a robot or something. |
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| i feel like i'm having a deja vu with this thread |
 "Be who you are and say what you mean, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" - Dr. Seuss |
| @corwin_r Thanks. Mecha isn't a genre, it's an element of the setting, just like Sci-fi or Heroic Fantasy aren't genres but really vague settings. there's nothing in common between Star Wars, GitS, hard sci-fi, Roadside Picnic and 1984. Their themes, settings, goals are completely different, probably more than in actual "genres" like romance or film noir. |
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| Maybe because new mecha shows suck compared to the old ones? And casuals don't watch old shows too |
Pullman said: nicemikkel10 said: If I need to be convinved to watch a mecha anime, it needs to advertise itself as a real show, rather than "Hey guys look this show is a mecha show we put a robot in the cover, while mentioning robots 23 times in the synopsis" like 99% of mecha shows out there. Just out of curiosity, would this count? Because while I do agree with you (mecha selfwank shows are the worst), I feel like often it is also the other way around, people seeing nothing but the mecha in a show that happens to be mecha. I don't like Mecha but.. Hmm, that actually looks decent. Holy shit this was the show that I thought looked cool on Toonami, haha. I didn't know it was a Mecha, though. I also didn't know the name. I only saw like a scene or two.. they were probably inside a ship or something? Good to know. |
 Three things cannot be long hidden.. ...the s u n, the m oo n, and the tr u th. |
| Daily reminder that Power rangers is objectively superior than mecha series. |
Zelev said: Pullman said: Just out of curiosity, would this count? Because while I do agree with you (mecha selfwank shows are the worst), I feel like often it is also the other way around, people seeing nothing but the mecha in a show that happens to be mecha. I don't like Mecha but.. Hmm, that actually looks decent. Holy shit this was the show that I thought looked cool on Toonami, haha. I didn't know it was a Mecha, though. I also didn't know the name. I only saw like a scene or two.. they were probably inside a ship or something? Good to know. It's really good and often has a bunch of episodes without any mecha action and when you get action it never drags, at least to me. It's not completely free of all the genre tropes, but it does have a very good story, a fantastic cast and lots of feels. It's turning out to easily become my favorite Gundam TV Series and possible one of the best shows in recent years. And yeah they are traveling most of S1 on a ship trying to reach Earth so that's probably what you saw. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
ultravigo said: Daily reminder that Power rangers is objectively superior than mecha series.  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Also best ecchi. 123456789101121314151617181920 |
Johnnyd3rpFeb 21, 2017 1:43 PM
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| never really liked mecha before anime either power rangers was meh except the samurai and dinosaurs one that talking car robot alien thing was always garbage to me and anime, with exceptions, have the same sentiment ~ heroic giant metal dudes |
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| People dying in tin-cans isn't that entertaining. |
| Man, I have to stop falling in love with fictitious high school girls'...moms! |
| I'm positive it's a matter of personal preference and what someone grew up with. Like I've said before, I was introduced to Kaiju and Mecha at a perfect age, about 9-ish. Coming fresh off of a typical childhood obsession with Dinosaurs, it's unsurprising that I just leaped into the largest thing. Kaiju/Mecha has always been presented to me as a fascinating battle, an example of the greatest that mankind can make thrown against the worst that nature, or our own mistakes, can throw at us. However, this kind of dynamic is often lost on the general western audience, who merely want to see Mecha action without observing the struggle of humans working together. (For instance, if you showed the average person Godzilla X Mechagodzilla from 2003, and compared it to Pacific Rim from 2013, they'd choose the latter because it's not "weighed down" with the human dynamics, and it's just pure fun). And then you have those who simply don't like mecha at all, for varying reasons. Maybe they find the idea of putting a single pilot (or in some cases, two pilots) in a machine pointless, when our current weapons of war have potential equal to or greater then that of a traditional Gundam/Macross Mecha. Maybe they don't like the idea that hundreds upon thousands of people are slaving just for one person to take all the glory (Which is one reason I particularly enjoyed Godzilla: Tokyo SOS for focusing on a lowly maintainer rather then the pilot), or insert many other reasons. Within the anime fandom, there's one more thing to take into consideration. There are plenty of anime which take the viewer on a power trip, either through self insert or a vicarious viewing. And these power trips are often shown in non-mechanical ways. Akame-ga-Kill, Future Diary, DBZ, Bleach, Naruto, Highschool DxD, FMA, etc, etc. All of these showcase power through either mystical or skill based means, means which are typically exclusive to the main character or the main character and his/her social circle. These people typically don't have to worry about political fallout or military maneuverability, they can just act. Mecha, as opposed, typically do place some intense focus on 'dull' topics such as politics and military, which can be a real action bummer for someone fresh into the genre. This is why I always recommend Code Geass and Evangelion to anyone willing to dip their foot into Mecha. Within the first two episodes of each (and I always say watch the first two episodes), they've been exposed to significant mecha action that is both energizing AND not slowed down by dull politics (Evangelion is merely 'slowed' by introduction of the cast, which is quite acceptable. Code Geass really isn't slowed by anything, as less then halfway through the show you get a highway mecha battle). |
"I'd take rampant lesbianism over nuclear armageddon or a supervolcano any day." ~nikiforova |
| Is it really the case that casuals mostly hate mecha, what everyone likes and dislikes is just opinions and that doesn't matter if they're casuals or elitists with anime, opinions cannot just simply be explained a lot of the time. Personally I usually don't watch Mecha despite having the opportunity too for the past 8 years of course, they just seem too bulky lots of the time in terms of the art style, but I can look past that with ease when they're good in other elements and I have been doing so recently c: |
nightscape94 said: Mech is a very specific sub-genre of sci-fi. Just because you enjoy anime doesn't mean you necessarily, or are required in any way, to enjoy every genre type or sub-genre, just like anyone else would think that way for live action genres. I believe you already have to have a particular affinity for giant robots beating the crap out of each other otherwise you won't really bother. There are already numerous posts in this thread trying to explain how mecha is not very specific, but on the contrary very vague when it comes to describing content or even the type of show. Mecha shows can be harem rom-coms, dystopian sci-fi, realistic war drama, sports, romance, fantasy, on earth, in space, in isekai scenarios etc... It really isn't specific and not even necessarily sci-fi. It just describes one aspect of the show, but the context can be literally everything. And even the mecha aspect itself can range from body suits that look like combat clothes to piloted mechas and tanks to giant robos with their own personality and no pilot and everything in between. |
AlcoholicideFeb 21, 2017 4:06 PM
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| Those "casuals" don't have any taste, that's all. |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| Prejudice probably? People generally have them towards genres they don't normally watch. I love mecha if the story is interesting and it enhances the show like Code Geass, EVA, Aldnoah Zero - but I don't watch a show primarily to watch robots fight. |
| "In this world, evil can arise from the best of intentions. And there is good which can come from evil intentions" |
TripleSRank said: Before I even address the topic, I think it's worth noting that this is something more specific to MAL than it is the general anime community. Either that, or for whatever reason mecha fans don't mingle with your typical anime fans. It illustrate, the currently-airing Gundam IBO's MAL stats show that there are just under 19,000 people on MAL currently watching it. This would initially make it seem niche, but the picture becomes much more clear as soon as you look at GundamInfo's youtube channel. The English-subbed episodes regularly garner over 100,000 views, and occasionally get some crazy near-300k views (such as this episode). That is nothing to scoff at. If you look to the past on sites like someanithing, you'll notice that the highest-grossing opening week for BD sales on record sits with Gundam SEED and its sequel (over $45 million and over $53 million respectively), even beating opening weeks for behemoths like the Monogatari franchise and Attack on Titan. The point is, mecha is huge and very popular both in the East and in the West. Don't let someone delude you. It is MAL that isn't very fond of mecha. MAL's community is the oddball. With all of that out of the way, why doesn't MAL's community like mecha? I would point to closed-mindedness. They make a lot of false assumptions about the genre without actually trying much of it. So, let's clear the air a bit with some of the biggest ones and compare to reality. Rumor 1: Mecha is about robots fighting each other. Reality: Well, no, but yes. Mecha are generally not all about whose robot is best at smashing other robots up save for in the uncommon sports-esque robot battle style shows. In most mecha, battles are a backdrop to the actual focus of the plot, such as a war story, adventure story, romance, or even a mystery. There are titles where mecha battles are quite sparse and/or short, at that. Rumor 2: Mecha are all dry and boring and its identical twin, Mecha are all stupid and boring Reality: These two thoughts are opposite to each other, but both stem from the same type of assumption. In essense, the person saying this either thinks that all mecha are like Gundam, or that all mecha are like TTGL. They're each very different types of shows. For those who enjoyed TTGL, there's an entire "super robot" subgenre for them to explore. For those who don't, the "real robot" subgenre may be of more interest to them, where mecha are less superhero-like and treated more along the lines of tanks and fighter jets-- useful but expendable. For the inverse with those who have tried and disliked the "real robot" subgenre (e.g. most Gundam titles), the over-the-top zaniness of the "super robot" subgenre (with titles like TTGL) may appeal to you. Rumor 3: If I try the real robot subgenre, I have to go aaaall the way back to the beginning with the original Mobile Suit Gundam. That's too long/old/boring-looking/the-franchise-is-too-big/other-reason. Reality: Absolutely not. For one, Gundam is far from the only mecha in this category. There's Knights of Sidonia, Patlabor, VOTOMS, etc. plus franchises like Macross, Full Metal Panic!, and even NGE that straddle the line between real and super. For two, even if you do want to start with Gundam, you don't need to start with the old stuff. There are many newer, shorter, and flashier Gundams that don't require starting from the original MSG. You could start with Gundam SEED, Gundam IBO, Turn-A Gundam, etc. and go from there. Rumor 4: TTGL is the best mecha eveeeeer!! Reality: Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. As I touched on in the answer to rumor 2, TTGL is just one of many anime in the super robot subgenre. Although TTGL is pretty over-the-top even for a super robot show, if you liked/loved TTGL, watch some of the others before you say that! Aside from hybrids like Full Metal Panic!/Macross/NGE, there's Eureka Seven, Suisei no Gargantia, Infinite Ryvius, Gunbuster, Mazinger Z, etc. I'm sure there are people on MAL who legitimately don't like mecha, but most fall into the category of someone who believes one or multiple of the above. that actually makes sense, but sadly i met a few non mal anime fans who hate mechas for whatever reason zal said: Why would casuals be interested in war drama, more complex plots, political and ethical topics? They are boring. Having seen the first Gundam and first season of IBO I do see why people would think they are boring, they are too dragged out/slow and some even useless episodes. However as you might see from my PTW I am going to watch 08th MS team and war in the pocket soon... maybe... and they seem to have a very good reputation. Casuals prefer more "mature" stuff like Steins;Gate, SAO, Attack on Titan, Code Geass, Madoka Magica, Re:Zero, Gurrenn Lagann and Yuri on Ice. i am tempted to fucking believe this kamisama751 said: Plebs can't appreciate the greatness that is real robots. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Star- said: Most mecha shows end up like TTGL where the mechas pull some super mega power up out of their asses. Also robots fighting? Fuck that. Lol, most mechas obviously transform with some kind of strange will power and pierces the heavens. xd Zelev said: Have you seen shit like Aldnoah.Zero? I think that alone proves that Mecha can be boring as hell. Can't everything be boring as hell? only took you 1 day :D 15poundfish said: Mecha shows often have overly convoluted stories for their own good. Instead of creating simple stories with lots of depth they are often the complete opposite like a lot of Gundam Shows. The Mecha Shows I like the most are simple stories that have some depth or interesting world building. The older Macross titles has this while the newer ones are the complete opposite, overly complicated stories that have little to no depth. My favorite type of robot are the ones that can transform like the jet/bi-pedal hybrids. Tactical combat is just way more interesting than brute force combat like most Gundam and Mecha Shows. old school mecha fan? :s perje said: The giant robot represents man using a tool to combat a problem. A large portion of western anime audiences believe that their problems can be solved by divine intervention and prefer "the superhero" or 'magical being" or believing they can conjure a miracle if the 'believe" in something or themselves to save the world. Its that subconscious belief that makes them reject mecha and its protagonist that needs help and relies on a technology and others to overcome obstacles. yea... that is the most bullshit reasoning i can ever believe in(not you that belief) |
| Hottest Take Ever, fite me: Fairy Tail is better than Seiya, Bungou Stray and Hitman Reborn |
nightscape94 said: Pullman said: It really isn't specific and not even necessarily sci-fi. It just describes one aspect of the show, but the context can be literally everything While the drive or spirit of the show can certainly expand into different genre territory, the Mech part is still a very specific element to the show, and the viewer has to clear that hurdle on some level. You can't really dismiss that outright. Mech by it's very nature is sci-fi, although the rest of the show may not be directly dependent upon it. I've seen purely mechanical mechs or mechs powered by magic in a fantasy setting more than just a few times. Just saying, it doesn't always have to involvce science or future technology. And in many cases it isn't really more of a hurdle than whether the characters fight with fists, guns, swords or magic in my opinion. Or mechas. But only mecha gets treated as this overly dominant aspect that overshadows the rest of the show and makes it a 'mecha' show first and firemost, when in reality it's just one more way for people to fight or compete. In some mainstream shows people get over it by downplaying the mecha aspect and treating it as an exception (Code Geass is the famous example), but in general they overestimate the relevance of mecha in a lot of anime with that tag. I'm not saying the archetypical MECHA shows where liking robots or not makes or breaks the show don't also exist aplenty, but the tag alone doesn't turn a show into mecha-fans-only territory. I never liked mecha very muchmyself but I know that they can still offer a lot to people, especially if they're into politics and military and space/sci-fi stuff. A bunch of them made it to my favorites despite not being interested in most of the action or the designs. So it's kinda frustrating when people treat anything with a mecha tag as this show exclusive for mecha maniacs only and don't even consider them no matter what they are about or what their style is. Because I used to be the same and it was really only because of my uncontrollable curiosity about classics that I gave a Gundam a try and started to see mecha for what it is. |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| I can watch any type of anime, from moe to gore... but for some reason I avoid mecha when I search new anime to watch, I don't know... I don't find it interesting. :/ |
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Pullman said: nicemikkel10 said: If I need to be convinved to watch a mecha anime, it needs to advertise itself as a real show, rather than "Hey guys look this show is a mecha show we put a robot in the cover, while mentioning robots 23 times in the synopsis" like 99% of mecha shows out there. Just out of curiosity, would this count? Because while I do agree with you (mecha selfwank shows are the worst), I feel like often it is also the other way around, people seeing nothing but the mecha in a show that happens to be mecha. Huh. Unrelated, but that dub sounds pretty decent. That doesn't happen for me too often. |
| I tend to run into people thinking that it's cheesy or childish, which is hilarious because a lot of mecha anime [that I've seen anyway] is actually rather mature w/ it's subject matter and has a good amount of violence. Pretty much for them it's mecha = power rangers or transformers, and that just shows how ignorant they are on the matter and why they really shouldn't consider their opinion to be valid. If you don't know about something, don't opine on it. Now me? I prefer scifi over mecha fights, but a lot of the time the best shows have those two things hand-in-hand with each other. I don't dislike mecha fights, although for some sub genres ['real robot' especially] they can be pretty boring and repetitive. I am actually staggered at the amount of people who don't watch some anime because of when it was made, and if it has mecha in it. [It's a damn shame tbh.] I remember before I watched SDF Macross, I had never seen any mecha anime and I, like others, assumed that it was cheesy and childish. The only reason I even gave it a shot was because I loved the work of the head artist. Around 7 episodes in, I realized how wrong I had been and was very happy to find the show engaging, complex, the mecha designs were actually incredibly cool, and the music was gorgeous. I wish more people would stop limiting themselves based upon prejudices, they'd find things were much more enjoyable that way. |
AngelicTotoroFeb 21, 2017 6:56 PM
Ericonator said: By definition, everything is retro since by the time you realize something has happened it's already in the past.  |
| Because anime fans hate good things. They only watch otaku bait. |
| I think its because that genre has been used to death and only a few can pull it off. Some of my fav anime are Evangelion and E7 and they are both mecha. Right now I tend to move away from mecha anime tho -i'm no casual fan either |
This life is a marathon, I'm on a steady pace |
Pullman said: nightscape94 said: While the drive or spirit of the show can certainly expand into different genre territory, the Mech part is still a very specific element to the show, and the viewer has to clear that hurdle on some level. You can't really dismiss that outright. Mech by it's very nature is sci-fi, although the rest of the show may not be directly dependent upon it. I've seen purely mechanical mechs or mechs powered by magic in a fantasy setting more than just a few times. Just saying, it doesn't always have to involvce science or future technology. And in many cases it isn't really more of a hurdle than whether the characters fight with fists, guns, swords or magic in my opinion. Or mechas. But only mecha gets treated as this overly dominant aspect that overshadows the rest of the show and makes it a 'mecha' show first and firemost, when in reality it's just one more way for people to fight or compete. In some mainstream shows people get over it by downplaying the mecha aspect and treating it as an exception (Code Geass is the famous example), but in general they overestimate the relevance of mecha in a lot of anime with that tag. I'm not saying the archetypical MECHA shows where liking robots or not makes or breaks the show don't also exist aplenty, but the tag alone doesn't turn a show into mecha-fans-only territory. I never liked mecha very muchmyself but I know that they can still offer a lot to people, especially if they're into politics and military and space/sci-fi stuff. A bunch of them made it to my favorites despite not being interested in most of the action or the designs. So it's kinda frustrating when people treat anything with a mecha tag as this show exclusive for mecha maniacs only and don't even consider them no matter what they are about or what their style is. Because I used to be the same and it was really only because of my uncontrollable curiosity about classics that I gave a Gundam a try and started to see mecha for what it is. Clebardman said: @corwin_r Thanks. Mecha isn't a genre, it's an element of the setting, just like Sci-fi or Heroic Fantasy aren't genres but really vague settings. there's nothing in common between Star Wars, GitS, hard sci-fi, Roadside Picnic and 1984. Their themes, settings, goals are completely different, probably more than in actual "genres" like romance or film noir. corwin_r said: Pullman said: Many mecha shows ARE not mecha, they just HAVE some mechas in them just like other anime have cars or tanks or spaceships. I used to avoid them too, until some of the Gundams became top 10 favorite material. But I still don't care for the mecha aspect itself. Mecha is more like an umbrella term than a "real" genre compared to say action or comedy. Having robots or other types of sophisticated manual/automated or sentient mechanization shouldn't imply anything about what the setting or it's execution will be like. The only "issue" is how tied the traditional execution is to some tropes, for example super robots usually being related to the monster of the week formula, or the association of real robots to a politicial war drama or space opera. So the predominant notion is how these tropes and the traditional execution make for key points of what constitutes the entire genre, which barely holds any water. If it were so, we wouldn't have "oddball" entries even within flagship franchises like Gundam (comparison of Gundam 79, G Gundam, SD Battle Warriors and Build Fighters for example) where robots are just devices that progress the story. I think we have to be careful not to sugarcoat things. Yes, there is a big variety in mecha, but that's because we're drawing on a grouping that has a significant breadth and quantity to draw on. Holding to the opposite view; the vast majority of mecha are bound to the traditional monster-of-the-week, Gundam war-drama, or Eva-hybrid. For the most part, there will be young protagonist pilots, cunning rivals, launch/transformation sequences, mid-series upgrades, weekly battles, climatic existence threatening finales, and so on. These may just be the tropes of mecha, but they are heavily drilled into the genre, and while the are only a part of the whole; they're a framework that permeates and often overwhelms mecha. Yes, thematically, stylistically, and content-wise there is a great variety and differing with mecha. Yes, the 'mecha' label is not a tell of certainty, but it in the larger part is, in the patterns, themes, and scope of these works. In the large part, there is a large congruity. On the whole, mecha are more similar than dissimilar. The mecha's tradition as a genre cannot be denied. |
CkanFeb 21, 2017 7:20 PM
| I'd say it's because Anime is largely an international community and Mecha/Robots are culturally embedded in Japan whereas in most places its not. |
“Join my wander, to a yonder. In search of the meaning from mystery & wonder ... And when tragedy finds us, and breaks our bodies, we'll find peace in one shared mind.”  |
| I think it's more an issue of people not willing to try mecha anime because they have the mindset that mecha = old = boring. Which is definitely not the case. It probably also has something to do with the decline in new original mecha anime lately, it's just not what is considered popular at the moment (more so in the non-japanese crowd). I actually really like some mecha anime, and so far there has never been an anime I have avoided purely for the mech aspect either. |
 |
Ckan said: Pullman said: I've seen purely mechanical mechs or mechs powered by magic in a fantasy setting more than just a few times. Just saying, it doesn't always have to involvce science or future technology. And in many cases it isn't really more of a hurdle than whether the characters fight with fists, guns, swords or magic in my opinion. Or mechas. But only mecha gets treated as this overly dominant aspect that overshadows the rest of the show and makes it a 'mecha' show first and firemost, when in reality it's just one more way for people to fight or compete. In some mainstream shows people get over it by downplaying the mecha aspect and treating it as an exception (Code Geass is the famous example), but in general they overestimate the relevance of mecha in a lot of anime with that tag. I'm not saying the archetypical MECHA shows where liking robots or not makes or breaks the show don't also exist aplenty, but the tag alone doesn't turn a show into mecha-fans-only territory. I never liked mecha very muchmyself but I know that they can still offer a lot to people, especially if they're into politics and military and space/sci-fi stuff. A bunch of them made it to my favorites despite not being interested in most of the action or the designs. So it's kinda frustrating when people treat anything with a mecha tag as this show exclusive for mecha maniacs only and don't even consider them no matter what they are about or what their style is. Because I used to be the same and it was really only because of my uncontrollable curiosity about classics that I gave a Gundam a try and started to see mecha for what it is. Clebardman said: @corwin_r Thanks. Mecha isn't a genre, it's an element of the setting, just like Sci-fi or Heroic Fantasy aren't genres but really vague settings. there's nothing in common between Star Wars, GitS, hard sci-fi, Roadside Picnic and 1984. Their themes, settings, goals are completely different, probably more than in actual "genres" like romance or film noir. corwin_r said: Mecha is more like an umbrella term than a "real" genre compared to say action or comedy. Having robots or other types of sophisticated manual/automated or sentient mechanization shouldn't imply anything about what the setting or it's execution will be like. The only "issue" is how tied the traditional execution is to some tropes, for example super robots usually being related to the monster of the week formula, or the association of real robots to a politicial war drama or space opera. So the predominant notion is how these tropes and the traditional execution make for key points of what constitutes the entire genre, which barely holds any water. If it were so, we wouldn't have "oddball" entries even within flagship franchises like Gundam (comparison of Gundam 79, G Gundam, SD Battle Warriors and Build Fighters for example) where robots are just devices that progress the story. I think we have to be careful not to sugarcoat things. Yes, there is a big variety in mecha, but that's because we're drawing on a grouping that has a significant breadth and quantity to draw on. Holding to the opposite view; the vast majority of mecha are bound to the traditional monster-of-the-week, Gundam war-drama, or Eva-hybrid. For the most part, there will be young protagonist pilots, cunning rivals, launch/transformation sequences, mid-series upgrades, weekly battles, climatic existence threatening finales, and so on. These may just be the tropes of mecha, but they are heavily drilled into the genre, and while the are only a part of the whole; they're a framework that permeates and often overwhelms mecha. Yes, thematically, stylistically, and content-wise there is a great variety and differing with mecha. Yes, the 'mecha' label is not a tell of certainty, but it in the larger part is, in the patterns, themes, and scope of these works. In the large part, there is a large congruity. On the whole, mecha are more similar than dissimilar. The mecha's tradition as a genre cannot be denied. well yeah, but also most of what you listed can also be attributed to a lot of battle shounen (young protagonists, rivals, power ups, regular battles, climatic finales etc..) and they are just slightly adjusted for mecha. Others like war drama, politics and tactical battles are also well-received on their own among many people. They might be traditionally part of mecha, but not mecha-exclusive. Does mecha really change so much about these aspects that people who otherwise enjoy them should avoid them because of that twist on otherwise well-received themes and narrative tools? In some cases yes, but in many not in my opinion. With that I don't mean to deny the mecha tradition. It's definitely there and people who like it because of that will have a much easier time getting into any mecha, but I don't think it's that dominating and turns mecha into some kind of exclusive club for fans of that tradition. I just want people to be aware of that. I think using a wide range of examples even if they are 'exceptions' is justified when the point is to make people realize that it doesn't literally mean the same formula every time the tag is applied. I'm not advocating for completely keeping the tag out of the calculations when deciding whether to give something a shot, but merely to not see it as an automatical no-go no matter what the details are. I've encountered mecha tags in the strangest places (for me). For example I still don't think body suits should count as mechas, or the tachikomas in GITS, just to name two examples. It feels like the tag is applied much more loosely than just to the traditional shows you are referring to, but people interpret it as only meaning those traditional shows which blocks their perception of so many of the others. It's the difference between mecha as a genre/tradition and mecha as a tag for any kind of robot or body enhancement technology or armored vehicle. And that's just one of the ways in which the tag is not reliable. Sure in some ways that you mentionedit is, most of the time, but it also is unreliable in numerous ways. So I don't think we're sugarcoating it. It's just most efficient to counter one one-sided worldview (mecha ALWAYS means Tropes A, B, C and D and that's it) by confronting them with the complete opposite (mecha can literally mean anything if you look for fringe cases) so maybe they'll come out somewhere in the middle where the reasonable people reside (mecha has a tendency to mean certain things, but it comes down to a case by case basis). |
| I probably regret this post by now. |
| I'm guessing the reason people don't like mecha is because they prefer watching human interaction,drama,emotions, character development etc. Shows where human are the focus and attention are what they want. Mecha might overshadow them or take away from that. |
But it's important to remember that a movie review is subjective;it only gives you one person's opinion. http://www.classzone.com/books/lnetwork_gr08/page_build.cfm?content=analyz_media&ch=30 It doesn't matter if you like LoGH,Monster etc.If you are a jobless or college/school dropout living in your mom basement, you are still an unintelligent loser. Taste in anime does not make you a better person.If elitist don't exist, casual pleb and shit taste also don't exist. |
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