A pretty decent video on Mecha though it could have used a few more notable examples (e.g. the Brave series, Gunbuster, Ideon) as well as visuals to represent the mentioned series e.g. RahXephon, Zegapain, Gasaraki
i agree. i didn't learn anything and i don't know that much about mecha. shit all anime fans know evangelion, you don't have to explain to us evangelion.
D180223 yeah, but how much did those impact the mecha robot genre as a whole. Not saying they are bad but don't really think they changed the industry that much other then being a decent show.
They certainly left a bigger impact than no-names like Zegapain and Gasaraki. Gunbuster and Ideon in particular are prime influences for Evangelion while the Brave series were prominent in helping to fill that hole of Super Robot anime during the 90s to the early 2000s.
History of Mecha. Doesn't mention ideon or patlabor. Doesn't mention the super robot genre revival in the early 90s which gave eva's creation more impact. Proceed to talk about eva as if it was the only mecha that existed in the 90s. 2010 mecha focuses more on character psychology... then only provides one example.
Didn't even mention the transition from Mazinger Z to Gundam, as time went on super robot series tended to have more dramatic stories with more developed antagonists, with Voltes V and Daimos being clear examples of that. Not to mention that Gundam itself carried some of the old tropes of the super robot genre. It was a progressive transition.
Kinda wish someone would mention Starship Troopers as it's the grand daddy of all meca, hell the mobile suits are named after the mobile infantry of the series.
Just extra bit of info. Tetsujin 28 was created to make toys as well, 70s is where the industry really solidifies. And the reason for the mecha anime boom was due to historic reasons: Japan is in post WW2 state where there are too many metal lying around, and they need to use it up. Same goes for metal work factories. And the post war japan needed something iconic to boost moral. These factors combines into tetsujin 28. There is also another important point to point out why Nagai Go was important during the 70s. The design where the pilot is placed in the cockpit of robots is a huge contrast to Tetsujin's remote control. This sense of life risking danger puts the human characters in a better position for drama and tensions. Then Gundam hits, similar reasons to tetsujin too, but now plastic is the cheaper material to manufacture for toys and incorporating the elements from 70s, Gundam became the Sci-Fi epic as we know today. In between Zeta and Evangelions 10 year time gap, I think you have missed GunBuster...which is another important one.
+AnimeEveryday I was expecting that you mentioned Ambassador Magma. One of Tezuka's most beloved works whose live action show even preceded Ultraman for a few days. And while it wasn't an anime per se, the original manga was pretty much what started the whole genre.
Well, you missed one. Go Nagai didn't design Getter Robo. Getter Robo was based on some unused Mazinger concept art, and re-designed by Ken Ishikawa. Ishikawa was so grateful to Nagai, that he credited him as co-creator. Ken Ishikawa wrote and drew the manga, and was responsible for the designs that appear in it.
The only thing I'd mention is that the reconstruction period for Super Robots (if you're of the mind that Super Robots went away at all to begin with which they really didn't) began well before Gurren Lagann. Stuff like GaoGaiGar ( and seriously the entire Braves series), Godannar, Gravion, Dai-Guard (itself a desconstructve parody of sorts) and the Dynamic Pro OVAs (Shin Getter Robo. Mazinkaiser, Kotetsushin Jeeg) that stood in contrast of the Eva clones. Regardless, great video. I very much enjoyed it.
No Patlabor?, although I guess that series might have been more of an exception rather than an example of a new trend in the genre. That and Votoms are my favourite mecha series.
@@grinningevildeath Ideon somehow seems to remain virtually unknown to a lot of westerners even though it's one of the most influential anime of its time with Evangelion especially owing a lot to it.
No love for Big-O? It was one of the most fresh and authentic voices for Mecha anime and had a huge impact in the states, though it wasn't that big in Japan. It made me fall in love with Mecha again. I think it was a nice mix of an almost steampunk real robot aesthetic and big super robots.
I love it too but it wasn't that influential. Personal experience doesn't necessarily mean cultural importance. There's a lot of other stuff he left out arguably more important to the overall history of mecha anime like the entire Braves franchise.
Just wanted to say this: If Evangelion was released TODAY, it would be a ballzy move. I wish I was part of the group that saw it as it came out, the reactions from people must've been hilarious
He barely covered any of the fantastic shows that came from mecha series. He just kinda stated the obvious mainstream popular ones... I was always confused why Big O never go traction. It's a masterpiece of a show, and it's made by Sunrise.
Mostly stuff westerners would recognize as well. Leaving the Braves franchise out was pretty weird, along with other super robots of the 90's it messes with the false narrative that Gurren Lagann revived the super robot genre (mainly because the super robot genre never really went away).
I know right? He completely failed to mention Getter Robo: Armageddon, the show that Gurren Lagann is in large part based on and that also came out post EVA.
Great video as always, though i really wanted to see some Gunbuster and Diebuster mentioned or even shown, as they sorta were precursors to EVA & TTGL.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe Ken Ishikawa actually had the lion's share of credit in creating Getter Robo, and Nagai's contribution was more for publicity, much like Tezuka's credit in the 1960's Saiyuuki movie adaptation. Ishikawa started out as Nagai's assistant, and they had worked together for a while by that point, so it would make sense that their artwork would be remarkably similar to each other.
Those didn't really help with an actual resurgence of mecha anime, all we have still is gundam.... Which isn't bad I love GUNDAM but I want to see something new too.
AnimeEveryday, always here to remind me how awe-inspiring and enthralling anime is through it's subtle eccentricities, even if anime itself isn't all that.
I just disagree about the current state of mecha, it's popularity is clearly at it's lowest, once the genre that dominated the industry, now we're lucky enough to have ONE mecha show per season and maybe a Gundam OVA.
Something that is not immediately obvious is that Attack on Titan is an evolution of mech anime. As EVA was half biological and half mech, Attack goes full biological without being explicit about it.
Attack on Titan was more of an evolution of the Kaiju genre. That's what Isayama references as his major influence. Granted the two genres often share in similar themes and outright crossover frequently.
Just an observation, what really helped Gudam get more popular was the 3 movies that retold the story of the series. Thats when Gundam started to become popular and what got them the re-aring of the show. As a interesting side note, it is said that does movies contributed with the creation of the hentai industry. The shows creator wanted to depict characters as ordinary people so he included a scene of Sayla Mass showering that had frontal nudity. Fans would often take pictures of said scene and distribute it. The fact that fans where doing that help demostrate that there was interest in adult material of anime characters. So, while not directly responsible, it did serve as a proof of hentai's appeal with anime fans.
I have to disagree with that last point. Mecha anime are definilty not as popular now as they were back in the 80s. Back then the majority of shows had mecha as a focus where as now if there are 4 dedicated mecha shows in a season that's more than average. Plus the advent of CG and the decrease in hand drawn artists experienced with mecha has changed the industry.
I recommended anime youtuber professor otaku, as he doing a series called History of Mecha. Were men goes more in-depth in trends, what shaped the medium and more obscured shows.
way to just gloss over mazinger Z, totally skip getter robo and head right into gundam.... even though mazinger Z created the staple for modern mecha as we know it
WOW, That's a Great Video. I really like it A LOT. Especially Because You included the Legendary Super Robots (Mazinger Z and Grenidizer That are my favorites). Please make a video of History of Sports Anime that Include (Tiger Mask 2 and Captain Tsubasa). They're my favorites.
You forgot to mention the array of mecha anime from sunrise in the mid 80s up to early 90s where boys grew up with the hero type mecha anime like Gunbird, Granzort, Might Gaine, Gaogaigar and became a pivotable moment in youth culture for boys to be more interested in science and engineering...and mechas. It was like that until Evangelion flipped the whole narrative.
This is a question to all the viewers: What underrated and overlooked gems of the mecha genre would you guys recommend to others? I'd go with gunbuster x diebuster, getter robo: armaggedon and rahxephon.
You're talking like the new seasons are filled with robots but nowadays these shows are really thin on the ground - good ones yet more so, and super robot even more rare than that.
I really enjoyed your video, mecha is my second fav genre and def learned some new things. I loved that you mentioned star driver, I feel it's a underlooked one of the later mecha genre shows.
As someone more interested in anime's cultural impact than actually watching anime, it's fascinating to see all the salty weebs complaining that you didn't mention their favorite incarnation. Well done
A huge skimming of the 70s, 80s and 90s mecha. Not mentioning Getter Robo despite mentioning Mazinger Z is a big no no. Mazinger Z might of brought the popularity of super robot tropes and be the staple of what mecha genre as whole should be, but Getter Robo was the first to bring in combination mechas (multiple mechs combining into a large mech). Eva might of boom a lot of modern tropes for modern mecha, but it wasn't the first to do it. Ever heard of Gunbuster? It brought the realistic human war drama to a super robot genre. Patlabor found a way to blend real robot with slice of life and comedy by having mechas be tools for civilian and government use (police, construction, etc). Both of these were done by Gainax, and guess what, Gunbuster was also done by Hideki Anno. You could of gone more in depth with Zeta Gundam as Zeta was a perfect example of how to "pass the torch" for sequel series as passing the torch was never done before in anime. G Gundam was a sign that Gundam could, if it wanted to, spread beyond its character trope and expand into the realm of super robot. And you can't forget the huge impact mecha had in the 90s for the West. The 90s mecha boom of the West if anything, is what brought mecha back to the mainstream genre as the West had never experience the genre before with the likes of Gundam Wing, Escaflowne, even Magical Knight Rayearth (first time we see magical girl combine with super robot). You can't forget the Brave series, which kept the Super Robot genre alive in the 90s with the likes of Might Gaine, Decker-J, and GaoGaiGar. You also skim the 2000s a bit by mentioning Eureka Seven and Gurren, but not Code Geass? Code Geass like with Gurren brought the revival of real robot back into the fray after real robot began losing it steam in the late 90s and early 2000s by showing us how one man could and can manipulate the battlefield not by skills, but with wits and ingenuity. Code Geass even dwells into topics uncomfortable in war genre like racial discrimination and superiority complex.
It's simple. Japanese media culture, and anime in particular, has 2 traits that are not usual in the Western culture: 1. They love over the top, crazy stuff that draws attention and causes "wtf" reaction; 2. They have no aversion to tropes, cliches and complete silliness. These factors combined mean that once some crazy thing (like giant mecha robots, tiny skirt schoolgirls, etc) appears in the media and draws attention, it is almost inevitably reproduced ad nausea and then some more. Bollywood is like that as well, so it's not unique to Japan. Only Bollywood is more likely to "be inspired" by western stuff, while Japan is more insular.
I dont know why people ever overlook the influence that tokusatsu live actions shows and movies have in the mecha anime and stecially in Evangelion. By the way, what about Patlabor? Great video
Patlabor is almost never talked about, despite it being a decent(I haven't seen all of it) real robot anime. This video was just a rundown of everything mecha fans already knew...
No love for Escaflowne? It's a pretty unique example of mecha anime because of its fantasy element, and it's also one of the few mid-90s mecha shows that likely wasn't influenced by Evangelion, since production began before Evangelion was released and the manga also predates Eva.
I know that Some people think that the Original Transformers Generation 1 Cartoon from the 1980's Is NOT real Japanese Mecha Anime. But there are Some people who think that the Original Transformers Generation 1 Cartoon Is real Japanese Anime. Technically, that Is NOT true! The Original Transformers Generation 1 Cartoon Is an American Creation / Production. The Transformers Generation 1: Toys are from Japan But the G1 Cartoon and G1 Characters were created In America. The Story of the Transformers was created In America.
I think its cool to see blending of styles. Look at Suisei no Gargantia. It is a real mecha but the technology used is so far advanced compared to what most people on Earth see that its considered Super mecha by them. And then devolves a bit into psychological mecha by both the pilot AND the ai in the mecha itself. Or even something as lame as Heavy Object takes the genre kinda serious. The logical conclusion for armored warfare is you have to have armor enough to stop you from taking damage and you must have guns enough to pierce others armor, and then balancing that with speed. And Heavy Object is literally giant armored spheres with giant guns that operate in the 200 mph range at all times. And its done so that nuclear wars would stop.
I loved both series as a child but I think the anime that led from Mazinger to Gundam was Danguard, that was created by Matsumoto Leiji, the creator of the military/sci-fi series Battleship Yamato (Starblazers).
Zambot 3 was a deconstruction of the Super Robot genre, which actually tries to show that being a pilot can put a stress onto your brain, especially if you were a kid. Even if you did have a form of learning while sleeping, it doesn't prepare you for losing your co pilots, family members, and being the lone survivor as the result of being a Super Robot pilot.
5:00 Note: Most Gunpla from 1999/2000 onwards do not *need* paint but it will make your Gunpla look prettier. Gunpla from 79-98 tend to require glue to build as they are not Snap-Fit kits.
fishpop Char's counterattack kits were snapfit, and a lot of kits from the early 90s didn't require painting for example the f91 lines, HG 1990s line, 1/144 Musha gundam line, 1/100 Full action nu gundam
Great video and a very decent approach to the history of the mecha. I would have loved to see a lengthier approach that included tokusatsu series and hybrid anime+tokusatsu like Dinosaur War Izenborg. Good job. Really enjoyed it.
A anime that needs to be recognized by the genre is Robotic Notes If you honestly don't care about Mecha Anime then I highly recommend this since it makes it more realistic.
10:30 to 11minutes - It would have been nice to see some mechs you were talking about. I found it a bit frustrating to watch video clips not showing what you're talking about. But still - thumbs up for quality content, just a little heads-up.
i am trying to find an old mecha anime i have completely forgotten it's name but want to watch it again In this anime the main character and his childhood friend are transported to a parallel world similar to their in this world all the people of the previous world also exist all except for the MC and also there are mechs in this world that can only be piloted by women however the MC who is a boy can use them and it was later found out that the MC actually does exist in this world but is actually in the form of the mech that he is piloting if this premise feels similar to any anime you have watched pls reply i really want to watch it again
